Nature Moncton Nature
News
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Proofreading courtesy of
Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Louise Nichols joined
Brian Stone at Wilson Marsh on Monday afternoon to look for the rare
dragonflies that Brian has seen there. They were lucky to find three out
of the four they were looking for: Eastern pondhawk, halloween pennant,
and widow skimmer. The widow skimmer was far off, and Louise was not able
to get a good photo. The eastern pondhawks (both a male and
female) were moving over the surface of the water, and the female was
ovipositing. Louise was able to get a documentary photo of the female in
action. She also includes photos of the halloween pennant, one she
has never seen before. In addition to the uncommon dragonflies, Louise
photographed a band-winged meadowhawk and a twelve-spotted skimmer.
Louise thanks Brian for finding the rare ones, so she was able to see them.
**It’s developing into a
great year for monarch butterflies with many folks finding them for the first
time in their milkweed patches.
Jane LeBlanc had better
luck today with photographing a monarch butterfly caterpillar turning into a
chrysalis, as this one was in the shade. She now has seven chrysalides and two more caterpillars.
**Fishing is looking to be
quite productive in the Petitcodiac River looking out from Château Moncton.
Georges Brun photographed
a greater black-backed gull and an osprey, both with similar fish prey.
The fish prey appear to be gaspereau. It would seem late for the spawning run
of gaspereau but possibly these are adults that have come up, spawned, and are
heading back to sea.
Comments on that are welcomed.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
