NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
July 7, 2025
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**Jane LeBlanc was alerted by
neighbours that they had found a snowshoe hare nest with little ones
near their lawn. Jane went and found four little ones and photographed them.
**Yolande
LeBlanc reports a monarch butterfly has made it to Memramcook, flitting
from milkweed-to-milkweed plant.
**Stella and
Jean Paul LeBlanc went on the Marine Wildlife Safari with Phoca Tours on
Friday, and they really enjoyed the pontoon ride to visit the grey seals.
It’s a 2½- to 3-hour tour, but very interesting, with the guide providing
history lessons along the way to the seals in the waters next to Kouchibouguac
Park. The starting site is located immediately after the bridge in St.
Louis-de-Kent.
There is
also the second-largest colony of common terns in North America
(approximately 20,000) in the area. Jean Paul sends a photo of the
seals.
**On Friday,
July 04, Brian Stone went to the Cocagne Trail to try and relocate the female widow
skimmer dragonfly that John-Guy Goguen found there on an earlier
visit. After about 40 minutes of observing the spot where it had appeared for Jean-Guy, it finally appeared for Brian as well although it looks slightly different from the one Jean-Guy found and might be a second specimen. Another
special visitor was a female blue dasher dragonfly, which Brian was not
expecting but was very pleased to see.
While Brian
was waiting for his target to appear he enjoyed photographing a variety of life
around that area which included a couple images of one of the dozens of baltimore
checkerspot butterflies that were there, an eyed brown butterfly, a viceroy
butterfly, a common ringlet butterfly, a northern crescent
butterfly, a worn silvery checkerspot butterfly, an American
emerald dragonfly, a spiny baskettail dragonfly, a long dash
skipper, a dun skipper, and after a long chase a monarch
butterfly paused long enough for only a slim edge-on photo. Beside the
trail in one spot was a small cluster of pyrola in bloom.
Moving on to
the Bouctouche lagoons, Brian noted a large number of Bonaparte's gulls
perching in one lagoon. Beside the trail around the lagoons, Brian
photographed several bronze copper butterflies, a pair of eastern
forktail damselflies mating, a mining bee on vetch, a song
sparrow fence-perching, and a fireweed clearwing moth on a
daisy.
**Leon Gagnon
leaves some observations and comments from Wilson Point on Miscou Island.
This is the 20th
year Leon has returned to his summer cottage at this birding hotspot.
He had a
single brown thrasher around the cottage on June 22 and 23, which is the
third year he has observed the species. A male bobolink came to the
neighbouring meadows for several days; Leon heard its melodious song and hopes
it is nesting.
There are 20
nest boxes for tree swallows set out, and most appear to be occupied.
Leon is
using the Merlin app extensively between 5 AM and 9 AM to get an idea of birds
in the area. At this point, he has 70 thirty-minute recording periods using both Apple and Samsung phones, finding they have slightly different sensitivity
levels. Leon sends a photo of a table/list he kept on July 5.
Nelson Poirier.
Nature Moncton
