Nature Moncton Nature News: September 6 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Sept 6, 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

**On Thursday afternoon, Doreen Rossiter in Alma noticed an odd sparrow amongst the usual Song and White-throated sparrows flock. When she saw the signature dark spot on its breast, she knew it was a Lark Sparrow. This is not the first time she's had one, but it has been a while. The plumage matches the first-year winter plumage in the Sibley guide.

**Shannon Inman did a short round of their Harvey area on Thursday to photograph a duo of Clouded Sulphur butterflies, a Bullfrog out of its more normal wet habitat, a Belted Kingfisher, and a Pied-billed Grebe.

(Editor’s note: I noted the plumage of this Pied-billed Grebe seemed different from what we had been seeing all season as juveniles and adults. A consult with Gilles Belliveau as always had the answer. Gilles commented “I suspect it is an adult in Basic (non-breeding) plumage. Sibley’s does list Sept. to March for this plumage and Birds of The World says that the Definitive Prebasic molt (adult molting into non-breeding plumage) starts in mid to late breeding season so I would assume adults would be well into their molt or could have even completed their molt by now in this area.”)

**Tony Thomas leaves an interesting comment about the Black Witch Moth that appeared on yesterday’s blog that was photographed in Mexico.

Tony comments “This species, photographed in Mexico (Nature Moncton 5ix24) breeds in the southern USA and Mexico but does fly as far north as at least NB.

The most recent visit was August 3, 2024, when Nancy Mullin photographed one at Quarryville (near Miramichi):”

https://inaturalist.ca/observations/233457625

(Editor’s note: one has to wonder what a warming climate has to do with the appearance of southern species in New Brunswick. Another example of that possibility would be the reports of observations of the Common Buckeye butterfly in New Brunswick (Cocagne) and in Nova Scotia this summer.)

**Aldo Dorio photographed a Least Sandpiper at Hay Island on Thursday. It would appear to be a juvenile bird by the white scaling on the feathers and the legs do appear faint yellow.

**On Monday, Brian Stone stopped in at the Bouctouche lagoons to check on the large group of Bonaparte's Gulls but did not find any special visitors among the hundreds present. Some Wood Ducks and many other expected duck species were among them. One lone immature Spotted Sandpiper was perching on a pipe with a Lesser Yellowlegs alternately. On his way back he visited the pollinator garden at the Cocagne Arena and found a Silver-bordered Fritillary butterfly, a Common Ringlet butterfly with a dusting of yellow pollen, and a pair of Northern Crescent butterflies mating.

On Thursday, Brian went through Mapleton Park and noted the upgraded trails around the ponds that walkers seemed to be appreciating, but he was not impressed by the large rock pile placed over the duck resting area that previously had a bench and close access to the water's edge. He was happy to photograph a male and female Northern Cardinal that had stopped on a handrail searching for leftover seeds left by some passerby, and he also saw a Wood Duck, and some frogs. Several caterpillars trundled across the path in spots and two that were noted were the Isabella Tiger Moth caterpillar (the Woolly Bear) and the Spotted Tussock Moth caterpillar.

**This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 September 7 – September 14
This is the time of year when the evening sky seems static; the stars appear to be in the same place night after night in twilight. As you can see below, the Sun sets about two minutes earlier each evening. With reference to the stars Earth rotates once every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds; a sidereal day. But since our clocks are based on a 24-hour mean solar day rather than the sidereal day, the stars rise about 4 minutes earlier each evening. The rate of earlier sunsets this time of year cancels half of that. Although the stars rise earlier we also see them sooner. That is a bonus because many of the finest objects to observe in a telescope are prominent now, particularly the Milky Way.

The opposite occurs in spring when the later sunsets add to the earlier rising of stars. The constellations seem to fly past over a month or two, much to the chagrin of those who delight in observing the distant galaxies that abound in those constellations. Earth’s motion around the Sun results in many of the constellations being seasonal. For example, we currently see Orion in the southeast before sunrise. Come January it will be there after sunset and it will stick around in the evening sky until mid-spring. Those constellations near the north are circumpolar, meaning they never set and we see them year round. There are 22 constellations in the southern hemisphere sky that we see no part of at all from New Brunswick.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:47 and sunset will occur at 7:45, giving 12 hours, 58 minutes of daylight (6:53 and 7:49 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:56 and set at 7:31, giving 12 hours, 35 minutes of daylight (7:02 and 7:36 in Saint John).

The Moon is at first quarter on Wednesday, riding low in the south at sunset near the winter solstice point of the ecliptic. Venus sets an hour after sunset so catch it in early twilight when it is a fist-width above the horizon. How soon can you see it with just your eyes? Saturn is at opposition on Sunday, rising at sunset and setting around sunrise. Jupiter rises in the late evening, and in the morning you can see Orion in the southeast about to spike it with his tennis racquet. Early risers can catch Mars within the same binocular view as the M35 star cluster in Gemini. Just past greatest elongation in the morning sky, Mercury is brightening and it sits just to the left of Regulus on Monday. If you live in a rural area, this week look for the subtle wedge of zodiacal light running from the eastern horizon up toward the Pleiades an hour or more before sunrise.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre on September 7 at 7 pm, and the Fredericton Astronomy Club meets in the UNB Forestry-Earth Sciences Building on Tuesday at 7 pm.

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