Nature Moncton Nature News: April 17 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, April 17, 2020 (Friday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

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

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** Oscar LeBlanc has many TREE SWALLOW [Hirondelle bicolore] nest boxes erected on his Sainte-Marie-de-Kent property, bordering the Bouctouche River. He was pleased to see the first Tree Swallows arrive on Thursday, seeing 2, so expects there will be lots of real estate investigations going on soon. He is also seeing BELTED KINGFISHERS [Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique], and a BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] nest in Coates Mills is occupied.

** Winston Jones reports seeing a lone BRANT [Bernache cravant] with a small flock of CANADA GEESE [Bernache du Canada] on his farm in Upper Coverdale on Thursday. Winston comments that Brant is a real rarity on his farm fields where Canada Geese are everywhere. There have been no recent reports of the 5 Snow Geese that were in that area. Winston checked in early Friday morning to say he hadn’t seen the Brant at that point, but the flocks do move about a lot around the fields of his farm.

** Louise Nichols had a visit to their Aulac yard of a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER [Pic maculé] on Wednesday. It’s the first one that Louise has seen in their yard, and it actually does show the yellow belly from which it originally got its name. It stayed in a Birch tree the entire day, and most of that on the same part of the trunk. She didn’t see it back on Thursday. Louise also took a photo of a frog that she saw motionless at the bottom of the yard pond. It appears to be a LEOPARD FROG [Rana pipiens] which often become active a bit later than the Wood Frogs and the Spring Peepers.

** Daryl Doucet and Gail Mills comment on a very lively day in Albert County. They saw 10+ TURKEY VULTURES [Urubu à tête rouge], approximately 30 NORTHERN FLICKERS [Pic flamboyant], 4 AMERICAN KESTRELS [Crécerelle d'Amérique] and GREAT BLUE HERONS [Grand Héron], but they were surprised to see approximately 20 TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] from the marsh observation platform at the Lars Larson marsh in Harvey. There were WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS [Bec-croisé bifascié] appearing to be foraging on the open buds of a Maple tree to get a nice photo of both genders, and they were also gathering at roadside as is often seen with crossbills. Gail got a nice photo series showing the graceful measured lift off of a Great Blue Heron as well as the effortless floating flight of one of the many Turkey Vultures enjoying the warm thermals.

** Clarence Cormier updates on action at his Grande Digue site. On Friday, the NORTHERN FLICKER [Pic flamboyant] finally showed up in his yard after many days of distant vocalizing. Seven BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS [Vacher à tête brune]– 2 male and 5 female – dropped by with a flock of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS [Carouge à épaulettes] consisting of a few females, 1^st-year males and mostly adult males. Clarence has 8 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien] still, normally seeing 3 to 6, so maybe a few extra dropped by on their return flight north.

** Jane LeBlanc got two photos of a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET [Roitelet à couronne dorée] on Thursday in St. Martins to nicely show how it got its name. She also watched a BROAD-WINGED HAWK [Petite Buse] flying over very high, assumedly in migration.

** Aldo Dorio got a photo of a HERRING GULL [Goéland argenté] appearing to be in advanced 2^nd-winter plumage showing the black bill tip and brown patches in the gray mantle and flesh-coloured legs. The eye should be showing some yellow, but it does not show in the photo.

** It’s Friday and this week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is included, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2020 April 18 – April 25
In April, we can start a long goodbye with the winter constellations. Orion and Taurus are setting together, which makes it easier to imagine their eternal battle. The bull is protecting the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) from the amorous advances of Orion, who is about to strike a downward blow to the bull’s head with his upraised club. The bull’s long horns, one tip of which is the bottom left star of Auriga (Elnath - officially the second brightest star of Taurus), are not to be taken lightly. It is difficult to tell which of the two combatants is more keratinous.

The winter constellations of Auriga and Gemini are still up past midnight but Rigel, in the knee of Orion and the low point of the Winter Circlet of bright stars, is setting around 10 pm. Sometimes these constellations are enhanced with planets, since Taurus and Gemini are part of the ecliptic. Venus crossed the Pleiades a fortnight ago and it is moving through Taurus toward Elnath. Next month it will approach near that horn tip and wisely start reversing its course. With the Pleiades sinking in the western twilight, through a thicker layer of our atmosphere, they, like other stars, will twinkle more. I have a pleasant memory of seeing them with binoculars when they were low in the west, flickering wildly like candles in a breeze. I had the urge to make a wish and blow them out.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:26 am and sunset will occur at 8:11 pm, giving 13 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (6:33 am and 8:14 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:14 am and set at 8:20 pm, giving 14 hours, 6 minutes of daylight (6:21 am and 8:23 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is new on Wednesday and, for a binocular challenge, try to spot the 21 hour crescent Moon after sunset Thursday. Venus continues to rule the evening sky, setting soon after midnight. In the morning sky Mars has pulled well eastward of Saturn, while Saturn and brighter Jupiter are within the field of view of most binoculars. Wednesday and Thursday mornings are the best times to catch a few shooting stars from the Lyrid meteor shower. They emanate from near the bright star Vega, which is high in the sky on those moonless mornings this week.

With astronomy meetings and outreach on hold, there are many educational astronomy websites such as Heavens Above to fill in your time. You can catch the local Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm, and view archives of previous shows, on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAEHfOWyL-kNH7dBVHK8spg

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

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton