Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 18 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, October 18, 2019 (Friday)

To view the photos mentioned in this edition go to http://nminfoline.blogspot.ca

Please advise editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check into the website at www.naturemoncton.com

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

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

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com.

** It’s last call for the Nature Moncton field trip tomorrow to the Caledonia Gorge Protected Natural Area. After a weather event, Mother Nature seems to be offering a suitable day for this field trip with so much to offer with great guides. The Caledonia Gorge PNA is one of the special protected areas on our doorsteps. Nature Moncton in collaboration with Nature NB will visit the area tomorrow, Oct. 19^th, and get the opportunity to see why it’s so special and protected. We are very fortunate to have as part of the entourage expert botanist Gart Bishop and expert geologist Mark Connell to help point out the interesting features there. A vehicle will be available to take folks in and out of a portion of the hike to make it easier for anyone with longer hike challenges. A full write-up is attached as webmaster Brian Stone has it placed on the website under “Upcoming Events.”

Nature Moncton Field trip to Caledonia Gorge
Saturday, October 19, 2019

Meeting places: For people from Moncton or coming through the city

meet at the Petro-Canada station on Hillsborough Road (Route 114)

across from Point Park subdivision at 9:30 a.m. For those coming from

places in between or from the other side of Riverside-Albert we will

meet at 10:00h at the Riverside-Albert Recreation Centre

situated at 9 Bicentennial Dr Riverside Albert.

The outing:

Last year Nature Moncton offered a very pleasant fall outing to the Caledonia Gorge Protected Natural Area, situated just north of Riverside-Albert. And since the trip was well attended and very well received, we are planning another visit there this year. This nature reserve is part of the network of provincial PNAs which were created to conserve our “special natural places”. And the Caledonia Gorge is certainly special. The old road we will follow to explore it runs along the gorge created by Crooked Creek and is very rich in natural beauty and biodiversity. As in all PNAs, mature forests, wetlands, streams as well as geological features are protected here from human interference so that the plants, birds, other wildlife and natural functions retain their primeval characteristics.

This year, we are partnering with Nature NB, to offer an enhanced outing, so as well as our own experts on birds and such we will be joined by botanist Gart Bishop and geologist Mark Connell who will help us understand even better the uniqueness of this protected area. Nature NB’s New Brunswick PNA Stewardship Program aims to invite people to explore PNAs, report on their findings and hopefully for some to become stewards of individual sites. The program as well as what we will be exploring will be explained in a short half hour presentation to be held at the Riverside-Albert Recreation Centre just before we head out to the PNA. Bring a lunch and your enthusiasm for nature. This will be essentially a hiking trip but as the road is drivable with a high clearance vehicle, Nature NB will make such transportation available (in or out) for those who might want / need it.

See you there. As always, all are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

** John Massey got an awesome mirror-image photo of the clouds and trees reflecting on the very calm Restigouche River on Monday, Oct. 14^th during a salmon count. It takes absolutely still, windless conditions and a bright day to capture such a beautiful photo.

** Many folks enjoyed Carl Duivenvoorden’s visit to Nature Moncton this last week. Carl puts out a free short Green Ideas column every two weeks. I’ve been getting this for some time and there always seems to be a nice take-home message. To get it to come to you regularly, go to www.changeyourcorner.com. When there, scroll to “sign up for news” which opens up a window where you fill in your name and email address and “Green Ideas” will pop up in your inbox every two weeks. Dave Christie sends photos of a few graphics he photographed during Carl’s presentation. Take a moment to review them. They say a lot.

** The prediction of severe weather for Thursday brought an interesting finding in our home. Pat hangs decorative bird houses in front of our home each year, but the prediction of a storm had her bring them in for the winter. One had two ¾ inch holes covered over which created a need to find out ‘who done it’? The decorative bird house had no opening to look inside, so I had to dismantle it to get some surprises. The hole in the top did not go anywhere, so was just filled with fibres. The main hole that led into the box was covered with a thick webbing with the consistency of cotton wool. When the roof was removed, it revealed a typical pendulum nest of the Paper Wasp (Polistes species) with all 25 cells but one empty attached to the top roof. The 4 ½ by 2 ½ inch nest box was filled with small fragments that had been taken from a mulched area on the ground below it. At the bottom of the nest box was a ball of the same white webbing material, but it was home to eight wrapped capsules which I assumed to be over-wintering pupae. They have been placed in a container for the winter, and I rather expect to see adult Paper Wasps appear in the spring for release to continue their mission. The Paper Wasp is harmless to humans. I apologize a bit for all the photos, but follow them through in line for the story. Ron and Tina Steeves have had these wasps creating this same style nest under an eave at a building at their Salisbury farm, photos of which were shared earlier in the season.

** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is included in this edition, courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason with a note on an astronomy meeting tomorrow (Saturday) in Moncton, and when to see Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury this week.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2019 October 19 – October 26
The Pleiades star cluster is rising now in the early evening. Also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters, and sometimes mistaken to be the Little Dipper, this compact eye-catcher represents the shoulder of Taurus the Bull. Over the next two hours the rest of the constellation clears the eastern horizon; in particular, the V-shaped Hyades star cluster anchored by orange Aldebaran, and the two stars marking the tips of the bull’s horns.

In mythology, Zeus changed himself into a beautiful white bull to attract the attention of Europa, a princess of Sidon. She was taken by its gentleness and made the mistake of climbing on its back. Bully Zeus took off to the nearby seashore and swam all the way to Crete, where he changed back into his godly form and completed his conquest. The result was a baby boy who was named Minos, and he grew up to become the first King of Crete.

One of the horn stars of Taurus had been shared with the constellation Auriga. This star, Alnath, was officially assigned to Taurus when the constellation boundaries were set by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in the late 1920s. Taurus is one of the zodiac constellations; the ecliptic passes between the Pleiades and Hyades and also between the horn-tips. Since the Moon's orbit is tilted to the ecliptic by about five degrees, at times it can be seen passing in front of the Pleiades and Aldebaran.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:41 am and sunset will occur at 6:26 pm, giving 10 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (7:45 am and 6:32 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:51 am and set at 6:14 pm, giving 10 hours, 23 minutes of daylight (7:54 am and 6:21 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at third quarter on Monday, scuttling through the Beehive star cluster (M44) in Cancer when it rises after midnight that night. Jupiter sets around 9 pm this week but it is still high enough in twilight to show detail through a telescope, although Saturn with its rings is the evening highlight. Venus can be seen with binoculars shortly after sunset, and Mercury is at its greatest elongation from the Sun this weekend, about 7 degrees left of Venus. The Orionid meteor shower, one of two showers arising from remnants of Halley’s Comet, will add a few extra meteors per hour over Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

The provincial astronomy club, RASC NB, is giving astronomy presentations at Moncton High School on the afternoon of October 19. For details, see their website at https://rascnb.ca/blog/tag/meeting/.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton