Editor & Proofreader

Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Wednesday, 30 September 2026

September 30 2026

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation. Please note that clicking on any photo enlarges it full screen and then clicking on the black area on either side of the photo brings one right back to the main page.

 

 

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

 

 

 

**Jean-Paul LeBlanc leaves an interesting comment on a locally published book that many may not be aware of yet.  

Jean-Paul comments  “I want to make you aware that Hubert Cormier, a nature photographer from Bouctouche, has published a book entitled Raptors and Ducks in Atlantic Canada (English version) and Rapaces et Canards du Canada Atlantique (French version). The book is available on Amazon for $24.66.  It is also available at Lavender Ocean Breeze in St Edouard de Kent, and at the Coffee shop at the Société Culturelle on Irving Blvd. in Bouctouche, for $28.60.

 The book has very nice pictures taken by Hubert Cormier.  I include one of his favorite pictures.”

 


SNOWY OWL (Harfang des neiges). Hubert Cormier

**Brian Stone took a few photos at Jones Lake on Monday of some of the resident wood ducks, including a scenario where a male wood duck was being chased around the lake by a few other wood ducks and some mallard ducks that were trying to steal his apple. Watching a wood duck push an apple around the lake while being chased by other ducks was quite entertaining for 15 minutes. Brian also sends a photo of a male belted kingfisher he took the day before at Irishtown Park. 

 


WOOD DUCKS AND MALLARD DUCK. SEPT. 28, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


WOOD DUCKS AND MALLARD DUCKS. SEPT. 28, 2026. BRIAN STONE 



WOOD DUCK (MALE). SEPT. 28, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


WOOD DUCKS. SEPT. 28, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


BELTED KINGFISHER (MALE). SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE 

**Isaac Acker and Nelson Poirier went on a salamander/amphibian sleuth on Tuesday evening on a few dirt roads to the rear of Riverview, hoping to see salamanders crossing the roads in the rainy, cold conditions. The weather and temperature were great for amphibians but more challenging for humans trying to see these small creatures and capture photos in conditions that were tough for photography.

The adventure was rewarding as it allowed us to see blue-spotted salamanders, yellow-spotted salamanders, red-backed salamanders, spring peepers, green frogs, American toads, and bullfrogs, but the crowning touch was two four-toed salamanders. Isaac and Nelson were alarmed when one of the four-toed salamanders suddenly rolled over on its back to show its signature salt-and-pepper white belly, which was great for a photograph, but they felt the salamander might be in trouble. Moments later, the potentially troubled salamander made a leap into the air and off into the woods, seemingly very unbothered. Nelson and Isaac wondered about a play-dead scenario to ward off predators?

The underside is actually very white with dark spots, but the challenging lighting left a blue tint in the photo that isn't accurate.

As an aside, both great horned owls and barred owls were heard.

 


FOUR-TOED SALAMANDER (SHOWING SIGNATURE TAIL BASE CONSTRICTION). SEPT 29, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


FOUR-TOED SALAMANDER (VENTRAL VIEW). SEPT 29, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


BLUE- SPOTTED SALAMANDER. SEPT 29, 2026. NELSON POIRIER 


SPRING PEEPER. SEPT 29, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


RED-BACKED  SALAMANDER. SEPT 29, 2026. NELSON POIRIER



 

 

 

 

**The New Brunswick environmental network puts out a list of events they are aware of for the upcoming month. That list is below. Clicking on each event brings up all details.

Upcoming Events for the Month of October

 

Thursday, October 1st

·        Event—Mark Dr Mini Forest Planting—Saint John

Saturday, October 3rd

·        Event—Fishing Demonstration—Saint John

Saturday, October 3rd to Sunday, October 4th

·        Event—2-Day Introductory Solar Training in Channel-Port aux Basques—Newfoundland and Labrador

Sunday, October 4th

·        Event—Black Beach BioBlitz—Saint John

Tuesday, October 6th

·        Event—Forested Wetlands Workshop in Campbellton—Charlo

·        Webinar—Glyphosate Science: Cancer, neurotoxicity & endocrine disruption—Online

Tuesday, October 6th to Wednesday, October 7th

·        Event—2026 Wəlastəkw | St. John River Summit—Oromocto

Wednesday, October 7th

·        Webinar—Drilling Down on Cancer: Mapping Fracking’s Impact on Community Health—Online

Thursday, October 8th

·        Event—Tabusintac Watershed Association Annual General Meeting—Tabusintac

Saturday, October 10th

·        Event—Thanks to Nature—Fredericton

Tuesday, October 13th

·        Webinar—Understanding Outdoor Play—Online

Wednesday, October 14th

·        Event—Belmont Street Raingarden Planting—Saint John

Thursday, October 15th

·        Webinar—Assessing climate risk—Online

·        Event—Members Meeting of Fredericton Climate Hub—Fredericton

Saturday, October 17th

·        Event—37th Annual Sackville Ducks Unlimited Canada Dinner & Auction—Sackville

Saturday, October 17th to Sunday, October 18th

·        Event—Loch Lomond Weekend Cleanup Drive—Saint John

Monday, October 19th

·        Event—Take Me Outside Day: Hope Grows Outside: Be a Good Ancestor—NB

Tuesday, October 20th

·        Event—Take Me Outside Day: Hope Grows Outside: Finding Hope in a Changing World—NB

·        Event—Hope in Action: Environmental Learning Outdoors—NB

·        Event—October Meeting Presentation—Nature Moncton—Moncton

Wednesday, October 21st

·        Webinar—Water-wise Gardening webinar, with acclaimed author Lorraine Johnson—Online

Saturday, October 24th

·        Event—Loch Lomond Watershed Hike—Saint John

·        Event—Annual General Meeting and Guided Hike at Sea Dog Cove—Kingston

Tuesday, October 27th to Thursday, October 29th

·        Event—Atlantic Society of Fish and Wildlife Biologists 2026 Annual Meeting—Saint John

Thursday, October 29th

·        Webinar—Frightfully Misunderstood: Busting Myths About Nature’s “Scary” Species—Online

Friday, October 30th

·        Webinar—The State of Food Banks and Community Kitchens in New Brunswick—Online

·        Event—Ferris Street Fright—Fredericton

 


 

Top of FormBottom of Formnelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Tuesday, 29 September 2026

September 29 2026

 

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation. Please note that clicking on any photo enlarges it full screen and then clicking on the black area on either side of the photo brings one right back to the main page.

 

 

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

 

It’s mushroom day!

 

**Brian Stone joined Cathy Simon at Irishtown Park on Sunday for a birding walk that quickly turned into a mushroom walk as soon as they hit the trail. There was such a large variety of fungi that their eyes barely left the ground as they walked the paths, mainly the John Howard Trail, and Brian came home with so many fungi photos that his selection to be processed contained 181 photos. All but a few photos were cell phone captures, and crouching down and up, down and up, turned into a workout that left Brian's lower half feeling like he had spent a week at the gym.

 

Brian selected a few mushroom and fungi images from the large lineup that he was either familiar with or found interesting to send along for viewing. Brian's identifications are mainly Google's, so they are best guesses from the worldwide web and are open to correction if wrong. Specimens sent include red-belted polypore, varieties of coral fungus, varieties of puffball mushrooms, some very tiny salmon-egg slime molds, wolf's milk slime molds, red raspberry slime mold, false puffball slime mold,  destroying angel mushrooms, a spiky hedgehog mushroom, a shiny larch bolete, a small stump covered with small pinewood gingertail mushrooms, and some scaly cap mushrooms wedged in a tree trunk groove.



RED RASPBERRY SLIME MOLD. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE


PINEWOOD GINGERTAIL MUSHROOMS. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE  


PEAR-SHAPED PUFFBALL SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


LARCH BOLETE. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE  


HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


GEM-STUDDED PUFFBALL SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


FUNGI. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE


FALSE PUFFBALL SLIME MOLD. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


DESTROYING ANGEL MUSHROOM. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


CORAL FUNGUS. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


CORAL FUNGUS. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE

WOLF'S MILK SLIME MOLD. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE  


SLIME MOLD. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE


SCALY CAP MUSHROOM SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE


SALMON-EGG SLIME MOLD. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE  


RED-BELTED POLYPORE. SEPT. 27, 2026. BRIAN STONE  


 

 

Dropbox link to all 181 of the photos ...

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/z5hh9zztyyuo2ykyveps4/AIevZ4GS_UJ7P-g7-CrbDmg?rlkey=dhs4oyaqxcswpj6bt5g8hj49u&st=ilecxb5y&dl=0

 

**Nelson Poirier did a rerun of Brian and Cathy’s hike on the John Howard Trail in Irishtown Nature Park on Monday before the mushroom rain hit on Monday. Will only add a few more photos, as Brian has done a yeoman job to put names on mushrooms that we only see in an exceptional year like this one.

Nelson spoke with Gilles Leger who has hiked this trail for many years and never saw anything near the mushroom emergence that is present there this year.

The greatest abundance by far of all species was the short-stemmed russula and the look-alike peppery milkcap mushroom, which can be easily distinguished by breaking off a section of the mushroom to see if it oozes the white latex of the peppery milkcap.


BRIEF STALKED RUSSULA OR  PEPPERY MILKCAP MUSHROOM. SEPT 28, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


PEPPER MILKCAP MUSHROOM. SEPT 28, 2026. NELSON POIRIER


Another mushroom we do not often see was the wrinkled cort (formerly known as the gypsy mushroom), which is considered a choice edible.



WRINKLED CORT AKA GYPSY MUSHROOM. SEPT 28, 2026. NELSON POIRIER 


WRINKLED CORT AKA GYPSY MUSHROOM. SEPT 28, 2026. NELSON POIRIER 

A photo shows a group of mushrooms overlapping each other. When this happens, it is very helpful to cut off the top mushrooms to see the colour of the spore print that has fallen on the ones below.



MUSHROOM GROUP TO SEE SPORE PRINT. SEPT 28, 2026. NELSON POIRIER 

Another photo shows why we are not up to our waists in dead trees. Trees are essentially made up of cellulose and lignin (bonding material). One type of fungus digests the cellulose (brown rot) while another breaks down the lignin (white rot). This recycling process provides the rich ground of the forest floor.



BROWN ROT AND WHITE ROT. SEPT 28, 2026. NELSON POIRIER




 

Top of FormBottom of Formnelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, 28 September 2026

September 28 2026

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation. Please note that clicking on any photo enlarges it full screen and then clicking on the black area on either side of the photo brings one right back to the main page.

 

 

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

 

 

**It’s that time of year to check the large Canada goose flocks for interesting tagalongs. Grain and corn are being harvested in many areas right now and are very attractive to Canada geese and potentially other species to refuel on the leftovers before migration.

Bob Blake comments that the fields at the corner of the Homestead Road and along the old Fredericton Road through the Wheaton settlement are black with flocks of geese.

Bob comments he has never seen this many before in this area, especially in the mornings and evenings.

In some years, the Bouctouche area has been very productive, and this will be the case in other areas as well.

 

 

Top of FormBottom of Formnelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Sunday, 27 September 2026

September 27 2026

 Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation. Please note that clicking on any photo enlarges it full screen and then clicking on the black area on either side of the photo brings one right back to the main page.

 

 

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

 

 

**Shannon Inman photographed a monarch butterfly caterpillar still out and foraging on a milkweed plant. It would seem late for it to complete its development to an adult in time to make that long migration to Mexico for the winter, but Mother Nature will decide that.

 

A cloud formation in the sky on Saturday caught Shannon’s attention and made for an interesting photograph.

It appears that the contrail of an aircraft had passed through some clouds, making for an interesting blend with the existing clouds as it broke up.

When the hot, moist exhaust of an aircraft mixes with the freezing outside air at that altitude, the water vapour condenses and freezes into tiny ice crystals, creating a visible cloud.

Shannon also came across a few clusters of plants in a wild habitat whose identity we are not sure of. Any comments would be appreciated.

 


MONARCH BUTTERFLY CATERPILLAR. SEPT 26, 2026. SHANNON INMAN


CLOUD FORMATION. SEPT 26, 2026. SHANNON INMAN

 


PLANT. SEPT 21, 2026. SHANNON INMAN

 

 

Top of FormBottom of Formnelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton