Nature Moncton Nature News: February 14 2025

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

February 14, 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

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**Deana and Peter Gadd’s Miramichi bird feeders saw a lot of activity during the snowy day on Thursday. Most birds fared well at the above-ground feeders, but for those that prefer to feed on the ground, their day was a little more difficult. Primarily, the female rusty blackbird, who has been an unexpected guest of the Gadds for two months, made a huge feeding adjustment. Normally, it will enter the edge of the “anti-pigeon cage," snatch a few seeds off the cleared ground, and fly back into the nearby hedge, remaining on the ground very briefly and not returning for 30 minutes or more. In Thursday’s snow, its behavior was very different, staying in the cage for prolonged periods and gobbling away at the seeds buried in the chest-high snow. There was generally a bit of a feeding frenzy by all the birds throughout the day. To view a video clip of the rusty blackbird feeding, visit https://flic.kr/p/2qLvKt2. There are cameo appearances of a dark-eyed junco, an American tree sparrow, a European starling, and a northern cardinal.

**Jane and Ed LeBlanc walked down to the beach to see the full snow moon rise over the Bay of Fundy in St. Martins Wednesday evening.

**Georges Brun photographed the two peregrine falcons on the big "A" logo of Assumption Place in Moncton around 9 AM on Thursday morning.

A bald eagle flew from a breakwater perch near the outlet to the Babineau Creek by-pass. It lost its natural perch on an elm tree along the walking trail-levee in December, so it uses the last six breakwater posts to roost to monitor for a gull meal.

(Editor’s note: note the rufous tail in George’s eagle photo as a result of being dipped in Fundy silt. Also, note the incredible growth of the invasive non-native phragmites grass in the background.)

**This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2025 February 15 – February 22
Winter is open cluster season for stargazers. They are also called galactic clusters because they form in the spiral arms of our galaxy. In winter we are looking toward a spiral arm opposite the centre of our Milky Way galaxy. Two such clusters, the Pleaides (M45) and the Hyades, form the shoulder and face of Taurus the Bull and they are bright enough to be seen within urban areas. Other clusters are visible to the naked eye but require a clear sky with minimal light pollution.

One of these is the Beehive cluster (M44) in the constellation Cancer the Crab, which lies between Gemini and Leo. The Beehive resembles a large glowing patch of haze to the eye and its many stars fill the view in a telescope, but large clusters like this are appreciated best with binoculars. In times long past the cluster was used as a storm predictor as it would be one of the first objects to disappear when the light clouds that precede a weather system would move in.

The Coma star cluster, or Melotte 111, lies in Coma Berenices between the tail of Leo and Canes Venatici. It is a large, somewhat sparse cluster that spills beyond the view of most binoculars, and centuries ago it was regarded as the tuft of Leo’s tail. Another one, or two, is the Double Cluster between Perseus and Cassiopeia. This pair fits within the view of a low power telescope eyepiece, but binoculars give a better perspective. Following a nearby string of stars with binos will bring you to the large Stock 2 star cluster, less spectacular but delightful to observe.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:21 and sunset will occur at 5:45, giving 10 hours, 24 minutes of daylight (7:25 and 5:52 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:09and set at 5:55, giving 10 hours, 46 minutes of daylight (7:13 and 6:02 in Saint John).

The Moon is near Spica on Monday, at third quarter on Thursday and below Antares Friday. Venus is near its brightest in in the evening sky, setting around 9:30 this weekend. Saturn is getting difficult to see, setting less than an hour after sunset, and by next weekend Mercury will be approaching it from below. On Sunday telescope and binocular users might see Jupiter’s moon Io disappear behind the planet at 8:42 pm and Europa emerge from Jupiter’s shadow at 10:15. Mars holds its position in the middle of Gemini, making an isosceles triangle with Castor and Pollux. Rural observers can try to see the wedge of the zodiacal light toward the west about 60 to 90 minutes after sunset.

Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay.

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