Nature Moncton Nature News: September 14 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Sept 14, 2024

Nature Moncton members as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond are invited to share their photos and descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition of Nature News

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**It is a good time of year to be spotting Black-crowned Night-Herons as they move south from their long-established rookery in the Lameque area of New Brunswick.

Aldo Dorio spotted both an adult and a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron near the Neguac wharf on Saturday morning.

**Georges Brun got a photograph of a juvenile Spotted Sandpiper that nicely shows field marks to note the lack of breast spotting in the juvenile, short white wing stripe, and barred wing coverts. The Spotted Sandpiper in winter plumage would appear the same but it is assumed this is a juvenile bird at this time of year.

Georges also took note of a juvenile Bald Eagle with a falcon in hot pursuit. We do have Peregrine Falcons in the same area but the size differential would suggest the falcon in the photo may be a pugnacious Merlin.

**Photos of immature gulls can be tricky. even those of top-quality.

An excellent photo of a gull posted yesterday as a Black-headed gull is a juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake which easily escapes detection. The labelling was corrected but is posted again today as it was not corrected until later in the day yesterday.

We don’t often get a chance to get nice flight photos of this pelagic gull. Note the dark half-collar that is retained into early winter, the black spot behind the eye, and the dark tail band. Bear in mind it's only that dark half-collar that is retained into early winter and easily missed in photos

**Pat Gibbs shares a photo of a young-of-the-year male Ring-necked Pheasant as he is slowly taking on his adult plumage. This is one of Pat’s small brood of four this year that holds her yard as territory. It would appear three are female and only one is male.

**We have several species of stink bug in New Brunswick and most are not particularly colourful.

Richard Perron captured a photo of one that is strikingly marked.

**Patricia Pelletier captured a photo of a juvenile Bald Eagle on her trail camera as it landed ‘spread eagle’ in a field that she monitors.

**Barbara Smith and her sister spied a Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar motoring down a sideroad near the Riverview Library. It was making great time as can be seen in the video link Barbara shares below:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/l8pay5mhfnjrxi2pl1ajz/CATERPILLAR.-SEPTEMBER-12-2024.-BARBARA-SMITH.mp4?rlkey=m87rxyeixd9s5vh2004vpv4vb&st=4ximsuhx&dl=0

(Editor’s note: From observations submitted, it would appear the Milkweed Tussock Moth is more prevalent this year. When it appears in numbers in a milkweed patch, it can defoliate a milkweed patch very quickly.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton