Nature Moncton Nature News: May 25 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 25, 2018 (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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** Mathieu Carroll had a male SCARLET TANAGER [Tangara écarlate] drop by his Miramichi yard on Thursday afternoon. Phil Reibel shares two photos of it in its handsome red breeding plumage.

**We’ve been chatting about the female YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER [Pic maculé] with non-red crowns occurring occasionally. Phil Reibel and Pam Watters had a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker come by their Miramichi yard recently that was noted to be a female with very reduced red on its crown and they got a photo.

** Catherine Hamilton forwards some nice scenes from the Petitcodiac area. One photo shows an OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur] with its fish prey perfectly aligned for aerodynamics. Another photo shows nice identification features of a pair of COMMON MERGANSER [Grand Harle], while a third photo nicely shows a LEAST SANDPIPER [Bécasseau minuscule] with its yellowish legs, slight droop to the bill tip and warm brown tones in comparison to its SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER [Bécasseau semipalmé] kin.

** Gordon Rattray had a SWAINSON'S THRUSH [Grive à dos olive] ground-feeding in his Weldon yard next to a tree fringe on Thursday morning and it stayed in the area for 30 minutes to allow for some great photos. Gordon also visited the Hillsborough area to find a group of LEAST SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau minuscule] to get a rather nice photo to go along with Catherine Hamilton’s in today’s edition.

** Jim Johnson recently reported his 11 TREE SWALLOW [Hirondelle bicolore] boxes, quite near each other, were all occupied even with the near proximity. He spotted three EASTERN BLUEBIRDS [Merlebleu de l'Est] nearby, so attached a nest box to the same pole as a Tree Swallow box in the hopes of attracting them. However, the seemingly social group of swallows that Jim has immediately had that nest taken by a pair of Tree Swallows even though they were on the same pole. A bit of a different Tree Swallow scenario for sure. Jim also has 14+ RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS [Colibri à gorge rubis] coming to three different feeders.

** Gabriel Gallant just spent a few days in Jacquet River. He was able to see a very sharply plumaged male CAPE MAY WARBLER [Paruline tigrée] and MAGNOLIA WARBLER [Paruline à tête cendrée]. A SPRUCE BUDWORM outbreak is expected to hit New Brunswick this year. I wonder if that has anything to do to influence Cape May Warbler presence yet. Gabriel also saw and photographed a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW [Bruant à couronne blanche] in a lilac tree. He kept hearing a VEERY [Grive fauve] the two days he was there and finally got a glimpse of it just before he left, but no cooperation for a photo.

** Aldo Dorio got a nice photo of some of the Empidonax Flycatchers that are quite difficult to differentiate on a photo without hearing their distinctly different vocalizations. The four we tend to see most often would be the ALDER FLYCATCHER [Moucherolle des aulnes] and LEAST FLYCATCHER [Moucherolle tchébec] with the ACADIAN FLYCATCHER [Moucherolle vert] and WILLOW FLYCATCHER [Moucherolle des saules] less common. They all have a white eye ring and white wing bars and similar plumage. He also got a photo of a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER [Paruline noir et blanc] at Hay Island.

** Maurice and Louise Richard are in Vancouver and have been able to see and get photos of an ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD [Colibri d’Anna]. I don’t think we’ve had one of these Hummingbirds in New Brunswick yet, but stand to be corrected. I recall at least one in Northern New Brunswick where an ANNA’S [Colibri d’Anna]/RUFOUS [Colibri roux] hybrid was suspected.

** A striking male AMERICAN REDSTART [Paruline flamboyante] dropped by our Miramichi camp yard on Thursday to check out all the bird chatter. He sat still long enough for a photo to show that striking hot orange and jet black plumage combo.

Am adding a few photos from my own feeder area where regulars seem to be accompanied by several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, several Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, and Pine Siskins. The expanding menu for the grosbeaks and sapsuckers has been surprising. Peanut butter in the black tubular peanut feeder and mid-cut sunflower chips are the most popular however only the sapsuckers use the jam.

** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is added to this edition, courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, May 26 - June 2
By 10 pm the zigzag constellation of Draco the Dragon is halfway up the northern sky to the right of the Little Dipper. Draco’s tail is a line of stars between the Big and Little Dippers. One of those stars is Thuban, which lies between the bowl of the Little Dipper and the middle of the Big Dipper’s handle. About 5000 years ago, when the Egyptian pyramids were built, Thuban was the North Star and entrances to the pyramids were designed with a descending passageway aligned to this star. Coincidentally, the inner two stars of the Big Dipper’s bowl point to Thuban, just as the outer pair points toward Polaris.

From the tail, Draco arcs around the bowl of the Little Dipper and then curves back toward Hercules, with its head being a quadrilateral of stars by the strongman’s foot. The two brightest stars in Draco’s head, Eltanin and Rastaban, are its eyes. They are the brightest and third brightest of the constellation. The faintest of the four is a treat in binoculars, showing matching white stars that resemble headlights or cat eyes. In mythology the dragon was one of the Titans, rivals of the Olympians. In one of their battles, Athena slung the dragon high into the northern sky. Writhing to right itself, it struck against the sky and froze in that position.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:35 am and sunset will occur at 8:57 pm, giving 15 hours, 22 minutes of daylight (5:43 am and 8:59 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:30 am and set at 9:04 pm, giving 15 hours, 34 minutes of daylight (5:38 am and 9:06 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is near Jupiter on Sunday and it is full on Tuesday, the Mi’kmaq Frog Croaking Moon. Saturn now rises around 11 pm, a little before Venus sets and Jupiter is transits the north-south meridian. Jupiter’s Red Spot can be seen in a telescope at high power on Sunday at 11 pm and on Friday at 10 pm. If I drag my telescope out early enough I can now see the polar ice cap of Mars and dark ground features, and the views will get even better over the next two months as it moves into the evening sky.

RASC NB, the provincial astronomy club, meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre in Saint John on May 26 at 1 pm for astronomy talks. The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the same location on June 2 at 7 pm. All are welcome.

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

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton