Nature Moncton Nature
News
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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.
If you would like to share
observations/photos with Nature News, contact the editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Please advise the editor
at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com, as well as the proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca, if any errors are noted in wording or photo
labelling.
Proofreading courtesy of
Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
The camera on the peregrine
falcon nest box on the summit of Assumption Place is now live. When
checking the link to watch the activity, scroll down to the first large image,
which shows what is happening in real time.
The peregrine falcon
parents have advised Nature News that they are looking to hire a housekeeper to
keep the cottage clean while they are busy carting groceries, as their four teenagers are now demanding all of their attention!
Https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
**One of the highlights of
the Festival of Nature celebration banquet is the announcement of the Nature
New Brunswick Naturalist of the Year Award, selected by a committee. The
unanimous selection of the person to receive that award this year was Fred
Richards. Peter Gadd has supplied a few photographs of that moment, and the
link below very clearly states why the choice of this prestigious award went to
Fred Richards.
**Following the Footsteps
of the Piping Plover" guided by Lewnanny Richardson was just one of the Festival
of Nature excursions that got rave reviews!
The methodology Lewnanny
used to allow a large group of people to go within a few feet of the piping
plover nest without significantly disturbing the birds was incredible, as his 25
years of experience working with the species clearly showed he knew what he was
doing. A person whose reputation with training dogs might lead him to
be called the “dog whisperer”. Lewnanny could appropriately be termed the “piping
plover whisperer"!
Emily
Diesbourg shares a photo of a piping plover nonchalantly walking by her
while on that field trip.
On
this same trip, a beautiful flock of common eiders glided past, with
Deanna Fenwick capturing some pleasant photos. They were included in yesterday’s
lineup of photos but somehow flew off into cyberspace, so they are attached
today.
**David
Cannon submits comments on observations from the Festival of Nature field trip
to Pokeshaw Rock, which is a large portion of the mainland that separated away
to be almost completely surrounded by water and became a perfect seabird
nesting site. Some of the items that caught David’s attention that he was able to photograph were the following:
The
Celtic Cross on top of Pokeshaw Rock.
A black guillemot documentary photo that shows the red leg.
A razorbill documentary photo that shows the strong white loral-line only
adult breeding razorbills have.
An American wigeon swimming in a peat bog on Miscou Island.
**Jane
LeBlanc visited a friend on the Kingston peninsula on Saturday and found
one of many bobolinks in the lupin field.
At
home, she found a garter snake near the pond, probably responsible for
the decreased number of tadpoles there.
**Maureen
Girvan has a black-capped chickadee couple with a nest in the hollowed-out
cut branch of an apple tree. Maureen assumes they are feeding young as they
have made many trips in and out. One of Maureen’s photos shows a tail
disappearing into the cavity.
Maureen
also photographed a common eastern bumble bee on a beautiful azalea
bush bloom.
(Editor’s
note: the common eastern bumblebee Queen is our largest bumblebee and is very busy
right now collecting pollen to start a new nest/colony. It is fairly easy to
recognize by the circular patch of black hairs between the base of the wings, with the first abdominal segment fully yellow, and with all the remaining segments
black. The Queens are distinctly larger than the workers, which will appear
after the Queen starts a nest and lays eggs that will become female bees who will tend to her every need.)
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
