Nature Moncton Nature
News
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well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond, are invited to share their
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**Much appreciation to
Jessica Belanger-Mainville for leading the Nature Moncton Wednesday walk to the
Humphrey Brook Trail. Many eyes made for a very pleasant evening of
observations.
**Brian Stone attended the
Nature Moncton Wednesday Night Walk at the Humphrey Brook Trail and
photographed a few of the more interesting observations. The weather was
pleasant, the bugs were minimal, and the wildlife was more visible and in
better numbers than usual along this trail on Wednesday evenings. At the
beginning, Brian noticed a group of at least five belted kingfishers flying
around and perching in some dead trees in the distance. A great blue heron
was also flying around the same spot and landed in a nearby dead tree long
enough to get a photo. Some immature birds were viewed and tentatively
identified, including chestnut-sided warbler, and red-breasted
nuthatch. A pair of ruby-throated hummingbirds were nectaring in jewelweed
patches beside the trail and were kind enough to perch and pose for the
camera.
(Editor’s note: Jewelweed
a.k.a. spotted touch-me-not is recognized as having a very high sugar content, and so is very attractive to the ruby-throated hummingbird at this important time of
fledging.)
An elderberry borer beetle was an interesting find, and a special sighting was a high-flying common nighthawk that everyone with a camera did their best to photograph in a mildly panicked rush.
(Editor’s note: the common nighthawk is an early-season migrant and can be seen often in groups feeding on aerial insects in migration over the next few weeks.)
The final bird seen was an adult bald eagle sitting on top of a dead tree across the street from the trail entrance.
Brian Stone also sends a few photos of a fledgling yellow-rumped warbler being fed by a parent and waiting patiently, and at times impatiently, on a tree branch for more tasty insects to be brought to it.
**Jane and Ed LeBlanc
travelled to Johnson's Mills on Wednesday to see the shorebirds. The
numbers are about 50,000. They would have waited another week, but are going
away. They saw shorebirds only at a distance, as there were several fly-bys by
peregrine falcons.
**Larry Sherrard was able to capture a photo of the red eft phase of the eastern newt.
This is the immature land phase of the eastern newt that will stay on land 2-4 years after hatching, then head to water for the aquatic adult phase, which will change appearance considerably. The red eft is obviously quite common but not commonly seen.
**David and Anita were walking through the Irishtown Nature Park Wednesday afternoon when they heard an unusual bird call, coming from two or more sources. Merlin identified it as a Cooper's Hawk. Walking closer to the cries, they joined a birder - Mike Lindsay, a visitor from Halifax - who was watching the hawks. He confirmed they were seeing three Cooper's Hawks, at least one juvenile (the video attached) and at least one mature hawk, whose rufous chest they could clearly see as it flew around them. The video was taken by Mike, who had heard - quite correctly! - that the Irishtown Nature Park was a good site for birding. They were joined by a second birder, who noted the Cooper's hawks had been in the INP for the past week.
.
**Wayne Fairchild
had an interesting scenario appear on his yard swamp milkweed patch recently.
He suddenly noticed several newly hatched caterpillars on the plant that he was
hoping would be monarch butterfly caterpillars, but was quite rightly
questioning the identification as it is not characteristic of the monarch butterfly
to lay so many eggs in one spot on the plant, which made him suspect the
possibility of the devastating (to the milkweed plant) milkweed tussock moth
caterpillars. The mystery could normally be solved by waiting a few days, as
the caterpillars look very different; however, they have all disappeared, with
the possibility that they were eaten by a bird.
The monarch caterpillar and
the milkweed tussock caterpillar can easily be differentiated after a few days,
but do look similar on the day of emergence.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
