NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
September 19, 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
**Thanks
to Caroline Arsenault for picking up on a misidentification in Wednesday’s
photo lineup, which is one that is very easy to make and one we can all learn
from.
The
sparrow labelled as a field sparrow in Wednesday’s edition is actually a non-breeding
winter plumage chipping sparrow. We
occasionally have a chipping sparrow that overwinters with us in its winter plumage at a feeder,
which is easily confused with a field sparrow.
The features to look for in a winter plumage chipping sparrow would be the dark eye line, including a dark lore, streaks in the rufous/brown crown, and the pinkish bill with a blackish upper mandible. These features would need binoculars to be certain of, as well as a suspicion to take another look.
The
information in Wednesday’s edition is corrected, and the photo is reattached today, so we all can learn these fine features to watch for.
**Lance
Harris, while walking the Dieppe marsh, came across many male and female
ring-necked pheasants, as well as this season's adolescents. However, a male
ring-necked pheasant in transitional plumage caught his eye, showcasing the
surprising colours a bird molting into adult plumage can display.
**Georges
Brun stopped by the restored train trestle in Salisbury that was part of
the route for the Salem-Hillsborough railway. He photographed a scene from it
and also noted a large group of common mergansers, all appearing with
female plumage at this time of year until the males will take on their bright
breeding plumage in early winter.
Small constellations tend to get overlooked unless, like Delphinus the Dolphin,
they have fairly bright stars or an eye-catching pattern. Aries the Ram and
cleverly named Triangulum aren’t quite as pretty as Delphinus but they do get
noticed. Okay, Triangulum isn’t pretty but it is acute, situated below
Andromeda in mid-evening. Below it is brighter Aries, which resembles a
somewhat squashed triangle.
In mythology, the god Hermes sent a flying, golden ram to rescue a prince who
was being sacrificed to end a famine. The prince showed his gratitude by
slaughtering the ram and giving its fleece to a man in exchange for his
daughter’s hand in marriage. The Golden Fleece later became the quest of Jason
and the Argonauts. Over 2000 years ago the Sun was in Aries on the first day of
spring, and the vernal equinox is still called the First Point of Aries despite
having moved into the constellation Pisces long ago.
Triangulum is not associated with an exciting tale from mythology but at times
it had been regarded as a tribute to both the Nile Delta and the island of
Sicily. I use the tip of the triangle as a reference for locating the
Triangulum Galaxy, also called M33. It is almost halfway and a tad to the right
of a line from the tip to orange Mirach in Andromeda. Smaller and slightly more
distant than the nearby Andromeda Galaxy (M31), this face-on spiral galaxy is
dim but attainable with binoculars in a reasonably dark sky.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:04 and sunset will occur at 7:20, giving
12 hours, 16 minutes of daylight (7:09 and 7:25 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 7:12 and set at 7:06, giving 11 hours, 54 minutes of
daylight (7:17 and 7:11 in Saint John). The Sun crosses the equator at 3:19 pm
Tuesday to begin the autumn season.
The Moon is new this Sunday and to the lower left of Mars on Wednesday.
Saturn is at opposition on Sunday, rising around sunset, and above it Neptune
reaches opposition on Tuesday. By late in the week Jupiter will be rising
around 1 am, followed by Venus four hours later. Mercury is too close to the
Sun for evening observing.
Tune in to the Sunday
Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of
Astronomy by the Bay.
Questions? Contact Curt
Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
