Nature Moncton Nature News: July 1 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

July 1, 2022 (Friday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Mac Wilmot got a surprise on Tuesday when fishing the Guagus Pool of the North Renous River to find a female Harlequin Duck happily foraging in the rough water of the pool. Mac comments it was not a bit shy and enjoyed its foraging as much as they did watching it.
A real unexpected treat to accidentally come across for the group!

**Aldo Dorio photographed a Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Thursday at Hay Island. One has to be careful to differentiate the Black Swallowtail Butterfly from the much more restricted range similar Short-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly which occurs at Hay Island as well. The yellow in the central cell, long spatulate tail, and slightly concave forewing edge (all arrowed) help to identify Aldo’s butterfly as the Black Swallowtail Butterfly.
Aldo also had a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird actually perch long enough to allow a photograph!

**Brian Coyle came across a Galium Sphinx Moth Caterpillar a.k.a. Bedstraw Sphinx on Thursday. This would seem a very unusual time of year to see this caterpillar as the Gallium Sprinx Moth overwinters as a pupal cocoon to emerge as an adult to mate and lay eggs in spring, so we normally see the larval caterpillar in late summer and fall. We have no explanation at this point why this larval caterpillar stage would be seen in late June.
Explanations welcome!

**Lisa Morris and Brian Stone both got photographs of an insect the editor would suspect most of us overlook. This was the Bee Mimic Beetle (Trichiotinus assimilis). They are surely well named as their mimicry makes for second looks!
Both Lisa and Brian photographed them on Oxeye Daisy.

**On Tuesday, the 28th, Brian Stone drove slowly along the Taylor Rd. in Second North River scanning for photographable nature and stopped at a few promising spots that offered subjects of interest. Brian saw his first Northern Pearly-eye Butterfly of the season along with a worn Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly. Other butterflies seen were Hobomok Skipper Butterfly, European Skipper, and Arctic Skipper. A tiny Spotted Thyris Moth got noticed on a daisy, being so small it almost got missed. Also on a daisy was a Bee Mimic Beetle giving a good impression of its namesake.

A male Common Whitetail Dragonfly posed as well as a male Twelve-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly and male Eastern Forktail Damselfly.

At the bridge an Eastern Phoebe perched for a bit and seemed satisfied with its pose.
Brian checked his potted Sundew plant on his back deck and sends photos of the small white flowers that have begun to open just recently.

**On Sunday, June 26, Brian Stone joined Louise Nichols for an outing to find the Northern Blue Butterfly on the Tantramar Marsh which was successful.

Before leaving Louise's place Brian photographed some of Glen Nichols's Honeybees at work making more bees and also honey for themselves and us too. They must be one of nature's hardest workers and we are lucky to have them.

At the Tantramar Marsh, besides being successful in their butterfly hunt, Brian and Louise saw Pitcher Plants, Labrador Tea in bloom, Cedar Waxwings, and Northern Azure Butterflies that added some confusion while looking for the Northern Blue.

Back at Louise's property Brian photographed Dragon's Mouth Orchids (Arethusa bulbosa) and Grass Pink Orchids (Calopogon tuberosus) with some of the Grass Pinks hosting Yellow and White Crab Spiders, one of which appeared to be feasting on another smaller spider.

Harris's Checkerspot Butterflies were seen frequently as well as some Moths, Dragonflies, and other small life that didn't manage to get photographed.

**Bob Blake maintains daily weather statistics from his Second North River home and shares them in tabular form comparing June 2021 with June 2022 and is as below as Bob forwarded them to show a lot of similarities except precipitation.
The rainfall in June 2022 almost doubled that of June 2021.

2021

2022

morning temperatures

daily highs and rainfall

morning temperatures

daily highs and rainfall

+25-2 days

+24-1

+22-1

+21-2

+20-3

+19-1

+18-1

+17-3

+16-3

+15-2

+14-2

+13-3

+12-1

+34-2

+33-1

+32-1

+31-1

+29-1

+28-5

+26-1

+25-1

+24-4

+23-1

+22-3

55 mms. rain

+23-1

+21-1

+20-2

+19-2

+18-4

+17-1

+16-4

+15-4

+14-1

+13-1

+12-5

+11-3

+8-1

+31-1

+30-1

+29-5

+28-2

+27-2

+26-1

+25-1

+24-1

+23-2

+22-2

+20-3

100 mms. rain

**It’s Friday in time to see 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 July 2 – July 9
Sagittarius is an old constellation of a centaur with a bow and arrow aiming toward Scorpius the Scorpion. If he tries to shoot Aquila the Eagle above, chances are the arrow will be deflected by a shield.

Scutum the Shield is a relatively new constellation, created by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in the late 17th century. It commemorates the Polish king John Sobieski III, who defended his country against the Turks. Originally named Scutum Sobiescianum (Sobieski’s Shield) it is generally just called the Shield. Seeing it can be difficult, for its main stars are dim and shielded within the Milky Way. One way to locate it is to find its most prominent deep sky object, the Wild Duck Cluster or M11.

Find the bright star Altair in the head of Aquila and then identify the wings and tail of the eagle. Binoculars will reveal a string of stars leading from the tail to M11 at the top of the shield. The rich Wild Duck Cluster looks good in binoculars and great in a scope, and an imaginative observer can see a V-shape or maybe two. Star cluster M26 is also in Scutum, a binocular width south of M11.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:32 am and sunset will occur at 9:13 pm, giving 15 hours, 41 minutes of daylight (5:40 am and 9:15 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:37 am and set at 9:10 pm, giving 15 hours, 33 minutes of daylight (5:45 am and 9:12 pm in Saint John). Early Monday morning Earth will be at aphelion, its greatest distance from the Sun for the year, at 152,098,455 km. That’s about five million kilometres farther than it was in early January.

The Moon is at first quarter on Wednesday, providing great views in a telescope or binoculars all week. By midweek Saturn will be rising around 11 pm, followed by Jupiter at 12:40 am, Mars at 1:30 and Venus at 3:45. Mercury is speeding out of sight, passing behind the Sun by midmonth.

On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay.

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