NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
January 24, 2025
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
To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the
information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
and proofreader Louise Nichols at Nicholsl@eastlink.ca if
any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.
For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website
at www.naturemoncton.com.
Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols
**Yolande LeBlanc in Memramcook reports they have at
least three Flying Squirrels visiting the peanut butter log almost every night.
They are quite entertaining to watch. When one jumps off the log that is
hanging by a rope, it causes the log to spin around, sometimes very fast. They
take turns jumping on the log, even as it spins. They hang on and spin along,
seeming to enjoy the ride.
They have to work hard at the peanut butter because
it is frozen solid. Yolande wishes she could figure out something easier
for them that the raccoons would not access.
**Jane LeBlanc had all kinds of birds on Thursday in the
light snow falling, including a Hairy Woodpecker, Song Sparrow,
White-throated Sparrow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.
(Editor’s note: note the red slash in the yellow crown of
Jane’s photo of the Golden-crowned Kinglet to indicate it is a male.)
**Lance Harris reports on the activity in his feeder
yard. He has had flocks of finches all winter along with Downy, Hairy, and
Pileated Woodpeckers, as well as one male Ring-necked Pheasant who seems to
have taken residency in the back forest.
Also, a Northern Flicker has dropped in from time to time. Black-capped Chickadees have been present, many
inhabiting the Nature Moncton boxes. He has had a large flock of Mourning
Doves, but unfortunately they have left due to his neighbour's cat who has
caught two. The birds, two Red Squirrels, and
the White-tailed Deer love the peanut butter. The favourite food is sunflower seeds. It is harder to find the circular bird pies
that he has found very popular.
**Lynn Dube photographed a very fluffed-up Dark Eyed
Junco relaxing in the afternoon flurries. It was apparently puffing its feathers to create more insulation from the cold.
**This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2025 January 18 –
January 25
One of the 48 constellations in Ptolemy’s second century list was Argo Navis,
the ship that carried the Argonauts to their adventures. The constellation was
large, too large for the astronomers who designated the 88 constellations that
now fill our sky, and they broke it up into three: Carina the Keel, Vela the
Sails, and Puppis the Poop Deck or Stern. The first is below our southern
horizon and just the tip of the sails rises, but a good chunk of Puppis is seen
on winter evenings. It is the stars just behind the tail of Orion’s big dog,
Canis Major, and perhaps that is why it is called the poop deck. Nicolaus Louis
de Lacaille, an 18th century astronomer, had unofficially dismantled Argo Navis
into these constellations and made the ship’s mast into the constellation of
Pyxis, the Compass.
Some of the Argonauts are also in the sky, particularly Hercules, who is rising
around midnight, and the Gemini twins Castor and Pollux. Also present are the
musician Orpheus, represented by his harp Lyra, and the healer Asclepius who is
depicted by Ophiuchus. The Golden Fleece, which the Argonauts sought, is
represented in the sky by Aries the Ram. Draco is sometimes regarded as the
vigilant dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:49 and sunset will occur at 5:14, giving
9 hours, 25 minutes of daylight (7:51 and 5:21 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 7:41 and set at 5:24, giving 9 hours, 43 minutes of
daylight (7:44 and 5:31 in Saint John).
The Moon is new on Wednesday, passing near Saturn on Friday and Venus next
Saturday. Venus is about 6 degrees above Saturn this weekend, extending that to
11 degrees by next weekend. Jupiter gleams high in the southeast in early
evening near the V-shaped Hyades cluster of Taurus, and telescope users
might see Jupiter’s Red Spot on Monday around 7 pm and Wednesday at 9 pm. Mars
makes an ever-changing triangle with Pollux and Castor over the week as it
moves toward the middle of Gemini. Mercury is too close to the Sun for
observing.
As part of the Frostival events, the Fredericton astronomy club will host solar
observing at Willie O’Ree Place on Sunday from 2 pm to 3 pm, and evening
observing for three hours beginning at 6:30 pm on January 31 at Carleton Park
on the North side. As part of the Rockwood Park Winterfest, the Saint John
Astronomy Club is hosting a telescope clinic and solar observing between 10 am
and 2 pm at the Interpretation Centre.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
