Nature Moncton Nature
News
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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.
If you would like to share
observations/photos with Nature News, contact the editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Please advise the editor
at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com, as well as proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca, if any errors are noted in wording or photo
labelling.
Proofreading courtesy of
Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
The camera on the peregrine
falcon nest box on the summit of Assumption Place is now live. When
checking the link to watch the activity, scroll down to the first large image,
which shows what is happening in real time.
https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
**The contact email to
register for the pelagic adventure off Grand Manan scheduled for August 15
in yesterday’s edition was incorrect for the first part of the day, and when
corrected, still did not work for some.
The correct contact
address is Cynthia Doucet at outandabout4nm@gmail.com.
**Jane LeBlanc had to go
whale watching for work (such a chore!!) on Saturday and sends a few photos. A minke whale was spotted, as well as
an Atlantic puffin, bald eagles, and gray seals.
(Editor’s note: Jane is a
guide for cruise ship passengers that makes her do these chores that get shared
with us!)
**Ted Sears often finds
the bridge going into Poodiac (not far from Cassidy Lake) always provides
excitement, and an eastern phoebe was cooperating as usual. There were two adults and three ready-to-fledge nestlings on a nest under the bridge.
Ted also photographed a chalk-fronted
corporal dragonfly and a lancet clubtail dragonfly, both posing
nicely.
**That time of year has
arrived when we will start to see the nocturnal moths day perching, often right
in our yards for us to enjoy.
Katie Girvan enjoyed
observing and photographing the stunning colours of the rosy maple moth,
one of the smaller of our colourful silk moth group. Katie also photographed
the pale beauty moth. Both of Katie’s specimens are at their prime and
have probably just emerged from pupation.
**About five or six years
ago, Nelson Poirier sent Jim Johnson in Scotch settlement two handcrafted clay cliff swallow
nests, which he mounted on the peak of two garages. It was a little late in the year,
so there was very little interest in them then. Even for the next two years, the
cliff swallows would check them out, but that was all. Last year, one was occupied, but the other one was not. This year, they took to both of them right from the
start and even added a little mud to the opening of one. They started coming to
Jim’s buildings about 10 years ago. Jim has no idea why, but they certainly are
welcome. There are five pairs so far, and they are very active, as there seem to
be a lot of bugs this year.
(Editor’s note:
approximately 10 years ago, these clay cliff swallow nests were available to
purchase but then went off the market. Brian Dalzell had successfully used them
in Grand Manan. Nelson Poirier had one unused nest, which Roger LeBlanc talked
a neighbour who did pottery into copying. She made 25 of the clay nests, which we gave
out to several people who already had cliff swallows nesting naturally. The
nests are very durable and still up, with some being used regularly and some
not.)
**Suzanne Rousseau
recently sent a photo (reattached today) of a 9:30 PM red sky light show that we had to get some consultations on.
Curt Nason supplied an
excellent commentary that anyone should refer to when they see something
similar. I am quoting Curt’s explanation below:
“Suzanne was looking
southward around 9:30 from near Bouctouche, where sunset was at
9:14 Thursday and at azimuth 306 degrees. Therefore, the centre of a rainbow
would be at azimuth 126 and the right-side red arc at 168, close to due south.
Near sunset, the shorter wavelength rainbow colours get scattered away, leaving
the red. I see hints of yellow and orange in the photo, probably just before
they disappear. I have seen a red rainbow before, but not like this, so
I checked Wikipedia and it explains the scattered red. We see only the corner
of the rainbow due to that being the only area with raindrops catching
sunlight at the time."
(Editor’s note: if Curt Nason has not seen a scenario like this, it must be very uncommon, as Curt has his eye on the sky as much as anybody in New Brunswick!)
Below is further explanation found online:
"A monochrome or red rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon
and a rare variation of the more commonly seen multicolored rainbow. Its
formation process is identical to that of a normal rainbow (namely the
reflection/refraction of light in water droplets), the difference being that
a monochrome rainbow
requires the sun to
be close to the horizon; i.e., near sunrise or sunset. The low
angle of the sun results in a longer distance for its light to travel through
the atmosphere, causing shorter wavelengths of
light, such as blue, green and yellow, to be
scattered and leaving primarily red, hence the name "monochrome rainbow".[1] In
the lower light environment where the phenomenon most often forms, a monochrome
rainbow can leave a highly dramatic effect.[2][3]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monochrome_rainbow
Also: "Occasionally, a shower may happen at sunrise or sunset, where
the shorter wavelengths like blue and green have been scattered and essentially
removed from the spectrum. Further scattering may occur due to the rain, and
the result can be rare and dramatic.”
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
