Nature Moncton Nature News: May 1 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 1, 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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** Catherine Hamilton shares some things that she has seen lately in the Petitcodiac area to include a female PILEATED WOODPECKER [Grand pic], a BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] with a raccoon as prey on April 11^th (this may have been road kill being recycled), CEDAR WAXWINGS [Jaseur d'Amérique] clearing off a High Bush Cranberry bush on April 12^th, RED FOX [Renard roux] kits – there were actually 5 in this litter and much larger kits than Catherine would have thought, a BLACK BEAR [Ours noir] sow who had 2 cubs but they were quickly sent up a tree when Catherine got near, and a male YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER [Pic maculé] on April 26^th – a nice round of activity.

** Gordon Rattray made two outings on April 30^th. First to the old rail line in Hillsborough where there were many PALM WARBLERS [Paruline à couronne rousse] and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS [Paruline à croupion jaune] there. They were very active at around 10:00 AM as it was warming from the sun. Also he observed SAVANNAH SPARROWS [Bruant des prés], SONG SPARROWS [Bruant chanteur], NORTHERN FLICKER [Pic flamboyant] and RING-NECKED PHEASANTS [Faisan de Colchide]. On the Hillsborough lagoon were approximately 40 RING-NECKED DUCKS [Fuligule à collier] and a pair of NORTHERN SHOVELERS [Canard souchet]. The highlight of the morning was a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET [Roitelet à couronne rubis] that flitted about for quite awhile, allowing for some great photos. One photo shows a hint of the seldom seen red crown patch of the male. Gordon’s second trip was to the Dawson Settlement to photograph TRAILING ARBUTUS, aka MAY FLOWERS just starting with only a few in flower; however, those blooms were full and beautiful. Gordon also photographed the abundant BIRCH POLYPHORE mushroom.

** The WESTERN CONIFER SEED BUG is an insect we are seeing more frequently in New Brunswick. It is fairly easy to identify with white spots along the side, expanded tibial segment of the leg and slanted head area. It is considered a minor pest in North America in conifer plantations. It can overwinter sometimes in homes and buildings. Susan Linkletter came across one on the outside wall of one of her buildings on the Scott Road to provide some photos.

** Louise Nichols notes the WOOD FROG [Grenouille des bois] eggs in her second small pond are starting to develop, but when looking closely she noticed some tadpoles that are too large to be from those eggs. These would assumedly be tadpoles from another species such as BULLFROG [Ouaouaron] or GREEN FROG [Grenouille verte] that take at least two years to develop into adults and have overwintered. A few underwater photos show the large tadpoles among the relatively fresh Wood Frog egg mass.

** Jane LeBlanc photographed a male NORTHERN SHOVELER [Canard souchet] and a pair of COMMON MERGANSER [Grand Harle] enjoying the sunshine of the St. Martins beach on Thursday morning.

** Clarence Cormier spotted his first YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER [Paruline à croupion jaune] at his Grande-Digue site on Thursday – a bright male. He also saw a pair of RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS [Roitelet à couronne rubis], and surprisingly still has 8 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien] in his feeder area.

** Brian and Annette Stone took a walk to Brian’s favourite Coltsfoot patch on the highway off-ramp at Gorge Rd. Brian got a photo of an INFANT MOTH. This is a small very early day-flying moth that flies about very rapidly and is hard to photograph. When it flies, the bright orange on the under wings gives it away. It feeds especially on Birch and Alder and so is often seen in those areas at this time of year. He also photographed a NORTHERN SPRING AZURE [Azure printanier] butterfly and two WATER STRIDERS feeding on the same morsel of prey. Annette got a photo of the thief that has been stealing the apple pieces from the bush in their yard that they had stuck onto branches for fruit connoisseur birds.

** Bob Blake keeps records on morning temperatures, daily high temperatures and monthly precipitation amounts at his Second North River home and I’m attaching that record comparing April 2019 and April 2020. The difference in precipitation is surely notable with April 2019 at 208 mm of rain and 29 cm of snow, compared with April 2020 at 25 mm of rain and 17 cm of snow. Bob also had a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER [Paruline à croupion jaune] arrive to his yard to sample the suet block on Thursday.

Weather stats for April

2019		2020
morning temperatures	daily highs and rainfall/snow	morning temperatures	daily highs and rainfall/snow
-4-2 days -3-1 -2-2 -1-3 0-2 +1-4 +2-3 +3-1 +4-3 +5-4 +6-1 +7-1 +9-1 +10-1 +11-1	+17-2 +15-3 +14-2 +13-1 +12-3 +9-2 +8-1 208 mms. rain 29 cms. snow	-2-1 day -1-7 0-3 +1-6 +2-2 +3-1 +4-5 +5-3 +6-1 +8-1	+19-1 +18-1 +15-2 +14-2 +13-1 +11-3 +10-2 +9-5 +8-1 25 mms. rain 17 cms. snow

** 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 May 2 – May 9
I was fascinated by the movie Hercules, starring bodybuilder Steve Reeves, which I saw one Saturday afternoon at the Vogue theatre in McAdam sometime in the early 60s. I was nurturing my interest in the sky at that time so the constellation of Hercules has long been a part of my life. These spring evenings it is in the east as twilight fades.

Look for a keystone asterism one third of the way from the bright star Vega toward equally bright Arcturus; that is the upside-down body of the legendary strongman. Hercules is usually depicted down on his right knee, with his left foot on the head of Draco the Dragon and his head close to that of Ophiuchus. Originally the constellation was called The Kneeler, and the star at his head is called Rasalgethi for “head of the kneeler.” It is the alpha star of the constellation, although Kornephoros (the club bearer) is brighter.

With binoculars you can pick out two globular clusters from the Messier catalogue in Hercules. Globular clusters are ancient compact groups of typically tens-to-hundreds of thousands of stars that orbit our galaxy’s core. One third of the way from the top right star of the Keystone to the bottom right star is M13, perhaps the finest globular cluster in the northern hemisphere. A line from the bottom right star through the middle of the top of the Keystone, and extended about an equal distance, will put you in the area of M92, one of the oldest objects in our area of the galaxy at more than 13 billion years.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:03 am and sunset will occur at 8:29 pm, giving 14 hours, 26 minutes of daylight (6:10 am and 8:32 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:53 am and set at 8:38 pm, giving 14 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (6:01 am and 8:41 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is full on Thursday; the Milk, Planting or Frog Croaking Moon. Brilliant Venus is still setting after midnight, while Mercury is at superior conjunction on Monday. The two inner planets will be crossing paths in a few weeks. Jupiter and Saturn retain their 5 degree physical distancing in the morning sky, but soon they will start to separate. Mars rises after 3 am, about 75 minutes after two gas giants. If you are out early on Wednesday you might catch a few meteors from the Eta Aquariid shower coming out of the south, although bright moonlight will wash out the fainter ones.

Saturday is International Astronomy Day, and you can cap off Astronomy Week with the local Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm 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