Nature Moncton Nature News: June 21 2026

Nature Moncton Nature News

Clicking 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.

If you would like to share observations/photos with Nature News, contact the 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.

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

The camera on the peregrine falcon nest box on the summit of Assumption Place is now live. When checking the link to watch the activity, scroll down to the first large image, which shows what is happening in real time.

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**The contact email to register for the pelagic adventure off Grand Manan scheduled for August 15 in yesterday’s edition was incorrect for the first part of the day, and when corrected, still did not work for some.

The correct contact address is Cynthia Doucet at outandabout4nm@gmail.com.

**Jane LeBlanc had to go whale watching for work (such a chore!!) on Saturday and sends a few photos. A minke whale was spotted, as well as an Atlantic puffin, bald eagles, and gray seals.

(Editor’s note: Jane is a guide for cruise ship passengers that makes her do these chores that get shared with us!)

**Ted Sears often finds the bridge going into Poodiac (not far from Cassidy Lake) always provides excitement, and an eastern phoebe was cooperating as usual. There were two adults and three ready-to-fledge nestlings on a nest under the bridge.

Ted also photographed a chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly and a lancet clubtail dragonfly, both posing nicely.

**That time of year has arrived when we will start to see the nocturnal moths day perching, often right in our yards for us to enjoy.

Katie Girvan enjoyed observing and photographing the stunning colours of the rosy maple moth, one of the smaller of our colourful silk moth group. Katie also photographed the pale beauty moth. Both of Katie’s specimens are at their prime and have probably just emerged from pupation.

**About five or six years ago, Nelson Poirier sent Jim Johnson in Scotch settlement two handcrafted clay cliff swallow nests, which he mounted on the peak of two garages. It was a little late in the year, so there was very little interest in them then. Even for the next two years, the cliff swallows would check them out, but that was all. Last year, one was occupied, but the other one was not. This year, they took to both of them right from the start and even added a little mud to the opening of one. They started coming to Jim’s buildings about 10 years ago. Jim has no idea why, but they certainly are welcome. There are five pairs so far, and they are very active, as there seem to be a lot of bugs this year.

(Editor’s note: approximately 10 years ago, these clay cliff swallow nests were available to purchase but then went off the market. Brian Dalzell had successfully used them in Grand Manan. Nelson Poirier had one unused nest, which Roger LeBlanc talked a neighbour who did pottery into copying. She made 25 of the clay nests, which we gave out to several people who already had cliff swallows nesting naturally. The nests are very durable and still up, with some being used regularly and some not.)

**Suzanne Rousseau recently sent a photo (reattached today) of a 9:30 PM red sky light show that we had to get some consultations on.

Curt Nason supplied an excellent commentary that anyone should refer to when they see something similar. I am quoting Curt’s explanation below:

“Suzanne was looking southward around 9:30 from near Bouctouche, where sunset was at 9:14 Thursday and at azimuth 306 degrees. Therefore, the centre of a rainbow would be at azimuth 126 and the right-side red arc at 168, close to due south. Near sunset, the shorter wavelength rainbow colours get scattered away, leaving the red. I see hints of yellow and orange in the photo, probably just before they disappear. I have seen a red rainbow before, but not like this, so I checked Wikipedia and it explains the scattered red. We see only the corner of the rainbow due to that being the only area with raindrops catching sunlight at the time."

(Editor’s note: if Curt Nason has not seen a scenario like this, it must be very uncommon, as Curt has his eye on the sky as much as anybody in New Brunswick!)

Below is further explanation found online:

"A monochrome or red rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon and a rare variation of the more commonly seen multicolored rainbow. Its formation process is identical to that of a normal rainbow (namely the reflection/refraction of light in water droplets), the difference being that a monochrome rainbow requires the sun to be close to the horizon; i.e., near sunrise or sunset. The low angle of the sun results in a longer distance for its light to travel through the atmosphere, causing shorter wavelengths of light, such as blue, green and yellow, to be scattered and leaving primarily red, hence the name "monochrome rainbow".^[1] In the lower light environment where the phenomenon most often forms, a monochrome rainbow can leave a highly dramatic effect.^{[2][3]"

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

Also: "}Occasionally, a shower may happen at sunrise or sunset, where the shorter wavelengths like blue and green have been scattered and essentially removed from the spectrum. Further scattering may occur due to the rain, and the result can be rare and dramatic.”