Nature Moncton Nature News: Dec 25 2015

** A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE [Solitaire de Townsend] was spotted by Robert Shortall in his Richibucto-Village yard on Dec. 12th. He had not seen it again until a few days ago. Carmella Melanson visited the area on Thursday to get great photos in spite of the bad weather as it enjoyed foraging on Mountain Ash berries, again back in Mr. Shortall's yard. This special bird is obviously staying in the territory. Be aware that Richibucto and Richibucto-Village are different places. Richibucto is near Cap Lumière. Mr. Shortall’s civic address is 220 Bas-de-L’Allee Rd.

** PINE SISKINS [Tarin des pins] have not been coming to feeders in numbers so far this winter. Bob Childs had a first one of the season for him appear to his Riverview feeder yard on Thursday morning.

** As mentioned yesterday, it's a great time of year to be perusing Gull groups as it's that period when Gulls have molted into their winter plumage and changes will be gradual until spring. Our most common Gulls at the moment are GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL [Goéland marin], HERRING GULL [Goéland argenté] and ICELAND GULL [Goéland arctique], but it takes them four years to reach mature plumage. Most RING-BILLED GULLS [Goéland à bec cerclé] will leave us for the winter. Some of the small BONAPARTE'S GULLS [Mouette de Bonaparte] will stay around open water. And the GLAUCOUS GULL [Goéland bourgmestre] can be readily found, but not common. Georges Brun has been taking note of Gulls in the area and shares a few photos to show an adult Great Black-backed Gull with its clean, white winter head and black back. A photo of an adult Herring Gull shows the streaked head of this species that this species and the Iceland Gull take on as winter adults to become white again in the spring. The Great Black-backed Gull and Herring Gull will start out their lives heavily marked with brown the first winter, less in the 2nd winter and only traces of brown on the mantle in the 3rd winter. Just a few points to maybe get folks photographing Gulls in winter.

** This week's Sky-at-a-Glance is added to this transcription, courtesy of Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, December 26 – January 2
This time of year many naturalists throughout the province are busy
performing Christmas bird counts. If you are on your toes and not too
worn out you can add up to five more between dusk and dawn. Start with
the easy ones around 6 pm by looking for the three bright stars of the
Summer Triangle above the western horizon. The lowest of the three is
Altair, the head of Aquila the Eagle, which is standing straight up on
the horizon. The highest of the trio is Deneb at the tail of Cygnus,
which is doing a swan dive. If it is cloudy you have a chance to catch
them to the east in the morning, although the eagle will be difficult
with Altair rising around 7 am.

Midnight is your best chance to spot the elusive and tiny Columba the
Dove, but you will need an unobstructed southern horizon. Look below
Orion for Lepus the Hare, and then try to see stars near the horizon
directly below. Speaking of eagles, I usually get a peaceful, easy
feeling when I see the dove. Very few bird counts will be missing the
common crow but, in case you did, look southward around 6:30 am for a
distinct quadrilateral of stars below a line between Jupiter and Mars.
There you will find Corvus the Crow hitching a ride on the tail of Hydra.

If you were fortunate enough to see a blue footed booby on your NB
Christmas count then you should try your luck with Grus the Crane. I
recommend climbing the tallest tree at 5:30 pm and craning your neck
southward to catch the beak before it sets. Or consider doing your
Christmas bird count in August.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 8:00 am and sunset will occur at
4:35 pm, giving 8 hours, 39 minutes of daylight (8:02 am and 4:47 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 8:02 am and set at 4:45
pm, giving 8 hours, 43 minutes of daylight (8:04 am and 4:53 pm in Saint
John). Earth is at perihelion next Saturday evening (January 2), when it
is closest to the Sun. The Supersun will appear an amazing 6% larger
than it does in late June! Yes, I am being Supermoon facetious.

The Moon is in waning gibbous phase this week, reaching third quarter
early next Saturday. It rises a half hour before the corks start popping
on Thursday evening, less than a fist-width below Jupiter.

Mercury is at its greatest elongation from the Sun on Monday, setting in
the southwest an hour and a half after sunset. Jupiter rises around 11
pm New Year’s Eve and may look a little bleary the next mourning. In
contrast, having gone to bed at a decent hour, Comet Catalina will be
looking bright eyed and bushy tailed beside Arcturus in a scope or
binoculars on New Year’s morn. Mars remains within a wide binocular view
of Spica early this week. Saturn and Venus continue to close the gap for
their rendezvous on January 9.

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

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton