Nature Moncton Nature News: June 25 2021

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, June 25, 2021 (Friday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

** Nature Moncton’s first weekly evening nature hike, postponed from Tuesday to Thursday night, was a major success. A group of enthusiastic naturalists made a two-hour snail’s pace hike of the Dobson Trail section along Mill Brook. There were many plant, mushroom, and some bird observations. There was no specific guide; however, individuals in the group were each able to make identity contributions, some turning out to be real surprises. There were many photos that will come out in the days ahead as getting back home at dusk did not give time for the multitude of photos to get downloaded. All thanks to Fred and Sue Richards for getting this project started. Next Tuesday evening will be to Riverview Marsh led by Gordon Rattray, and write-up and directions will be out this weekend.

** We mentioned in yesterday’s edition how challenging it can be to get a cooperative photo of a NELSON’S SPARROW. Bill Winsor was in the right place at the right time to get an excellent photo of a Nelson’s Sparrow on June 20^th at Hay Island which is attached.

** Oscar LeBlanc reports some interesting bird and butterfly activity at his Sainte-Marie-de-Kent site, reporting that he is experiencing a very good year. The pair of EASTERN KINGBIRDS that nested in a conifer tree beside his home are now feeding young, and he has a pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS nesting in one of his many swallow nest boxes. Oscar was also pleased to have a CLIFF SWALLOW pair arrive a few weeks ago and decide to build a nest on the eave of his home. Oscar comments he is amazed at the intricacy of the nest watching it be constructed. Oscar also planted Swamp Milkweed and last week, had a MONARCH BUTTERFLY ovipositing on the plants.

** Brian Stone went to the Shediac area in search of the possible sighting of the ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER on Wednesday but was not able to find the bird. He did manage to get some other interesting photos though starting with a family of four OSPREY flying overhead. He photographed what he thinks must be the two adults while the younger birds stayed higher and back farther and so managed to hide from the camera. Some birds that popped out for a look were an AMERICAN ROBIN, a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, RED-EYED VIREO, and a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW and some CEDAR WAXWINGS. Some small critters that posed for the camera were a JUMPING SPIDER, a HOBOMOK SKIPPER BUTTERFLY, and a pair of FLOWER FLIES. Along the road a SNOWSHOE HARE stopped to see what was going on and the picture of the day was a WHITE-TAILED DEER family that paused along the road to get their portrait taken.

** Jane LeBlanc got a nice photo of a dad COMMON YELLOWTHROAT WARBLER, obviously on route to hungry nestlings, his beak bulging with a delicious caterpillar and other insects that will pack a protein punch.

** An ID request from Kathy Breaton about a tree loaded with berries in Kitchener, Ont. came in. I did not plan to use it on the blog, but a bit of sleuthing makes it of interest. It is the fruit of a MULBERRY TREE that grows to a large tree. The fruit are edible and delicious. A Google search indicated its range occurs in Eastern North America forests. In Canada, it is found only in the Carolinian zone (that small area of Ontario, SW of Toronto to Sarnia down to the shores of Lake Erie), near rivers, the shores of Lake Erie and the slopes of the Niagara escarpment. However, Gart Bishop advises there is a large tree in Sussex, and I have seen it at a site at Wolfville, NS, that appeared to me to be a cultivar. I assume from this that although the wild range of this tree does not include New Brunswick, it may grow/appear here, so something to bear in mind.

**Edmund Redfield and his crew monitor a hold and release trap at Salisbury to monitor the comeback of fish passage up the Petitcodiac River. Their daily monitoring is very interesting. A fish I have never had in the hand is the WHITE PERCH. They get them occasionally at the trap and took a photo of one of their larger ones recently that is attached.

** MULTIFLORA ROSE is in bloom at the moment with abundant clumps of white blooms that will become a small red rosehip very attractive to birds. I recall before Covid going on birding field trips in the Halifax area with the group there. Mulitflora Rose is very common there in large patches, and the group would often head to these areas as birds like to be there for food and protection. It seems to me that this shrub is becoming more common in New Brunswick, and I have noted patches at Wilson’s Marsh trail head, the road into Gray Brook cemetery, and in New Horton, and likely more spots. It is considered an invasive and thorns are a challenge for humans. Dave Webster in Nova Scotia advised he had some Multiflora Rose that was thornless or very soft feathery thorns. I asked him if I could get a root stock, and in short order a root stock was on the bus and planted in my Moncton yard. This was three years ago and as of June 2021, it is 7 feet high, loaded with blossoms and hopefully rosehips to attract winter birds.

** It’s Friday and time to review the next week’s Sky-at-a-Glace, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason. It is International Asteroid Day coming up this week with a paragraph to note from Curt, and we are into the week when the days will actually start to shorten. Times sure does move quickly!

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 June 26 – July 3
Wednesday is International Asteroid Day, an annual event sanctioned by the United Nations in 2016 to raise awareness of the potential hazards and benefits of asteroids. The first asteroid, Ceres, was discovered on January 1, 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi at the Palermo Astronomical Observatory. A few decades previous an astronomer had developed a mathematical relation that seemed to fit the relative distances from the Sun of the six known planets (out to Saturn). According to this relation there was a planet missing between Mars and Jupiter, and Ceres was in the right area. Over the next six years three more were discovered (Pallas, Juno and Vesta) at roughly the same distance, and astronomers were questioning whether these should still be considered planets.

On June 30, 1908, a 60-metre wide stony asteroid (or a somewhat larger comet) exploded at an altitude of eight kilometres over the sparsely populated region of the Tunguska River in Siberia, about 700 km northwest of the northern tip of Lake Baikal. At 7:17 am local time a tongue of flame split the sky, followed by loud bangs, ground-shaking tremors and a hot wind of hurricane force. A seismic event was recorded 900 km south, and a microbarograph in England recorded a pressure event five hours later and again a day after that. Expeditions were led two decades later by Leonid (great name for a meteorite hunter) Kulik to locate and interview eye witnesses and to locate the crater and meteorites. No crater or meteorites were found, but there was an area of 2100 square kilometres where trees were blown down in a radial pattern. Those trees in the midst of the destruction remained standing with their limbs stripped.

Ceres, by far the largest asteroid, was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 at the same time as Pluto. To celebrate Asteroid Day, try to locate an asteroid in the night sky. It will look like a faint star in a telescope, and a good star map will be needed to distinguish one from the background stars. The traditional method is to carefully sketch the star field and return the next clear evening to see which one has changed position relative to the others. The Heavens-Above website has wide-field and detailed inset maps for the brightest asteroids, and Vesta is currently the only one bright enough to be seen in most binoculars. The inset map is about the size of the field of view seen with common binoculars.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:29 am and sunset will occur at 9:14 pm, giving 15 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (5:38 am and 9:16 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:33 am and set at 9:13 pm, giving 15 hours, 40 minutes of daylight (5:41 am and 9:15 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is below Saturn in morning twilight Sunday, it rises below Jupiter around midnight Monday evening, and is at the third quarter phase on Thursday. Mercury rises an hour before sunrise midweek but it will be brighter during the second week of July. Venus sets around 10:50 pm midweek, approximately ten minutes before Saturn rises and 20 minutes before Mars sets.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.