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.
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
**Norbert Dupuis comments, “The colourful evening grosbeaks
are so abundant this winter…dozens….wow! ...
and the mourning doves.”
** Mac Wilmot remarks that the comment on the redpoll foraging on catkins brings to mind that in Newfoundland, redpolls are called alder birds.
Mac comments that they recently noticed evening grosbeaks
appearing to be plucking buds from a sugar maple in their yard. He had never
noticed that behaviour before.
(Editor’s note: tree buds
are energy-packed food sources and a wise choice for any overwintering bird.)
**Brian Stone visited Irishtown Park on Wednesday to give his ice cleats their first and last workout of 2025. (Happy New Year!). The trails were sheets of ice, but Brian remained upright thanks to the cleats and managed to get a few (only a few) bird photos to share.
At a spot in the park on a trail that circles the sides of the
reservoir, some people have been leaving seeds for the birds, and Brian got
photos of a white-breasted nuthatch, a red-breasted nuthatch, one
of several American goldfinches, a male downy woodpecker, and some
of a small group of common redpolls that were really far up in a tall
tree. A couple of brown creepers were seen but were too fast to get
photographed. Maybe next year?
**This Week’s Sky at a
Glance, 2026 January 3 – January 10
With Orion’s hourglass figure now above the horizon after sunset, the giant
hunter waits an hour or so for his two dogs to get up before he starts hunting.
The first to greet the night is Canis Minor the Little Dog, a small
constellation highlighted by Procyon, the eighth brightest star. To identify
this star, Orion’s head and shoulders form an arrowhead, with orange Betelgeuse
at the apex, which points toward Procyon. Like Sirius in Canis Major, this star
is bright because it is in our celestial backyard, about 11 light years away.
The name Procyon means “before the dog,” indicating it is a harbinger of Sirius
the Dog Star which rises about 40 minutes later. Ancient Egyptian farmers
watched for the first visible rising of Sirius before sunrise, as experience
had taught them the Nile would soon flood its banks with fertile soil when this
occurred. In mythology the two dogs are sometimes depicted as Laelaps (Canis
Major), an extremely fast dog, and an equally fast fox (Canis Minor). The dog
was sent to hunt the fox but, after a long chase with no apparent end, Zeus
turned them both to stone and placed them in the sky.
I like to look at the dogs and their westerly neighbours, Orion the Hunter and
Lepus the Hare, in a more modern sense. The mighty demigod Orion becomes
everyone’s favourite hunter, Elmer Fudd, with that wascawwy wabbit bugging him
below his feet. The big and little dogs become Spike and Chester, who were also
part of the Looney Tunes gang. Just as Chester would bounce around in front of
his hero, the bulldog Spike, Canis Minor bounces up before Canis Major.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 8:01 and sunset will occur at 4:46, giving
8 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (8:03 and 4:54 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 7:59 and set at 4:54, giving 8 hours, 55 minutes of
daylight (8:02 and 5:01 in Saint John).
The Moon is full this
Saturday morning and near the Beehive
star cluster in Cancer on Sunday, although bright moonlight will make it
difficult to see any stars nearby with binoculars. Venus and Mars are in
conjunction behind the Sun on January 6 and 9, respectively, with Mercury
looking to join them in a few weeks. Saturn still gives good views of its
edge-on rings in early evening, while Jupiter is at opposition on January 10.
On Tuesday telescope users might see Jupiter’s moon Io be eclipsed at 7:11 and
emerge from behind the planet at 9:33. At 10:03 Ganymede’s shadow starts
transiting the planet with the moon itself trailing 20 minutes later. The
Quadrantid shower peaks this Saturday with meteors emanating from near the
Little Dipper and Bootes.
The Saint John Astronomy
Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre this Saturday at January
3 at 7 pm. 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
