Nature Moncton Nature News: July 29 2016

** Gordon Rattray made a pilgrimage to Machias Seal Island on Wednesday to capture some stunning photos of some of the members of the island's nesting inhabitants. Gordon captured an excellent photo of an ARCTIC TERN [Sterne arctique] in flight and perched, COMMON MURRE [Guillemot marmette], RAZORBILLS [Petit Pingouin], ATLANTIC PUFFINS [Macareux moine] and BLACK GUILLEMOT [Guillemot à miroir] . Gordon comments that the Puffins have not fledged yet, but he could still hear the nest growls, much like a chainsaw running. The Razorbills had fledged. There were still a few on the island, but most had gone back to the water. The Common Murres still had not fledged and were busy flying over the observation huts to the other side of the island.

** Kerry-Lee Morris Cormier reports in from the Nature Conservancy of Canada Shorebird Interpretive Centre at Johnson's Mills. She reports PEREGRINE FALCONS [Faucon pèlerin] are ruling roosting time at the site. Two juveniles accompanied by one adult have been keeping the tens of thousands of SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau semipalmé] on the move. The only one long roost of 3 hours they have witnessed near the interpretation centre since the birds started arriving two weeks ago was last Sunday, The Canadian Wildlife Service and Mount Allison University are busy working at re-sighting banded birds. So if anyone observes a bird with bands, please forward colour, position and inscription if possible. Photos are great for that.

** Susan Richard reports that the two eaglets in a BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] nest in a tree next to her Memramcook property are very near fledging, working hard on their wing exercises in preparation for their inaugural flight. Susan suspects the same parents have been using the nest for some years.

** Jamie Burris also has SWAMP MILKWEED blooming in his Riverview yard at the moment and photographed some of the patrons that are enjoying nectoring on it. Jamie also got a nice photo of a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER [Paruline noir et blanc] on a successful hunt and shows its upside-down behaviour.

** Anna Tucker visited the Sackville Waterfowl Park on Thursday to note both GREATER YELLOWLEGS [Grand Chevalier] and LESSER YELLOWLEGS [Petit Chevalier] gathering there now. One photo shows a Greater Yellowlegs sitting like a duck showing the white rump.

** At the Federation of Nature in Sackville in June 2015, Jim Wilson was giving out recently-sprouted seedling plants of SWAMP MILKWEED. Two pots went into our Moncton backyard and several plants are at the moment supporting blooms that are very attractive to bee pollinators. No sign of Monarch butterflies yet, but they could have easily dropped by when no one was around. We did see a large fritillary checking them out. The blooms are pleasingly at the height of the sunroom window this year. One year did the trick. Thank you Mr. Wilson.

** This week's Sky-at-a-Glance is added to this transcription, courtesy of Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, July 30 – August 6
When I was a kid there was nothing like an ice cream to cool you down on
a hot summer day, although it was a challenge to lick fast enough to
keep it from dripping over the cone. If a kids’ night sky had a
constellation honouring the ice cream cone it would have to be the one
we call Boötes (bo-OH-teez). Boötes is easy to pick out because it is
anchored by Arcturus, the fourth brightest star of the sky. To identify
the star, “just follow the arc (of the Big Dipper’s handle) to
Arcturus.” This star is the bottom of the cone and the ice cream is to
the left of the Dipper’s handle, somewhat northward where it will stay
cold and not melt. The constellation can also pass for a kite or a necktie.

The name Boötes means ox driver but the constellation is often regarded
as a bear driver or a ploughman. With his hunting dogs, the Canes
Venatici constellation, he is seen chasing the two bears (Ursa Major and
Ursa Minor) around the pole. In Britain the Big Dipper is usually called
the Plough, and in mythology the goddess of agriculture requested Zeus
to honour Boötes in the sky for inventing the plough. I guess he is the
John Deere of the night sky, or perhaps Ernest Hamwi who popularized the
edible ice cream cone at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.

Speaking of World’s Fairs, the 1893 and 1933 fairs were held in Chicago.
To commemorate technology, the lights for the latter fair were lit using
a current generated from photocells and the starlight of Arcturus. It
was believed the star was 40 light years distant, so the light reaching
them would have been emitted during the previous Chicago fair. We now
know Arcturus is only 37 light years away. Several observatories
supplied starlight for the opening but, considering the shape of the
constellation, it is unfortunate that one of them wasn’t the Lick
Observatory in California.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:00 am and sunset will occur at
8:51 pm, giving 14 hours, 51 minutes of daylight (6:07 am and 8:53 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:08 am and set at 8:41
pm, giving 14 hours, 33 minutes of daylight (6:15 am and 8:44 pm in
Saint John).

The Moon is new on Tuesday, and it can be seen in binoculars to the
lower left of Mercury on Thursday and lower right of Jupiter on Friday.
See if you can pick out the star Regulus just below Mercury with
binoculars on Saturday, July 30. The star will be just below Venus next
Friday. Mars forms a near-equilateral triangle with Saturn and Antares
late in the week.

The RASC NB star party at Mount Carleton Provincial Park is July 29-31,
and the following weekend is the make-up date for the rained-out star
party at Mactaquac Park. These are excellent opportunities to see
nebulae, galaxies and other normally faint objects through large
telescopes. The Saint John Astronomy Club meets at the Rockwood Park
Interpretation Centre on August 6 at 7 pm. All are welcome.

Questions? Contact me at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton