NATURE
MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, December 1, 2017 (Friday)
Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in wording or
photo labeling.
For more information on Nature Moncton, check into the website at www.naturemoncton.com
For more information on Nature Moncton, check into the website at www.naturemoncton.com
Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
To respond by e-mail, please address
your message to the information line editor nelson@nb.sympatico.ca.
** Many birding enthusiasts visited the
Tantramar Marsh on Thursday on an awesome sunny fall day to be on the
marsh. The juvenile SWAINSON’S HAWK
[Buse de Swainson], the star of the show, could not have been more co-operative
for most of the day. However, it moved
to another area in mid-afternoon. The
excellent light allowed for some great photo opportunities to appreciate the
behaviour and foraging of this special visitor.
Gary Dupuis got some awesome flight photos to show plumage details. The bird seemed to be getting lots to eat, so
may have no reason to leave before getting on the winter list today. There were several ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS [Buse
pattue] moving
about. One photo is attached to show the
very small branches this species can perch on.
Several sub-adult and adult BALD EAGLES [Pygargue à tête
blanche] were
present, but no reports of the GOLDEN EAGLE [Aigle royal] on Thursday. SNOW BUNTINGS [Bruant des neiges] were abundant with some sightings of LAPLAND LONGSPUR [Bruant
lapon],
HORNED
LARK [Alouette hausse-col] and AMERICAN PIPITS [Pipit
d'Amérique]. On route from Moncton, the three of us noted
several RED-TAILED
HAWKS [Buse à queue rousse] in
roadside trees along the highway.
** Jamie Burris got a video of his
seemingly resident MERLIN [Faucon émerillon] in his Riverview yard. It can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP62V_FzxLc.
Turn up the sound to hear some unhappy BLUE JAYS [Geai bleu].
** Georges Brun sends a photo of the
sidewalk under a stand of Austrian Pines at the corner of Milner Rd. and St.
George St. with quano that was not there a few days ago. There were a large number of AMERICAN CROWS [Corneille
d'Amérique] that
have chosen this site as a night roost.
Georges comments that a neighbour said that the crows tore up his
lawn. Crows can sure do a number on a
lawn or a field, tearing up ground, looking for grubs. If they get serious about doing it, it can
look like the area was tilled. Georges
also comments that the group of EUROPEAN STARLINGS [Étourneau
sansonnet] taking
refuge under the grandstand at Moncton Football Association- Rocky Stone Field
has increased and getting very noisy.
** It’s December 1st and
time to start the New Brunswick Winter Bird List that runs from Dec. 1st
to Feb. 28th. Gilles
Belliveau is the compiler and I’m adding his message to Nature NB to the Nature
Moncton membership mail-out list which may be a double post for some who are on
both lists, but I want to get the word out.
Quoting Gilles Belliveau
“December 1 is here so it's time for my usual reminder about the NB
Winter Bird List.
We've been compiling a list of birds seen in NB between Dec 1 and Feb 28
(or Feb 29 during leap years) since Dec 1996 and during that time, we have
recorded a total of 261 different species during that three month period
with our highest total in a season being 175 species.
I'll be maintaining the list again this year which you can find at the
following address:
http://nbwinter.gbnature.com
I'll be monitoring this Listserv as well as various other sources for
sightings including various Facebook groups I'm aware of, the
BirdingNewBrunswick.ca website and eBird. You can also send emails to me
directly with your sightings if you prefer.
The first few days in December are especially important for tallying those
lingering species that may not be here much longer, especially in years
like this one where things have been pretty mild so far this fall and there
is minimal to no snow or ice in most of the province.
I encourage everybody who has an opportunity to get out birding in the
first few days of December to see what you can find and report your
sightings.
I look forward to reading about your sightings.
Good Winter Birding everyone,
Gilles Belliveau”
Winter Bird List.
We've been compiling a list of birds seen in NB between Dec 1 and Feb 28
(or Feb 29 during leap years) since Dec 1996 and during that time, we have
recorded a total of 261 different species during that three month period
with our highest total in a season being 175 species.
I'll be maintaining the list again this year which you can find at the
following address:
http://nbwinter.gbnature.com
I'll be monitoring this Listserv as well as various other sources for
sightings including various Facebook groups I'm aware of, the
BirdingNewBrunswick.ca website and eBird. You can also send emails to me
directly with your sightings if you prefer.
The first few days in December are especially important for tallying those
lingering species that may not be here much longer, especially in years
like this one where things have been pretty mild so far this fall and there
is minimal to no snow or ice in most of the province.
I encourage everybody who has an opportunity to get out birding in the
first few days of December to see what you can find and report your
sightings.
I look forward to reading about your sightings.
Good Winter Birding everyone,
Gilles Belliveau”
** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is added
to this edition, courtesy of Curt Nason.
Hopefully, weather will give an open window to see the closest moonrise
of 2017 on Sunday.
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, December
2 – December 9
Many naturalists are also avid environmentalists and, hence, strong
believers in recycling. For that reason, I don’t mind recycling versions
of this sky report, so…
By 1930 the borderlines of 88 constellations had been set to cover the
entire sky by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the overlords
of all things astronomical. Many constellations were created by
stargazers in Babylonia more than 6000 years ago, later to be adopted
and expanded by the Greeks. Claudius Ptolemy’s second century treatise
The Almagest included a star map which included 48 constellations, most
of which survived the IAU. A few centuries ago many constellations were
made up for the newly “discovered” skies of the deep southern
hemisphere, and to fill in gaps in the familiar northern hemisphere. In
New Brunswick we get to see all or parts of 66 constellations, but some
are rather elusive.
Two of the gap-fillers lurk between the traditional autumn and winter
constellations in the northeast these evenings, and they can be as
difficult to see as their namesakes in New Brunswick. Stretching between
Ursa Major and the Gemini-Auriga pair is a sparse zigzag of stars making
the Lynx. Just as you are unlikely to see a lynx near urban areas, you
need to be in a rural region to spot Lynx. Between Lynx and the
semicircle of Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Perseus is the enigmatic and
tough-to-pronounce-after-a-few Camelopardalis, which of course is a
giraffe. With its head near Polaris, a critter this far north should
have been a reindeer. Before you have a few, go out and see if you can
locate them.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:42 am and sunset will occur at
4:34 pm, giving 8 hours, 52 minutes of daylight (7:44 am and 4:42 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:49 am and set at 4:33
pm, giving 8 hours, 44 minutes of daylight (7:51 am and 4:41 pm in Saint
John).
The Moon is full on Sunday, about 17 hours before perigee, making this
the closest full Moon of 2017. Expect extreme tidal ranges early in the
week. Mercury sets around 5:30 midweek, followed by Saturn less than ten
minutes later. Mars is five degrees to the left of Spica this weekend
and pulls rapidly away toward Jupiter over the week. Venus is rising
after 7 am early in the week, heading sunward.
The Saint John Astronomy Club meets at the Rockwood Park Interpretation
Centre on Saturday, December 2 at 7pm. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Many naturalists are also avid environmentalists and, hence, strong
believers in recycling. For that reason, I don’t mind recycling versions
of this sky report, so…
By 1930 the borderlines of 88 constellations had been set to cover the
entire sky by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the overlords
of all things astronomical. Many constellations were created by
stargazers in Babylonia more than 6000 years ago, later to be adopted
and expanded by the Greeks. Claudius Ptolemy’s second century treatise
The Almagest included a star map which included 48 constellations, most
of which survived the IAU. A few centuries ago many constellations were
made up for the newly “discovered” skies of the deep southern
hemisphere, and to fill in gaps in the familiar northern hemisphere. In
New Brunswick we get to see all or parts of 66 constellations, but some
are rather elusive.
Two of the gap-fillers lurk between the traditional autumn and winter
constellations in the northeast these evenings, and they can be as
difficult to see as their namesakes in New Brunswick. Stretching between
Ursa Major and the Gemini-Auriga pair is a sparse zigzag of stars making
the Lynx. Just as you are unlikely to see a lynx near urban areas, you
need to be in a rural region to spot Lynx. Between Lynx and the
semicircle of Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Perseus is the enigmatic and
tough-to-pronounce-after-a-few Camelopardalis, which of course is a
giraffe. With its head near Polaris, a critter this far north should
have been a reindeer. Before you have a few, go out and see if you can
locate them.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:42 am and sunset will occur at
4:34 pm, giving 8 hours, 52 minutes of daylight (7:44 am and 4:42 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:49 am and set at 4:33
pm, giving 8 hours, 44 minutes of daylight (7:51 am and 4:41 pm in Saint
John).
The Moon is full on Sunday, about 17 hours before perigee, making this
the closest full Moon of 2017. Expect extreme tidal ranges early in the
week. Mercury sets around 5:30 midweek, followed by Saturn less than ten
minutes later. Mars is five degrees to the left of Spica this weekend
and pulls rapidly away toward Jupiter over the week. Venus is rising
after 7 am early in the week, heading sunward.
The Saint John Astronomy Club meets at the Rockwood Park Interpretation
Centre on Saturday, December 2 at 7pm. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
AFTER THE CROWS NOV 29 2017 GEORGES BRUN
Lynx_Giraffe
RED-TAILED HAWK. NOV. 30, 2017. BRIAN STONE
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. NOV 30, 2017. NELSON POIRIER
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. NOV 30, 2017. BRIAN STONE
SWAINSON'S HAWK . NOV. 30, 2017. BRIAN STONE
SWAINSON'S HAWK . NOV. 30, 2017. BRIAN STONE
SWAINSON'S HAWK . NOV. 30, 2017. GARY DUPUIS
SWAINSON'S HAWK . NOV. 30, 2017. GARY DUPUIS
SWAINSON'S HAWK . NOV. 30, 2017. NELSON POIRIER
SWAINSON'S HAWK . NOV. 30, 2017. NELSON POIRIER
SWAINSON'S HAWK . NOV. 30, 2017. BRIAN STONE
