Nature Moncton Nature News: July 24 2015

** Kerry-Lee Morris Cormier, manager at the Johnson's Mills Shorebird Interpretation Centre, reports they had a lone WHIMBREL [Courlis corlieu] stop by at the Interpretation Centre on Wednesday evening. The shorebirds are not at their peak yet; however, a flock estimated at 2000 were spotted flying farther down the shore. Kerry-Lee also comments that earlier in July, staff from Hopewell Rocks visited Dorchester Cape and saw a PEREGRINE FALCON [Faucon pelerine] nest there. They haven't seen any fledglings flying yet, but are on the watch. The Sandpiper Festival is on this weekend in Dorchester, and a PDF file is attached that gives the weekend's line-up of events. Again, the telephone number at the Johnson's Mills Interpretation Centre site is 379-6347, or cell number 902-694-9159.

** Caterpillar rearing has really caught on. It is actually giving these species a helping hand as most if left in the wild would be preyed upon, especially the caterpillars. John Foster and Jane have four BLACK SWALLOWTAIL [Pappillon de céleri] caterpillars in various stages of transformation. They comment how a chrysalis that forms on a dark stick is dark while those that form on a green stem are green, obviously a camouflage technique.

** Marguerite Windsor had a second BLACK SWALLOWTAIL [Pappillon de céleri] butterfly emerge from its chrysalis on Thursday morning to get a photo just after it had emerged. It took exactly 12 days from chrysalis to adult butterfly which is now out on its mission as a 2nd generation of the summer adult.

** Brian Stone shares some photos from Mapleton Park last Wednesday: RED OSIER berries ripening, a GREEN FROG [Grenouille verte], CANADA LILY [Lys des près], TWELVE-SPOTTED SKIMMER [La gracieuse] dragonfly, and PECK'S, LEAST and EUROPEAN SKIPPERS [Hespérie de Peck, Hespérie délicate et Hespérie des graminées]. He also got a FIREFLY showing the bioluminescent area at the rear.

** An error to correct from yesterday: the photo labeled RED ADMIRAL [Vulcain] caterpillar is actually a LADY BEETLE [Coccinelle] larva. The photo is re-sent today. Note the legs which should have been a clue that it was not a caterpillar. This larva was on a growth of dill in a screened-in cage rearing Black Swallowtail caterpillars, resulting in an assumption made too quickly. Thank you to the several folks who reported the error. It has been corrected on the BlogSpot. I'd like to say I was just checking who was reviewing the photos; however that would be deviously untrue.

** I stopped by Jones Lake to check on the FOWERING RUSH that grows there. It is in bloom at the moment. This is a very invasive plant in some areas that has not gone beyond Jones Lake to my knowledge. The plants here are triploid, meaning their seeds are not viable, so any propagation has to be from the roots. There are plants at Eel River in northern New Brunswick as well. These were the only two sites in New Brunswick unless more sites have been found in recent years which may be the case. I also noted YELLOW IRIS blooming at Jones Lake. Anne Marsch advises us it's a European escapee. Anne comments she put some in her yard pond and it took over the pond to form a solid mat, choking out water lilies.

This weeks’ Sky at a Glance courtesy of Curt Nason is attached below:

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, July 25 –August 1

One of my favourite summertime activities is to visit a nearby pond to watch the dragonflies zigzagging about. One of my favourite objects in a telescope is a group of stars in Cassiopeia called the ET Cluster, which bears a remarkable resemblance to the little extraterrestrial in the movie. Before the movie it was usually called the Owl Cluster or Dragonfly Cluster. Sadly, there is no dragonfly constellation but Draco the Dragon flies high this time of year.

The tail of Draco starts between the Big and Little Dippers. It runs above the handle of Big and zigs around the bowl of Little and then zags toward Hercules, with its head being a quadrilateral of stars by the strongman’s foot. The two brightest stars in Draco’s head are its eyes but I am fond of the dimmest of the four. Binoculars reveal this one to be a double, with matching white stars that resemble headlights or cat’s eyes. Another Draconian star of note is Thuban, which lies between the bowl of the Little Dipper and the middle of the Big Dipper’s handle. About 5000 years ago this was the North Star. Earth’s polar axis wobbles like a top, describing a large circle in the sky in approximately 26,000 years and thereby changing the location of celestial north. In 12,000 years the bright star Vega will be the North Star.

In mythology the dragon could have been Ladon, which guarded the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. Hercules was to steal the apples for the last of his legendary twelve labours, but only Atlas was allowed into the garden where they were kept. Atlas fetched the apples while Hercules temporarily balanced the sphere of the heavens on his shoulders. Another ancient dragon tale featured a battle between the Titans and the Olympians, when Athena grabbed a titanic dragon by the tail and hurled it skyward. As it was twisting around the dragon stuck against the sphere of stars in the north and froze in that position.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:53 am and sunset will occur at 8:58 pm, giving 15 hours, 5 minutes of daylight (6:01 am and 9:00 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:01 am and set at 8:49 pm, giving 14 hours, 48 minutes of daylight (6:08 am and 8:52 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is full on Friday, July 31. Seasonally, it is the Grain Moon but many will call it a Blue Moon because it is the second full moon of the month. This is due to a misinterpretation of a Farmer’s Almanac by none other than a prominent astronomy magazine in the 1940s. If there were four full moons in a season, the almanac designated the third one as a Blue Moon. The Moon is near Saturn on Saturday.

Mercury is too close to the Sun to be seen.

Jupiter continues its evening twilight trek toward the star Regulus while Venus drops below them, low in the west. On Friday Venus will be six degrees south of Jupiter.

Mars is low in the east before 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