NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
August 19,
2023
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** Jane and Ed LeBlanc
from St. Martins and Nature Moncton member Judith Ives traveled to Johnson's
Mills this week. The number of birds was estimated at 50,000. Judith had not
been there before, so she enjoyed it.... except for the hordes of hungry
mosquitoes. Semipalmated Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers comprised
most of the birds, but there were also a few Least Sandpipers.
On the way
home, they stopped at the Sackville Waterfowl Park. Not much was happening
there, but Jane did catch a Viceroy Butterfly in her lens.
On a
bicycle ride near her home the next day, Jane found a Wilson's Warbler
that posed briefly. She also got a distant photo of one of two Great Egrets
that are in the Quaco Marsh at the moment.
**Shannon Inman got excellent photos of an Atlantis Fritillary
Butterfly from different angles to notice the distinctly marked grey eye,
which is a significant feature in identifying this species of butterfly.
Shannon also saw a Monarch Butterfly by the Harvey Dam
but, like many others, has yet to see one in their yard even though they have
all the appropriate food plants.
**Anita Cannon has at least 7 Black Swallowtail
Butterfly caterpillars enjoying her small Parsley patch. Attached are 2 photos
of the caterpillars at different stages of development. Anita is happy to share
her Parsley crop to let them all have their fill!
(Editor's
note: these caterpillars would be from a second brood for this season and will
be overwintering in the chrysalis stage. An earlier published photo of the very
cryptic chrysalis stage is attached.)
**Rheal Vienneau
photographed the very beautiful large moth, the Bedstraw Hawk Moth a.k.a.
Gallium Sphinx, in Lameque on Friday.
This moth
is not considered rare but is uncommonly seen and photographed. The mating
flights would be ebbing at the moment, and we will soon start seeing the
strikingly marked caterpillars of this species.
Its host
plant is Bedstraw, an extremely common plant.
**Lisa
Morris photographed a Pine Tree Spurthroat Grasshopper (Melanoplus
punctulatus).
This is a
species of grasshopper that is not uncommon but one we don’t often tend to see
as it is arboreal, tending to habituate a variety of trees. However, Pine is its favoured choice.
**Anna
Tucker visited the Sackville Waterfowl Park to take note of the popular
nectaring plant Joe-pye Weed as well as the colourful invasive plant Purple Loosestrife.
Anna also
took note of some of the creative crochet artistry that someone is
adding to this beautiful park.
**Brian
Stone joined Nelson Poirier on an outing on Thursday that led them to the Deer
Park Trails in Burton, near Oromocto, for a long productive walk that brought
many interesting items to their attention.
Along with the Great Crested Flycatcher that
was posted in Friday's edition, Brian photographed a Slender Spreadwing
Damselfly, a Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp, some of the many Leopard
Frogs along the trail that were mixed in with a few Green Frogs, Bullfrogs, and American
Toads, an Edge-striped Shield Bug Nymph, and Whirligig Beetles.
(Editor’s
note: this is a very recommended group of trails to visit at any time of year.
The diversity of habitat is remarkable.
The amazing
number of frogs/toads leaping everywhere would have had young Nature Moncton
member Isabelle Simon going ballistic!)
The plant
life seen was varied and worthy of a longer visit. Some that were examined
closely were Bugleweed, Asters, Indian Tobacco, Glossy
Buckthorn, Alder Buckthorn, Entoloma Mushrooms, Hawkweeds,
Pickerel Weed, Ragweed, Wood Sorrel, and some Insect
Plant Galls that were home to some tiny larvae.
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2023, August 19 – August
26
One of the prettiest constellations can be seen halfway up in the southeastern
sky around 10 pm. Delphinus the Dolphin is composed of a small diamond-shaped
asterism with a star tailing off to the right, and it doesn’t take much
imagination to picture a dolphin leaping out of the sea. Although its stars are
not bright, its compact shape is eye-catching. Below it is the watery
constellations of Capricornus, Aquarius, Piscis Austrinus and Pisces. In
mythology, Poseidon had designs on the sea nymph Amphitrite but she hid from
him. A dolphin kept track of her and eventually convinced her that the sea god
was an okay guy, and it was rewarded with a place of honour in the sky. The
diamond part of the constellation has also been called Job’s Coffin, but the
origin of this is unknown.
Above Delphinus, and within the Summer Triangle, are two other small
constellations called Sagitta the Arrow and Vulpecula the Fox. Like Delphinus,
Sagitta does resemble its namesake, but apparently, the fox is too sly to give
itself away readily. Sagitta is supposedly the arrow shot by Hercules to kill
an eagle (Aquila), which had been commanded by Zeus to peck out the liver of Prometheus
each day to punish him for giving humans the secret of fire. Binoculars might
reveal the tiny gaseous remnants of an expired star, called the Dumbbell Nebula
or M27, above the arrowhead, and the Coathanger Cluster is to the upper right
of the fletching.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:23 am, and sunset will occur at 8:21 pm,
giving 13 hours, 58 minutes of daylight (6:29 am and 8:24 pm in Saint John).
Next Saturday, the Sun will rise at 6:32 am and set at 8:09 pm, giving 13
hours, 37 minutes of daylight (6:38 am and 8:12 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at first quarter on Thursday and, unfortunately for NB stargazers,
it sets that night just before it occults the bright star Antares. Venus has
popped up into the morning sky and late in the week it will rise an hour before
the Sun. Mercury and Mars set a half hour and an hour, respectively, after
sunset this weekend; too close to the Sun for viewing. Saturn reaches
opposition next weekend, rising at sunset, and before the end of the week
Jupiter will be rising at 11 pm.
The weather forecast does not look good for the RASC NB star party at Mount
Carleton this weekend.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
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