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 proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca, if any errors are noted in wording or photo
labelling.
Proofreading courtesy of
Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
** A very unfortunate
misunderstanding took place on Tuesday evening with the Nature Moncton meeting place at the
Rotary Lodge being double-booked with the first group already present.
Josh Christiansen agreed
to come at another time, which will be worked on over the next few days.
The group assembled around
a picnic table outside, and we spent a pleasant hour talking about the mushrooms people had brought.
**Marbeth Wilson and Judy
Cairns made a September 11, 2026 whirlwind 800 km trip to Carleton-sur-mer,
Gaspe, Quebec, just to see the mega-rare, to this area, Far Eastern Curlew.
This bird breeds across northeastern Asia and migrates along the East
Asian-Australian Flyway to spend the non-breeding season in coastal Australia.
Two American golden plovers
were also seen and an American pipit to round out a very successful and
rewarding mission.
** Recently Nelson Poirier shared a report on Canada yew a.k.a. ground hemlock. At the time, Nelson could not find the unique fruit of this plant; however, he did find several on a recent visit.
The unique fruit is called
an aril. It consists of a fleshy, cup-like outer coating that grows
around a single naked seed (that can be seen from an opening at the base)
rather than a tree fruit formed from a flower's ovary. The fruit appears in the
fall on female or monoecious shrubs. The flesh is not toxic to humans, but the
seed is, so it should not be eaten. That said, birds eat the fruit, and the
seed passes through because it is not chewed.
Plants that produce these
arils seem to produce very few, so they are easy to miss.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
