Nature Moncton Nature News

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

July 8, 2022 (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

**Frank Branch in Paquetville came across the large Fishing Spider (other common names) in his woodpile and got a nice photograph of it using a loonie as a size comparison. Dolomedes tenebrosus is one of the common ones in New Brunswick. This large spider is often found near water (but not always) and is considered semiaquatic taking appropriate underwater critters as prey. Frank comments it is the largest spider he has seen.

**Yolande LeBlanc had 2 juvenile Northern Cardinals come to her Memramcook feeder yard with an adult male on Friday morning. One is more orange toned than the other, so likely a male. The other, she couldn't see well.

More welcome Northern Cardinal news for Southeastern New Brunswick!

**On Wednesday evening after 10 pm, Verica LeBlanc noted that bands of red skies from the sunset were still visible, which surprised her as it started to cloud over. Unfortunately, she did not get a clear picture.

Then Verica spotted the Moon, which was quickly being obscured by the dark clouds, making for eerie photos which she shares.

**Fred Dube erected 2 Nature Moncton nest boxes on adjacent roadside utility poles adjacent a man-made large pond in Lower Coverdale. It is interesting to note that these two adjacent boxes are being occupied by what appears to be two pairs of Eastern Bluebirds which is very rewarding. Fred has seen 3 adults for sure and has seen them around the two boxes.

Nelson Poirier drove by the area on Thursday morning and was able to photograph one male.

**Most birdwatchers have spotted a perched bird when driving and made prompt turnarounds to get a close observation of what the bird may be. Sometimes it is a plastic owl sold to dissuade pigeons and gulls. The imitations are relatively ineffective as the birds soon realize they are not a danger.

Nelson Poirier got a photo on Thursday of a group of Rock Doves nicely cuddled up to a plastic owl!

**Brian Stone went to Irishtown Nature Park on Thursday and walked the main trail with a stop at the small bog at the north/east corner. He was very pleased to get a photo of a Hermit Thrush fledgling posing nicely on a tree stump which was his favourite photo of the day. His second favourite was of a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers feeding their chicks in a nest hole in another dead tree. A couple Brown Creepers were calling and foraging right beside the trail in more than one spot and a Blue-headed Vireo was loudly trying to win the "Most Vocal" award. A female American Redstart was too busy collecting food to bother joining the chorus but managed to add itself to the photo album.

At the small bog Brian found both the Grass Pink Orchid and the Rose Pogonia Orchid in bloom, and a Twelve-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly, a Chalk-fronted Corporal Dragonfly, and a Common Ringlet Butterfly. Pyrola was blooming in the woods along the trail and a small Witch's Broom was sprouting new shoots. Other birds seen were a pair of Killdeer, a pair of White-throated Sparrows with one looking like possibly a new youngster, 3 fledgling Red-winged Blackbirds perching on a shrub, and a Wood Duck in flight.

It’s Friday already and time to review what next week’s night sky has in store for us courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason with full Moon and at perigee on Wednesday.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2022 July 9 – July 16
Galaxies are favourite targets for amateur astronomers, and many are visible with just binoculars. Two are seen easily with the naked eye in the southern hemisphere: the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The Andromeda Galaxy is a naked-eye blur for rural New Brunswickers and it looks majestic in binoculars. But there is one galaxy that is spectacular regardless of your location or observing equipment, and that is our home galaxy.

The Milky Way is at least 110,000 light years across, and although it is composed of perhaps 400 billion stars, we can distinguish only about 4000 as individual stars from a rural area. The Sun is 27,000 light years from the galactic core, within a spur between the inner Sagittarius and outer Perseus spiral arms. When we look above the spout of the Sagittarius Teapot asterism we are looking toward the galactic core, but vast clouds of dust hide the stars between the spiral arm and the core. South of the head of Cygnus the Swan we see the Milky Way split in two by the Great Rift, one of those dust clouds.

Star formation occurs in clouds of gas and dust within the spiral arms and some can be seen as bright patches with binoculars. Just above the spout of the Teapot is M8, the Lagoon Nebula; and a hint of M20, the Trifid Nebula, can be seen in the same field of view above. Scanning to the upper left up the Milky Way you encounter M17, the Swan (or Omega) Nebula; and star clusters M16 in the Eagle Nebula and M11, the Wild Duck Cluster. A tour of the Milky Way under a dark sky can keep a binocular stargazer engaged for an evening.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:37 am and sunset will occur at 9:10 pm, giving 15 hours, 33 minutes of daylight (5:45 am and 9:12 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:43 am and set at 9:06 pm, giving 15 hours, 23 minutes of daylight (5:51 am and 9:08 pm in Saint John).

The Moon passes above the orange supergiant star Antares in Scorpius on Sunday, and it rises below Saturn late Friday evening. The Moon is full and at perigee on Wednesday, so expect to see extreme tides later in the week. With Saturn rising around 10:30 pm and Jupiter just after midnight, it won’t be long before amateur telescopes will be pointed their way again in mid-evening. Mars and Venus grace the early morning sky to the east, bracketing the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters of the winter constellation Taurus. Mercury is out of sight, passing behind the Sun next weekend.

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.