Nature Moncton Nature News: August 28 2025

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

August 28, 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 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 Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Richard Blacquiere reports a newly fledged (hatch year) turkey vulture at the Hampton lagoon on the morning of 27 Aug 2025. These grey-headed young birds regularly show up in Hampton in the last week of August. In previous years, Richard first noted them on August 25, 2024, and on August 27, 2022, so they are right on schedule this year. This summer, there have been approximately 40 turkey vultures spending the nights in the large trees above the lagoon. In the morning, if it’s sunny and calm, they usually leave their perches between 9 and 10 o’clock. This morning, they all lifted off at 9:40.

**Rheal Vienneau released one of his reared monarch butterflies that had just emerged and was nectaring on his lantana plant.

(Editor’s note: this individual will be in perfect condition to start on its migratory route to Mexico.)

**Brian Stone sends a few photos from the final Nature Moncton Wednesday Night Walk of the season. About 19 participants enjoyed a feast of homemade blueberry shortcake created and provided by Fred and Susan Richards. After an hour or so of socializing and shortcaking (it's always fun to create a new word), the group went for a walk along Fred's groomed trails with an accompanying narration about the nature and history of the area. Thank you to Fred and Susan for setting up and hosting the last Wednesday nature walk that was enjoyed by all.

**Nelson Poirier was checking a sizable area of common milkweed on Wednesday and was not able to find any evidence of monarch butterfly activity.

However, he did find two other species of insects that have milkweed on the menu. A few milkweed tussock moth caterpillars were found and removed, as they can skeletonize a patch of milkweed when in large numbers. Also found were both the adult and nymph stages of the common milkweed bug.

**There are a lot of fall webworm caterpillar nests in trees and shrubs at the moment.

We have three common species of moth caterpillar that build large silken nests in New Brunswick. The eastern tent caterpillar in the spring builds the tent likeness, whereas the ugly nest caterpillar does so early to mid-summer in less well-organized nests, with the fall web worm very active in their messy nests in late summer and fall. They all seem to have a taste for chokecherry foliage, but possibly that’s because it’s more accessible.

The three caterpillar species are easy to tell apart. The ugly nest caterpillar and the fall web worm are definitely the later ones and we are in that changeover period now. The easiest way to distinguish them is by noting the hairs (setae). The fall web worm caterpillar is very hairy, whereas the ugly nest caterpillar is nearly hairless.

**The New Brunswick environmental network publishes a list of events to place in September that it has been advised of. Click on any event listed for full details, including the Nature Moncton September 16 meeting night presentation.