** The warmth of Thursday got some caterpillars that overwinter as adults
on the move. Jean Renton found a caterpillar briskly crossing the road, noting
it had a row of yellow hairs, aka setae. There are several moths that
overwinter as caterpillars, the VIRGINIA CTENUCHA [Cténuche de Virginie] is one
of them that may be what Jean saw. I happen to have 3 of this species
overwintering in a jar in my garage which can be expected to go into cocoon by
spring, pupate and fairly quickly become adult dark blue moths.
** The weather is obviously making for some slow days, so will add a few
photos in folder not yet put out. Anna Tucker has a nice photo of a CEDAR
WAXWING [Jaseur d'Amérique] posing. She also got a nice photo of a 1st-winter
plumage GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL [Goéland marin], showing the ability of this
large gull in nabbing nice-sized fish as prey in the Petitcodiac River behind
Chateau Moncton in June a few years ago.
** I'm also adding a few photos of 1st and 2nd winter HERRING GULLS
[Goéland argenté] recently photographed. In the 2nd-winter photos, note the
yellow eye and some grey starting to show on the back, aka mantle, and the black
bill end portion. I'm also attaching a photo of a sub-adult BALD EAGLE
[Pygargue à tête blanche]. I made the rather unwise decision to make a run to
the Tantramar marsh on Wednesday morning to get ahead of the oncoming snow. The
blowing snow arrived before I did, but I was watching a raptor on a pylon where
the GOLDEN EAGLE [Aigle royal] had been seen. The snow prevented a firm
identification until a photo frame caught it as it lifted off to show it was a
sub-adult Bald Eagle. There was lots of raptor activity going on, but as the
blowing snow intensified, the birdwatching abruptly came to an end.
A correction on photos posted yesterday. The flight action of
eagles on the Tantramar Marsh is now recognized as an adult Bald Eagle putting
the run to a juvenile Bald Eagle, not a Golden Eagle. After closer scrutiny of
the photos, both the photographer and Todd Watts and Jim Wilson agree. The
Blogspot has been changed to reflect their updated comments.
** This week's Sky-at-a-Glance is added below, courtesy of Curt
Nason.
This Week’s
Sky at a Glance, February 27 – March 5
We are all familiar with the weather-related saying that March comes in
like a lion and out like a lamb, or vice versa. This has a connection
with the constellations, most likely by coincidence. As evening begins
in early March, Leo the Lion is coming into the sky just above the
eastern horizon. If we have roaring winds at that time I guess we can
imagine it is Leo announcing his presence. Occasionally, I hear a lion
roaring when I am out stargazing but only when I am near the zoo in
Saint John.
Is there a lamb in the sky? Aries the Ram fits the bill, having been a
lamb in his early days. As darkness settles in at the end of March,
Aries is going out of the sky just above the western horizon. I would be
pulling the wool over your eyes if I claimed that was responsible for
any calm weather we experience at that time.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:03 am and sunset will occur at
6:02 pm, giving 10 hours, 59 minutes of daylight (7:07 am and 6:08 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:50 am and set at 6:12
pm, giving 11 hours, 22 minutes of daylight (6:54 am and 6:18 pm in
Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter on Tuesday, rising at 1 am and setting ten
hours later. It passes above Saturn on Wednesday morning. Mercury rises
at 6:30 in the morning all week and Venus at 6:05, but the Sun rises
earlier each day making them increasingly difficult to see, particularly
Mercury. Midweek sees Jupiter rising at 6:30 pm and Mars rising less
than an hour after midnight. With a spotting scope, try to watch the
Jovian moon Europa disappear into Jupiter’s shadow around 10 pm on
Saturday, February 27, and see Ganymede emerge from behind Jupiter five
minutes later.
This is a good week to visit a dark sky location to try spotting the
zodiacal light, about 45 to 90 minutes after sunset. The sky must be
clear and, since we are well past the full Moon, there will be no
moonlight to brighten the sky. Look for a pyramid of faint light angling
up to the left from the western horizon and peaking just below the
Pleiades star cluster. It might resemble distant urban skyglow so make
sure there is no city or large ugly-lit town to your west. The glow is
caused by sunlight reflecting off dust in the solar system, which is
concentrated along the ecliptic and comes from comets and asteroids. We
see the zodiacal light most easily in the evening this time of year due
to the steep angle the ecliptic makes with the horizon.
The Saint John astronomy club meets at the Rockwood Park Interpretation
Centre on Saturday, March 5 at 7 pm. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact me at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
We are all familiar with the weather-related saying that March comes in
like a lion and out like a lamb, or vice versa. This has a connection
with the constellations, most likely by coincidence. As evening begins
in early March, Leo the Lion is coming into the sky just above the
eastern horizon. If we have roaring winds at that time I guess we can
imagine it is Leo announcing his presence. Occasionally, I hear a lion
roaring when I am out stargazing but only when I am near the zoo in
Saint John.
Is there a lamb in the sky? Aries the Ram fits the bill, having been a
lamb in his early days. As darkness settles in at the end of March,
Aries is going out of the sky just above the western horizon. I would be
pulling the wool over your eyes if I claimed that was responsible for
any calm weather we experience at that time.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:03 am and sunset will occur at
6:02 pm, giving 10 hours, 59 minutes of daylight (7:07 am and 6:08 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:50 am and set at 6:12
pm, giving 11 hours, 22 minutes of daylight (6:54 am and 6:18 pm in
Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter on Tuesday, rising at 1 am and setting ten
hours later. It passes above Saturn on Wednesday morning. Mercury rises
at 6:30 in the morning all week and Venus at 6:05, but the Sun rises
earlier each day making them increasingly difficult to see, particularly
Mercury. Midweek sees Jupiter rising at 6:30 pm and Mars rising less
than an hour after midnight. With a spotting scope, try to watch the
Jovian moon Europa disappear into Jupiter’s shadow around 10 pm on
Saturday, February 27, and see Ganymede emerge from behind Jupiter five
minutes later.
This is a good week to visit a dark sky location to try spotting the
zodiacal light, about 45 to 90 minutes after sunset. The sky must be
clear and, since we are well past the full Moon, there will be no
moonlight to brighten the sky. Look for a pyramid of faint light angling
up to the left from the western horizon and peaking just below the
Pleiades star cluster. It might resemble distant urban skyglow so make
sure there is no city or large ugly-lit town to your west. The glow is
caused by sunlight reflecting off dust in the solar system, which is
concentrated along the ecliptic and comes from comets and asteroids. We
see the zodiacal light most easily in the evening this time of year due
to the steep angle the ecliptic makes with the horizon.
The Saint John astronomy club meets at the Rockwood Park Interpretation
Centre on Saturday, March 5 at 7 pm. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact me at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
BALD EAGLE SUBADULT.FEB 23, 2016.NELSON POIRIER
CEDAR WAXWING.ANNA TUCKER
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL (1ST WINTER) WITH PREY.JUNE 11 2014..ANNA TUCKER
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL (1ST WINTER) WITH PREY.JUNE 11 2014..ANNA TUCKER
HERRING GULL (1ST WINTER)..FEB 18,2016.NELSON POIRIER
HERRING GULL (2ND WINTER AND ADULT).FEB 18,2016.NELSON POIRIER
HERRING GULL (2ND WINTER).FEB 18,2016.NELSON POIRIER.
March 1 at 7 pm
