Editor & Proofreader

Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Wednesday, 20 May 2026

May 20 2026

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

 

 

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

 

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.

 

We are now fairly convinced that the peregrine family consists of four nestlings, even though the parents are still spending most of the time trying to keep that information from us!

Georges Brun captured a documentary screenshot that seems to convincingly show four beaks with an insatiable appetite.

 


FOUR PEREGRINE FALCON CHICKS. MAY 18, 2026. GEORGES BRUN

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

 

 

**A very sincere thank you to Becky Graham for spending the evening with Nature Moncton on Tuesday night to share all the information that has been gleaned from moose surveillance in and around Fundy National Park.

Becky had so much information to share. I suspect many of us were not aware of the life and times of this beautiful animal we are blessed with in New Brunswick. The participants peppered Becky with many questions to get a lot of information that many of us will be thinking about the next time we spot a moose.

This excellent presentation was recorded and will be available within the next few days for those who missed it or want to hear it again.

 

**The clay-coloured sparrow can be a challenging bird to get good photographs of in New Brunswick.

Ted Sears certainly accomplished that feat by getting a beautiful solo photo of a clay-coloured sparrow as well as a clay-coloured sparrow beside a chipping sparrow.  These two species can sometimes be confused.

He was also able to capture a pair of indigo buntings for a comparison shot of the male and female, as well as a solo photo of the brilliant male.

Classic photos for attention!

 

**Jessica Belanger-Mainville headed out to Wilson marsh Monday afternoon for a good, long walk. Through a streak of luck, she spotted a sora and was able to get a few photos. She also saw a few Baltimore orioles, and one of them posed beautifully for some photos. There was also a pied-billed grebe gathering nesting material. Another great discovery was a pair of Wilson’s warblers flying around. Towards the end of her walk, she was finally able to get a photo of her favourite warbler, the common yellowthroat. And finally, on the way back, a bald eagle was sitting in a nearby tree.

 

**Jane and Ed LeBlanc were on a bicycle ride near their home in St. Martins on Tuesday morning. Jane noticed a head sticking out of the grass on the side of the road. It was a spruce grouse. She hadn't seen one in many years...not since a trip to Algonquin Park in Ontario.

Later, her neighbour had both male and female indigo buntings, but by the time Jane got there, only the female was seen. A flock of cedar waxwings arrived to enjoy serviceberry flowers. The Baltimore oriole also made a brief appearance.

 

**John Inman was surprised to see the red-bellied woodpecker still there looking for a mate!

He also saw a few more Baltimore orioles, one in the birch after insects, one in the cedar,  and a couple squabbling with one showing a yellowish tail.

 

**Monday was a photo-filled day for Brian Coyle as he made his way to some remote trail cameras. Some of the plants are not yet in full flower, but still identifiable, including tartarian honeysuckle, blue-bead lily a.k.a. clintonia, and painted trillium.

Brian was also able to get videos of an ovenbird, and a black-throated green warbler vocalizing. Listen in below:

 

DSCN3674.MOV

 

DSCN3694.MOV

 

 

**Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton



INDIGO BUNTING (PAIR). MAY 19. 2026. TED SEARS


INDIGO BUNTING (MALE). MAY 19. 2026. TED SEARS


CLAY-COLORED SPARROW. MAY 19. 2026. TED SEARS


CLAY-COLORED SPARROW AND CHIPPING SPARROW. MAY 19. 2026. TED SEARS


INDIGO BUNTING (FEMALE). MAY 19, 2026. JANE LEBLANC


 


SPRUCE GROUSE. MAY 19, 2026. JANE LEBLANC


SPRUCE GROUSE. MAY 19, 2026. JANE LEBLANC

 


SORA. MAY 18, 2026.  JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


SORA. MAY 18, 2026.  JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER (MALE). MAY  19, 2026. JOHN INMAN


PIED-BILLED GREBE. MAY 18, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


OVENBIRD. MAY 18, 2026. BRIAN COYLE


COMMON YELLOWTHROAT (MALE). MAY 18, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


CEDAR WAXWING. MAY 19, 2026. JANE LEBLANC


BLUE-HEADED VIREO. MAY 18, 2026. BRIAN COYLE


BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. MAY 18, 2026. BRIAN COYLE


BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER. MAY 18, 2026. BRIAN COYLE


BALTIMORE ORIOLE. MAY  19, 2026. JOHN INMAN


BALTIMORE ORIOLE. MAY  19, 2026. JOHN INMAN


BALTIMORE ORIOLE. MAY  19, 2026. JOHN INMAN


BALTIMORE ORIOLE. MAY  19, 2026.  JOHN INMAN


BALTIMORE ORIOLE. MAY 18, 2026.  JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


BALTIMORE ORIOLE. MAY 18, 2026.  JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


BALTIMORE ORIOLE (MALE). MAY 19, 2026. JANE LEBLANC


BALD EAGLE. MAY 18, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


WILSON’S WARBLER. MAY 18, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


TARTARIAN HONEYSUCKLE. MAY 18, 2026. BRIAN COYLE


PAINTED TRILLIUM.MAY 18, 2026. BRIAN COYLE


CLINTONIA. MAY 18, 2026. BRIAN COYLE







 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, 18 May 2026

May 19 2026

 

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

 

 

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

 

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.

 

We have no confirmed photos, but rumour has it that there are now more than two hatchling heads in the peregrine falcon summer cottage!

 

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

 

 

**Tonight, Tuesday night May 19, is the Nature Moncton meeting night with our speaker presenting in person at the Rotary Lodge. All details below:

 

May Meeting Presentation


Moose Surveillance Project

Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 7 PM at Mapleton Park Lodge

Speakers: Becky Graham and Steve Ginnish

National Parks are not just for camping!  They also support ecological health and monitoring programs to assess indicators and ecosystems of the park, the health of wildlife, and to help guide restoration efforts.

Fundy National Park has been monitoring moose in its boundaries and buffer areas for some time using aerial surveillance. More recently in 2024, based on guidance from Mi’gmaq partners, trail cameras were added.  Since then, eight trail cameras have gathered hundreds of photos that have allowed the park to collect much more valuable health information on the moose that frequent the area.

Becky Graham is acting Resource Conservation Manager at Fundy National Park and has been involved with the moose surveillance program from its beginnings. The Mi’maq indigenous community has been a valued asset in the project’s development, and Becky has worked closely with Steve Ginnish, the forestry director at Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc.  In this presentation, both Becky and Steve will present some of the data and images they have collected and will share what they have discovered about the moose population in Fundy National Park.

This presentation will be live at Mapleton Park Lodge and recorded for those unable to participate in person.

As always, all are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.




 

**Louise Nichols was walking in the woods behind their Aulac house when she noticed two turkey vultures soaring overhead.  When she reached the small cabin, one of the vultures was perched on top, not far from where she was standing.  She watched it for a few minutes, took some photos, until it flew off.

 She also found some first-of-the-season brown elfin butterflies in their usual spot.

 On another note, she and Glen have been noticing a greater number of ticks this spring, particularly American dog ticks.  Louise picked up a few on a trail across the NS border this morning, and then she and Glen got another couple from their own property later in the day.  None of them had attached.  Is this going to be a bad tick season?

 

**On Sunday afternoon, Annette Stone was looking out her kitchen window when she noticed a visitor rooting around in the flower box attached to the back deck. She grabbed one of the spare cameras scattered around the house and snapped a close-up photo of the resident groundhog as it took a break from foraging to look around the yard. 

 

**Jane LeBlanc went birding at her neighbour's on Main Street in St. Martins again on Monday morning. She caught a least flycatcher nearby. Later, the neighbour texted that he had a first-year male Baltimore oriole, so she went back and caught it near the feeder.

 

 **John Inman reports Henry the groundhog is back again for a short stay under the baby barn, providing cheap rent, just having to look after the dandelions.

John photographed the first time he had seen a red-winged blackbird at an orange. It seemed to be eating the white membrane out of it.

John also photographed one of two eastern kingbirds in his backyard.


**Nelson Poirier photographed the first painted trillium he has seen this year, adding a blaze of colour to the dead leaf backdrop.

 

 

 

**Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton



LEAST FLYCATCHER. MAY 18, 2026. JANE LEBLANC


EASTERN KINGBIRD. MAY 18, 2026. JOHN INMAN


BALTIMORE ORIOLE (FIRST YEAR MALE) MAY 18, 2026. JANE LEBLANC.


TURKEY VULTURE. MAY 18, 2026. LOUISE NICHOLS


TURKEY VULTURE. MAY 18, 2026. LOUISE NICHOLS


RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD (AT ORANGE). MAY 18, 2026. JOHN INMAN


BROWN ELFIN BUTTERFLY. MAY 18, 2026. LOUISE NICHOLS



GROUNDHOG. MAY 18, 2026. JOHN INMAN


GROUNDHOG. MAY 17, 2026. ANNETTE STONE


PAINTED TRILLIUM. MAY 18, 2026. NELSON POIRIER





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, 17 May 2026

May 18 2026

 

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

 

 

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

 

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.

 

As of Sunday evening, it is looking like two hatchlings are getting lots to eat! Will they be joined by another? Chances are.

 

 


PEREGRINE FALCON AND NESTLINGS. MAY 17, 2026.  NELSON POIRIER


PEREGRINE FALCON AND NESTLINGS. MAY 17, 2026.  NELSON POIRIER

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

 

 

**Tuesday night, May 19, is Nature Moncton meeting night with our speaker presenting in person at the Rotary Lodge. All details below:

 

May Meeting Presentation


Moose Surveillance Project

Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 7 PM at Mapleton Park Lodge

Speakers: Becky Graham and Steve Ginnish

National Parks are not just for camping!  They also support ecological health and monitoring programs to assess indicators and ecosystems of the park, the health of wildlife, and to help guide restoration efforts.

Fundy National Park has been monitoring moose in its boundaries and buffer areas for some time using aerial surveillance. More recently in 2024, based on guidance from Mi’gmaq partners, trail cameras were added.  Since then, eight trail cameras have gathered hundreds of photos that have allowed the park to collect much more valuable health information on the moose that frequent the area.

Becky Graham is acting Resource Conservation Manager at Fundy National Park and has been involved with the moose surveillance program from its beginnings. The Mi’maq indigenous community has been a valued asset in the project’s development, and Becky has worked closely with Steve Ginnish, the forestry director at Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc.  In this presentation, both Becky and Steve will present some of the data and images they have collected and will share what they have discovered about the moose population in Fundy National Park.

This presentation will be live at Mapleton Park Lodge and recorded for those unable to participate in person.

As always, all are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

 

 


 

 

**John Inman photographed a showdown between a rose-breasted grosbeak and a blue jay. The jay left!

 John has had three more Baltimore orioles come by -- two bright males and a female. They're not staying around long, just a rest and feed for the day, and moving out.

Down further in John’s backyard, the peregrine falcon came in for a blue jay lunch.

 

**Lisa Morris sends a photo of a trembling aspen female catkin that has already gone to seed.

 

**Jane LeBlanc joined the Saint John Naturalists for a hike through the Irving Nature Park in west Saint John on Sunday. Species totalled around 50. Standouts were a brown creeper, magnolia warblers, bay-breasted warbler, Canada warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, and bobolink, among others. Some photos are better than others, but as everyone knows...warblers don't come out in the open/sit still for long!

 

**David Lilly led a walk for Nature Fredericton on Saturday at Thatch Road close to the Fredericton Airport doing a distance of approximately 6 km with 9 participants.

They recorded 216 birds, which equaled 42 species. 

A least flycatcher was a treat.

 

**Brian Stone sends a few photos from the Nature Moncton warbler hike on Saturday. Birds that Brian photographed that weren't posted in yesterday's edition are a female black-throated blue warbler, a pine warbler, and a blackburnian warbler. He photographed many other birds that were also photographed by other excellent nature group photographers that were posted yesterday. Brian also photographed the cloud of mayflies that were hovering around the group and got a close-up of one that was resting on the back shoulder of club member Louise Nichols. 

 

After the outing was over, Brian and Cathy Simon continued birding, and Cathy's sharp eye found a spotted sandpiper, an osprey eating lunch, a few dozen great blue herons out on sandbars, and a double-crested cormorant successfully fishing. 

 

 

**Wild leek is an uncommon plant in New Brunswick, found only at a few sites. One of those sites near Sussex has many plants.

Nelson Poirier transplanted four plants from that site to a wet site near his camp on the little Southwest Miramichi River. They seem to have liked what they found and are doing well. They appear to like the company of trout lily and Dutchman’s breeches, as some photos show. The Dutchman’s breeches are just emerging, and a nearby plant is arrowed.

Nelson also photographed a hobble-bush in prime bloom, showing the outside rim of sterile ray flowers with the inner fertile flowers yet to bloom.

Other plants photographed were dwarf ginseng, sessile-leaf bellwort, and threeleaf goldthread, showing the bright yellow root to give it its name.

Nelson also visited the Beaver Lake burn-over site from last summer, hoping to find woodpeckers, longhorn beetles, and mushrooms. None of the three were present. Almost no greenery had appeared, but groups of 1 cm clusters of common liverwort, a.k.a. umbrella liverwort (Polymorpha marchantia) were found.

The cuplike structures on the surface are gemma cups, which contain asexual reproductive cells called gemmae. Raindrops splash them out as their means of reproduction.

 

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton



NORTHERN PARULA. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


GRAY CATBIRD. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE


DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE


CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE


CANADA WARBLER. MAY 17, 2026. JANE LEBLANC


BROWN CREEPER. MAY 17, 2026. JANE LEBLANC


BOBOLINK. MAY 17, 2026. JANE LEBLANC


BLUE-HEADED VIREO. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE


BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE


BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER (FEMALE). MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER (FEMALE). MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE


BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. MAY 17, 2026.  JANE LEBLANC


BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. MAY 17, 2026.  JANE LEBLANC


BALTIMORE ORIOLE (MALE)  MAY 17, 2026. JOHN INMAN


BALTIMORE ORIOLE (FEMALE)  MAY 17, 2026. JOHN INMAN


SPOTTED SANDPIPER. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE



ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK AND BLUE JAY CONFRONTATION. MAY 17, 2026. JOHN INMAN


PINE WARBLER. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE


PEREGRINE FALCON ON PREY.  MAY 17, 2026. JOHN INMAN


OSPREY. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


WILD LEEK. MAY 15, 2026. NELSON POIRIER 


WILD LEEK. MAY 15, 2026. NELSON POIRIER 


TROUT LILY. MAY 15, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


TREMBLING ASPEN (FEMALE CATKIN GONE TO SEED). MAY 13, 2026. LISA MORRIS


THREELEAF GOLDTHREAD (SHOWING LONG GOLD ROOT). MAY 17, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


HOBBLE-BUSH. MAY 16, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


DWARF GINSING. MAY 17, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


COMMON LIVERWORT (POLYMORPHA MARCHANTIA), MAY 16, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


COMMON LIVERWORT (POLYMORPHA MARCHANTIA), MAY 16, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


COMMON LIVERWORT (POLYMORPHA MARCHANTIA), MAY 16, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


SESSILE-LEAF BELLWORT AKA WILD OATS. MAY 17, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


MAYFLY. MAY 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE