Nature Moncton Nature News: August 30 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

August 30, 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 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 .

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Shannon Inman photographed a Bronze Copper butterfly on Thursday obviously taking advantage of the solar power we all enjoyed.

It’s a popular time of year for grasshoppers. Shannon photographed the very variable but common Red-Legged grasshopper which gets its name from the bright red tibiae which are just peeking through in Shannon’s photograph. The very cryptic Carolina grasshopper also caught the camera's eye.

Shannon also got a photograph of a young-of-the-year Northern Mockingbird, a bird not very populous New Brunswick but yet the ones we have tend to be year-round residents. Photographing a young-of-the-year bird is rewarding to indicate the natal nest is probably not far away from the Inman’s yard.

** Barbara Smith and her husband made a brief excursion to Miscou Island on the weekend and spent some time walking the boardwalk along a large peat bog. (Or peatlands, as some prefer to call them.)

As one of the displays explained, these gorgeous wetlands comprise 45 per cent of the island's habitat. This particular bog is 7 km long and 4 km wide.

At one point, a display invites visitors to take part in a citizen science project, submitting photos of the same part of the bog at different times of year to monitor its colour changes and track the impact of climate change.

Peatlands store vast amounts of carbon, and their greatest value lies in conserving them, as this well-written piece from the Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada explains.

https://wcscanada.org/our-work/wild-places/peatlands/

(Editors note: Barbara’s reference is a very worthwhile read to remind us of the value of what once was referred to as wastelands.

Miscou Island is a very special part New Brunswick and a destination for all naturalists as many already do.)

Barbara also shares one more photo of the beauty of the Memramcook River many of us enjoyed on the Nature Moncton Wednesday night walk.

Barbara also got an excellent photograph of the Chicken-of-the-woods Mushroom aka Sulphur Shelf ( Laetiporus sulphureus) which tends to appear this time of year. This is considered a choice edible mushroom when young and tender which this one appears to be. It is reputed to have the flavour of chicken when sautéed.

(Editor’s note: the editor did try it once and recall its reputation as being correct.

It is always helpful to photograph the underside of mushrooms to help in identification.)

**It’s that special time of the year to take note of caterpillars.

Brian Stone photographed the variable Salt Marsh moth caterpillar on Thursday.

** This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 August 31 – September 7
Technically, any three stars in the sky will form some sort of a triangle but there are those that stand out. Overhead in early evening is the best known celestial threesome, the isosceles Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair. Straddling the Milky Way, each star is the brightest in their respective constellations of Lyra the Harp, Cygnus the Swan and Aquila the Eagle. An ancient tale of Eastern mythology depicted Vega and Altair as lovers separated by a river (the Milky Way). I look at them as an updated version of that tale, that of Running Bear and White Dove in the Johnny Preston hit written by the Big Bopper, J.P. Richardson. The Big Bopper would be a good name for a constellation.

With the Summer Triangle overhead, the constellation Triangulum the Triangle is low in the east below Andromeda. Known as a constellation for thousands of years, it has been said to represent, among other things, the Nile Delta and the island of Sicily. If you have a dark sky, use binoculars to look about a third of the way and a tad to the right, between the tip of Triangulum and the orange star Mirach in Andromeda above, to see the face-on spiral galaxy M33.

Now that summer is fading, and if you can't wait for winter, just look to the east in morning darkness for the Winter Triangle. Orange Betelgeuse in Orion's armpit joins with Orion's companion Dog Stars of Sirius and Procyon to form an equilateral triangle. All three stars make the top ten in stellar brightness.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:39 and sunset will occur at 7:58, giving 13 hours, 19 minutes of daylight (6:45 and 8:02 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:47 and set at 7:45, giving 12 hours, 58 minutes of daylight (6:53 and 7:49 in Saint John).

The Moon is new on Monday, and on Thursday the crescent is 7 degrees left of Venus in evening twilight. The Moon offers an observing challenge for telescope users next Friday, occulting the star Spica in daylight between approximately 12:40 and 1:40 pm. Saturn rises in evening twilight, before Venus sets, and its rings appear nearly edge-on in a telescope. Jupiter rises around midnight midweek between the horns of Taurus. Mars crosses the summer solstice point in Taurus this week, and by Friday it has crossed the constellation border into Gemini. Mercury is at greatest elongation in the morning sky on Thursday, and it is brightening for its best morning apparition of the year.

The Fundy Star Party takes place this Friday and Saturday, August 30-31, in Fundy National Park, and the Kouchibouguac National Park Fall Star Fest star occurs next Friday and Saturday, September 6-7. See the RASC NB website for details. Also on September 6 at 8 pm is public observing at the Irving Nature Park in Saint John, and the Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre on September 7 at 7 pm.

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