Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 5 2025

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

September 5, 2025

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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Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**The Nature Moncton visit to the Irving Arboretum in Bouctouche is on for tomorrow, Saturday September 6. All details are below:

Irving Arboretum Walk

Date: Saturday, September 6, from 10 AM to 12 PM (Rain date: Sunday, September 7)

Location : 44 Chemin du Couvent, Bouctouche

Carpooling meeting place: Sobeys Elmwood Drive, 77 Filles de Jesus Avenue, Moncton

Leader: Cathy Simon

In order to enjoy the tail end of the summer blooms at the Elizabethan gardens, Nature Moncton is hosting a last-minute walk at the Irving Arboretum in Bouctouche this Saturday, September 6, from 10 AM to 12 PM.

The Irving Arboretum is a public botanical garden with trees, flora and fauna located on the banks of the Black River. The trail loop we plan to follow is easy, level, and approximately 3 km in length. We will also spend some quality time enjoying the elaborate Elizabethan Garden and views of the Black River.

***In an effort to be environmentally conscious, we are strongly encouraging carpooling. Please meet at the parking lot of the Sobeys Elmwood Drive at 9 AM with the goal of condensing into fewer cars and leaving by 9:15 AM. There are very limited parking spots at the Arboretum; however, ample additional parking is available across the street from the main entrance. We will meet at the Arboretum’s main building and start our walk at 10 AM.

Please wear comfortable walking shoes, weather-appropriate clothing, and your Nature Moncton nametag (if you have one). Long pants and a water bottle are recommended. All are welcome, and we hope to see you all there!

**Tony Thomas contributes some interesting additional information and a photo to augment Wayne Fairchild’s comments in yesterday’s edition.

“When you look up and see gulls hawking insects, particularly in early September, LOOK DOWN! The gulls are almost certainly feeding on the winged adults, preferably females, of the Labour Day Ant (Lasius neoniger). Look down to see the nest openings of these common ants - small volcanos of soil pellets with a central hole. These ants are named for the emergence of the winged adults on or about Labour Day.”

**Chris Antle was watching the remainder of her monarch butterfly chrysalids emerge on Thursday afternoon. It is her final four ready to begin their migration to Mexico.

Chris got a photo of one of the chrysalids that had an adult that had just emerged, and another that is very close to emerging (looking like a “flag in the bag”).

**Matt Nguyen shared some observations he made and photographed while visiting Ontario over the Labour Day long weekend.

Matt saw a bird feeder with a flock of house sparrows while walking through the suburban neighbourhood of North York. The population of house sparrows in New Brunswick is low and seems to be concentrated in pockets. This may not be a bad thing, as the house sparrow is notorious for outcompeting other similar-sized cavity-nesting birds such as the tree sparrow, eastern bluebird, or black-capped chickadee.

Matt also noticed the abundance of black morph grey squirrels all throughout his trip. He noted more of the black morph than the standard grey we are familiar with in New Brunswick.

Matt photographed a wild mute swan, an invasive species identified by its orange bill, with its cygnets swimming through the new extension of the Don River in Toronto's Port Lands area. This is in contrast to the native trumpeter swan, which has a black bill. Environment Canada has a page on the invasive species here: Invasive species: mute swan - Canada.ca

(Editor's note: this is a very good site Matt has given as it shows excellent identification features of other swans as well.)

He also photographed a young-of-the-year male red-winged blackbird with plumage molting at Biidaasige Park, which just opened earlier this summer.

Covering an area of more than 40 hectares, Biidaasige Park will be one of the largest and most ambitious public parks in Toronto. Central to its design is a more than one-kilometer long river that was engineered to provide flood mitigation while also being revitalized as a natural habitat. The name Biidaasige means “sunlight shining toward us” in the Ojibwe language, which is spoken by the Ojibwe nation and other Anishinaabe communities across the Great Lakes region of Canada.

**Brian Stone had a western conifer seed bug pay a visit to his window ledge where it was photographed. This bug was native to western North America but has expanded its range, including New Brunswick. It is not considered to do any significant harm to New Brunswick forests at this point.

It does seek out habitations to overwinter, including human habitations, so it may be checking out Brian’s hospitality. They are quite capable of producing a foul-smelling spray as a defense mechanism when irritated.

**It’s that time of the year when shorebird plumages are changing fast, especially in some species like the black-bellied plover.

Aldo Dorio sends photos of two different black-bellied plovers in different stages, taking on basic winter plumage.

**This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2025 September 6 – September 13
Two stellar crowns are included among the 88 official constellations. Both are above our horizon around 9 pm but one requires an unobstructed and near-pristine sky to the south. Both crowns arise from mythological tales of the popular demigod Dionysus (Bacchus in Roman mythology), the god of wine.

Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, is a pretty semicircle of stars situated high in the west, one third of the way from Arcturus to Vega. In mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete. She helped Theseus slay the bull-headed Minotaur and escape from the Labyrinth, and she accompanied him and his crew on a voyage home to Athens where they were to wed. Along the way they stopped at the island home of Dionysus, who was a great and wily host. After a night of revelry Theseus was forced into leaving without Ariadne, and Dionysus presented her with a beautiful crown if she would be his bride. The crown was placed in the sky to commemorate their wedding.

The Sagittarius teapot asterism is low in the south at 9 pm this week, and Corona Australis, the Southern Crown, rides the horizon below. This semicircle of stars is sometimes called the lemon wedge asterism, to go with the teapot and the teaspoon above the teapot’s handle. Dionysus was the result of an affair between Zeus and a mortal woman. The gods had to be careful in such affairs as mortals could not withstand the full passionate heat of their embrace. Vengeful Hera, the wife of Zeus, tricked the now-pregnant woman into requesting Zeus hold her as he would a goddess, and as expected she did not survive. The unborn child was sewn into the thigh of Zeus and raised by his aunt after birth. Later, Dionysus honoured his mother by placing a wreath in the sky. Such a start in life would drive anyone to drink.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:46 and sunset will occur at 7:47, giving 13 hours, 1 minute of daylight (6:52 and 7:51 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:55 and set at 7:33, giving 12 hours, 38 minutes of daylight (7:00 and 7:38 in Saint John).

The Moon is full this Sunday, near Saturn on Monday and the Pleiades next Friday. Saturn rises before 8:30 pm this weekend and a half hour sooner next weekend. Binocular users might catch Mars moving toward Spica over the week, low in the west and setting an hour after sunset. This weekend the brightest planet and the brightest star, Venus in the east and Sirius in the southeast, are at the same altitude. Above, Jupiter is nearly level with the two brightest stars in Gemini and Orion. Mercury is too close to the Sun for viewing as it reaches superior conjunction next weekend.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre this Saturday at 7 pm. The fall star party at Kouchibouguac National Park takes place next Friday and Saturday, See the RASC NB website for details.

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