NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 30, 2021, 2020 (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)
** Great to see abundant fruit crop
developing this season to be enjoyed by fruit connoisseur birds and mammals now
as they ripen, and especially those that cling into winter like MOUNTAIN ASH. Clarence Cormier notes the abundant Mountain
Ash trees in his Grande-Digue area are loaded with fruit as are other fruit
producers and he sends some photos of the loaded branches.
** Brian Coyle was pleased to see, hear,
and photograph a bright male NORTHERN CARDINAL when at a job site in the
# 77 Salem St. area in Sackville on Thursday morning. A female was in the area as well, so the
potential of a nesting pair possibly double brooding at this point is a
pleasing possibility.
** Anna Tucker enjoyed a female MONARCH
BUTTERFLY that became very attracted to a particular cultivar blooming
flower outside her Church Court residence in Moncton on Wednesday evening. It kept returning to the same bloom for some
time to give some nice photo opts. We
surely are having a great Monarch Butterfly year!
** Aldo Dorio photographed a GRAY CATBIRD at Hay Island on Thursday morning that appears to be a young-of-the-year bird and is showing a portion of its signature under tail cinnamon covert. Also, Aldo photographed another fledgling warbler, this time a NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER, still with natal down in one photo and the reddish tip of the bill suggests it may be sampling the plump ripe Service Berries beside it.
Aldo also photographed an ATLANTIS FRITILLARY BUTTERFLY with one photo showing the signature grey eye as well as the dark wing borders on both hind and fore wings. He also noted a CONFUSED HAPLOA MOTH on the same flower cluster looking like Joe Pye Weed which is a real attractor to nectaring insects.
** Brian Stone sends a photo of our
only non-native orchid, HELLEBORINE ORCHID, just nicely starting to open
its blue/purple flowers. This orchid can
send out rhizomes, so more than one plant can come from the same root
stalk. It does not seem to be fussy
about its habitat, and it’s becoming quite common, but may be unfamiliar to
many.
** It’s Friday and time to review what
next week’s sky will provide for us, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason.
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021
July 31 – August 7
After twilight the bright star Altair is halfway up in the southeastern sky, forming
the lower peak of the Summer Triangle with Vega and Deneb. It is flanked by two
somewhat dimmer stars, Tarazed and Alshain, and the trio forms the head of
Aquila the Eagle. The eagle’s body and tail stretch southward, while the wings
reach forward to propel it up the Milky Way. In Greek mythology the eagle was
the pet of Zeus and the bearer of his deadly thunderbolts. In Chinese mythology
Tchi-Niu (Lyra) was a princess and royal weaver, and Kien-Niou (Aquila) tended
the king’s cows. The two fell in love and were married but they subsequently
neglected their chores. Angered, the king placed the herder on the opposite
side of the river, represented by the Milky Way. On the seventh day of the
seventh month all of the magpies in the country form a bridge to allow the
lovers to be together for one day.
Following a string of stars beyond the eagle’s tail, over the constellation
border into Scutum the Shield, a binocular search will pick up a smudge of
light which is a cluster of stars called M11 or the Wild Duck Cluster. From the
eagle’s head toward Cygnus or Lyra is a tiny constellation called Sagitta the
Arrow. Look to the upper right of the arrow’s fletching with binoculars to see
a popular asterism of about ten stars. Although it is upside down you will
recognize the Coathanger Cluster, also known as Collinder 399 or Brocchi’s
Cluster.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:00 am and sunset will occur at 8:49 pm,
giving 14 hours, 49 minutes of daylight (6:07 am and 8:52 pm in Saint
John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:09 am and set at 8:40 pm,
giving 14 hours, 31 minutes of daylight (6:16 am and 8:43 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter this Saturday, rising just after midnight and
setting 14 hours later. Saturn is at opposition on Monday, leading Jupiter
across the sky by 50 minutes. Both will be popular evening telescope and
binocular targets for the rest of the year. Telescope users can catch Jupiter’s
Red Spot around 11:30 pm Monday. Venus sets around 10:15 pm this weekend,
passing the torch to Jupiter low in the southeast. Mars sets an hour after
sunset, but it is an increasingly difficult target in binoculars. Mercury
reaches superior conjunction on Sunday, moving into the evening sky later in
the week.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
