Nature Miramichi:

Hi All,

As Sept. approaches it seems time for a little up-date regarding Nature Miramichi. Hence this NEWSLETTER.

There are 5 sections below.

1.Our first meeting for the new season is as usual on the first Tuesday of September, which is the 5th (6:30 p.m.). Those who attended the June meeting at Miramichi Marsh will recall that the club executive has decided on a new approach to our monthly meetings. We will have guest speaker to present and answers questions for the first 75 to 90 minutes which will be followed by an informal time for members to chat amongst themselves, share recent nature experiences and enjoy some refreshments. There will not be a business meeting portion to our monthly get together. The executive will meet separately for whatever administrative decisions need to be made and will of course keep members informed and involved and “in the loop” through emails and so on. Our monthly meetings then are likely to conclude no later than 8:30.

Our guest speaker for the Sept. meeting is Lewnanny Richardson. He is a species at risk specialist with Nature NB and has worked for many years with Piping Plovers, particularly monitoring nesting sites along the NB shoreline of the Northumberland Straight.

2. We had two field trips which were quite well attended and very interesting. The first was to the abandoned Woodburn Farm in Bushville, exploring what is left of the buildings and the processes of succession, the flora and the fauna. Our second trip was to join the group tour of the Miramichi Salmon Conservation Centre in South Esk. The hatchery is the oldest in Canada, having its 150th anniversary this year. Several of us also led nature tours at French Fort Cove for day campers attending the Miramichi Recreation Departments summer camps. We enjoyed the company of a number of quite enthusiastic youngsters.

3. Deana is planning for volunteers from our club to participate in a shoreline clen-up at Strawberry Marsh on Saturday August 26th for a couple of hours starting at 9:30. More details will follow. This is part of Nature Trust NB’s Great Fundy Coastal Clean-up (Saturday Aug. 19th Details – Great Fundy Coastal Cleanup — Nature Trust of New Brunswick) for which they have been encouraging participation throughout the province.

(Deana has a prior commitment for the 19th)

4. Over the last week or so there has been quite a bit of interest amongst some of us, in the sighting of a juvenile Turkey Vulture off the Creaghan Gulch trail at French Fort Cove. This is the first record of Turkey Vultures breeding in Northumberland County. Hiker Joey Savoy was able to photograph and video-record the young bird in fledgling plumage a few days ago. Dave McLeod is hoping that we might be able to locate the nest nearby, perhaps by honing in on strong odors from left-over feeding remains! Dave, by the way, is putting the finishing touches on a revision of the bird inventory for Northumberland County, a list that was originally compiled in the 1980’s and has had a couple of revisions since. The fact that the Turkey Vulture has been shown to breed here will of course be indicated in the revised list. There are 291 species on the list that includes very rare visitors as well as migrants and full year around residents.

5. It is time to take out your club membership for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Adult membership is $20.00 and family $40.00. These funds cover hall rental, speaker honouraria and website maintenance costs. (domain name and an ad free site)

You can pay by e-transfer to Dave Goforth at go4uth or by cheque/cash at the Sept. meeting.

Peter

Past President

on behalf of the club’s executive