Nature Moncton Nature News: August 9 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

August 9, 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

**Rosanna Armstrong in Cambridge Narrows had a pair of Eastern Bluebirds arrive this spring to be the first occupants to try out a birdhouse her grandson made for her. She tried with all her might to capture a picture of them until Wham! One of their fledglings hit a window. It was stunned but nicely recovered.

Rosanna was able to get some excellent photographs of the fledgling Eastern Bluebird as it was temporarily detained as well as the welcoming bluebird cottage built by her grandson.

**Yolande LeBlanc recently made the comment about all the Monarch Butterfly activity she has seen in her extensive milkweed patch but not the corresponding caterpillars.

Louise Nichols also comments similarly:

“I too had a number of Monarch butterflies on milkweed earlier on and was able to see eggs and then saw several small (1st instar) caterpillars along with holes appearing in the leaves where they were feeding. Fewer and fewer were there each day. I saw a couple of what might have been 2nd instar (a little bigger) but now can't find anything as though they were all predated. Very discouraging. A couple of years ago (2022), I had so many large caterpillars on the Common Milkweed that the plants were stripped bare of leaves. Not sure what got them this year, but I don't know if I'll see any mature caterpillars at all.”

This led to a Google search and one reference is very worth reviewing. Check it out at the following link:

https://www.internationalbutterflybreeders.org/parasites-affecting-monarchs/#:~:text=Tachinid%20fly%20larvae%20feed%20on,out%20of%20the%20monarch%20caterpillar.

** Gordon Rattray joined members and guests of Nature Moncton on a walk through the great woodland trails of Trevor and Elaine Clancy on Wednesday night. Gordon captured some of the flora highlights that he is sharing:

Beaked Hazel nut, with insect tunnel

Several Asters - Calico, Flat-topped White, Large-leaved, and New York

Oak acorns

Burr Oak leaves

Broad-leaved Helleborine orchid

Silverrod, our only white goldenrod

Red Currant

Pipsissewa

Red Dogbane

Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum opulus), This plant is our native species. The common one we see is the non-native Viburnam americanum.

(Editor’s note: we neglected to pick a few to try but the literature advises the uncommon native species is much more flavourful than the common non-native variety.)

**We have a habit of overlooking striking patches of lichen. A contented ground patch was observed on the Clancy woods visit recently which Katie Porter identified as one of the pelt lichen group (Peltigera) showing the underside ‘teeth’ (rhizines) typical of the species to give it the common name Dog Tooth Lichen.

**Norbert Dupuis shares a few special moments in his Memramcook East yard as a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a Yellow Warbler caught the eye of his camera.

**It would appear that the Short-tailed Swallowtail butterflies are doing well at Hay Island at the moment. Aldo Dorio was able to photograph three different individuals on Thursday.

(Editor’s note: photos of swallowtail butterflies taken where the two species exist often need close scrutiny to be certain of the Short-tailed Swallowtail with its very restricted worldwide range. All three of Aldo’s photos today have been scrutinized and it is felt all three are indeed Short-tailed Swallowtail butterflies.)

**Jane LeBlanc looked in her St. Martins yard pond recently and found the larva of the Yellow Spotted Salamander.

She also photographed a Beaver in the river on her property.

Inspired by Brian Stone's photos earlier, Ed and Jane traveled to the Sackville Waterfowl Park to see the Pied-billed Grebes. Two birders from Amherst (identifiable by the long lenses on their cameras) were kind enough to point out both nests to them. Jane sends some very distant photos (note to self....take the longer lens next time!).

**This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 August 10 – August 17
You can see a few meteors per hour on any night in a clear, dark sky, but the number increases greatly when Earth passes through a trail of pebbles and dust left by a comet that makes frequent orbits around the Sun. The pebbles left by comet Swift-Tuttle in its 133-year orbit are quite large at a few centimetres, and they enter our atmosphere at a high relative velocity of 60 km/s (Earth travels at 30 km/s). Therefore, they can be very bright. The Perseids will seem to be coming from a point between the constellations Perseus and Cassiopeia, which are highest in the sky in early morning. You will see fewer in the evening but they tend to be long and bright.

Meteors, also called shooting stars or falling stars, are the streaks of light created when pebbles enter the atmosphere at an altitude of about 100 kilometres, and those particles from comets disintegrate before they reach an altitude of 50 kilometres. Many meteors are faint and easily made invisible by moonlight and light pollution. This weekend the Perseid shower occurs with the Moon nearing first quarter and approaching the low point of the ecliptic, making for early setting times. Get comfortable in a chair, have extra clothes or blankets if you plan to stay long as it can get very chilly, and select a patch of sky that is free of clouds and direct light. It is better to keep Perseus to your side rather than look in that direction because the meteors will look more spectacular, covering a longer distance.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:12 and sunset will occur at 8:35, giving 14 hours, 23 minutes of daylight (6:20 and 8:38 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:21 and set at 8:23, giving 14 hours, 2 minutes of daylight (6:28 and 8:27 in Saint John).

The Moon is at first quarter on Monday, setting before midnight to provide a moonless night for the meteor shower, and it is near Antares on Tuesday. Mars and Jupiter draw the attention midweek, rising around 1 am with Mars half a degree (a Moon-width) above Jupiter on Wednesday and one degree to Jupiter’s left Thursday. Saturn rises before 10 pm this week, while Venus sets about 45 minutes after sunset. Mercury is out of sight, setting around sunset. The Perseid meteor shower will be at its best after midnight Monday morning but watching a day or two either side of that is worthwhile.

The annual Mount Carleton Star Party this weekend has been cancelled due to the untimely arrival of Debby.

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