Nature Moncton Nature News: 2022-06-05

Saturday, 11 June 2022

June 11 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

June 11, 2022 (Saturday)

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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

**John Inman in Harvey, Albert County photographed a male White-tailed Deer crossing the river behind his home (connecting with Shepody Bay). When the tide is out, it is not easy going through the Fundy mud. They usually rest when they get across. (Editors note: note the pedicels on the head rapidly developing that will develop into antlers).

**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins was walking her pup Friday morning and noticed an Eastern Newt (Red Eft stage) crossing her driveway. She carefully took photos, hoping the pup wouldn't notice it, or it may have been lunch! It's the second one she's seen in a week. (Editors note: the Red Eft is the land juvenile stage of the Eastern Newt. It will remain on land for 2-3 years before heading to water to become aquatic)

Jane later sneaked away to do a bit of birding without the pup, and was able to see American Redstart, Northern Parula and Black-throated Green warblers, with no photos.

She had better luck with an Eastern Phoebe, Common Yellowthroat, Chestnut-sided warbler, and Yellow-rumped warbler.

**A male Rose-breasted Grosbeak visited Cathy Simon's front yard feeder in Lutes Mountain for the first time on Friday.

**Anna Tucker photographed the very typical silhouette of a Double-crested Cormorant showing it riding low in the water as is normal for the species.

**Brian Stone took a brief walk along the Petitcodiac River Trail at Moncton on Friday and sends a few pictures that display his observations. The wind was intense but the weather was clear and warm and the walk was pleasant. Daisies were in bloom and attracting small Bees. Yellow Warblers and Song Sparrows were calling in the few trees along the trail and a pair of Great Blue Herons flew overhead. A female Common Eider was present at the mouth of Hall's Creek seen from the curved walking bridge. A small Wasp Nest was noted hanging from a low tree branch to complete the day's photos.

**Nelson Poirier was greeted by a fledgling American Robin on Friday morning that appeared to have just popped out of its natal nest showing its teenage plumage (zits!) but was still okay with being photographed.

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

EASTERN NEWT (RED EFT STAGE). JUNE 10, 2022. JANE LEBLANC

WHITE-TAILED DEER ( MALE). JUNE 10, 2022. JOHN INMAN

AMERICAN ROBIN FLEDGLING. JUNE 10, 2022. NELSON POIRIER

CEDAR WAXWING. JUNE 10, 2022. JANE LEBLANC

EASTERN PHOEBE. JUNE 10, 2022. JANE LEBLANC

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK (MALE). JUNE 10, 2022. CATHY SIMON

SONG SPARROW. JUNE10, 2022.. BRIAN STONE

YELLOW WARBLER (MALE). JUNE10, 2022. BRIAN STONE

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. JUNE 10, 2022. JANE LEBLANC

COMMON YELLOWTHROAT WARBLER (MALE). JUNE 10, 2022 JANE LEBLANC

CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. JUNE 10, 2022, JANE LEBLANC

COMMON EIDER (FEMALE). JUNE10, 2022. BRIAN STONE

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT (SILHOUETTE). JUNE 9, 2022. ANNA TUCKER

GREAT BLUE HERON. JUNE10, 2022.. BRIAN STONE

BEE. JUNE10, 2022. BRIAN STONE

Friday, 10 June 2022

June 10 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

June 10, 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

**In a recent edition of Nature News, it was pointed out participant reservations were filled up for the Nature Moncton visit to Gagetown Island on July 16. As there are often cancellations, activities committee chairperson Louise Nichols will take names for a waiting list by emailing her at nicholsl@eastlink.ca. Unfortunately, there was a typo in Louise’s email address which is now corrected.

**Ethel Douglas had one of the more beautiful of the large giant silk moths, the Cecropia Moth day perch beside her Moncton home to cooperate for a spread wing photo of this gem on Thursday. The host of this moth is a variety of deciduous trees and shrubs.

**Some comments were made on yesterday’s edition about the Nature Moncton Eastern Phoebe nest boxes being more attractive to species other than Eastern Phoebe. Yolande LeBlanc in Memramcook also his had one of these boxes host two clutches of American Robin.

**Bob Blake in Second North River reports they have fledgling Hairy Woodpeckers coming to suet with their parents, learning how to feed themselves.

**Ron Arsenault did a literature search on the leech seen by Brian Stone recently and suspects it is is Macrobdella decora (the American medicinal Leech) , see here: https://inaturalist.ca/taxa/244696-Macrobdella-decora/browse_photos.

**While on a visit to have an audience with the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in South Tetagouche, Nelson Poirier dropped by the spectacular Tetagouche Falls (9.3 km from Tim Horton’s location at the juncture of Rte. 180). This area is a very steep stone-faced cliff that tends to house a botanical community of its own. Some photos of Fragile Fern and Marginal Wood Fern are attached.

Also, an interesting lichen was photographed which Kendra Driscoll felt to be one of the Peltigera species (Pelt Lichens), possibly Peltigera canina (Dog Lichen).

The trail down to the falls has deteriorated somewhat since Nelson last visited and rappelling on a rope is necessary for part of the trail.

**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 11 – June 18
Globular clusters are among the oldest and largest objects associated with our galaxy, being about 12 billion years old and containing tens to hundreds of thousands of stars packed into a compact sphere. There are more than 150 globulars orbiting in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy, and many more are known to be orbiting larger galaxies like M31 in Andromeda. Many can be seen in binoculars as a fuzzy patch of light, perhaps resembling those little white patches you see below bird feeders. A medium size telescope is able to resolve some of their stars. The larger globulars as seen from a dark location have been described as looking like granules of sugar against black velvet.

Summer is the season for observing globular clusters. M4 is just to the right of Antares in the constellation Scorpius and it is one of the closest globulars at 7000 light years. M13 in the Keystone of Hercules is relatively close at 22,000 light years. One that would outshine M13 if it were higher in our sky is M22, just left of the lid of the Teapot in Sagittarius. Another easy target is M3, located halfway between Arcturus and Cor Caroli, the brightest star in the small constellation Canes Venatici below the handle of the Big Dipper. Two other standouts are M92 in Hercules and M5 in Serpens.

From a dark sky, many dimmer globulars can be picked out in the region of Sagittarius and Ophiuchus. The concentration of globular clusters in this region of sky is not by accident, and it played a role in another lesson of humility for humanity. Harvard’s Harlow Shapley studied globular clusters a century ago and noticed that most were located around Sagittarius. If they were evenly distributed around the core of our galaxy, as believed, then the centre of the galaxy must lie in that direction. Just as Copernicus and Galileo demoted Earth from the centre of the solar system, Shapley showed that the Sun was not at the centre of the Milky Way.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:27 am and sunset will occur at 9:10 pm, giving 15 hours, 43 minutes of daylight (5:36 am and 9:11 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:27 am and set at 9:13 pm, giving 15 hours, 46 minutes of daylight (5:35 am and 9:14 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is full and near perigee on Tuesday, resulting in extreme tides midweek. Around 11:25 pm on Sunday it occults (passes in front of) Dschubba, the middle star in the arc of three to the upper right of Antares in Scorpius. Shortly after Dschubba reappears from behind the Moon an hour later, Saturn rises in the east. Mercury is at greatest elongation from the Sun on Thursday, making it easier to locate in twilight although using binoculars is recommended at first. This begins a period of two weeks or more when the five naked-eye planets are lined up in their order of distance from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. I think that is a sight worth rising with the rooster.

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.

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

CECROPIA MOTH. JUNE 9, 2022. ETHEL DOUGLAS

TETAGOUCHE FALLS. JUNE 4, 2022, NELSON POIRIER

FRAGILE FERN (CYSTOPERIS FRAGILIS). JUNE 4, 2022, NELSON POIRIER

MARGINAL WOOD FERN (DRYOPTERIS MARGINALIS) AND LICHEN. JUNE 4, 2022, NELSON POIRIER

PELTIGERA SP. LICHEN. JUNE 4, 2022, NELSON POIRIER

LEECH (AMERICAN MEDICINAL LEECH SUSPECTED). JUNE 07, 2022. BRIAN STONE

Globular clusters

Thursday, 9 June 2022

June 9 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

June 9, 2022 (Thursday)

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

**Brian Stone spent an hour watching the Peregrine Falcon nest box on top of the Assumption building in Moncton on Wednesday and took some long-distance pictures that show brief glimpses of the young chicks behind the perching bar at the front of the box. The parents perched on the Bell Aliant Tower for most of the hour but flew in for a few images near the end of the hour.

**Brian Stone went to the Jolicure Lakes area for an outing on Tuesday and enjoyed searching for photo subjects in the hot, clear weather. Bobolinks were singing in the surrounding fields along with a medley of other birds including Alder Flycatchers, Purple Finches, American Redstarts, Cedar Waxwings, and Savannah Sparrows. Looking on with interest at the photography efforts was a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird while a Great Blue Heron stoically perched nearby. In the waters of the lakes Bullfrogs, and their very large Tadpoles, were common and even a large Leech swam by at the edge of the lake looking for a host to connect with. Dragonflies and butterflies were enjoying the heat and a female Racket-tailed Emerald Dragonfly was resting in the foliage while Northern Azure Butterflies and Hobomok Skipper Butterflies flitted around on the dusty dirt roadways. One Eastern Comma Butterfly joined the others in the dirt on the road while several Clouded Sulphur Butterflies stayed up on the brilliant yellow flowers lining the road.

**Nature Moncton did a trial balloon project erecting several nest boxes designed for use by the Eastern Phoebe. None we are aware of were used by an Eastern Phoebe. However, two of the nest boxes that Nelson Poirier erected under the roof eave of his Moncton home were occupied by an American Robin the first year and a Mourning Dove has taken one this year.

The birds did not nest inside the structure but on the slanted roof with a lip attached.

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com