Nature Moncton Nature News: June 23 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

June 23, 2023

Species names in boldface indicate that a photo is included.

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**The fledging Peregrine Falcons from the nest box on the summit of Assumption Place has taken center stage the past few days.

One fledgling was found on Botsford St. on Wednesday, and DNR captured it and took it to the Atlantic Wildlife Institute. Nelson Poirier spoke with Barry and Pam, who had it in their care. Pam said it was doing well, but the tailfeathers did not seem fully developed. They felt it was not ready to fly yet and were keeping it in their care until they felt ready for release.

Nelson Poirier got a call on Thursday evening that a second fledgling was on the ground in the parking lot at Assumption Place. This bird appeared in very good condition, with the tailfeathers seemingly having developed. After discussions with Barry and Pam at the Atlantic Wildlife Institute and unsuccessful attempts by all of us to reach DNR, the bird was left in a protected area for the night. It is suspected this bird is very close to successful flight so hopefully, with a night’s rest and some parental supervision, it may be on its way.

A big shout out to the night security staff for guarding the area and keeping people away from the bird.

Some photos are attached but were taken at a distance in the late evening.

** Louise Nichols followed an eBird report from Gilles Belliveau to find 4 Black Terns in the Missaguash Marsh. This marsh is along the Missaguash River which is the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Louise visited the marsh on Wednesday afternoon and walked in quite a way before she saw the Black Terns in flight. They were, as usual, very fast and hard to photograph, but one seemed to like to perch on a post in the water, which allowed Louise to get some photos. She also witnessed the terns diving for fish, and two terns seemed to get a bit tense with one another, perhaps fighting for food. These terns were all adults. Louise did not see any sign of young at this point.

Louise also sends a photo of a Dreamy Duskywing Butterfly she took at their place in Aulac on Thursday.

**The Eastern Bluebird couple nesting in the yard of Mac Wilmot has fledged. Mac has removed the used nest and cleaned the box for a potential rerun.

Mac noted the construction of the nest is mostly moss topped with cat-tail fluff. He wonders if the original nest may have been built by Black-capped Chickadees and expropriated by Eastern Bluebirds.

(Editor’s note: the Eastern Bluebird tends to prefer predominantly pine needles as a nest construction component.)

**Aldo Dorio got a pleasant photo of a freshly minted Luna moth as it day perched at Tim Horton’s in Neguac on Thursday.

**Fred and Lynn Dube experienced a very active night with their trail camera in their Lower Coverdale yard.

A Barred Owl showed very nicely, as did a Coyote, a Red Fox, and a duo of Raccoons. This is all within a subdivision to suggest all this is comfortable urban wildlife.

They also had a visit from a fresh Blinded Sphinx Moth.

**It is very pleasant to note that the City of Moncton is planting Common Milkweed in some of the street plots the city takes care of.

Georges Brun took note of one plot along with a Crab Spider checking it out.

Nelson Poirier noted a group of 50+ plants in a cultivated plot near the Avenir Centre.

These plantings are good news for the Monarch Butterfly population expected to arrive soon.

**Nelson Poirier got a video of some of the Green Frog activity on the Wednesday evening walk to Haut du Ruisseau. The video shows a male with the brilliant yellow throat area, and a few distinct ‘banjo’ vocalizations can be heard. Check it out at the attached link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l35eyqnk0d9wcjg/%21%20GREEN%20FROG%201%20..%20NELSON%20POIRIER.MP4?dl=0

** It’s Friday, and time to review what next week’s night sky may have in store for us on clear nights courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2023 June 24 – July 1
Friday is International Asteroid Day, an annual event sanctioned by the United Nations in 2016 to raise awareness of the potential hazards and benefits of asteroids. On June 30, 1908, a 60-metre wide stony asteroid (or a somewhat larger comet) exploded at an altitude of eight kilometers over the sparsely populated region of the Tunguska River in Siberia, about 700 km northwest of the northern tip of Lake Baikal. At 7:17 am local time, a tongue of flame split the sky, followed by loud bangs, ground-shaking tremors, and a hot hurricane-force wind. A seismic event was recorded 900 km south, and a microbarograph in England recorded a pressure event five hours later and again a day after.

Expeditions were led two decades later by Leonid (great name for a meteorite hunter) Kulik to locate and interview eyewitnesses and to locate the crater and meteorites. No craters or meteorites were found, but there was an area of 2100 square kilometers where trees were blown down in a radial pattern. Those trees amid the destruction remained standing with their limbs stripped.

Ceres, by far the largest asteroid, was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 at the same time as Pluto. To celebrate Asteroid Day, try to locate an asteroid in the night sky. It will look like a faint star in a telescope, and a good star map will be needed to distinguish one from the background stars. The traditional method is to carefully sketch the star field and return the next clear evening to see which one has changed position relative to the others. The Heavens-Above website has wide-field and detailed inset maps for the brightest asteroids, and Ceres is the brightest one in the evening sky. The inset map is about the size of the field of view seen with common binoculars.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:28 am and sunset will occur at 9:14 pm, giving 15 hours, 46 minutes of daylight (5:37 am and 9:16 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:31 am and set at 9:14 pm, giving 15 hours, 43 minutes of daylight (5:40 am and 9:15 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at first quarter on Monday, providing great views through a telescope or binoculars all week. Venus and Mars are within the same binocular view all week, in quasi-conjunction since Venus will not pass Mars. After gaining on the red planet throughout spring, it will drop out of the chase and start heading sunward. Saturn is now moving westward against the background stars, putting more distance between itself and bright Jupiter in the morning sky. By the end of the week, Saturn will be rising around midnight. Mercury is too close to the Sun for viewing, and it reaches superior conjunction next weekend.

On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay.

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