Nature Moncton Nature News: December 6 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Dec 6, 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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**Suzanne Rousseau had a visit from a Fox Sparrow to her Sussex feeder yard on Thursday. It would seem Fox Sparrow visits to feeders have been lower in number this year possibly due to the lack of snow up to this point.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker that arrived at Suzanne’s yard on November 17 is still present, so it's looking good for a winter’s stay.

Suzanne’s pair of Northern Cardinals continue to be regulars as they have been for some years now.

(Editor’s note: note the difference in the red highlights that are much more prominent in Suzanne’s photo of a female Northern Cardinal, whereas the red highlights in the female Northern Cardinal photographed in Nelson’s Poirier’s yard on Thursday are much more muted. A second female in the yard appears brighter and has not consented to a suitable photograph as of yet.

I am assuming this may be a feature to identify different individuals.)

**John Inman photographed a Grey Squirrel enjoying a grape and a walnut on Thursday.

He also had a new immature male Red-winged Blackbird arrive to enjoy a suet block.

**We have a report from the lively feeder yard of Doreen Rossiter in Alma.

In the sparrow department, there have been six White-throated Sparrows, five Dark-eyed Juncos, two American Tree Sparrows (Monday), three Song Sparrows, and one Fox Sparrow (Tuesday). The Red- bellied Woodpecker is still hiding seeds in the cracks of the trees. The White-winged Dove hasn't been seen since Saturday when the temperature dropped to -5 overnight. Also, one Common Grackle, six Red-winged Blackbirds (all males, only one mature) last seen Dec. 4th, upwards of 20 European Starlings, and four American Robins (Tuesday) have been present. The pair of Northern Cardinals are regular visitors, as are five Morning Doves.

American Goldfinch are often seen in the yard, but only one individual visits the feeder. The rest fill up on alder seed catkins. As many as 42 Rock Pigeons have been present. Both White-breasted Nuthatch and Red-breasted Nuthatch have disappeared. One fairly tame male Ring-necked Pheasant named Tom has both residents very well trained. Three American crows (two that have been coming for years and have brought gifts twice) have visited. They come when called and walk along the deck railing (both upper & lower), looking in the windows to see where home residents are. One pair of Downy Woodpeckers and one female Hairy Woodpecker have been seen, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk swoops through occasionally.

There are many Herring gulls and one Ring-billed Gull that come for scraps thrown out to them. Eight Blue Jays, numerous Black- capped Chickadees, and two or three Red Squirrels make for a lively feeding area.

**The Lincoln’s Sparrow continues to be present at the feeder yard of Nelson Poirier. Northern Cardinals appear to have given it the stamp of approval, whereas other sparrows are shown the door! The Lincoln’s Sparrow is an early bird, seemingly the first bird around a ground feeder at dawn.

**This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 December 7 – December 14
The most inconspicuous of the zodiac constellations is faint Cancer the Crab, which is nestled between Gemini and Leo. In mythology, the crab was sent by the goddess queen Hera to distract Hercules while he was battling the Hydra. The crab was no match for the strongman’s stomp. Ancient Egyptians saw it as their sacred dung beetle, the scarab. In the first millennium BCE the Sun was in Cancer at the summer solstice, the time when it halts its northward motion and slowly starts heading south. This back and forth motion of the rising and setting Sun on the horizon was perhaps reminiscent of a crab sidling on a beach.

The constellation is recognized by a trapezoid of dim but naked eye stars as the crab’s body, with other stars representing the claws and legs. The trapezoid was also seen as a manger flanked by a pair of donkeys, Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australus. On a clear dark night we can see a hazy patch of hay within the manger, and binoculars reveal it as a beautiful star cluster called the Beehive, Praesepe (manger) or M44. Being near the ecliptic, the Moon and planets often pass through or near this cluster, and Mars will spend most of this month nearby. The Beehive was once used to forecast storms, for if it could not be seen it was hidden by light clouds at the front of a weather system. Binoculars reveal another star cluster, M67, less than a fist-width south of M44.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:48 and sunset will occur at 4:33, giving 8 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (7:50 and 4:41 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:54 and set at 4:33, giving 8 hours, 39 minutes of daylight (7:50 and 4:41 in Saint John). We are into an approximate two-week period of the earliest sunsets for the year.

The Moon at first quarter below Saturn on Sunday and it is just east of the Pleiades next Friday. Brilliant Venus can be seen in the southwest soon after sunset, slowly gaining altitude nightly and setting around 8 pm. Saturn is at its highest and best for observing by 6 pm, showing its rings nearly edge on. Jupiter is at opposition on Saturday, lording over the sky all night and attracting attention in the west-northwest an hour or two before sunrise. On Tuesday evening between 6:30 and 8:30 telescope users might see Jupiter’s Red Spot, its moon Io and Io’s shadow transiting the planet. Mars begins its retrograde motion this week and remains within a binocular view of the Beehive star cluster. I have been starting my day with views of this and Jupiter’s moons every clear morning. The Geminid meteor shower is at its peak over December 13/14, a worthy view despite the bright moonlight.

Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay. The Fredericton Astronomy Club meets in the UNB Forestry-Earth Sciences building on Tuesday at 7 pm.

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