Nature Moncton Nature
News
Clicking
on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.
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 both the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader 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 at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Jane LeBlanc had her sharp-shinned
hawk back in her St. Martins yard in a light snowfall on Thursday. It left
hungry.
**Shannon Inman
photographed a ruffed grouse seeming to enjoy a rest in the snow.
Shannon also noticed a
group of approximately 70 horned larks on the Harvey marsh and was able
to get a photograph of a few of the closer ones.
**This Week’s Sky at a
Glance, 2026 February 28 – March 7
Do you hear the wind? According to the weather proverb, March comes in like a
lion and goes out like a lamb, referring to roaring winds early in the month
and calmer days leading into April. As twilight ends this week, look off to the
east for a group of stars forming a sickle and leading a large triangle of
stars. This combination is the constellation of Leo the Lion entering the sky
as it did a few centuries ago, when the saying supposedly originated.
Now look to the west for a bent line of three stars west of the Pleiades star
cluster. That is Aries the Ram, which could still be a lamb at heart. By the
end of the month the annual march of constellations has Aries about to leave
the sky as twilight ends. Our fickle weather won’t always follow the proverb
but the constellations will continue to play it out for several generations to
come.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:59 and sunset will occur at 6:04, giving
11 hours, 5 minutes of daylight (7:03 and 6:10 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 6:46 and set at 6:14, giving 11 hours, 28 minutes of
daylight (6:51 and 6:19 in Saint John).
The Moon is near
Regulus on Sunday and full on Tuesday when we are treated to a morning eclipse.
The partial phase begins at 5:50 with totality occurring at 7:04, shortly after
moonset for all but the northwestern edge of New Brunswick. This Saturday evening do not expect to see a parade
of parade of planets as depicted on social media. You will need an unobstructed
western horizon to see Mercury a binocular width to the right of much
brighter Venus around 6:45, with both about a binocular width above the
horizon and setting less than half an hour later. Saturn will be within
two binocular fields upper left of Venus, and next weekend Venus will be
passing closely to the right of Saturn as they head in opposite directions. On
Sunday evening, with Jupiter high overhead, telescope users might see its
moon Ganymede reappear from the planet’s shadow at 7:16 with Io’s shadow near
the middle of the planet.
Tune in to the Sunday
Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of
Astronomy by the Bay. The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park
Interpretation Centre on March 7 at 7 pm.
Questions? Contact Curt
Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
