NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 27, 2021 (Friday)
To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any
errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.
For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .
Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
** Yvette Richard got a great photo of
a SOLITARY SANDPIPER that we start seeing at this time of year in
southerly migration. It was in a pit off
a service road between Shediac Rd. and the road to Scouduc/Shediac/Highway
Access.
An Empidonax flycatcher also got in
Yvette’s camera. In consult with Gilles
Belliveau, he thought it looked good for a LEAST FLYCATCHER based on the
bold eye ring and the very short primary projection, but remembering it is
always hard to be certain on Empidonax flycatchers without hearing them
vocalize.
Yvette also got a nice photo of a DOG-DAY CICADA that have been enjoying the recent heat wave very much. The temperature drop may change their activity.
Yvette also caught a beautiful
sunset from her Cocagne home on Wednesday night that I expect most of New
Brunswick did not see on Thursday night.
** Stella and Jean-Paul LeBlanc were
joined by an EASTERN KINGBIRD that was actively hawking insects near
their Bouctouche home on Wednesday and which offered a nice photo op. The mini-invasion of RED-LEGGED
GRASSHOPPERS the LeBlancs had have moved on.
** Cynthia MacKenzie had a SPRING
PEEPER perch on her front porch column on Wednesday night. As mentioned in an earlier edition, the
Spring Peeper is really a tree frog and goes to water only in spring to lay
eggs and procreate. They are all landlubbers
at this time of year, and it’s not
unusual to hear them vocalize in trees, singly, sounding like a bird.
Also interesting to note, after seeing Thursday’s Blog, Cynthia reports she saw COMMON NIGHTHAWKS at their location near the end of Charles Lutes Rd. at least twice over the last week. On August 19th, it was a group of 5 to 6 and they had very distinct white bands on the underside of their wings.
** The small amounts of rainfall
Moncton got as a result of hurricane Henri got the salamanders on the move
around David Cannon’s outdoor pool. On
Monday night, seven RED-BACKED SALAMANDERS were in the pool in the
morning to be scooped out, and one each day after. The Cannons use a saltwater treatment instead
of chemicals that does not harm the salamanders who can be frequent visitors in
wet conditions.
** It’s Friday and time to check in on
what next weeks’ sky has for us, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason.
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021
August 28 – September 4
From late summer into autumn the Greek tale of Perseus and Andromeda plays out
on the eastern stage of the night sky each evening. Princess Andromeda, the
daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, is chained to the rocky coast of Ethiopia
as a sacrifice to a vicious sea monster, portrayed by the constellation Cetus
the Whale. Our hero Perseus, on his way home aboard Pegasus after beheading
Medusa, rescues the princess and wins her unchained hand in matrimony.
The
constellation Andromeda consists of two lines of stars stretching toward
Perseus from a common point. That point is the bright star Alpheratz, which is
officially Andromeda’s head but it also forms one corner of the Great Square of
Pegasus. The bottom line of stars is more prominent, containing the orange star
Mirach and ending with Almach, which resolves as a pretty double star in a
small scope.
The highlight of the
constellation is M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest spiral galaxy to our
own Milky Way. A telescope is not required to see this. It looks great in
binoculars, and in a rural area on a cloudless night you can see it with the
naked eye as a smudge of light. Place Mirach at the bottom of your binocular
view and perhaps raise it a bit to see a slightly dimmer star in the upper line
of Andromeda. Continue up about the same distance to another star and find the
fuzzy expanse of the Andromeda Galaxy nearby. A small telescope will show two
other galaxies, M32 and M110, in the same field of view. M31 is 2.5 million
light years distant and heading our way. We will have a spectacularly starry
sky when they start to merge in four billion years, so keep breathing.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:35 am and sunset will occur at 8:04 pm,
giving 13 hours, 29 minutes of daylight (6:41 am and 8:08 pm in Saint John).
Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:43 am and set at 7:51 pm, giving 13 hours,
8 minutes of daylight (6:49 am and 7:55 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter on Monday, rising around midnight and setting just
after 3 pm. Mercury will be 16 degrees to the lower right of Venus midweek, but
just half a binocular width above the horizon 30 minutes after sunset. Saturn
and Jupiter are becoming prominent in evening twilight to the southeast.
Jupiter’s Red Spot can be seen with a telescope around 10:15 pm Tuesday and
near midnight on Thursday.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
