Nature Moncton Nature News: August 16 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

August 16, 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

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .

Please advise both the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**A significant labelling error got through in yesterday’s edition which was caught a few hours later and corrected.

Aldo Dorio’s second photo of the night-heron at Neguac was a juvenile Black-crowned Night-heron, not a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-heron as it was originally labeled for a few hours. Aldo’s photo is reattached today.

**Jane and Ed LeBlanc were walking their dog by the river on their property where the beaver dam had been before washing away, and Ed noticed a bird fly into the mud flats left by the beaver. Jane's photographs were not good enough to share, but she believes it was a Solitary Sandpiper.

Also seen in their yard was a very fresh-looking Question Mark butterfly.

Jane also photographed a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. It is normally around this date that males will be filing flight plans south. No doubt the remaining females and young-of-the-year that will stay with us into September will gladly wave a wing goodbye!

**Pat Gibbs visited the St. Anselme Rotary Park photographing a cooperative Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly as well as a female Mallard duck.

**It’s Friday already and our day to preview what next week’s night sky may have in store for us courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 August 17 – August 24
The signs of autumn appear in the sky before they become readily apparent terrestrially. In late evening the great mama bear, Ursa Major, scampers across the northern horizon in search of food and lodging for winter. If you live in a rural area with an excellent view to the north you might even catch a glimpse of Lynx running ahead of the bear, and consider yourself fortunate if you do. The thicker layer of atmosphere at low altitudes reduces the brightness of starlight, a phenomenon called extinction. The lynx may become extinct for a few hours.

The bowl of the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) is upside down in early evening, pouring out its contents to fill the Big Dipper below, at the rear of Ursa Major. This scenario is at odds with Greek mythology, for the bears were cursed to eternal thirst by the goddess Hera in revenge for an indiscretion of her husband, Zeus. She placed the bears in a position where they never reach the horizon for a drink. Perhaps Zeus placed dippers of water inside the bears so that they could share water and survive. Someone has to make these stories up.

To the east Pegasus is already quite high after twilight, with its signature square asterism tilted as a diamond for the imminent baseball pennant stretch. Perseus stands above the northeast horizon below his in-laws, W-shaped Cassiopeia and house-shaped Cepheus, while their daughter Andromeda leads him toward the flying horse. There is much to see in this area with binoculars but start with the Double Cluster of stars between Perseus and Cassiopeia, and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:21 and sunset will occur at 8:23, giving 14 hours, 2 minutes of daylight (6:28 and 8:27 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:30 and set at 8:11, giving 13 hours, 41 minutes of daylight (6:36 and 8:15 in Saint John).

The Moon is full on Monday and it rises with Saturn to its left on Tuesday. Mars and Jupiter rise together around 1 am this weekend. Mars slowly pulls away eastward over the week but the pair remain within the same binocular view. Venus sets about 50 minutes after sunset; find it with binoculars first and then try it naked eye. Mercury is at inferior conjunction on Monday, beginning a favourable apparition for morning observing toward the end of the month.

There will be public observing at the Irving Nature Park in Saint John next Friday, August 23, from 8:30 to 11:30 pm (back-up date on August 24).

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb