Nature Moncton Nature News: July 18 2015

**Paul Langelaan erected a KESTREL [Crécerelle d'Amérique] nest box following a visit from Dwaine Oakley to Nature Moncton on the PEI experience. As of July 17^th, a box that he has near his North River farm on Route 114 has at least one chick and assumedly more appearing at the opening hole, and he sees the adults perched on the utility wires near the pole the nest box is attached onto.

**After Brian Coyle’s comments of yesterday on the COMMON NIGHTHAWKS [Engoulevent d'Amérique] foraging, calling, and booming, Bob Betts points out a beautiful YouTube video that shows that on film and sound, at the attached URL. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qpsyjmda5Q

**Susan Richards got a photo of the several OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur] nests in the Barachois area. The chicks are still quite small in most of the nests, and heads drop down into the nests when someone stops.

**The SHORT-TAILED SWALLOWTAIL Butterflies [Papillon queue-court] are obviously finding Hay Island Nature Park to their liking. Aldo Dorio got a photo of yet another on Friday. He also got a SEMIPALMATED PLOVER [Pluvier semipalmé], that really seem to be moving into New Brunswick in numbers at the moment.

**It must be a good year for BLACK SWALLOWTAIL Butterflies [Papillon du céleri]. John Foster has found three in his Moncton yard recently.

**Earlier in the week, Elaine Gallant came across a very vocal group of COMMON TERNS [Sterne pierregarin] on what appeared to be a stable sandspit between Robichaud Wharf and Chemin de la Brèche. She found they were acting like a nesting colony but she was not aware that one was there. Elaine and Pat encountered it while boating. Elaine showed Brian Stone and I the site, and we walked out near to it at low tide on Friday evening to check it out. It was quite a dramatic show. As we photographed, still a seemingly very appropriate distance from the elevated sandbar, we were dive-bombed, screamed at, and pooped on while photography was in progress, to get lots of evidence of the state of the colony. There were approximately 150-200 Common Terns, with many chicks running about, some a good size, some very small, and some nests in scrapes in the sand, still with eggs. I’m not sure if these eggs will still hatch, or were unfertilized eggs. Some birds seemed to be still incubating. I’m not sure how long Terns have been using this site. It has riprap and little vegetation, and would seem vulnerable to high water events. We were not near the site very long, however, while there the whole colony forgot about us to very dramatically escort a BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] away from the area in very loud posse fashion. We also saw approximately 100 Peeps [Petits oiseaux de rivage] that seemed to be all SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau semipalmé]. In the same area, one of Brian’s photos showed a banded leg. The original plans of the day were to cross Route 930 to Sackville to join Louise Nichols and Anne Marsch at White Birch impoundment, however, after getting through several challenging water holes on Route 930, as we were just about to reach Sackville one proved unmanageable, so I would advise anyone thinking of taking the Route 930 shortcut to Sackville from Barachois – it’s not a shortcut!

**Early on Monday, Brian and I appreciated an invitation from Don and Anne-Marie Daigle to visit a bog with Orchids [Orchidée] from their Ryan Road home. We were surprised to see this small but significant bog in the midst of the city, now surrounded by development. Several Orchids were in full bloom, with all the other plants that thrive in a bog habitat. Don and Anne-Marie visit this area often and know it well through the season with the fauna and flora appearing at their scheduled times.

Below is this week’s Sky at a Glance courtesy of Curt Nason

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, July 18 – July 25

Asterisms are pictures or shapes made by the stars that are not one of the 88 constellations approved by the International Astronomical Union, but they can be part of a constellation. The most famous asterism is the Big Dipper, which forms the back half of Ursa Major the Great Bear. With the bear dropping through the northwest on summer evenings, another prominent constellation and asterism dominates low in the south. The constellation is Sagittarius the Archer, composed of a centaur with a bow and arrow. From New Brunswick, the hooves of the centaur barely crest the horizon. What we see more prominently is the unmistakable Teapot asterism.

If you can identify the 3-star spout of the Teapot, trace a line from the bottom star up between the top pair and extend it an equal distance. In a rural sky you can see a fuzzy star there, which binoculars will reveal to be a small hazy cloud near a group of stars. This is the Lagoon Nebula or M8, a cloud of gas and dust where stars are forming. Also in this general area is the point of the winter solstice, where the Sun is located on the first day of winter. Additionally, about 25,000 light years beyond in this direction is the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy. From a dark location, the concentration of Milky Way stars in this area resembles steam rising from the Teapot spout.

To add to our teatime setting, a curve of stars above the Teapot handle is an asterism called the Teaspoon. Below the Teapot, and very difficult to see because it just clears our horizon and only briefly, is the constellation Corona Australis the Southern Crown. Discerning tea drinkers south of us, pitifully deprived of Red Rose, see this as an asterism they call the Lemon Wedge.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:45 am and sunset will occur at 9:05 pm, giving 15 hours, 20 minutes of daylight (5:53 am and 9:07 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:53 am and set at 8:58 pm, giving 15 hours, 5 minutes of daylight (6:01 am and 9:00 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at First Quarter an hour after midnight on the evening of Thursday, July 23. It will be at its best for observing in a spotting scope all week. Look for the shadows of crater walls across the floors of the larger craters. The Moon is near Saturn next Saturday.

Mercury is at superior conjunction, on the far side of the Sun, on July 23.

Venus, Jupiter, the crescent Moon and the star Regulus form a spectacular twilight grouping tonight that may be encompassed by wide field binoculars. Catch them before 10 pm. Jupiter approaches Regulus throughout the week while Venus starts dropping below them.

Mars is very low in the east at sunrise, a difficult target in binoculars.

Saturn is highest in the sky during twilight. Its rings are at their best viewing in a decade so give them a try with your spotting scope, and look for its brightest moon Titan nearby.

Questions? nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton