NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
August 13, 2025
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**Tonight’s
Wednesday Walk, August 13, has been cancelled due to the extreme heat forecast.
The
Wednesday Walk for next Wednesday, August 20, will be posted as soon as it is available.
**Jane
LeBlanc travelled with friends to Johnson’s Mills on Tuesday to see the show. Shorebirds
numbered about 100,000, according to the interpreter.
At her St. Martins home, Jane also noted three emerged monarch butterfly chrysalids in the last two days...two female monarchs on Monday and one undetermined gender on Tuesday (it flew as soon as she opened the cage, so she couldn't determine the gender.) One caterpillar started to turn into a chrysalis, stopped the process, and died. She has one more chrysalis left and is looking for more caterpillars. Jane also notes that the date Jim Wilson and the group start the Lepreau tagging of monarchs is August 15th because monarchs after that date are the ones that fly to Mexico. So far, all of hers are too early.
**The
field trip Fred Richards has arranged for Nature Moncton to visit the Joggins
Fossil Cliffs and Museum is going ahead for this coming Saturday, August
16. There is still room for participants and carpooling spots are available. Registration is required with all
information from Fred Richards below:
**Nature Moncton’s
Field Trip to Joggins Fossil Cliffs and Museum.
We have scheduled an
outing at the Joggins Fossil Centre (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) for Saturday
August 16th 2025. The tour
of the fossil cliffs will start at 11:30 and will last approximately 90
minutes. Visitors to the site are asked
to wear appropriate footwear, be careful of cobblestones, and avoid walking on
wet, loose rocks.
You will have access to the museum
before and after the tour. This event
will take place in Joggins, Nova Scotia and is just over an hour from
Moncton. We plan to have some car
pooling for this event and I will set this up after we find out how many are
interested. Please use the Nature
Moncton Contact email to have your name added to the list. naturenmonctoncontact@gmail.com
The cost will be $25.00 per person.
Joggins Fossil Cliffs on the Bay of
Fundy: Canada’s 15th UNESCO World Heritage Site
Explore up to 15 kilometres of
magnificently exposed layers of rock along the Bay of Fundy coastline, just 30
minutes from Amherst and 40 minutes from Parrsboro. Towering cliffs reveal the
world’s most complete fossil record of life in the ‘Coal Age’ when lush forests
covered Joggins and much of the world’s tropical regions, 300 million years
ago.
Constant erosion from the Bay of
Fundy’s tides, rising and falling up to 13 metres (42 feet) in Joggins twice
daily, creates possibilities for exposing new, rare fossils. Search for fossils on the beach or view the spectacular
sandstone layers with fossilized remains of the 300-million-year-old
forest. With careful observation, you
may even find fossils of animal and insect trackways or the remains of
amphibians or Hylonomus lyelli – the oldest known reptile and
Nova Scotia’s provincial fossil!
- Visit the Joggins Fossil Centre
to learn about the ’Coal Age’ through fossils, exhibits and displays that
tell a 300-million-year-old story.
- Take the guided beach tour with the
Joggins Fossil Centre to explore the nearby Joggins Fossil Cliffs, where
fossilized trees and roots from an ancient forest are preserved within the
cliffs.
- Uncover fossils on the beach as
almost every rock contains a fossil, and each tidal cycle reveals new
fossils!
- Enjoy local coffees, teas and
baked goods at The Roundhouse Café open Saturdays through Wednesdays in
July and August.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
