Nature Moncton Nature News
October 24, 2025
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 email,
please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Please advise the editor
at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com ,
as well as proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca
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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
**Shannon Inman came
across a garter snake approximately 2 feet long trying to cross the
highway. She stopped and assisted it on its way.
At their home, a pair of northern
flickers were probing their lawn, possibly with ants on their mind.
An adult male red-winged
blackbird dropped by, but the bird specialty of the day was a visit from a
dickcissel.
[Editor’s note: the
dickcissel is uncommon but regular in New Brunswick in winter with usually the
occasional one showing up at birdfeeders. Its normal breeding range is the
central US. Characteristics to look for are the yellowish eyebrow, thick bill,
and chestnut wing coverts (that just show in John’s photo)]
**Paul and Rhonda Langelaan
have been checking the flocks of Canada geese in our area for rarities over the
last few weeks. Paul uses his scope, and Rhonda uses her camera zoom. Paul’s
scope is superior to Rhonda’s camera, so Paul is quicker at spotting them. It’s
been paying off, as they have seen several cackling geese and a greater-white
fronted goose twice. On October 22, 2025, while en route to an appointment,
they stopped at Petitcodiac lagoons on Renfrew Street. Paul spotted a greater-white
fronted goose along with some yellow-tagged Canada geese. They sent
several photos of the yellow-tagged Canada geese to Denmark researcher Anthony
Fox for information. He talked about the decline in the greater
white-fronted goose population. Anthony Fox provided a thoughtful, lengthy,
enthusiastic email appreciating Paul and Rhonda’s photos and observations.
Rhonda includes photos of the yellow-tagged geese.
**Leon Gagnon shares some
very interesting experiences he had with butterflies at his Wilson Point summer
home on Miscou Island this past summer.
He had ten Monarch
butterflies that went through their summer cycle and emergence took place
inside his small shed. It seems that the monarch butterflies were abundant this
summer as the numerous emergence occurrences are noteworthy. He shares several
photos of the action.
Another very interesting
piece of action was an appearance of the short-tailed swallowtail butterfly.
This butterfly has a presence only in certain shoreline areas along the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, making it very special.
**Nature Moncton has planned a field trip on Sunday, October 26 with all details below:
Mark your
calendars for October 26th for a Nature Moncton outing to the property of Peter
and Janet Wright. This property is 10 minutes from downtown Moncton and
consists of a large area of mixed forest, blueberry fields, bogs, and more.
Peter is trying to assist in the restoration of the Acadian Forest that would
be natural to this area. Our walk will be guided by the owner and will cover some of the
recent history.
We will walk on trails that are new and a little rough in places but fairly easy walking. A beautiful place for a fall walk. All are welcome.
The Address
is 1030 Rte. 114 Hwy, Riverview, NB. And
the start time is 10:00 AM.
Cross the
Gunningsville bridge toward Riverview and, at the lights, turn left toward
Hillsborough and continue 4.3 KM. The
address is on the right side and the driveway is a little hard to spot at
highway speed so suggest you slow down
to watch for civic number.
Nelson
Poirier
Nature Moncton
Open clusters, sometimes called galactic clusters, are groups of relatively young stars (usually less than 500 million years old) that formed from the same vast cloud of gas and dust. The Pleiades cluster (M45) in the shoulder of Taurus the Bull is seen easily with the naked eye because it is fairly close at 440 light years (mind you, a light year is 9.5 trillion kilometres). The V-shaped Hyades in the face of Taurus is the closest at 150 light years, although Aldebaran at one end of the V is actually a foreground star at a distance of 65 light years. Many other clusters are greater than ten times farther and require binoculars or a telescope to be seen at all, usually as a hazy patch with some individual stars.
To the left of Taurus is a pentagram of stars marking the head, shoulders and knees of the constellation Auriga the Charioteer. One of those stars - in Auriga's right knee, with him facing us - is officially part of Taurus. Point your binoculars halfway between this star and the one in Auriga’s right shoulder. Open cluster M36 is just inside the line between the stars, and M37 is just outside. They look like fuzzy patches because, at distances of greater than 4000 light years, a telescope is required to resolve individual stars. Further inside is the diffuse open cluster M38, midway between the right shoulder and left knee. All three clusters can be seen together in wide-field binoculars
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:50 and sunset will occur at 6:15, giving 10 hours, 25 minutes of daylight (7:54 and 6:21 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 8:00 and set at 6:04, giving 10 hours, 4 minutes of daylight (8:03 and 6:11 in Saint John).
The Moon is at first quarter on Wednesday and nearing Saturn next weekend. Mercury is at greatest elongation Wednesday, low in the southwest with Mars a binocular width to its right and setting 45 minutes after sunset. Saturn is highest and best for observing around 10:30 pm, and Jupiter rises below the Gemini Twins a half hour later. Venus rises in the east around 6:30 am when Jupiter is at its highest to the south. Rural observers might see the zodiacal light in the morning sky 90 minutes before sunrise, a subtle wedge of scattered sunlight angling up toward Jupiter. Over the week binocular comet 2025 A6 Lemmon scoots from Bootes to Ophiuchus, about 20 degrees above the western horizon at 8 pm. See the Heavens Above website for its location at any time.
The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre on November 1 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.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
