NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
September 7, 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
**Brian
Stone sends some photos from the Nature Moncton outing at the Irving Arboretum
in Bouctouche on Saturday. A group of 17 enthusiastic participants walked some
trails and viewed some trees and other items in the arboretum under warm, sunny
skies. Along the far side of the arboretum, a few birds were noted, including a
Bonaparte's gull, a couple of ring-billed gulls, an osprey diving for fish and
catching a good-sized one, a single greater yellowlegs that flew past, a
distant kingfisher, and some cedar waxwings. Friendly goldfish were
plentiful in the small pond at the flower garden, and a blue mud dauber wasp
was exploring along a stone wall in the bright sunlight while a hungry red
squirrel tried its best to consume a large (to him) apple on a tree branch.
Everyone joined in and asked questions, and some even got answers. For an outing
on short notice, it was a great success.
**Members
of Nature Miramichi had a very pleasant day exploring a beach and salt marsh on
the south-east coast of the inner Miramichi Bay off Hardwicke Rd., just a short
distance from the south-east tip of the barrier island, Fox Island, on
Saturday. At the invitation of the property owner, Terry Power (who is a club member),
the visit was made with the intention and expectation of finding migrating
shorebirds in a couple of shallow pools. Although several semipalmated
plovers were seen (on the shore) as well as two least sandpipers (in
a shallow pond), expectations were not met. Three days prior, yellowlegs,
short-billed dowitchers, a willet, and a black-bellied plover
had been feeding in this very area.
The day, however, was still very rewarding. The weather was perfect, including
a good breeze that kept any possible salt marsh mosquitoes at bay. Attractive
Fox Island was just a short distance away (just seen on the horizon of the marsh photo)
and the very tip of the island, immediately before them, was announced
as a Protected Natural Area (PNA) in 2022. The salt marsh had added colour with
areas of samphire, aka common glasswort.
(Editor’s
note: the samphire is an incredible edible green that is a bright green fleshy
salt marsh plant found on our coasts in the spring/summer that turns bright red
in the fall. It is getting harder to locate good areas to forage for this
delicacy. That problem was solved after Saturday’s discovery!)
On
the shore were concentrated collections of macoma clam shells (very
small clams). There was no litter or washed-up commercial fishing gear.
Other birds noticed included a merlin, a bald eagle and savannah sparrows.
There
were many Virginia tiger moth caterpillars, a.k.a. yellow woolly bear on
the beach/marsh that were originally mistaken for salt marsh caterpillars. The
wooded area around Terry’s home had a surprising selection flora and fauna. A fall
webworm moth caterpillar was noted doing its best to help Terry combat the
very invasive intrusion of American bittersweet. Terry also shared a photo of a
dog-day cicada that had landed on his shirt and could be heard in the
distance. He also shared a photo of a galium sphinx moth caterpillar a.k.a.
bed straw hawk-moth.
At a
nearby large brook, Nelson Poirier noted and photographed short-billed dowitchers
and greater yellowlegs at a distance.
**Louise
and Glen Nichols were surprised on Friday afternoon to look down at some carrot
plants in their garden to see three large black swallowtail caterpillars.
Earlier in the summer, one was found on a dill plant. Louise didn't see
where it went to form a chrysalis, but a few weeks later, she saw a black
swallowtail butterfly flying in the garden and wondered if that could be the
caterpillar transformed. Perhaps that butterfly provided the eggs that
are now the caterpillars on the carrots, which will sleep in their chrysalids
throughout the winter. An interesting possibility.
**On Saturday, Sue Richards took that monarch butterfly caterpillar that she recently shared on Nature News, and put it in a big glass jar with milkweed branches, a long stick, water on the bottom with wood chips to keep everything moist. She put a mesh top with double elastics to secure it tightly. The caterpillar ate on the first day. The next day it was walking, and its antennas were twitching at the top of the mesh. The next day, it left a small dot of silk on the mesh. That night it was hanging by its tail and in J position. The next day, it was a green chrysalis. Susan expects a hatching by September 16th at the latest, which is still lots of time for it to be migrating south.
**Shannon
Inman got a distant photo of a pied-billed grebe down on the Shepody marsh.
There was a family of them feasting on small eels. And a few dark-eyed
juncos were on the move, and at home, a northern flicker was enjoying a
bath, and each time it got out, it gave a loud peep that you could clearly hear
in the house.
**Nelson Poirier took note of the abundant crop of mountain ash we are blessed with this year. It will be great fodder for overwintering birds such as American robin, Bohemian and cedar waxwings, pine grosbeaks, and other fruit connoisseurs.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
