Nature Moncton Nature News: Aug 28 2022

August 28, 2022 (Sunday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Deana and Peter Gadd visited Hay Island August 24. They saw several shorebird species but not a large number of birds.

The exciting sighting was that of a Piping Plover hanging out with some Semipalmated Plovers along the shoreline. Piping Plovers breed in the area but to the best of Peter’s knowledge, they have never been happy with conditions at Hay Island, so this bird was assumedly passing through and found some buddies. Peter has never seen this bird on Hay Island before. (Editor’s note: it would be suspected this Piping Plover would be a young-of-the-year bird by the plumage as per Sibley guide suggests it would be early for basic plumage).

Peter also comments that according to Sibley, Piping Plovers are seldom at the water’s edge and they don’t hang out with other shorebirds. This juvenile has a lot to learn it seems!

There are crews working to repair the boardwalk at Hay Island. It is a big operation. For the stretches most severely damaged by storm surges and winter ice, they are screwing 6-to-8-foot metal posts into the ground and raising the platform a foot or two.

**Aldo Dorio photographed a Swamp Sparrow at Hay Island that is suspected to be a young-of-the-year bird as well as a Savannah Sparrow showing its black back straps that is a helpful ID feature of the sparrow.

A Black-bellied Plover still with remnant breeding plumage also joined Aldo’s lineup.

**Pat Gibbs photographed a fall edition Green-winged Teal beside a Mallard Duck to nicely show the size comparison of these two duck species.

**Some members share some photos of the last Wednesday evening walk that took place on August 24.

Many thanks to Fred and Susan Richards for their warm welcome and the delicious desserts they offered on the last Wednesday evening walk for this season. As it was his first visit to their property in Taylor Village, Yves Poussart discovered that this location had a lot to offer for any naturalist and that the vast panorama was worth admiring.

At the beginning of the walk, everyone watched a Belted Kingfisher flying over the pond, but Yves was not quick enough to get a photo of it. Along the trail, Yves took some photos including an American Toad, a Clouded Sulphur Butterfly and a Salt Marsh Caterpillar.

On the way back to the house, it was obvious that days are now becoming shorter even if August is not over yet.

Gordon Rattray joined other members of Nature Moncton on the last of the summer walks, which was very well hosted by Fred and Susan from their home at Taylor Village. The members were treated with a great blueberry dish before taking a walk down to the dikes on the Memramcook River. Gordon and the others were treated by a flying display from the resident Belted Kingfisher at Fred’s home pond. The dominate flowers were the flowers of fall, Asters and Goldenrod. A Common Wood-Nymph Butterfly was observed hiding in the grasses. The tide was out, and a good evening view of the river was presented along with a passing freight train.

David Cannon comments a dozen participants enjoyed the season-ending Nature Walk along the Taylor Village dykes. They were first treated to home-made blueberry shortcake, iced tea and other treats, and everyone received a cucumber as a souvenir of the evening!

David sends a photo of the group, as well as a photo of the most impressive wildlife the photographer came across -- Fred and Sue’s impressive rooster!.

**On Sunday (August 21st), David was using his camera as a form of long-range binoculars and got a photo of planet Jupiter showing some of its moons.

**Fred Dube photographed a weevil in his Lower Coverdale yard that needed BugGuide consultation. They identified it as Polydrusus cervinus, an Asian species that has obviously found its way to Canada. It is a colourful weevil as seen in Fred’s photo but we were not able to find a common name for it.

This weevil has a taste for the leaves of broad-leaved trees.

**Lois Budd sends a photo of a young-of-the-year Blue Jay with pin feathers in the crown area yet to moult out to give it that ‘bad hair day” look.

**Were a bit late this week but still a chance to review what next night week’s sky may have in store for us courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason:

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2022 August 27 – September 3
The Summer Triangle is at its highest in early evening. Vega pokes through the twilight overhead, followed by Altair to the south and Deneb to the east. All three are the brightest stars of their respective constellations of Lyra, Aquila and Cygnus. Although it is the dimmest of the trio, Deneb is actually much brighter but it is about 60 times more distant. If it were as close as the other two it would be more than ten times brighter than Venus.

The brighter stars appear near the end of civil twilight, when the Sun reaches six degrees below the horizon. Nautical twilight ends when it is 12 degrees below, at which time mariners have difficulty discerning the distant coastline from water. When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon astronomical twilight ends, and in areas with no light pollution or moonlight the only light is from stars, planets, and airglow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:33 am and sunset will occur at 8:06 pm, giving 13 hours, 33 minutes of daylight (6:39 am and 8:10 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:42 am and set at 7:53 pm, giving 13 hours, 11 minutes of daylight (6:48 am and 7:57 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is new on Saturday and at first quarter next Saturday. Mercury reaches its greatest elongation from the Sun low in the western sky this weekend; and on Monday it will be a binocular width below the slim crescent Moon, setting 43 minutes after sunset. Saturn is at its highest and best for observing around midnight this week. Telescope users might see Jupiter’s Red Spot around 11 pm Sunday and 10 pm Friday. Mars is seen best this week in the southeast at the start of morning nautical twilight, passing scenically between the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters. Venus is rising in the east-northeast at that time.

The RASC NB Fundy Park Stargaze takes place on Friday and Saturday, September 2 - 3. For information on activities, admission and location see: https://rascnb.ca/event/fundy-stargaze/

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