Nature Moncton Nature News: October 1 2025

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

October 1, 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

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 and the proofreader at 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

**On Monday evening, a friend of Gordon Rattray called about a strange bird at their feeders in Shepody. The description indicated yellow-headed blackbird, but as it was too dark to investigate, Gordon asked for a call on Tuesday to see whether the bird was still present. Gordon received the call early Tuesday morning and went to investigate, finding the bird was indeed a yellow-headed blackbird which was still in the yard. A few years ago, the same folks witnessed the crowds when a crested caracara was spotted near them, so no address available.

**When Tim Locker and Nelson Poirier were recently with comrades on a several-day camping trip deep into the hinterland of northern New Brunswick, they very much enjoyed the cloudless, clear night sky with no artificial light visible from any direction. It was truly spectacular, as Tim’s roughly southerly direction photo shows.

Brian Stone was consulted and his comments about what was really being seen are too good not to be quoted with Brian’s very kind interpretation and illustrations:

“This photo shows two of the major constellations in the night sky. Orion and Canis Major are considered to be "winter" constellations because that is the time of year when they are most prominently displayed in the evening sky, but if you stay up late enough (or get up early enough) at this time of year, you can see them taking their place on the southern horizon. Canis Major also contains the sky's brightest star, Sirius. This star is one of the closest to us which is one of the reasons why it appears so bright in our night sky.”

Thank you, Brian, for making the skygazing moments even more memorable!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius