Nature Moncton Nature News: 2024-09-29

Saturday, 5 October 2024

October 6 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

October 6, 2024

Nature Moncton members as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond are invited to share their photos and descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition of Nature News

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

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

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

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**The Nature Moncton field trip to Prosser Brook Lookout for tomorrow, Sunday, has been cancelled due to weather.

**The Oak tree is possibly the plant that supports the greatest variety of galls.

Lynn Dube came across a grouping of the Fuzzy Oak gall a.k.a. Oak Gall wasp. She photographed the group and also photographed one of the galls opened to show the hatched larva. The galls are formed by the tree leaf in response to the feeding of the larva hatched from an egg deposited by a tiny gall wasp.

**The Western Conifer Seed Bug is very commonly seen this time of year and is a frequent home invader in the fall as they overwinter indoors.

Nelson Poirier includes a photo of one of several noted on the move Saturday. They are ¾ in and very distinctively marked with the enlarged area on the hind leg (tibia) being a clue.

This bug is native to Western North America but has spread eastward including to New Brunswick. They are herbaceous, feeding on several conifers but do not make a serious impact on the trees. They emit a very pungent odour if handled (alarmed).

Nelson also includes a photo taken Saturday of the Pigskin Poison Puffball mushroom. This is our only puffball mushroom that is not a suggested edible. It is easily identified by taking note of the thick brown pebbly surface and, when cut in cross-section, has a dark grey to black interior even when fresh. The occasional one is indeed white but the thick, rough skin readily identifies it.

**It's mushroom appreciation season. Lots of moisture and some cool nights will get them popping!

Barbara Smith spotted some side-plate-sized yellow mushrooms attempting to take over a churchyard in Riverview on Thursday.

She was able to see and photograph their undersides without having to uproot them.

(Editor’s note: this would appear to be an uncommon mushroom species as consultation could not pin it down. The pore structure on the underside suggests it to be a bolete. A spore print is always helpful when identifying mushrooms. With this species growing in a cluster, it is helpful to look at the top of the cap of one under the cluster, which in this case shows a brown spore print (arrowed).

A search in Myco Quebec showed similarities to the Golden Gilled Bolete to give a possibility.)

**Janet Hammock and her family were recently walking in Port Elgin, NB when they spied a fuzzy copper and black caterpillar! Janet Googled Almanac.com and discovered the following:

“Look for these fuzzy wuzzies in the fall. According to woolly worm watchers, there are two generations of worms each year. The first appear in June and July, and the second in September. The second-generation worms are the “weather prophets.”

To find a woolly bear, start looking under leaves and logs! Some are just crossing the road. Once you spot a woolly worm inching its way along the ground or a road, you’ll see them everywhere! The caterpillars are most active during the day. After filling up on food—including violets, lambs’ quarters, and clover—their goal is to find a place to hide for the winter. Interestingly, the woolly worm overwinters as a larva. Their entire body will enter a “frozen” state until May when it will emerge as the Isabella moth.”

Janet sends some photos of the Woolly Bear caterpillar they saw in Port Elgin on Thursday. It was slowly making its way across a grassy path. From time to time, it would stop and appear to be entering a hole, but it always emerged and continued its journey. Perhaps it was searching for just the right place to overwinter. According to legend, the bigger the two black areas are, the worse will be the winter we are in for.

The first photo shows him in the defensive position reacting, perhaps, to the sound of their approach. It is slightly curled into a ball.

The second photo shows it again, confidently elongated, and moving slowly across the path.

Janet sends a photo from the Almanac.com website which shows how this beautiful caterpillar will emerge in the spring as the Isabella Tiger Moth.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

WESTERN CONIFER SEED BUG. OCT 5, 2024. NELSON POIRIER

OAK GALL WASP. OCT 4, 2024. LYNN DUBE

OAK GALL WASP LARVA. OCT 4, 2024. LYNN DUBE

BOLETE GENUS MUSHROOM. OCTOBER 3, 2024. BARBARA SMITH

POISON PUFFBALL MUSHROOM. OCT 5, 2024. NELSON POIRIER

POISON PUFFBALL MUSHROOM (CROSS SECTION). OCT 5, 2024. NELSON POIRIER

WOOLLY BEAR CATERPILLAR. OCT 5, 2024. JANET HAMMOCK

ISABELLA TIGER MOTH (ADULT). VIA JANET HAMMOCK

Thursday, 3 October 2024

October 4 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

October 4, 2024

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

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

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

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**The lingering shorebirds are now scattering at their favourite spots including Hay Island.

Aldo Dorio sends a photo of Dunlin and Greater Yellowlegs enjoying the wetlands at that site.

**On Thursday morning at sunrise Brian Stone noticed that a light fog had set in and the conditions appeared to be right for a fogbow to appear. He went outside into his driveway and was rewarded with the beautiful sight of a fairly strong fogbow in the sky opposite the sunrise. The fogbow faded in and out of visibility as the density of the fog fluctuated, but after several photo sessions with it, he got the results he was hoping for and sends his best images.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog_bow

**This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 October 5 – October 12

The Pleiades star cluster, which is located in the shoulder of Taurus the Bull, is rising around 8:30 pm now as a harbinger of winter. In a month it will be rising at sunset. Due to its shape, this eye-catching cluster has been mistaken for the Little Dipper. Most of us can count six stars in the Pleiades under good conditions but keen-eyed wonders have picked out twice that number from a dark sky. A low power view of it in binoculars will show a couple of dozen stars and it is one of the prettiest sights you will see in the night sky. I always look for the hockey stick in the binocular view.

According to Wikipedia, the name Pleiades likely comes from the ancient Greek word “plein,” which means “to sail.” Sailing season in the Mediterranean Sea typically began when the cluster was first spotted before sunrise. In mythology it became the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, hence its common name of the Seven Sisters. Somewhere along the way one of them got lost. Astronomers also know it as M45 from the Messier catalogue. The cluster played a significant role in marking time for several ancient cultures, including the Maori, Mayan, Aztec and some First Nations.

Perhaps you have seen the Pleiades while stuck in traffic and just haven’t realized it. The six-star logo of Subaru automobiles depicts the Pleiades, as Subaru is the Japanese name for the cluster. The name, which means “united,” was chosen because the large company was formed from a merger of five.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:23 and sunset will occur at 6:50, giving 11 hours, 27 minutes of daylight (7:28 and 6:56 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:32 and set at 6:37, giving 11 hours, 5 minutes of daylight (7:37 and 6:43 in Saint John).

The Moon is just below the red supergiant star Antares on Monday evening and it is at first quarter on Thursday. Use a telescope to look for the illuminated Lunar X just within the shadow line around 9 pm on Wednesday. Venus shines brightly low in the southwest in the early evening, and Saturn is at its highest and best for observing at 11 pm. Jupiter’s moon Ganymede emerges from the planet’s shadow at 11:34 pm on Tuesday, five minutes before Io disappears into the shadow, and the Red Spot will also be in view. Jupiter reaches its first stationary point Wednesday, after which it begins westward motion against the stars. Mercury is out of sight man. Rural observers can look for the subtle wedge of the zodiacal light in the east 90 to 60 minutes before sunrise. By next weekend comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be appearing low in the southwest after sunset.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre this Saturday at 7 pm. Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay. The Fredericton Astronomy Club meets at the UNB Forestry-Earth Sciences building on Tuesday at 7 pm.

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

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

GREATER YELLOWLEGS AND DUNLIN. OCT 3, 2024. ALDO DORIO

DUNLIN. OCT 3, 2024. ALDO DORIO

FOGBOW. OCT. 03. 2024. BRIAN STONE

Pleiades_Stellarium

October 3 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

October 3, 2024

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

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

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

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Besides the Canada Jay still coming to the suet, Jane LeBlanc also had White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Downy Woodpecker to her Sumac tree fruit, Golden-crowned Kinglet in the Witch Hazel shrub, and in the St. Martins Harbour, a Red-throated Loon.

**Brian Coyle came across a plump Banded Argiope spider in a field near his home on Wednesday that cooperated nicely for a photograph.

**The large colourful Argiope spiders were popular observations on Wednesday as it is their most active time of year.

Lynn Dube encountered an Argiope genus spider in a field, busy tending its web.

Lynn also photographed a cooperative Green Frog enjoying its day in their backyard fishpond.

**Leon Gagnon reports on some of the observations he has made on Miscou Island.

During the months of August and September, Whimbrels were seen or heard fairly regularly, most of the time isolated or in small groups of less than 10 individuals.

He photographed a Long-tailed Duck on August 18 near the Miscou lighthouse and noticed others along the coast.

He photographed an Olive-sided Flycatcher on August 19. There were four individuals seen in different locations during the month of August. Most of them were perched on the top of trees.

Greater Yellowlegs were abundant as were Ruddy Turnstones in September.

A juvenile Spotted Sandpiper posed proudly on a large rock.

**Brian Stone sends some photos from the Salisbury Wetlands taken on Tuesday as he visited the lagoons and walked the trail around the ponds. More than a hundred Canada Geese were present, spread out in all the ponds and lagoons. A pair of Surf Scoters was also there in the far pond, as well as several shorebirds including some Spotted Sandpipers and several Lesser Yellowlegs. A Mallard duck posed on a branch above a Green-winged Teal duck. Far ahead of Brian on the trail, a male Ring-necked Pheasant ran in and out of view while keeping an eye on his fellow trail walker.

Earlier Brian had visited a beach at Caissie Cape and found some Hermit Crabs in a variety of sizes and shapes scurrying about in the shallow water's edge. Also, several other large Banded Argiope garden spiders which seem to just appear this time of year. Brian also noted a Woolly Bear caterpillar seemingly getting ready to overwinter up along the edge of his roof gutters at the rear of his house.