Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 23 2015

** Some great sunset photos to share from Wednesday evening in New Brunswick. Brian Stone took some from the Tantramar Marsh and Aldo Dorio submits one from Neguac. Aldo also submits a photo of a NORTHERN SHOVELER [Canard souchet] and a male HOODED MERGANSER [Harle couronné].

** Anne Marsch shares a URL that goes to the striking display of moth prints that are on display at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John. That URL is attached.

https://picasaweb.google.com/jeem123/WingedTapestriesMothsAtLarge?feat=directlink

** Susan Richards comments on hearing COYOTES [Coyote] howling and yipping at night, early morning and early evening around their Taylor Village home. She feels it sounds like two packs with the calls coming from two directions. I think this is a normal activity for coyotes this time of year with family units making contact with each other. The coyote is a social animal and prefers the company of others of its kin, especially family members.

** A correction on the posted photo of October 22nd (Thursday). The photo by Aldo Dorio labeled as WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW [Bruant à couronne blanche] should be WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge blanche]. It was a rear-view photo that fooled us. This would be a White-throated sparrow, some of which have the beige-brown side-markings on the head. A nice learning note on photos from the rear when White-crowned Sparrows are passing through. That photo is reattached today corrected, as it has been on the BlogSpot. All thanks to the several folks who pointed out the correction.

** Kathleen Spicer has had a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW [Bruant à couronne blanche] to her Apple River, NS yard most days since Oct. 10th, and got a nice photo of it on Thursday. It's a nice note to the sparrow chatter of today.

** I've had what I suspect is just one CHIPPING SPARROW [Bruant familier] visiting my feeder area, seemingly most interested in sunflower chips. A photo shows it to be an adult in winter plumage. Note the lower mandible goes off yellow from the black summer along with the other changes. The dark eye line extends into the lore area against the bill, an identity feature for the Chipping Sparrow. The grey rump patch is a Chipping Sparrow feature. Gilles Belliveau points out the Field Sparrow also has this grey rump, but a very different facial pattern from the Chipping Sparrow. The Clay-coloured Sparrow which we all watch for would show a brown rump patch, not grey. And that eye line would not extend unto the lore as it does in the Chipping Sparrow. A bit of "sparrowology."

This week’s SKY AT A GLANCE report courtesy of Curt Nason is added below

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, October 24 – October 31

At sunset this week the constellation Perseus the Hero stands above the
northeastern horizon, just below the W shape of his mother-in-law,
Cassiopeia. He is a hero because, among other deeds, he prevented his
near-future wife Andromeda from becoming a tasty lunch for a ferocious
sea monster. In fact, that’s how they met; a more romantic tale than any
you’ll read in a Harlequin.

The brightest star in Perseus, Mirfak, is part and namesake of the Alpha
Persei Cluster. This is one of my favourite binocular targets because it
resembles a miniature version of the constellation Draco. The
constellation’s second brightest star is Algol the Demon, representing
the eye of the Gorgon Medusa. Perseus beheaded the Medusa and planned to
gain revenge for an embarrassing moment by turning his hecklers into
stone. The sea monster was his first victim of this weapon. Algol has
been famous for at least a few centuries for dimming by a factor of
three every 69 hours. It is a very close pair of stars orbiting each
other in our line if sight, and the dimming occurs when the larger,
dimmer star passes in front of the brighter one. Another popular
binocular or scope target is a close pair of star clusters located
halfway between Perseus and Cassiopeia. Astronomers have cleverly called
this the Double Cluster.

Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae, the daughter of the king of
Argos. When the king heard a prophecy that he would be killed by his
grandson he locked Danae in a tower to ensure she had no children.
However, wily and randy Zeus entered the tower as a shower of golden
coins and Perseus was the result. The king shoved daughter and grandson
out to sea in a boat, expecting they would not survive but they were
rescued. Many years later Perseus entered a discus competition. His
first throw was blown off course by a sudden gust, killing an old man in
the crowd. Guess who?

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:48 am and sunset will occur at
6:18 pm, giving 10 hours, 30 minutes of daylight (7:52 am and 6:24 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:58 am and set at 6:07
pm, giving 10 hours, 9 minutes of daylight (8:01 am and 6:14 pm in Saint
John).

The Moon is full on Tuesday, the Hunter’s Moon. Like the Harvest Moon
which precedes it, there will be a few days where the time between
moonrises is less than usual. When the Moon rises around 8:15 Thursday
evening you might notice the bright star Aldebaran just ahead of it. An
hour before then the Moon occulted, or passed in front of, Aldebaran.
Although we will miss that one, we get to see it occur when the two meet
again on the morning of November 26.

Venus and Jupiter grab the spotlight this weekend with the two brightest
planets being separated by just the width of your index finger at arm’s
length tomorrow. On Monday Venus reaches its greatest elongation from
the Sun for this morning apparition, and by next weekend it has nearly
caught up with dimmer Mars. Mercury continues moving sunward but it
still rises an hour before the Sun next weekend. Saturn sets an hour and
a half after sunset, heading toward its solar conjunction at the end of
November.

Questions? Contact me at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton