NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May
14, 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)
** Aldo Dorio got a photo of the GARGANEY
yet again on Thursday into its 10th day present at Hay Island.
Note the deep blue speculums lined by
black in the AMERICAN
BLACK DUCKS [Canard noir] flying
over the bird.
** Jane LeBlanc was able to capture
photos of the adult male Orchard Oriole and the 1st-spring male ORCHARD ORIOLE [Oriole des
vergers] in the
same frame on Thursday at St. Martins.
We are lucky enough to have one Orchard Oriole in some spot in New
Brunswick, let alone three. Jane also
saw two GRAY
CATBIRDS [Moqueur chat] near her
home. The black cap shows nicely, but the
ruby undertail covert is hidden as it often is.
A BLACK-THROATED
GREEN WARBLER [Paruline à gorge noire] also posed for a photo.
** Yvette Richard got some great photos
of a male NORTHERN
PINTAIL [Canard pilet] and a male NORTHERN SHOVELER [Canard
souchet]. Very beautiful waterfowl. These were at the Arthur St. lagoon in
Memramcook.
As she was there, Yvette spotted a CATTLE EGRET [Héron
garde-boeufs] in
breeding plumage on the road to the Arthur St. lagoon by the little blue
building. It flew off when she was
there, but it is in the area.
** Wayne Corcoran in Chelmsford was
finding his normally very active bird feeders quiet this winter, but action has
really picked up this week. He’s getting
80+ EVENING
GROSBEAKS [Gros-bec errant], CHIPPING SPARROWS [Bruant familier], 12 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH [Chardonneret
jaune], 12 PINE SISKINS [Tarin des
pins], 15 PURPLE FINCH [Roselin
pourpré] and lots
of other regularly expected birds, plus a male RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD [Colibri
à gorge rubis] and TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle
bicolore]. Wayne comments that he noted all winter that
the finch were not going to nyjer seed at all.
Now this week, he is noticing a lot more finch going to the nyjer seed.
** Always nice to hear of EASTERN BLUEBIRD
[Merlebleu de l'Est] looking at
real estate. Vicky McKnight in
Petitcodiac has two Nature Moncton nest boxes up after seeing Bluebirds in the
area of Baseline Rd. in Petitcodiac.
They are checking out the houses, so hopefully will set up housekeeping.
** Gordon Rattray visited the lagoon
area in Hillsborough on Thursday. He was
interested to find three swallow species: CLIFF SWALLOWS [Hirondelle à
front blanc], TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle
bicolore] and BARN SWALLOWS [Hirondelle
rustique]. The Barn Swallow would not cooperate for a
photo. Gordon has three nesting boxes
there and all have activity from Tree Swallows.
He saw several RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS [Carouge à épaulettes].
The first Service Berries are blooming.
In the smaller ponds in back of the village office there were pairs of NORTHERN SHOVELERS
[Canard souchet], GREEN-WINGED TEAL
[Sarcelle d'hiver] and AMERICAN WIGEON [Canard
d'Amérique]. Gordon also got a beautiful photo of a male YELLOW WARBLER [Paruline
jaune].
** Clarence Cormier is enjoying the
onset of ROSE-BREASTED
GROSBEAK [Cardinal à poitrine rose] and RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS [Colibri à gorge rubis].
He took a photo of a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak with that sometime blush
of yellow on the breast. On May 10th,
a VEERY
[Grive fauve] made a
first brief appearance at Clarence’s Grande-Digue site. The two COMMON REDPOLL [Sizerin flammé] finally departed a few days ago, but he
has still has 4 AMERICAN TREE SPARROW [Bruant hudsonien] as of Thursday.
** Ray Gauvin sends a video of a GREAT
BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] performing
its very measured quiet quest for food.
Note the rust thighs which are always to be looked for if considering
the more rare herons that can occasionally visit. If we do not see those orange thighs, check
again. Check out Ray’s video at the link
below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0abx5k8tndbpr4h/Great%20Blue%20Heron%20..%20Ray%20Gauvin.mp4?dl=0
** Georges Brun sends some photos of
the in-filling of the causeway gates with the fish ladder that failed now
closed off and the river wide open for fish to go up. George reports a person who works at the site
saw two porpoises swimming in the vicinity recently.
** Anna Tucker and her family were in
the Shediac area on Thursday to come across seven GREAT BLUE HERONS [Grand
Héron] very near
to each other and constantly nabbing fish from the water. They enjoyed watching the show very much.
** It’s Friday and time to review what
the night sky has in store for us next week, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 May 15 – 2021 May 22
This week stargazers have an opportunity to do an ISS marathon. The
International Space Station orbits the earth at an altitude of about 400 km,
and at this height it completes an orbit in approximately 90 minutes. The ISS
has large solar panels that reflect sunlight earthward which make it bright
enough to rival Jupiter and Venus at times. We can usually catch it once or
twice in morning twilight for a period of about ten days, then in the evening
twilight for the same stretch, and then it is unseen for a while as the
overhead passes are in daylight or shadow. For a few weeks either side of the
summer solstice, when we have long periods of twilight, the ISS can be seen
four or five times from evening through to morning. If you see it in each pass
throughout the night you have completed the ISS marathon.
To determine when and where to look I use the website Heavens-Above, but there
are other apps such as Satellite Safari that give the same information and may
even give you an alert when a pass is about to occur. Heavens-Above defaults to
zero degrees latitude and longitude so be sure to enter your location.
Information includes the date and time, brightness, and altitude and azimuth of
when it is first visible (usually ten degrees above the horizon), at its
highest, and when it disappears into earth’s shadow or below ten degrees.
Brightness is given in stellar magnitude, where the lower the number the
brighter is the object, and the ISS is usually bright enough to be a negative
number (magnitude -3 is about 2.5 times brighter than -2). With the
Heavens-Above website, clicking on the date brings up a sky map showing the
path of the ISS through the constellations. Since earth rotates under the satellite,
the path through the constellations will differ with each pass but it is always
approximately west to east.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:46 am and sunset will occur at 8:45 pm,
giving 14 hours, 59 minutes of daylight (5:54 am and 8:47 pm in Saint
John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:36 am and set at 8:53 pm,
giving 15 hours, 14 minutes of daylight (5:46 am and 8:55 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is near Mars this Saturday to toast International Astronomy Day, and
after sunset on Tuesday use a telescope to view the Lunar X just inside the
shadow line below the Moon’s equator. On Wednesday the Moon is at the first
quarter phase. Mercury is at its greatest elongation from the Sun on Monday,
after which it begins a ten day trip toward a rendezvous with Venus between the
horn tips of Taurus the Bull. Jupiter rises around 2:30 am midweek, 45 minutes
after Saturn.
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.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
