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The camera on the peregrine
falcon nest box on the summit of Assumption Place is now live. When
checking the link to watch the activity, scroll down to the first large image,
which shows what is happening in real time.
All is outwardly quiet in
the nest box this morning, but that could be a very different scenario in a few
weeks!
https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
**John Inman reports the male red-bellied
woodpecker has returned after an absence of about a week, and it is not impressed that John had moved some of the feeders to different spots. It seems to be sporting
quite a red belly. A sharp-shinned hawk did a menu check.
Shannon Inman
photographed a Nashville warbler high in a tree and noted the
first evidence of interrupted or cinnamon fern fronds emerging.
**This Week’s Sky at a
Glance, 2026 May 9 – May 16
With Mother’s Day occurring this weekend, here is a tale of a mother who went
through hell to recover her abducted daughter. The constellation Virgo
represents Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture and a daughter of the
Cronus and his sister-wife Rhea. She was responsible for providing conditions
for the planting, growth and harvest of crops so that people could eat. Demeter
had a daughter, Persephone, who was abducted by Hades to reign by his side in
the Underworld. The despondent mother neglected her duties to search and mourn
for her daughter, which resulted in crop failure and famine. Olympian king Zeus
heeded the pleas of his starving people and allowed Demeter to visit the
Underworld and return with their daughter. The crops were rejuvenated. To
appease Hades, Persephone was to be with her mother for only the six months of
the growing season each year, and for those six months we see Virgo in our
evening sky.
Virgo is midway up the southern sky in late evening this week, marked by the
bright star Spica which represents a sheaf of wheat or an ear of corn. This
area of the sky is popular among amateur astronomers due to the many distant
galaxies that are within reach of backyard telescopes. Virgo was also seen as
Astraea, the goddess of justice and purity who holds the scales of Libra the
Balance in her hand. The constellation Libra follows Virgo along the ecliptic.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:54 and sunset will occur at 8:37, giving
14 hours, 43 minutes of daylight (6:01 and 8:40 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 5:45 and set at 8:46, giving 15 hours, 1 minute of
daylight (5:53 and 8:48 in Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter this Saturday and new next Saturday. Early
risers might catch the waning crescent chumming with Saturn and perhaps Mars
mid-to-late week. After twilight bright Venus and Jupiter form a broad
parallelogram with first magnitude stars Procyon and Capella, stretching from
west to northwest. On Friday, May 15, telescope users might see Jupiter’s
moon Ganymede emerge from a transit at 10:02 pm, Callisto disappear into
Jupiter’s shadow at 10:09, and Europa’s shadow appear on the planet five
minutes later. Mercury is at superior conjunction behind the Sun on Thursday,
soon to reappear in the evening sky.
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. The Kouchiboguac
Spring Star Fest is on for May 15-16. For details see: https://rascnb.ca/star-parties/
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
