Nature Moncton Nature News: Nov 13 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, Nov. 13, 2017 (Monday)

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

Transcript by: David Christie maryspt@mac.com

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

** Catherine Hamilton got some photos of a one and a half year old bull MOOSE [Orignal] in late October that nicely show its juvenile, first year antler spikes that are so different from the impressive broad board it will have next year. Dewayne Sabine from the New Brunswick Fish & Wildlife Branch points out that yearling often have a simple spike. When bulls get old they have a small rack with multiple points.

** Dave Cannon’s swimming pool is a magnet to salamanders, which he scoops out and puts them back on land. BLUE-SPOTTED SALAMANDERS [Salamandre à points bleus] and YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDERS [Salamandre maculée] do not commonly get into it, but RED-BACKED SALAMANDERS [Salamandre rayée] get there by the dozen. It is one of New Brunswick’s most populous animals even though we don’t see them frequently due to their nocturnal and secretive behaviour under rotting wood. Dave comments that they changed the water from chlorinated water to salt water in the spring but it hasn’t slowed down the number of visitors.

** Georges Brun watched some Canada geese [Bernache du Canada] testing their weight on the ice over Jones Lake near the St. George St. fire station on Sunday. George saw a pair of WOOD DUCKS [Canard branchu] there on October 12, the male in full colourful breeding plumage. Georges watched a male COMMON EIDER [Eider à duvet] go through its plumage change over the summer. It would make a daily pilgrimage to the Petitcodiac River approximately 10 minutes after the tidal bore came in. Also three HARLEQUIN DUCKS [Arlequin plongeur] were on the Petitcodiac River, near Halls Creek, for a few days in late October.

** Ray Gauvin visited the Crowley Farm Road BALD EAGLE'S [Pygargue à tête blanche] nest on Nov. 10 to find an adult perched at the nest site. Ray spoke with a neighbour who said she had not seen the young eaglet since it left the nest. Ray’s camera zoomed in on the talons of this raptor to show its effective armament.

There’s been some more rain recently to create some rushing streams over the rocky river bed by the covered bridge on the Forty-five Road in Albert County. Ray got a video of it at sunset recently. It can be seen at the attached link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/td2zzpnps5h3fjz/MVI_1123.MOV?dl=0

** John Massey had a NORTHERN CARDINAL [Cardinal rouge] drop by his Dieppe yard on Nov. 4. It is interesting to note that in last year’s Project Feeder Watch that the Cardinal was in the top ten most common yard birds in parts of Quebec and Ontario. The Saint John area may be that lucky but they sure have been slow to distribute around the rest of New Brunswick.

** Brian Stone shares some bird photos from where he’s visiting in Perth, Ontario, at the moment. one photo shows an apparent male young of the year RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD [Carouge à épaulettes], a sharply dressed WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH [Sittelle à poitrine blanche], and a few views of a female NORTHERN CARDINAL. I often wonder if some of the fall photos of female Cardinals may be developing males, as I’m not used to seeing and recognizing fall males.

** Ron Stiles placed some peanut butter on a tree in woods and ground apples near his home in Port Elgin. It has attracted some BLACK BEARS [Ours noir] to the booty. He has enjoyed watching two bears. There is no sign of cubs. They also are enjoying popcorn.

** Mac Wilmot was replacing some vinyl siding when a MUD DAUBER [une sorte de guèpe solitaire] nest fell out with a larval grub inside. Mud daubers are harmless to us, solitary wasps that build these mud nest structures, deposit their egg, placing a paralyzed insect in with it for the larva to feed on when it hatches. I am assuming that the larval grub that fell out is a developing mud dauber.

** Louise and Maurice Richard saw ATLANTIC SALMON [Saumon atlantique] coming up the Kouchibouguac River behind their Acadieville camp. They are coming up the river at this time of year to spawn, and what Louise and Maurice are seeing may well be the fish digging out their nests, called redds, where the eggs are laid and fertilized to develop into the juvenile fish called fry, that will emerge in the spring.

There was a great field trip at the spring FON, with the group placing fertilized eggs in the Kouchiboguacis River, which is nearby river coming from a different source. They have done some work on the Kouchibouguac River as well, and one can read more at the following link: http://en.amiskouchibouguacis.ca/

The water levels have been very low this year until recently, which is allowing the spawning adult salmon to come up river to perform their annual mission.

** Paul Gunn got very interesting photos of a RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse] being herded out of an area by a determined group of EUROPEAN STARLINGS [Étourneau sansonnet]. The hawk does not seem particularly worried but no doubt soon chose a less congested area to spend the day.

** Bob Blake reports that they had PEA [pois] plants approximately 8 inches high and in bloom as of Nov. 5, in the warm weather. The garden had already been ploughed up and made ready for winter. The peas may be pushing their luck but some butterflies may not have thought so.

** We don’t tend to think of waterfowl as fruit connoisseurs but Mac Wilmot has a female MALLARD [Canard colvert] that finds his fallen apples quite to her liking. Mac refers to her as an opportunivore.

** Jean-Paul and Stella LeBlanc have noted a group of SHAGGY MANE MUSHROOMS [Coprin chevelu] that popped up on a neighbouring Bouctouche lawn on Oct. 27. This excellent edible is a late bloomer and we can still come across fresh groups of them if we have days that hover above freezing. They have to be gathered when very fresh, as they turn black and disappear in a few days. To try them, make sure they are well dried with paper towel, cut in half, top to bottom, with a little bit of oil like olive oil, dipped in flour of some type and broiled until crisp. Garlic and condiments can give them a nice extra flavour of your choice.

** I’m adding this week's sky at a glance on the Blogspot, even though Curt Nason placed it on NatureNB as many acess the BlogSpot that are not on naturenb listserv. Sorry for the double post for some.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, November 11 – November 18
Open clusters, sometimes called galactic clusters, are groups of
relatively young (usually less than 500 million years old) stars that
formed from the same vast cloud of gas and dust. The Pleiades cluster
(M45) in the shoulder of Taurus the Bull is seen easily with the naked
eye because it is fairly close at 440 light years (mind you, a light
year is 9.5 trillion kilometres). The V-shaped Hyades in the face of
Taurus is the closest at 150 light years, although Aldebaran at one end
of the V is actually a foreground star at a distance of 65 light years.
Many other clusters are greater than ten times farther and require
binoculars or a telescope to be seen at all, usually as a hazy patch
with some individual stars.

To the left of Taurus is a pentagram of stars marking the head,
shoulders and knees of the constellation Auriga the Charioteer. As
mentioned last week, one of those stars (in Auriga's right knee, with
him facing us) is officially part of Taurus. Point your binoculars
halfway between this star and the one in Auriga’s right shoulder. Open
cluster M36 is just inside the line between the stars, and M37 is just
outside. They look like fuzzy patches because, at distances of greater
than 4000 light years, a telescope is required to resolve individual
stars. Further inside is the diffuse open cluster M38, midway between
the right shoulder and left knee. All three clusters can be seen
together in wide-field binoculars

The brightest star in Auriga is Capella the Goat Star, marking the
charioteer’s left shoulder. It is the sixth brightest star in the night
sky and the brightest circumpolar star seen from New Brunswick. Capella
represents a mother goat, and a triangle of stars nearby on the left
side represents three baby goats called The Kids. Quite an armful for
someone driving a chariot.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:14 am and sunset will occur at
4:51 pm, giving 9 hours, 37 minutes of daylight (7:17 am and 4:58 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:24 am and set at 4:44
pm, giving 9 hours, 20 minutes of daylight (7:27 am and 4:51 pm in Saint
John).

The Moon is new on Saturday, November 18; and see if you can spot the
slim crescent near Venus on the morning before. Mercury passes a few
degrees above Antares on Monday, setting 50 minutes after the Sun
midweek. Although the prime observing time for Saturn is over, decent
views may still be obtained when it appears in twilight. Mars shows its
reddish colour high in the morning sky, while Venus and Jupiter are less
than a Moon-width apart on Monday. Watch for meteors emanating from
Taurus this weekend, as the minor North Taurid meteor showers peaks, and
from Leo late in the week. Neither shower is likely to produce more than
a few shooting stars per hour.

The William Brydone Jack Astronomy Club meets at the UNB Forestry-Earth
Sciences Building in Fredericton on November 14 at 7 pm. All are welcome.

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

** Bob Blake keeps a record of daily morning temperatures, daily highs, and precipitation amounts from his Second North River home. I’m attaching Bob’s October record, as he forwarded it, comparing that month in 2017 with 2016. For any questions, contact Bob booby@nbnet.nb.ca.

here are stats for Oct................

2016

+16-3 days

+12-1

+11-1

+10-2

+9-1

+8-2

+7-3

+6-1

+5-1

+4-3