Nature Moncton Nature News: Feb 10 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Feb 10, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Nature Moncton Bird Feeder Tour tomorrow, Saturday.

Details are repeated below in today’s edition.

**John Inman reports he has one Rusty Blackbird still present with one Common Grackle. The Red-winged Blackbirds have dropped to 7 from 16, and the Dickcissel disappeared after the recent cold snap.

John’s adult Red-tailed Hawk drops by on a regular basis for its laid-out meat snack. Also, a trio of White-tailed Deer come by on cleanup duty.

**Anita and David Cannon worked together to put up a Barred Owl nest box that Nature Moncton received courtesy of Scott Makepeace.

They took a 24-foot ladder and got as high as they could, ran a big screw into the tree, hung a rope over it and Anita pulled the box up from below while David made sure the rope continued travelling over the screw. Then, while Anita hung on, David screwed the box into the tree about 20 feet up and finally, removed the 'pulley' screw from above it. They also attached a branch perch across the box about an inch below the entrance as suggested on the sites they visited.

The Cannons do hear Barred Owls at their site in the summer, and hopefully, a couple of them will make this box their home. The box is well away from any residences and is much more away from branches than appears in the second photo.

**After receiving 2 Barred Owl nesting boxes courtesy of Scott Makepeace, Brian Coyle decided to do a bit of research as to the best location and habitat and any other nuggets he could find regarding Barred Owls. He discovered this Youtube video (How to Install a Barred Owl Nesting Box) that describes the addition of a perch to the nesting box. Brian used some galvanized carriage bolts 5/16" x 5" and washers and nuts to add the perches to the 2 boxes. Very appropriately, as Brian was conducting his research, a Great Horned Owl began its territorial hooting right behind his house.

**Brian Stone sends another long-distance photo of a Red-tailed Hawk that he saw in a tree at the Turtle Creek reservoir on Thursday morning. No other birds showed up for a photo all the way to Riverside-Albert and back over Caledonia Mountain. A nice day for a drive but a slow day for the camera.

**Heads up on the ever-popular Nature Moncton Birdfeeder Tour on for tomorrow Saturday, February 11. Mother Nature calling for snow, etc today to hopefully make birdfeeder yards busy on Saturday. All details are below:

Nature Moncton’s Annual Feeder Tour

February 11^th, 2023

General schedule:

1. 8:30 am: Meet at the Moncton Coliseum parking lot to organize car-pooling.

2. 8:45 am: Leave promptly for Jean Renton's on 1460 Gorge Rd., Stilesville. Jean has once again offered to host participants for a delicious breakfast with able culinary help from Fred Richards. Arrive hungry as the menu consists of baked beans, pancakes, maple syrup, and sausage. While feasting on the good food, everyone can view the many birds visiting the Renton’s feeder yard.

3. After the visit at the Renton’s, the group will travel to Riverview to visit the feeders of Jamie and Karen Burris at 21 Henderson Ave. Take the new bridge across. Continue on Findlay Blvd and turn right onto White Pine Rd, then left onto Henderson. Directions on how to approach the yard from the back (so as not to disturb the birds) will be given on-site.

4. The next stop will be Sue and Steve Berube’s at 212 Summit Drive, Riverview. Travel back up to Coverdale Rd. Turn right and continue past the Gunningsville Bridge. Turn right onto Court St., then left onto Old Coach Rd, right onto Diligent Drive, right onto Peck Drive, then left onto Summit Dr.

5. Next the group will travel back to Moncton to the home of Yves Poussart at 111 Weyburn Rd. Take the Gunningsville Bridge across. Continue up Vaughan Harvey past Mountain Rd. where it changes to Macbeath Ave. Turn right on Connaught Ave. Follow Connaught until after it changes to Morton, then turn left on McLaughlin Rd. Turn right on Hennessey Rd. Follow it almost to Elmwood. Turn right on Monaghan Dr. and then turn left on Weyburn Rd.

6. The final stop will be at Nelson Poirier’s home at 85 Mount Royal Blvd for French Onion soup and end-of-the-day socializing while watching Nelson’s feeders. Take either Elmwood Dr. or McLaughlin Rd. back to Morton. Turn right on Morton and follow back to Macbeath Ave. Turn left and travel past Mountain Rd. continuing on Vaughan Harvey until St. George Blvd. Turn right on St. George and then left on Mount Royal Blvd.

Contact Number (if anyone gets lost or wishes to join later in the day): Nelson Poirier – (506) 866-2752.

**It’s Friday and time to review what next week’s night sky may have in store for us courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

Take note of Curt’s paragraph on the hours of daylight at the moment. The days are getting longer, and some of Mother Nature’s community is already making plans for the upcoming season.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2023 February 11 – February 18
We are more than halfway to spring and, as Lord Tennyson wrote in his poem Locksley Hall, “in the spring a young man’s fancy turns lightly to thoughts of love.” With Valentine’s Day this week, the goddess of love is beckoning her father to her arms. Venus is the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and other things. She was the daughter of Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans) and Dione, which is the name of one of Saturn’s moons. The planet Venus is high in the west in early evening, less than three weeks away from a close conjunction with Jupiter.

Venus is not the only love object in the night sky. In 1898 astronomers discovered the first asteroid that was known to come closer to the Sun than Mars, one that nearly reaches Earth’s orbit. This 33 x 11 kilometre rock was named Eros for the son of Aphrodite, and to the Romans, he was known as Cupid. In mythology, the Olympians were surprised at the seashore by Typhon, the most horrible monster of the rival Titans. Venus and Cupid knew they would be safe in the water, but before changing into fish, they tied their feet together so they would not lose each other in the sea. This act is immortalized as the constellation Pisces, depicting two fish bound together at the tails, which is low in the west in evening twilight. Another astronomical valentine, and a favourite of astroimagers, is the Heart Nebula in Cassiopeia the Queen.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:28 am and sunset will occur at 5:38 pm, giving 10 hours, 10 minutes of daylight (7:31 am and 5:45 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:17 am and set at 5:49 pm, giving 10 hours, 32 minutes of daylight (7:21 am and 5:55 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at third quarter on Sunday, and next Saturday the slim waning crescent will be near Mercury, a binocular challenge for those who seek adventure. Venus will be a moon-width upper left of Neptune on Wednesday evening, a possible binocular sighting with a slightly brighter star two moon-widths beyond Neptune. Jupiter’s evening apparition is running out but telescope users might see its Red Spot on Wednesday around 7 pm. Mars plays host to comet C/2022 E3 ZTF this weekend, and on Tuesday the fuzzy patch will be to the left of Aldebaran. Saturn is in solar conjunction on Thursday. Rural observers might catch the subtle glow of zodiacal light in the west about an hour after sunset,

On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay.

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