NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
April 26,
2024
Nature
Moncton members as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond are
invited to share their photos and descriptions of recent nature sightings to
build a fresh (almost) daily edition of Nature News
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The live feed to the
Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
** Lance Harris walked along the riverfront trail in Dieppe and noticed about 15 Ring-necked pheasants, Muskrats, and he also saw some Tree Swallows using the nesting boxes. He photographed one male Ring-necked Pheasant who was very actively displaying his prowess to potential mate(s).
(Editor’s note: the White-throated Sparrow comes in two flavours, one with fluorescent white headbands as in Aldo’s photo and one with more muted caramel headbands. It has nothing to do with gender as the species is monoecious and genders cannot be differentiated by plumage.)
(Editor’s note: Taking a lady to lunch is an age-old custom that still seems to work to cement bonds!)
(Editor’s note: it is always rewarding to get reports of this species that has declined in numbers so significantly in recent years.)
**Frank
Branch experienced a first for him Thursday afternoon in his Paquetville
backyard when he saw a Common Grackle chase a Wood Frog, catch it, kill
it, and eat at least 95% of it with one back leg the only thing left. The
frog was either coming or leaving his backyard pond which was his old pool that
he changed to a water garden, and in which there are at least a few dozen Wood
Frogs present right now.
**Yolande LeBlanc in Memramcook had a lone
male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak hiding in the shrubs at suppertime on Thursday.
It had only half of his bib, only on his right side (young male??). It never
came close to the feeders. Yolande was unable to get a photo.
** With the help of the iNaturalist app, Cathy Simon found Yellow-spotted Salamander egg masses in Irishtown Nature Park.
Additionally, Isabelle Simon believes she found Fall Cankerworm Moth eggs on
their back deck in Lutes Mountain. Corrections are welcome.
(Editor's note: the editor agrees with Isabelle's interesting find and photograph but stands to be corrected as well.)
**It’s
Friday and that day of the week when sky guru Curt Nason will give us a preview
of what we may expect to see in next week’s night sky
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 April 27 – May 4
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 galaxy.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:11 and sunset will occur at 8:22, giving
14 hours, 11 minutes of daylight (6:18 and 8:26 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 6:00 and set at 8:32, giving 14 hours, 32 minutes of
daylight (6:07 and 8:34 in Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter phase on Wednesday, it sits to the right of
Saturn Friday morning and between Mars and Saturn on Saturday. Rising shortly
before 5 am Monday, Mars is very close to the lower left of Neptune; perhaps a
challenge for telescope users. Jupiter sets about 75 minutes after sunset
this weekend, just three weeks away from conjunction. The Delta Aquariid
meteor shower peaks next weekend.
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. The Saint John
Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre at 7 pm on May
4.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nature
Moncton
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