Nature Moncton Nature News: June 21 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

June 21, 2024

Nature Moncton members, as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond, are invited to share their photos and descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition of Nature News

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**The Peregrine Falcon nest box atop Assumption Place continues to attract much attention as the fledglings are now confidently flying to and from the nest box and showing their beautiful juvenile plumage. On Thursday, there were times when all four were crowded in the box at the same time. All four appear to have successfully reached this crucial stage which is very rewarding and we wish them well.

Janet Hammock sends some recent screenshots of the contented family.

**Louise Nichols was one of the few participants on the Wednesday night walk in Riverview. The group saw an American Robin nearby who turned out to have a nest in a spruce just off the trail. The group was also excited to see an Ebony Jewelwing damselfly which perched nicely on the branch of a spruce. It was dark in the woods, but Louise got a couple of documentary photos.

(Other photo observations of the night are yet to come.)

Louise also sends a couple of dragonflies from Jolicure taken earlier in the week -- a "smiling" Chalk-fronted Corporal and a Dusky Clubtail enjoying some kind of fly as prey.

**Barbara Smith went to visit a friend near Charlottetown last weekend and sends a photo and short video of a beautiful Lion’s Mane jellyfish from one of PEI's south shore beaches. She found the languid movement of the sea creature very relaxing -- she watched it gently propel itself for ages -- but was careful to give it plenty of space. Check out the video below to see it in action:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/32fs5yw2qgef10wn95t3b/JELLYFISH.-JUNE-16-2024.-BARBARA-SMITH.mp4?rlkey=q8skk8gdlz08zpc7z72r7oou0&st=kdajykmb&dl=0

Back in Riverview on Monday, Barbara's husband alerted her to an exciting discovery in their back yard -- a small nest with four tiny eggs, tucked into the bottom of a scrubby maple tree in their back yard. The nest, about 18 inches from the ground -- is solidly constructed and a tiny work of art, incorporating strips of birch bark. Mummy (or perhaps Daddy?) bird was seen sitting on the nest yesterday afternoon and Barbara is pretty sure it's a Red-eyed Vireo. The nest certainly seems to suggest that it is, but Barbara would be happy to have confirmation.

Barbara's husband placed two freshly cleaned birdbaths within Mum's field of view, as the temperature has been so hot. They hope she takes them up on their offer of a cool drink and maybe a bath.

(Editor’s note: this nest style is very typical of a vireo shingled with birchbark pieces, sometimes spider web included, and hanging in pendulum fashion in the crotch of the branch.)

**Jane LeBlanc on her bicycle near St. Martins saw a Merlin sitting in a tree, and instead of flying, it sat for photos. This made her think it may have been a young one. On the way home, a Porcupine sauntered towards her, so she stopped and waited for it, and as it went by, she snapped some photos.

Gilles Belliveau has left a comment to help separate the Merlin from other small raptors and shares his comments below:

“Note how short the tail is. The wing tips nearly reach the tip of the tail, generally extending at least 2/3 or more down the length of the tail for a Merlin. Sharp-shinned Hawk has a longer tail and the wings generally end about a third of the way down the tail, maybe a bit further, but should end less than halfway down the tail.

Also, the eye is dark on this bird but the eyes of a Sharp-shinned Hawk would range from yellow to orange and ultimately red as the bird goes from juvenile to adult.

As for the bands in the tail, they would be thicker on Sharp-shinned Hawk and the pale bands are sometimes thicker than the dark bands. Merlins have a thicker dark subterminal band with white at the tip of the tail but the other bands are thinner with the pale bands being about as thick or thinner than the other dark bands (but definitely thinner than the subterminal band.)"

**Jamie Burris sent a photo of a Viceroy butterfly caterpillar that Eli and Oliver Best found. The emerged adult took flight on June 18th (original caterpillar photo reattached today). He sends a video of the freshly emerged adult butterfly shown at the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2m39dm6opp5je62fs2ahe/VICEROY-BUTTERFLY-JAMIE-BURRIS.mp4?rlkey=rc6aqholtwryqkiilisdsnvkd&st=czys3663&dl=0

**A Raccoon has been in a tree in Suzanne Rousseau's backyard all day since early Thursday morning. It came down once to go under her bird feeder then went back up to fall asleep and it was still snoozing at dark.
(Editor’s note: take note of the very fingerlike paws in Suzanne’s photo that makes the Raccoon so dexterous at taking apart birdfeeders!)
Suzanne also had a fledgling American Robin, too young to fly, on the ground in her yard. The parents were feeding it on the ground. It was not very far from the raccoon, so it kept her busy trying to protect it from the Raccoon, until the Raccoon fell asleep.

**Gordon Rattray was able to get a permit to make limited visits to the Wilson Brook Class I Protected Area in Albert County. Gordon’s permit allowed him to take another person with him to the area under his guidance. Nelson Poirier was pleased to be that choice on Thursday morning.
Attached today are some photos of the gypsum cliffs that make this area home to some very rare plants and lots of others that prefer alkaline habitat.
As in other areas, the spittlebugs are now buried in their spittle nests. Nelson took a photo of one inhabitant that was temporarily removed for the photo as well as the spittlebug nest.
Another interesting stop of the day was to see an unexpectedly large Russian Olive tree a short distance up Pleasant Street in Hillsborough (on the right side streetside) which would encourage anyone in the area to stop by as it is at its prime with small yellow flowers before olive-like fruit develop.

**It’s Friday and time to review what we may see in next week’s night sky, courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 June 22 – June 29
Arrows are used in signs as pointers to direct us to notable sites. As the Summer Triangle of the bright stars Vega, Deneb and Altair rise high in late evening, the tiny constellation of Sagitta the Arrow can direct us to a few interesting binocular objects. Sagitta is a compact arrow situated halfway between Altair and Albireo, which form the heads of Aquila the Eagle and Cygnus the Swan. Albireo itself is an interesting binocular object, being revealed as two colourful stars.

Looking under the shaft of the arrow with binoculars you might notice a hazy patch of stars called M71, which is a globular cluster containing more than 10,000 stars. As globular clusters go it is younger than most and relatively small. Half a binocular field above the arrowhead is ghostly M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. This is a planetary nebula; gases emitted from a Sun-sized star as its nuclear fuel was running out. The star collapsed into a hot, dense, Earth-sized star called a white dwarf, and the ultraviolet radiation emitted from it causes the gases to glow. In older photographs of M27 its bipolar shape resembled a dumbbell. About a binocular width to the upper right of the arrow’s fletching is an asterism called the Coathanger, a favourite treat for closet astronomers.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:28 and sunset will occur at 9:14, giving 15 hours, 46 minutes of daylight (5:36 and 9:15 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:31 and set at 9:14, giving 15 hours, 43 minutes of daylight (5:39 and 9:15 in Saint John).

The Moon is near Saturn on Thursday morning, one day before it reaches third quarter phase. Saturn rises around 1 am this weekend, followed by Mars nearly two hours later. Jupiter rolls out of bed just after 4 am, beating the Sun by an hour and a half. Mercury sets about 50 minutes after sunset this weekend, perhaps visible with binoculars very low in the west-northwest a half hour after the Sun goes down, if there are no horizon clouds. Venus is closer to the Sun, but by next weekend it will set half an hour after sunset and be somewhat less of a challenge to see with binoculars.

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