NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
November 1, 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
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**On a visit to Oak Point Thursday, Deana and Peter
Gadd spotted a single Snow Bunting at the northeast end of Oak Point Rd.
Oak Point through the winter is often a reliable spot to find small flocks of
Snow Buntings as the exposed grassy areas are often windswept and the birds can
forage for seeds on exposed plants. It is likely that Snow Buntings will start
to appear in other areas of the province at this time of the season.
A little later, having met up with two other Miramichi birders, they saw a single Sanderling on the northeast tip of Hay Island that seemed to be successfully finding something to eat on the washed-up eel grass.
Earlier a larger plover was seen in flight, and the
black axillaries clearly seen under the wing indicated that it was a Black-bellied
Plover. It seemed to fly towards the pond surrounded by the boardwalk where
they had a good look a little later and the supplied photo was taken, possibly the same bird as before as no other larger plovers were seen.
Other shorebirds encountered on Hay Island included five Semipalmated Plovers, seven Dunlins, and five Greater Yellowlegs. Great Blue Herons
were not seen, however.
**The last moth species for the year to emerge from
the pupa visited Tony Thomas’ moth light trap Wednesday night (30 Oct. 2024). It was a Bruce
Spanworm.
**Shannon Inman came across two Yellow-spotted Salamanders
crossing a road in Albert County on Thursday. Shannon also saw a few smaller salamanders (also Yellow-spotted Salamanders assumedly young-of-the-year) crossing the road about a mile from the larger ones in the photos
she got. It was unexpected to encounter that many. One would wonder if it had
something to do with the unseasonably warm day and precipitation.
(Editor’s note: Yellow-spotted Salamanders do
hibernate for the winter in underground burrows, crevices under logs, and in
leaf litter on the forest floor. In late winter and early spring, they emerge from hibernation to
migrate to vernal ponds when the temperatures
warm up with rains.)
**Lynn Dube photographed an uncommon variation of the
Asian Multicoloured Lady Beetle on Thursday. This lady beetle species is
known for its variation in colour and spotting but the example Lynn
photographed is at the extreme.
This non-native lady beetle species is commonly seen
at this time of year as it prefers outbuildings and our homes as locations to spend
the winter. It tends to move inside in groups.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
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