Nature Moncton Nature
News
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on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.
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 email,
please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Please advise the editor
at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com, as well as 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
**As a heads
up on the December 16 Nature Moncton meeting, the Presentations chairperson, Louise
Nichols asks anyone who will share some highlights of their year to contact her according to the notice below:
NATURE MONCTON DECEMBER MEETING
DECEMBER 16, 2025, AT 7:00 PM
ROTARY PAVILION, MAPLETON PARK
MEMBERS’ NIGHT & NATURE MONCTON AGM
We will begin this meeting
with a brief AGM; afterward, we are asking our members to take the stage and
share their most important outdoor experiences.
Have you had an interesting encounter with nature in the past year? Have you taken some good photos of birds,
insects, animals or anything else in the various habitats of New Brunswick? The
December Nature Moncton meeting belongs to members like you who would like to
share their photos and stories in short 10 to 15-minute presentations.
If you have something you’d
like to share, contact Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca,
so we can put you on the schedule.
Let’s celebrate the holidays
in the right way – by sharing with one another our positive experiences of the
natural world around us!
Note that this meeting will
not be available via Zoom.
All are welcome, Nature
Moncton member or not.
**Notice for the Greater Moncton Bird
Feeder Tally participants from Susan Atkinson.
Dear dedicated bird feeder participants:
Again, this year Susan will be collecting the Greater Moncton
Feeder counts recorded on December 20th.
She updated the documents and sent out emails to all the
participants she had in her files.
However, Susan is hoping that there will be many new bird
watchers who will be interested in joining this important citizen science
project.
Feel free to email Susan at susandatkinson@hotmail.com
Additional information can be found on the Nature Moncton
website.
**It’s very rewarding to hear all the reports of northern cardinals in the greater Moncton and Memramcook area. It appears that the resident population is definitely expanding and enjoying bird feeder yards, as well as some without feeders.
Daryl Doucette had a female
northern cardinal pop into his Moncton yard on Thursday to perch for a photo.
**Georges Brun saw two red
foxes on the Riverview Marsh across from Halls Creek on Thursday.
Water levels are high at the moment in the Petitcodiac River. One can see
the watermark left along the banks, 45.8 feet down at Dover. Water
accumulations in Riverview ponds near Trans Aqua are frozen over with a thin
layer of ice and snow.
Jones Lake ponds are the
same except for some small patches that were just starting to freeze
over.
**Brian Stone walked in
Mapleton Park on Wednesday afternoon to gaze in wonder at the change in scenery
brought about by the first decent snowfall of the season. He photographed a mourning
dove, a pair of American crows, some of the mallard ducks
hanging out in the creek, an American robin, and spent the rest of the
afternoon photographing scenery.
**This Week’s Sky at a
Glance, 2025 December 6 – December 13
Having official constellations doesn’t prevent us from imagining our own. The
sight of Orion, with club raised high and a lion-skin shield warding off the
horns of a raging bull, has been etched in my memory for over 60 years. But
come December, reddish Betelgeuse in Orion’s armpit becomes Santa’s red nose in
profile, the curve of the shield outlines a sack of toys, and the iconic
three-star belt is…well, Santa’s wide black leather belt. And on cold, clear
nights there is no mistaking that twinkle in his eye. Look to the north and
there is Santa’s sleigh, usually seen as the Big Dipper, being loaded up for
the long night’s ride.
Many doors and windows are decorated with wreaths and the window of the winter
sky is no exception. Here, Betelgeuse is a red light near the middle of a
wreath we call the Winter Circlet or Winter Hexagon. By mid-evening you
can trace the lights decorating the wreath, from blue-white Rigel in Orion’s
leg to brilliantly colourful Sirius the Dog Star, up through Procyon the Little
Dog Star, around Pollux and Castor in Gemini and Capella in Auriga to orange
Aldebaran as the Bull’s eye, and back to Rigel. Imagination is a gift and Santa
won’t mind if you open yours before Christmas.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:46 and sunset will occur at 4:33, giving
8 hours, 47 minutes of daylight (7:48 and 4:41 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 7:53 and set at 4:33, giving 8 hours, 40 minutes of
daylight (7:55 and 4:41 in Saint John).
The Moon is near Jupiter on Sunday, closely approaches Regulus late Tuesday
evening, and it is at third quarter on Thursday. Mercury is at greatest
elongation Sunday, rising around 6 am and standing ten degrees high toward the
southeast an hour later. Venus is too close to the Sun for comfortable
binocular viewing. Saturn is 40 degrees above the horizon around 7 pm this
weekend, and Jupiter reaches that same altitude four hours later. Telescope
users can see Jupiter’s moon Io reappear from behind the planet at 8:10 on
Monday, and Ganymede disappear into Jupiter’s shadow at 8:00 on Friday. The
highlight of the month occurs next weekend when the Geminid meteor shower
peaks.
The Saint John Astronomy
Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre this Saturday at 7 pm.
The Fredericton Astronomy Club meets in the UNB Forestry-Earth Sciences
building at 7 pm on Tuesday. 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
