Nature Moncton Nature
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Proofreading courtesy of
Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Deanna
Fenwick visited the Johnson's Mills Shorebird Reserve a few times this week to
see the sandpipers in the greatest numbers - over 100,000 on some days.
Approximately half of the world’s population of semipalmated sandpipers feed on
our Bay of Fundy mudflats during peak migration. They arrive at about 20 gms
and after 3 weeks, they double their body size to about 40 gms so they can take
the non-stop flight of nearly 4,000 kms to South America. These birds cannot
float or swim, so they crowd onto the beach at high tide to rest. As the tide
recedes, the mudflats are exposed, and they eat nonstop until the tide comes back in. Along with the semipalmated sandpipers come a much smaller number of semipalmated
plovers, black-bellied plovers, white-rumped sandpipers, and least
sandpipers.
**Louise Nichols visited Petit-Cap on Wednesday afternoon during the partial solar eclipse. She had her eclipse glasses and watched the eclipse progress as she walked around, enjoying the shorebirds.
She saw a number of the usual species -- all three sandpipers (semipalmated, white-rumped and least), both yellowlegs, black-bellied plovers, semipalmated plovers, willet, and a spotted sandpiper. What was surprisingly missing were short-billed dowitchers and ruddy turnstones, which are usually around this time of year. Louise attaches photos of some of the shorebirds she saw. In addition to the birds, there were a number of darner dragonflies flying about, many of which appeared to be variable darners. She also caught a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk that flew in and circled above her.
When the eclipse reached its
maximum point, Louise was aware of a dimmer light across the beach and,
although she may have been imagining it, a greater silence. A magical
afternoon.
**This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2026 August 15 – August 22
The signs of autumn appear in the sky before they become readily apparent
terrestrially. In late evening the great mama bear, Ursa Major, scampers across
the northern horizon in search of food and lodging for winter. If you live in a
rural area with an excellent view to the north you might even catch a glimpse
of Lynx running ahead of the bear, and consider yourself fortunate if you do.
The thicker layer of atmosphere at low altitudes reduces the brightness of
starlight, a phenomenon called extinction. The lynx may be extinct for a few
hours after rising.
The bowl of the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) is upside down in early evening,
pouring out its contents to fill the Big Dipper below at the rear of Ursa
Major. In Greek mythology the bears were cursed to eternal thirst by the
goddess Hera in revenge for an indiscretion of her husband, Zeus. She placed
the bears in a position where they never reach the horizon for a drink. Perhaps
Zeus put dippers inside the bears so that they could share water and survive.
Someone has to make these stories up.
To the east Pegasus is already quite high after twilight, with its signature
square asterism tilted as a diamond for the imminent baseball pennant stretch.
Perseus stands above the northeast horizon below his in-laws, W-shaped
Cassiopeia and house-shaped Cepheus, while their daughter Andromeda leads him
toward the flying horse. There is much to see in this area with binoculars but
start with the Double Cluster of stars between Perseus and Cassiopeia, and the
Andromeda Galaxy (M31).
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:18 and sunset will occur at 8:27, giving
14 hours, 9 minutes of daylight (6:25 and 8:31 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 6:27 and set at 8:15, giving 13 hours, 48 minutes of
daylight (6:33 and 8:19 in Saint John).
The Moon is near Venus on Sunday, at first quarter Wednesday, and near
Antares in Scorpius on Thursday. Venus reaches greatest elongation from the
Sun this Saturday and it sets around 10 pm, about half an hour before Saturn
rises. Jupiter and Mercury appear very close together in the east-northeast
this Saturday, rising 65 minutes before sunrise. Now in Gemini, Mars’s
rapid eastward movement makes an ever-changing reddish-orange triangle with the
stars Aldebaran in Taurus and Betelgeuse in Orion.
The RASC NB star party at Mount Carleton Provincial Park takes place on August
14 and 15.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
