NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
June 30, 2025
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
To
respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line
editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
Please
advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader
Louise Nichols at Nicholsl@eastlink.ca if
any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.
For more information
on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com
Proofreading
courtesy of Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Activities Coordinator Cynthia Doucet advises Nature Moncton members and friends to save the date for an upcoming field trip to Mary's Point on Saturday, August 9, at 10:30 a.m. Stay tuned for
more details.
**Louise
Nichols got photos of a few butterflies on Friday before the clouds moved
in. At home in
Aulac that day, she saw a silver-bordered fritillary on the
trail. While walking through their bog, she saw a little blue butterfly, which turned out to be a northern blue. Louise had seen this
butterfly only in one spot in a boggy area off High Marsh Rd in Sackville, where
they had been reported in the past, so she was surprised to find one on their
Aulac property. Northern blue butterflies are common in Nova Scotia, but uncommon
in New Brunswick.
**The cattle
egret continues to enjoy the farmyard on Covedell Road in Tabusintac, but
when Aldo Dorio visited it on Sunday, it chose a higher, windy perch.
Aldo also
photographed a fledgling Song Sparrow in his Neguac yard. The yellow commissure
of the bill (arrowed) is still showing yellow to indicate a fledgling. This
portion of the bill has not hardened yet; it remains soft and pliable.
Aldo has
also had an interesting scenario with eastern bluebirds. A pair has nested
in his Neguac yard for several years, but this year, they checked out the nest box several times before making their decision to nest in the dying days
of June.
**On Sunday,
Brian Stone saw a report of a rare dragonfly (a widow skimmer) on the Cocagne
trail, and he hustled over to the trail and checked out the area where it was
seen. It was a long shot as the weather was cool, damp, and dim, and no insects
were out flying, including the dragonfly. Brian intends to check on the spot
again later under better conditions, with hopes of success, but needs a ton of
luck to have the target still present.
Brian did
manage to find a few things to photograph anyway, including an eastern wood
pewee, a swamp sparrow, a female common yellowthroat, a black-capped
chickadee leaving its nest with a fecal sac, a couple bumblebees
including a photobombing flower fly in one image, and a relaxing groundhog
on Brian's deck back home.
(Editor’s
note: I am including several photos of Brian’s eastern wood peewee to peruse
carefully, as this is a species we don’t often get photos of. Note the
appearance of short legs as this species often tends to perch close to the
branch, which can be helpful for identification.)
Nelson Poirier.
Nature Moncton
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