Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 6 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, October 6, 2017 (Friday)

Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

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** It was a great day for the Crested Caracara [Caracara du nord] observations on Thursday. This is one beautiful raptor. Gary Dupuis got some awesome photos that are attached. It moved around the general area it has been spending some time in – near the herd of cattle down the farm road east of civic # 5133, but flew back near one of its favourite sites near 5216 and then to the Old Mill Rd where some great observations were had of it. The farm road seems to be a reliable area at the moment where it shows up sooner or later. Am adding a photo I got that pales in comparison to Gary’s.

** A lot of folks in New Brunswick are building and erecting MASON BEE houses, and many are seeing some surprises. Connie Colpitts in Salisbury was surprised to find her Mason Bee house with a normal Mason Bee mud-covered nest hole; however, several were filled with grass fibres. None of the local folk with Mason Bee houses who were consulted had seen this before. Apparently this is a wasp genus – Isodontia – called GRASS CARRYING WASPS that build grass nests in holes. We were hoping to tease apart a few of the nests to look for pupae or larvae and grow them out; unfortunately, a few days later the holes with the fibre nests were empty and clean with no evidence of why. If anyone else finds these plant fibre nests in their Mason Bee houses, we sure would like to hear about it.

** Dave Christie comments he went to the Mary’s Point beach at high tide on Wednesday morning and the onshore strong wind provided no sign of shorebirds or gulls as they had sought out more protected areas. He then took a walk to the Lars Larson marsh to see very surprising numbers of AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK [Sympétrum tardif] dragonflies along the road and in the bushes, and even more when he got to the marsh area. He estimated thousands, but saw only two pairs in a mating wheel. On Thursday, Dave was surprised to count 58 GREATER YELLOWLEGS [Grand Chevalier] on the muddy shore of the Shepody River as the tide was receding. The most he had seen earlier in the area this year in one spot was approximately 30, so a significant convention of Greater Yellowlegs is in progress to possibly discuss migration plans.

** Just a bit more information on the ICHNEUMON WASP John Massey submitted yesterday. This is called the GIANT ICHNEUMON, also known as the Sabre Wasp. The photo is a female. She lays her eggs into larva that are living in timber to parasitize them with her long thin ovipositor. It is of no harm to humans. The photo is reattached.

** The link to Ray Gauvin’s video of the domestic BLACK-NECKED SWAN and their cygnets that was missed in yesterday’s edition is attached today. https://www.dropbox.com/s/bsyy3cqxwiomsyh/MVI_0237.MOV?dl=0

** Aldo Dorio got a lucky photo of a RED KNOT and a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER [Pluvier argenté] nearly side by side on Thursday as well as a solo RED KNOTphoto.

** Brian Stone photographed the full HARVEST MOON as it rose on Thursday night, seeing it from the west side of Jone’s Lake as it just peeked over the horizon to become the huge luminous body in the sky, all over a period of approximately 15 minutes. It was truly an awesome experience to be able to be with Brian as he photographed it while I just watched the awesomeness of it all, something I’d never done before. Brian comments it happens every month, but you do have to know the exact night it will happen, exactly what time, and of course have a relatively cloud-free night. After seeing this event, I plan to make it a point from now on and sure would suggest it to others who may not have taken in this free astronomical event. Brian also got a photo of the conjunction of the planets Venus and Mars on Wednesday morning as they appeared at 6:43 AM, just before sunrise. Conjunction simply means the two bodies appear near one another in the sky.

** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is included in this edition, courtesy of Curt Nason who Nature Moncton is planning to have at the December meeting night to give a presentation.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, October 7 – October 14

Small constellations tend to get overlooked unless, like Delphinus the
Dolphin, they have fairly bright stars or an eye-catching pattern. Aries
the Ram and cleverly named Triangulum aren’t quite as pretty as
Delphinus but they do get noticed. Okay, Triangulum isn’t pretty but it
is acute, situated below Andromeda in mid-evening. Below it is brighter
Aries, which resembles a somewhat squashed triangle.

In mythology, the god Hermes sent a flying, golden ram to rescue a
prince who was being sacrificed to end a famine. The prince showed his
gratitude by slaughtering the ram and giving its fleece to a man in
exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The Golden Fleece later
became the quest of Jason and the Argonauts. Over 2000 years ago the Sun
was in Aries on the first day of spring, and the vernal equinox is still
called the First Point of Aries despite having moved into the
constellation Pisces long ago. That movement is due to the precession of
the equinox, a wobble of the Earth’s polar axis that completes a circuit
every 25,800 years.

Triangulum is not associated with an exciting tale from mythology but at
times it had been regarded as a tribute to both the Nile Delta and the
island of Sicily. I use the tip of the triangle as a reference for
locating the Triangulum Galaxy, also called M33. It is almost halfway
and a tad to the right of a line from the tip to orange Mirach in
Andromeda. Smaller and slightly more distant than the nearby Andromeda
Galaxy (M31), this face-on spiral galaxy is dim but attainable with
binoculars in a reasonably dark sky.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:25 am and sunset will occur at
6:47 pm, giving 11 hours, 22 minutes of daylight (7:30 am and 6:52 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:35 am and set at 6:34
pm, giving 10 hours, 59 minutes of daylight (7:39 am and 6:40 pm in
Saint John).

The Moon is at third quarter on Thursday, rising around 11:30 the
previous evening and setting a little before 3 pm. Jupiter is just a few
weeks from being in conjunction with the Sun so Saturn rules the early
evening sky. Following their recent rendezvous, Venus and Mars proceed
in opposite directions in the morning sky. Mercury is in superior
conjunction with the Sun on Sunday, and moves into the evening western
sky late in the month. The minor Draconid meteor shower is at its modest
peak from Saturday evening to Sunday morning. You might see a few
slow-moving meteors per hour coming out of the north, but it has
surprised with intense activity a few times in the past century.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets at the Rockwood Park Interpretation
Centre on October 7 at 7 pm. The William Brydone Jack Astronomy Club
meets at the Forestry-Earth Sciences building at UNB Fredericton on
Tuesday at 7 pm. All are welcome.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton