NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
June 3,
2022 (Friday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
** Yolande LeBlanc in Memramcook is now seeing both male
and female Northern Cardinals together at corn and white millet. She is not
sure what that means. Was the nesting unsuccessful? Are they leaving
the babies alone while they forage? This may be just one of the couples.
Maybe one of these days the juveniles will follow mom and dad.
**Catherine Hamilton photographed a Ruby-throated
Hummingbird in her Petitcodiac yard recently noticing it had white feathers in its
primaries (arrowed).
**
Puppies must be walked, whether you want to or not, so Thursday morning
Jane LeBlanc had her pup out early and noticed something long and brown near
the Mosher River in St. Martins. She crossed the bridge to get a better look and saw a Mink. Trying to take its photo with pup pulling on the leash
and barking was not easy, so it is a documentary photo at best.
Later,
riding her bike not a quarter mile from home, Jane saw a Red Fox, but it
was much too fast to be photographed.
**Brian
Stone walked through Mapleton Park on Wednesday and found a few interesting
insects to photograph. He saw his first skipper butterflies of the season and
got photos of the Arctic Skipper Butterfly and the Hobomok Skipper
Butterfly. Another butterfly pictured was the frequently seen Northern
Azure Butterfly. An Ichneumon Wasp got the photo treatment and is
waiting on an ID from sites that might know. A Robber Fly and some Flower
Flies were spotted and a common Wasp was resting on a maple leaf. A Fishfly finished off the insect photoshoot and the day couldn't be complete
without at least one bird image so an Eastern Phoebe kindly volunteered
for that assignment.
**It’s
Friday and time to review what next week’s night sky will have in store for us
courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2022 June 4 – June 11
Arcturus and Vega, the fourth and fifth brightest stars of the night sky, are
seen high above in evening twilight. I use them to locate the constellation
Hercules, which is one third of the way from Vega to Arcturus. Another
constellation, the nominal crowning glory of the northern sky, is one third of
the way from Arcturus to Vega. Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, does not
stand out among its neighbours or contain any popular telescopic treasures like
Hercules does, but its semicircle of stars is pretty to look at. If you have a
really clear view of the southern horizon you might catch the Southern Crown,
Corona Australis, hugging the horizon below Sagittarius around 2 am this week
or midnight in late July.
In mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete. She helped
Theseus slay the bull-headed Minotaur and escape from the Labyrinth, and then
accompanied him and his crew on a voyage home to Athens. Along the way they
stopped at the island home of Dionysus, the god of wine. After a night of
revelry the crew was made to leave without Ariadne, and Dionysus presented her
with a beautiful crown if she would be his bride. The crown was placed in the
sky to commemorate their wedding. The constellation also represents a bear’s
den in a local aboriginal legend of the bear and seven hunters, which includes
stars in the Big Dipper and Boötes.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:30 am and sunset will occur at 9:05 pm,
giving 15 hours, 35 minutes of daylight (5:38 am and 9:07 pm in Saint John).
Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:27 am and set at 9:10 pm, giving 15 hours,
43 minutes of daylight (5:36 am and 9:11 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at first quarter on Tuesday, and telescope users might see the
Lunar X around 6 pm just inside the shadow. Saturn is stationary on Sunday,
after which it begins four and a half months of westward motion relative to the
stars. Venus, Mars and Jupiter increase their social distancing in the morning
sky, while Mercury speeds toward them in an attempt to be seen in twilight. We
might have to wait a couple of weeks for that to happen.
With the pandemic currently on the wane, RASC NB resumes its series of annual
star parties this weekend, Friday and Saturday, at Kouchibouguac National Park.
For details see: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nb/kouchibouguac/activ/calendrier-calendar/77194e0f-547b-4f94-8de5-aa07f630eb4d
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
**The New Brunswick Environmental
Network publishes a list of events it is aware of for the month of June. That
list is attached below and note that it includes the Nature Moncton June
meeting on moths with Jim Edsall on June 21. A click on any of these events opens up details and links where indicated.
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nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
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