Nature Moncton Nature News: Jan 1 2021

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, January 1, 2021 (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)

** Peter and Deana Gadd had a visit late Thursday afternoon from a RUSTY BLACKBIRD [Quiscale rouilleux], a first-time visitor to their Miramichi garden feeders. It ate off the ground and then spent some time at the top of a deteriorating hydro pole, seeming to find something to eat there. It appears to be a female with the broad light supercilium.

** On Thursday afternoon, 11 NORTHERN CARDINALS [Cardinal rouge] (that’s 11!!) gathered for their New Year’s feast in Peter and Deana’s yard – 6 females and 5 males. Peter kept looking for the 6^th male. He finds males are more active than the females. They will not leave each other alone long enough and so are harder to count. This is not the first time they’ve seen 11 in their yard which seems an unprecedented number in a feeder yard in the northeast of the province. It is great to hear the cardinals are staying at winter feeders. We have had fall cardinal flushes before, but not in my memory where numbers stayed, especially in pairs.

They see their RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER [Pic à ventre roux] every couple of days, but it doesn’t visit as regularly as it did a few weeks ago. There has been a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK [Épervier brun] about which might be making it more cautious.

** Since December 19th, Carmella Melanson has had a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (Bruant à couronne blanche) patronizing her yard in Grand-Barachois. When Gilles Belliveau saw her picture of it back then, he noted that it coud be the western subspecies which we get occasionally. Carmella did a little research on the species and found that and there are 5 subspecies. She comments if she understands what she read correctly, the subspecies we usually see is z.l. leucophrys and what she has is z.l. gambelii. The two are similar in size, the white supercilium of the leucophrys stops at the eye, and the lores are black, whereas in gambelii the white goes to the bill, and the lores are pale gray. The bill of the leucophrys is pinkish, whereas the bill of the gambelii tends to be orange-yellow or orange-pink.

Carmella also shares some pleasant photos she was able to get on Thursday’s Les Amis de la Nature’s bird outing, now a Thursday regular organized by Rose-Alma Mallet. Included is a nice photo of an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER [Paruline verdâtre] (being the jewel of the day), a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge blanche] at Jules Cormier’s yard in Memramcook, a NORTHERN SHRIKE [Pie-grièche grise] in flight appearing to show the brownish tones of immaturity, and a tree was sporting a nice flush of OYSTER MUSHROOMS [Pleurote en huître] which must be a challenge in the changeable warm and cool temperatures. Several HOUSE SPARROWS [Moineau domestique] were seen in Jolicure. This is a non-native species we do not see much of anymore in New Brunswick, but were so numerous at one time, being threatening to Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds by competition and aggression.

** Like last fall, Jane LeBlanc gathered some White Pine cones, brought them into a sunny window to open, then shook out the seeds and planted them in late October and placed them in a cool sunny window. As you can see from Jane’s photo, she had a good germination rate. Once the seed is off, she plants them individually in 4-inch pots. In spring she will put them in a cold greenhouse, then outside before planting them on her property.

Jane also sends some photos of the raging surf against the St. Martins’ sea caves at high tide on Thursday.

** Bob Blake keeps weather stats from his Second North River home, including morning temperatures, daily high temperatures, and precipitation. Bob sends a table to compare December 2019 to December 2020. December 2020 shows generally warmer temperatures, but as expected, precipitation as rainfall is almost 100 mm more this past month; however, the snowfall at Bob’s site was not strikingly different from last year. I am attaching the table below as Bob sent it.

2019		2020
morning temperatures	daily highs and rainfall	morning temperatures	daily highs and rainfall

+9-1 +12-1 +14-2 +16-1

+3-1 +9-1 +10-1 +14-2

+2-1 +8-2 +7-1 +12-1

+1-1 +4-1 +6-1 +8-2

-1-4 +2-2 +3-1 +6-2

-2-1 +1-5 +2-3 +3-1

-3-3 0-6 +1-3 +2-7

-4-2 -1-2 +1-5

-6-2 55 mms. rain -2-2

-7-2 22 cms. snow -3-3 153 mms. rain

-8-4 -4-2 27 cms. snow

-9-1 -5-3

-10-3 -9-2

-11-1 -13-1

-12-1 -14-1

-14-1

** It’s Friday and time to see what the first full week of 2021 will reveal in the sky, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason, with some early evening planet sighting if the skies are clear.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 January 2 – 2021 January 9
This time of year the brilliant winter constellations really catch the eye, but this is also a good time to revisit some favourites of the past season. If you have a good view to the north, go out around 8 pm to observe two of the best known asterisms in the sky. To the northwest the Northern Cross stands upright, with its base star Albireo about ready to set. The cross forms most of Cygnus the Swan, now making its signature dive into what I hope is an unfrozen lake. To the northeast, the Big Dipper stands on its handle. In a rural area you can probably see the rest of the stars that make up the Great Bear, Ursa Major. Does the bear appear to be dancing across the horizon on its hind legs? That brings back fond memories of watching Captain Kangaroo.

Stretching overhead are the autumn constellations of Cassiopeia, Andromeda and Perseus. With binoculars, look for a miniature version of Draco around the brightest star in Perseus, the galaxy M31 in Andromeda, and if you draw a line across the tips of the W (or M) of Cassiopeia toward Camelopardalis and extend it by the same distance you might chance upon a string of 20 stars called Kemble’s Cascade. From a dark area, try to pick out the Milky Way running from Cygnus through Perseus and Gemini to Canis Major in the southeast.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 8:01 am and sunset will occur at 4:45 pm, giving 8 hours, 44 minutes of daylight (8:03 am and 4:53 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 8:00 am and set at 4:53 pm, giving 8 hours, 53 minutes of daylight (8:02 am and 5:00 pm in Saint John). Around 10 am this Saturday the Earth is at perihelion, its closest point to the Sun at 147 million kilometres. It is also the date of the latest sunrise, but you won’t notice much difference over the week.

The Moon is at third quarter phase on Wednesday, rising due east just past midnight and setting 24 hours later. Jupiter and Saturn set around 6:15 pm midweek, and by next weekend Mercury will have joined them to the lower left of Saturn. With a clear sky and a good horizon you might catch all three in the same binocular field. Mars is a tad brighter than Arcturus and Vega, reaching its best viewing around 7 pm. This could be the last week for seeing its dark markings with a telescope. Venus rises 80 minutes before the Sun midweek but it is still seen easily in twilight. The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on Sunday morning, with shooting stars emanating from between Bootes and Draco, off the handle of the Big Dipper. Named for the former constellation Quadrans Muralis (the Mural Quadrant), it can have a short but intense peak. Some sources say the peak is Monday morning.

With astronomy meetings and outreach activities on hold, you can watch the local Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm, and view archived shows, on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAEHfOWyL-kNH7dBVHK8spg

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