Nature Moncton Nature News: August 18, 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 18, 2017 ( Friday )

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

** A group from Barachois and Cap Brule met on Thursday evening in Barachois to discuss what may be done to help the diminishing Swallow numbers in the Cap Brule area. I am very sorry that the message about this arrived too late to be added to Thursday's message but was very pleased to hear that a group is seeking a way to help remedy the situation with the Swallow numbers.

** Ray Gauvin got some nice photos of a PAINTED LADY [Belle dame] butterfly on Thursday on the walking trail near his home at Parlee Beach. This would probably be a second generation of this species that migrate into New Brunswick from the south in the spring. Ray also got some nice photos of two different species of BUMBLEBEES, with one photo showing two species side by side. We have several Bumblebee species in New Brunswick and the Tri-colored may be the more common.

The photos have been labelled to species with the help of BuGguide.

** Joanne Savage shares some photos from one of two PAINTED LADY [Belle dame] butterflies she raised from caterpillars to the chrysalis stage to adult. It would appear that the American Lady and Painted Lady caterpillars are not particularly easy to separate without sharp photos. The food plant being used is helpful in separating the two species as well. Am going to quote Joanne as to the dates of changes

Quoting Joanne “I found them on my Heliotrope [annual type]. Seems like it's a host plant of
Painted Lady.
The plant was well covered in curled up leaves so after I remove those 2
caterpillars for id, I 'Raided' the plant.
at the time I felt guilty but later realized the plant would not have
sustained the number on it.

I noticed the caterpillars on July 24th, they would only accept Heliotrope as a food
leaf. In fact, ate 5 -6 six large leaves daily.
One entered chrysalis stage Aug. 4th, the 2nd on Aug. 5th.. One emerged from
chrysalis on Aug. 14th and the 2nd on Aug. 15th.”

**Georges Brun visited Johnson’s Mills on Thursday. The tide was low when he visited but he did get to see some Black-bellied Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, and Semipalmated Sandpipers feeding. He also got a photo recently of a Peregrine Falcon on Chateau Moncton as well as a female Belted Kingfisher at Bis March.

** Leigh Eaton comments that he seems to be having a real surge of summer activity in his Moncton birdfeeder yard to include the AMERICAN GOLDFINCH [Chardonneret jaune] feasting on niger seed, WOODPECKERS that are enjoying peanut butter, one orange variant HOUSE FINCH [Roselin familier], DARK-EYED JUNCOS [Junco ardoisé], CHIPPING SPARROWS [Bruant familier], BLUE JAYS [Geai bleu], AMERICAN ROBINS [Merle d'Amérique], MOURNING DOVES [Tourterelle triste] and COMMON GRACKLES [Quiscale bronzé]. Leigh sends a few photos of the activity.

** I keep black boot mats for snakes to get under at our Little Southwest Miramichi River camp. Red-bellied Snakes use them in significant numbers and an occasional Garter Snake and Smooth Green Snake. However, I have never seen these species together as in the example photograph from Thursday, with a RED-BELLIED SNAKE and larger GARTER SNAKE coiled up together under one of the mats. Another photo shows the shed skin of a Red-bellied Snake which is a popular item that some bird species like to include in their nest construction. Unfortunately the photo of the two snakes is not showing colours completely accurately.

This weeks Sky-at-a-Glance is added to this edition courtesy of Kurt Nason with lots of information on Monday afternoon's partial eclipse of the sun.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, August 19 – August 26
There is no doubt about the astronomical highlight for New Brunswick
this week – a partial solar eclipse on Monday afternoon. Times will vary
a little across the province but 2:30 to 5:00 pm will cover it. At the
peak, between 3:45 and 3:50, approximately 50% of the Sun’s surface area
will be covered by the Moon. This is our best solar eclipse since August
11, 1999, when more than 90% of the Sun was covered, and slightly better
than the Christmas 2000 partial eclipse.

Solar eclipses occur at new Moon, but since the lunar orbit is tilted to
Earth’s orbit by five degrees (ten times the Moon’s apparent diameter)
it is usually above or below the Sun at that phase. For a period of a
few weeks, twice a year, new Moon occurs when it is near to crossing
Earth’s orbit and there will be a partial, annular or total eclipse
somewhere on the planet. With a total eclipse, a rarity at any one
location, the Moon’s shadow races across part of Earth on a path 100 to
200 kilometres wide. Locations outside of the shadow get a partial
eclipse, with percent coverage decreasing with distance. An annular
eclipse occurs when the Moon is near apogee and its apparent width is
smaller than that of the Sun.

Staring at the Sun without proper eye protection can cause permanent eye
damage, even blindness, and since the eye has no pain receptors you may
not notice any damage for several hours. Proper protection is #14
welder’s glass or approved eclipse viewers / glasses from a reputable
dealer. Note that these are not safe for use with binoculars and
telescopes; other filters can be purchased for this purpose. A cheap and
effective way to view the partial eclipse is to project the sunlight
through a pinhole onto a white surface. Check the Internet for methods
of doing this. Or, use Nature’s projection method by looking at the
shadows of leaves, which often have tiny holes to project the Sun’s image.

The RASC and other organizations are hosting eclipse events in the
province on Monday afternoon, with free eclipse viewers supplied by the
RASC and views through filtered telescopes. Locations include the Irving
Nature Park and Rockwood Park Bark Park in Saint John, UNB and Science
East in Fredericton, Resurgo Place in Moncton, Riverview Community
Centre, and Mount Allison University. Don’t take chances with your
eyesight. Observe the eclipse but do it safely, and start thinking about
where you will be on April 8, 2024 when the Moon’s shadow crosses the
central half of New Brunswick.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:23 am and sunset will occur at
8:20 pm, giving 13 hours, 57 minutes of daylight (6:30 am and 8:24 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:31 am and set at 8:08
pm, giving 13 hours, 37 minutes of daylight (6:38 am and 8:12 pm in
Saint John).

The Moon is new on Monday afternoon, partially occulting a prominent
star for a couple of hours, and it poses with Jupiter in evening
twilight next Thursday and Friday. Jupiter sets by 10:00 pm next weekend
and it is approaching Spica nightly. Saturn, in the southern sky in
evening twilight, is the main telescopic attraction for the month.
Venus, the bright Morning Star, moves from Gemini into Cancer late in
the week. Mercury is at inferior conjunction on August 26, passing
between us and the Sun.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton