Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 21 2016

** There is a forecast for a break in the weather on Sunday, so the Nature Moncton field trip to the Elgin Mapleton Acadian Forest that was to take place this Saturday will be rescheduled for Sunday morning. Sunday morning is not a time when field trips get slotted, but considering the time window left to see this special area, the rescheduling was done. If folks want to take in the afternoon hike only, take note of the meeting place in the attached write-up. The contact numbers to find where to meet the group if necessary are 852-0863 or 866-2752.

Fall Birding and Tour of the Mapleton Acadian Forest Trail

Fall has arrived and with it some very special outdoor experiences. One of the most spectacular is surely the appearance of autumn colors, which occurs with the passage of deciduous trees to dormancy. On Saturday October 22^nd, Nature Moncton is offering a chance to experience the beauty of autumn with a double-pronged activity lead by Roger Leblanc. We will assemble at the Moncton Coliseum parking lot at 8:30 am. After consolidating vehicles, we will proceed to do some birding (a given with Roger) in promising areas on route to Elgin. The exact itinerary for this first part of the outing will be adjusted in the context of what has been seen between Moncton and Elgin in the days before the outing and where Roger thinks we might find interesting birds, but the Salisbury region would seem like a probable destination. We will then head to the village of Elgin just South of Petitcodiac off of route 1. After having our lunch (pack all you need as apparently the very nice country store in Elgin has closed) Matt Steeves, a member of the Elgin Eco Association, will meet us there. Matt will explain the ins and outs of the preservation of a mature forest stand near Elgin that this organization has managed to secure.

The Mapleton Acadian Forest trail is an interpretive nature trail constructed and maintained by the Elgin Eco Association. The trail provides an opportunity to learn about the mature Acadian Forest and how it responds to a variety of human disturbances. The trail features interpretive signs, and it crosses a wide variety of forest types and conditions. Matt will bring us to the trail and from there we will proceed to hike it for a couple of hours, all the time exploring what might be found along it bird-wise, but also looking at trees, plants and mushrooms and whatever else we can find. The trail is of medium difficulty but do expect some good inclines and think of appropriate clothes and footwear. If you choose to participate in only the hike, you can do that too by joining us at around noon in the parking lot of the old general store in Elgin.

When you come off the Highway 1 at Petitcodiac from exit 233 you will take route 905 towards Elgin. This route will become route 895 at one point before you get to Elgin.
Once in the village were route 895 turns at 90 degree you will see the general store to your left and our party will be in the parking having lunch. We will be meeting Matt Steeves there at 1 PM”.

So come join us for some fall birding and a nice hike in the glorious autumn colors of a mature Acadian forest.

** Dave Miller has had some awesome moments with a cow MOOSE [Orignal] and a pair of interacting GREAT HORNED OWLS [Grand-duc d'Amérique] on the Buckley Rd., off Rte 112 in the Second North River area. He watched the two Great Horned Owls interacting for over a half hour. The moose didn't seem to mind him much except she did raise her neck hairs occasionally. Take note of Dave's photo of the rear view of the moose. There is an area in the rump that appears to be rough. This may well be the area where moose ticks overwinter and cause lesions, which is a usual scenario.

** Nature Moncton’s new treasurer, David Cannon, was accidentally omitted from the list of election of officers at the Nature Moncton AGM on Tuesday evening. David brings some excellent experience to that position and Nature Moncton is fortunate to have him on board as he as well is secretary and active on the Irishtown Nature Park committee.

** Brian Stone got some mushroom photos on the Dobson Trail this week. One is of the LATE FALL OYSTER MUSHROOM with a top and bottom view. This is normally a late mushroom that grows on trees and is considered an edible mushroom. The other is the RED-BELTED POLYPORE with top and bottom views. The red belt is not obvious yet as this is a young specimen. Note the pale yellow blush on the underside. It happens to have a pleasant odour, but is too tough to be considered as an edible. Brian also photographed a grape-sized mass on a tree trunk that is strongly suspected to be a spider egg mass to overwinter as such.

** A very interesting scenario with the SHAGGY PARASOL MUSHROOMS that Jamie Burris recently posted from his Riverview backyard. The message was picked up by the New Brunswick Museum to note that they did not have a known specimen or records of the species from the Maritimes. Fortunately, some specimens were still beautifully intact in Jamie's yard and are now being prepared for a permanent museum collection. The other interesting scenario is how these specimens ended up growing in Jamie's yard. He had found some three years ago and collected them, placing the mushrooms and some duff obviously with mycelial spawn attached in his backyard under a conifer tree. And voila! Three years later, a nice crop of this choice uncommon-to-New Brunswick mushroom in his yard. All kudos to Jamie.

** Woodpeckers are among the species that will use nest boxes for overnight refuge in winter. Louise Richard spotted a DOWNY WOODPECKER [Pic mineur] enter a swallow box at dusk on Thursday evening, and it seemed to stay put. They will be watching to see if this repeats itself in the months to come.

** Anna Tucker is visiting family in Burlington, Ontario and went to visit the Mountsberg Centre for Raptors in nearby Campbell. Anna very much recommends a visit to this facility for anyone traveling in this area. The raptors there are birds not releasable to the wild for various reasons, and Anna advises they are very well kept, so they can live out their lives and people can enjoy seeing them.

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

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, October 22 – October 29
The Pleiades star cluster, which is located in the shoulder of Taurus
the Bull, is rising now in early evening as a harbinger of winter. In a
few weeks it will be rising at sunset. Due to its shape, this
eye-catching cluster has been mistaken for the Little Dipper by many
people. Most of us can count six stars in the Pleiades under good
conditions, but keen-eyed wonders have picked out twice that number from
a dark sky. A low power view of it in binoculars will show a couple of
dozen stars and it is one of the prettiest sights you will see in the
night sky. I always look for the hockey stick in the binocular view.

The name Pleiades likely comes from the Greek word “plein,” which means
“to sail” (Wikipedia). Sailing season in the Mediterranean Sea typically
began when the cluster was first spotted before sunrise. In mythology it
became the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, hence their common name
of the Seven Sisters. Somewhere along the way one of them got lost. The
cluster played a significant role on marking time for several ancient
cultures, including the Maori, Mayan, Aztec and some First Nations.

Perhaps you have seen the Pleiades while stuck in traffic and just
haven’t realized it. The six-star logo of Subaru depicts the Pleiades,
as Subaru is the Japanese name for the cluster. The name, which means
“united,” was chosen because the company was formed from a merger of
several. Building on its stellar heritage, the Subaru Company is
promoting light pollution abatement in their advertising and it is a
corporate sponsor of the RASC.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:46 am and sunset will occur at
6:20 pm, giving 10 hours, 34 minutes of daylight (7:50 am and 6:26 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:56 am and set at 6:09
pm, giving 10 hours, 13 minutes of daylight (8:00 am and 6:15 pm in
Saint John).

The third quarter Moon occurs this Saturday, rising before11:30 Friday
evening and setting by 2:30 Saturday afternoon. Mercury passes behind
the Sun in superior conjunction on Thursday. Venus is gaining prominence
now with the earlier sunsets, making its way toward Saturn and Antares
in the southwest. In a couple of weeks it will pass between those two.
Mars is holding its position toward the south in twilight, watching the
slow parade of stars passing by in their seasonal westward migration.
Jupiter is higher in the east each morning and plays host to a crescent
Moon next Friday.

The Saint John Astronomy Club (RASC NB) meets a week early at the
Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre in Saint John on October 29 at 7 pm.

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

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton