Nature Moncton Nature
News
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**On Saturday, October 11,
Brian Coyle spent a cool fall morning hiking out to his trail cameras. When he
got back home to review the SD cards, he was delighted to see three river otters
wrestling and playing, as only river otters do. This went on for nearly a
half hour, resulting in many videos, some of which include their vocalizations.
Brian was astonished when he saw the next series of videos, showing a bobcat stalking the river otters and then attempting to attack them. The bobcat tries again and again, even entering the water. At one point, one of the otters actually left the beaver pond to approach the bobcat. The bobcat appears unsuccessful in its attempt at a meal. Brian surmises that this may have been a young bobcat that didn't quite know how to handle such a feisty, agile potential prey.
(Editor’s note: These are
short but very interesting videos. The vocalizations heard are those of the river
otter, which they often use, if you're lucky enough to be able to watch them. The
literature says each of their four vocalizations means something special if
you happen to be a river otter.)
Because they are short videos, video link editor Brian Stone combined some that went well together. So six videos are combined to make three videos. The first two go together, the next two go together,
and the last two go together. There is a slight lag after clicking on the
links. The videos surely show what goes on in the depths of the night that we never
see.
**David Cannon captured a
photo of a gallium sphinx caterpillar, the larval stage of the beautiful
bedstraw hawk-moth, on Saturday, October 10th, at the Maplewood Golf Course in
Irishtown.
These caterpillars are
really on the move right now, seeking out winter hibernation sites to pupate.
They vary somewhat in appearance, but the red ‘horn’ is a clue.
**Jane LeBlanc got a
chance to go whale watching from St. Andrews for work again, and she sends some
photos. They saw gray seals, harbour porpoise, and a humpback
whale named "Super Nova".
When she arrived home,
Jane found an eastern phoebe in her yard.
**Fred and Susan Richards
have been amazed by the action on their annual flower bed this late in the
season. By Thanksgiving, they usually
have had a frost, so no flowers. Sue
spotted a moth around 5:30 on Sunday.
The photo is blurry because of
the low light and the fact that the moth was vibrating a lot, potentially trying to
stay warm.
(Editor’s note: Fred’s
comment about the annual flowers still blooming and being visited by moths and
butterflies may suggest the reality of a warming climate.)
**The abundant crop of
mountain ash berries must be reaching the stage to attract fruit-connoisseur
birds.
Bob Blake comments that their
heavily laden mountain ash berry shrubs are now attracting hordes of American robins.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
