Nature Moncton Nature News: March 25 2016

** Georges Brun spotted a PEREGRINE FALCON [Faucon pelerine] flying over Bore Park with prey in its talons on Wednesday to get documentary flight photos. Georges also noticed a large flock of WAXWINGS [Jaseur] on Sunday foraging on flowering crab tree fruit from trees that are planted in the median along Vaughan Harvey Blvd. near the intersection of Gordon St. and Atlantic St. They sure don't seem bothered by this heavy traffic area. The same scenario happened last year for several days. Eric Wilson noted it. Brian Stone and I went over and it was quite a show with hundreds of birds foraging with cars speeding by them. The City of Moncton planted the flowering crab trees there. We saw no evidence of birds being hit by cars.

** Roger Leblanc has been monitoring owl routes in preparation for the upcoming Owl Prowl night. He had been finding it very quiet, but not so on Wednesday night when he got GREAT HORNED OWL [Grand-duc d'Amérique], BARRED OWL [Chouette rayée] and NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL [Petite nyctale] in two spots. He's hoping that we can get that sort of activity when the Nature Moncton outing gets slotted. He expects they are on territory and will still be there for the Owl Prowl.

** It's far too early to be seeing BLACK SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLIES [Papillon du celery] that usually don't emerge until the end of May. However, Pauline McGibbon, mother-in-law of Lois McGibbon, had an adult appear in a heated back porch, suspecting the chrysalis may have come in on Geraniums she is over-wintering. This is not the food plant of the caterpillar, but the caterpillar may have gone to nearby Geranium plants to attach its chrysalis for the winter. Unfortunately, it will probably not survive to reproduce, but it is being offered sugar solutions in faint hope.

** Marlene Hickman is yet another to have a FOX SPARROW [Bruant fauve] join the sparrow troupe in Dorchester. Most of photos coming in seem to show this sparrow in breeding plumage. There appears to be a lot of Fox Sparrows moving through New Brunswick at the moment.

** The immature WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW [Bruant à couronne blanche] that I have had at my feeders all winter is still not showing any significant change to breeding plumage.

** Bob Childs reports that a male RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER [Pic à ventre roux] continues to be a patron at his Riverview feeder area. A single PINE GROSBEAK [Durbec des sapins] came by and his first SONG SPARROW [Bruant chanteur].

** Brian Stone sends some photos of birds around his sister's home in Titusville, near Hampton that includes three nice views from different angles of a colourful FOX SPARROW [Bruant fauve] of which there were three visiting, along with PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré], DARK-EYED JUNCOS [Junco ardoisé] and a nice variety of expected regulars.

** Dave Miller and I made an early Thursday morning visit to one of Dave's spots for birding that he knows so well: the Taylor Rd. near Salisbury. The main quarry of the morning was BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS [Pic à dos noir]. We heard drumming of several and got flight observations of at least three. There were no close photographic observations, but the bright sun rising to the sound of Black-backed Woodpeckers drumming was a very rewarding experience. A HAIRY WOODPECKER [Pic chevelu] drumming allowed for a nice comparison of the drumming of these two species that can sound alike, but as Dave pointed out, the timing between drummings and the speed of the cadence are points that help you suspect what you are hearing. GREAT HORNED OWL [Grand-duc d'Amérique] vocalizations were heard several times, and the first glimmer of rising sun provided a nice sundog.

** The fruit trays in my feeder yard are surely causing a raucous the last day due to AMERICAN ROBIN [Merle d'Amérique] behavior. The Waxwing troupe has swollen to 15-20 with both BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS [Jaseur boreal] and CEDAR WAXWINGS [Jaseur d'Amérique], but still predominantly Cedar Waxwings. Ten Robins have joined them. However, there are a few male Robins that are preoccupied with chasing their kin away and then going to work on the Waxwings. There have been some real dog fights going on.

** This weeks Sky-at-a-Glance is added to today's transcription, courtesy of Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, March 26 – April 2
Spring is here and the Big Dipper, which forms the rear haunches and
tail of Ursa Major the Great Bear, is high in the northeast at sunset.
The bear spends the night doing a Fosbury Flop over the pole. An hour
after sunset the bear’s cave, the semicircular constellation of Corona
Borealis, has cleared the horizon. Soon it will be above the horizon at
sunset and the bears can come out of hibernation.

For stargazers early spring means it is time for a Messier Marathon. In
1758 a French comet hunter, Charles Messier, started compiling a
catalogue of nebulous objects in the sky that resembled comets but
weren’t. His completed catalogue was issued 13 years later with 103
objects. In the mid-20th century the catalogue was expanded to 110 based
on Messier’s notes. Under a clear, dark sky all of the Messier objects
can be seen in a small scope. It is a rite of passage for amateur
astronomers to locate and observe all them, and a certificate is awarded
by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for those who carefully log
the details of this accomplishment.

The Messier catalogue includes 57 star clusters, 40 galaxies, 12 nebulae
of new or dying stars, and an enigmatic pair of stars. The first on the
list, called M1, is the Crab Nebula, the gaseous remnant of a supernova
that was seen in daylight in 1054. M110 is a galaxy seen near M31, the
Andromeda galaxy. The easiest to see is M45, the star cluster also known
as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. The Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery in
the Hunter’s sword, is composed of M42 and the nearby but much less
spectacular M43. Ursa Major has seven Messiers, including galaxies M81
and M82 (Bode’s Nebulae) and M51, the Whirlpool galaxy.

For a few weeks in March and April, around the time of a new Moon, it is
possible to see all the Messier objects in one night, hence the Messier
Marathon. However, from New Brunswick, one of them rises in bright
twilight and is somewhere between very difficult and impossible to see
at this time of year. That won’t keep some stellar stalwarts from trying.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:10 am and sunset will occur at
7:40 pm, giving 12 hours, 30 minutes of daylight (7:15 am and 7:45 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:56 am and set at 7:50
pm, giving 12 hours, 54 minutes of daylight (7:02 am and 7:54 pm in
Saint John).

The Moon teams up with Mars and Saturn early in the week and is at third
quarter on Thursday. Saturn has begun its retrograde motion, moving
slowly westward relative to the stars; another factor in the
ever-changing triangle it is making with Mars and Antares. Jupiter is
high in the east after evening twilight and at its best for viewing
around midnight. This is a good week to look for the zodiacal light in
the west about an hour after sunset. You will need a cloudless sky and
be away from artificial light to detect this wedge-shaped glow of
sunlight reflecting off comet and asteroid dust in space.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets at the Rockwood Park Interpretation
Centre on April 2 at 7 pm. All are welcome.

Questions? Contact me at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton