Nature Moncton Nature News: September 5 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Sept 5, 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

**With dawn’s light arriving a bit later these days, John Inman looked out to see what was around the feeder Thursday morning with a flashlight to find not a critter, but when he looked down from the window where they hang the hummingbird feeder off the steps, a big Black Bear stood up to check the hanger for the feeder. John comments he has not seen a Black Bear that big in years!

**Marc Blayney lives in the Garden Hill area of Moncton and got documentary photos of a wren that dropped by his birdfeeders in late August which appears to be a Carolina Wren. It is interesting to hear about the number of Carolina Wren observations that have been reported in the area this summer.

Marc comments he has a diversity of patrons to his feeders that include a Northern Cardinal family (male, female, and juvenile).

**The Peregrine Falcon family atop Assumption Place with a nest camera in place this past summer to monitor their daily life was enjoyed by many and a lot was learned.

This nest box has served well over the years, but deterioration means it has reached its time. A new nest box will be erected, and chief engineer Fred Richards has things well underway in getting the project started as can be noted in today’s first photo.

**The photographic equipment available today has allowed us to see just how strikingly beautiful many of the critters in our wildlife community really are whether they fly, crawl, swim, or walk!

Moths are certainly in that category. Maureen Girvan submits a photo of a Black Witch moth her sister shared with her who lives in Mexico. It is strikingly marked just as many of our native New Brunswick moths are.

**Brian Stone sends some late photos taken over the last week at several different locations. From trails in Fundy National Park, Brian photographed a Golden-crowned Kinglet, a Double-crested Cormorant, a gull, a Great Blue Heron, and a Common Yellowthroat warbler. Plants noted were Broad-leaved Helleborine Orchid, Yellow Slime Mold, Yellow Toadflax, and Mountain Ash Trees flush with berries. A big, hairy, Tomato Bristle Fly (a Tachinid fly) crawled around a tree trunk in search mode.

A Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar motored along a wooden handrail in the company of several others.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uk1ykyqvxlj4zruhghjbx/HICKORY-TUSSOCK-MOTH-CATERPILLAR.-AUG.-27-2024.-BRIAN-STONE.mp4?rlkey=x8s4wds010xu00biqw2m8rqdk&st=p6pbhvx4&dl=0

Back at home in the Salisbury and Riverview areas Brian photographed a young Bald Eagle resting on a lawn on Tucker St., young Cedar Waxwings flying and perching around Wilson Marsh along with a young Gray Catbird hopping along a path there. Some Lesser Yellowlegs, accompanied by a Least Sandpiper, walked around the perimeter of the water treatment lagoon in Salisbury and some swallows perched on a wire at the Tucker St. site. Canada Darner dragonflies were common and so were Clouded Sulphur butterflies. Some of the many other birds present in these areas were Pied-billed Grebes, still caring for young, and Northern Shoveler ducks.