Nature Moncton Nature News: Aug 5, 2016

** (This first report was missed and should have gone out August 2nd.) Louise Nichols spent Monday morning August 1st in the Ducks Unlimited impoundment, White Birch area near Sackville. It was very lively with a variety of bird life: various species of sparrows and warblers, female and/or juvenile BOBOLINKS [Goglu des prés], ALDER FLYCATCHERS [Moucherolle des aulnes] vocalizing and EASTERN KINGBIRDS [Tyran tritri]. Shorebirds continue to move in with LESSER YELLOWLEGS [Petit Chevalier] quite present and a KILLDEER [Pluvier kildir]. Louise also got a group of about 20 WILSON'S SNIPE [Bécassine des marais], both on and alongside the dyke road. One in particular posed nicely for a photo. There were the usual species of ducks and PIED-BILLED GREBE [Grèbe à bec bigarré], notably a photo of a Pied-billed Grebe chick and also two GREAT BLUE HERONS [Grand Héron]. More exciting was the raptor activity with 4 species of raptors. A MERLIN [Faucon émerillon] passed over the water, a NORTHERN HARRIER [Busard Saint-Martin] was hunting the fields around the impoundment, a juvenile BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] also flew overhead. But the most exciting was when Louise heard a commotion behind her as she walked along the road and she turned around to see a PEREGRINE FALCON [Faucon pèlerin] take a swipe at some of the shorebirds. It missed and flew off to land in a distant tree where she was able to get a very distant documentary photo. On her way back to the car, she saw two more Peregrines circling above. This was her first visit out there this summer where she did not see any BLACK TERNS [Guifette noire] and so was wondering if they had moved on.

** Penny Clarke shares a photo of one of the two BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] eaglets that have moved off the nest beside Camp Wildwood on the Little Bouctouche River at McKee's Mills.

** Mac Wilmot comments that he's noticing a number of RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES [Sittelle à poitrine rousse] this year in his Lower Coverdale yard. Some seem to be in less than sleek plumage to suggest young of the year or worn-out adults. Mac also sends a photo of the SWAMP MILKWEED [Asclépiade rouge] that grew from the seeds Jim Wilson gave out to Nature Moncton in the spring. The plants surely do look content.

** I spotted my first male GYPSY MOTH [Bombyx disparate] of the season in our Moncton yard on Thursday. These fast-flying dark brown mottled mid-sized moths are strong day flyers and easily mistaken for a butterfly in flight. This moth was introduced in Europe in the 1860s and can be problematic if at high numbers as the caterpillars feed on hardwood trees such as oak as well as other deciduous trees and shrubs. The near flightless pale-coloured female is usually found on tree trunks with an orange egg mass.

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

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, August 6 – August 13
Constellations are not the only stellar figures in the night sky. Any
imaginative figure seen that is not one of the 88 constellations is
called an asterism. The Big Dipper in Ursa Major and the Sagittarius
Teapot are two of the most prominent. Others require binoculars or a
telescope, such as the Coathanger and ET star clusters. One I have seen
recently in Cygnus the Swan, thanks to an article in Sky & Telescope
magazine, is a smiley face for binocular observers. Scan just below the
swan’s right wing near the brightest star in that wing, and look for a
pair of eyes above a semicircle grin of five stars. You will probably
smile back.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:08 am and sunset will occur at
8:41 pm, giving 14 hours, 33 minutes of daylight (6:15 am and 8:44 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:16 am and set at 8:30
pm, giving 14 hours, 14 minutes of daylight (6:23 am and 8:34 pm in
Saint John).

The Moon is at first quarter on Wednesday, giving great views in a scope
all week. On Thursday it teams up with Mars and Saturn. Mercury can be
found with binoculars about halfway between Jupiter and Venus. By
midweek Mercury and Venus set around 9:30 and Jupiter a half hour later.
In a telescope, Mars now shows a gibbous phase, and Saturn’s rings never
fail to impress.

The solar system highlight this week is the Perseid meteor shower, which
peaks at 10 am Friday, August 12. Both Thursday and Friday nights should
provide enough meteor action to keep one interested, particularly
between midnight and dawn on Friday morning. Moonlight will wash out the
fainter shooting stars in the evening, but moonset is at 1 am Friday
morning and less than an hour later on Saturday morning. Astronomers are
predicting a stronger shower than usual this year, believing Jupiter’s
gravity has pulled a section of Comet Swift-Tuttle’s trail closer to
Earth’s orbit. Get comfortable, have extra clothes or blankets and look
up toward a dark section of sky, preferably facing about 45 degrees to
the side of the constellation Perseus (which trails W-shaped Cassiopeia).

There will be public observing at the Irving Nature Park in Saint John
on August 12 (cloud date August 13), starting with a brief talk at 8:30
pm. It is an excellent opportunity to see the Moon, planets, nebulae,
galaxies and star clusters through large telescopes, and we will
probably catch several Perseid meteors. 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