Nature Moncton Nature News: April 1 2016

** A nod of appreciation to Roger Leblanc for a great workshop on New Brunswick owls on Wednesday evening to Nature Moncton and several guests. Roger shared a lot of his own experience with owls with a lot of practical information to appreciate our owl community, their life and times and how we can interact with them. The owl prowl followed with three sites on Cape Breton Rd. As Roger frequently pointed out at the indoor presentation, the reactions of owls just cannot be predicted which proved itself on the stops as no close owl reactions could be elicited on Wednesday night. Yet one week before at the same spot in less favourable conditions, 3 species were clearly heard at two of the stops checked. Roger, as we all know, does not yield to defeat, so plans to do the same site visits again and will do so on an impromptu basis giving 24 to 36 hours notice or less via the group email notices to give it another go, under potentially more favourable conditions.

** Sounding like the GREAT BLUE HERONS [Grand Héron] are making a fast move in on schedule. Jean-Paul and Stella LeBlanc spotted 6 Blue Herons on Thursday, 2 at about a km from the Bouctouche Bay wharf and 4 across from the Michaud farm stand. Lots of CANADA GEESE [Bernache du Canada] about now and the BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] was on the watch by the Woodchuck shop near the Bouctouche dune. Stella got a nice photo of a side view of a PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré] at their feeder. Note the very straight culmen, that area of the top of the beak from the base to the apex. It's quite straight in the Purple Finch. Recent comments on the HOUSE FINCH [Roselin familier] submitted by Don Daigle pointed out the culmen of the House Finch is much more curved than the Purple Finch as an identification aid.

** Jules Cormier reports a new BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] nest site being set up by a pair of Eagles just behind the golf course at the Memramcook Institute. Jules saw them carrying nesting material there last fall, and they have been very active recently. Jules also saw his first AMERICAN KESTREL [Crécerelle d'Amérique] of the season off the old Shediac Rd. on Thursday and comments that he has a lot of PINE SISKINS [Tarin des pins] coming to his feeder area as well as PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré] and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH [Chardonneret jaune].

** John Inman had 7 male and one female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS [Vacher à tête brune] appear to his 225 Mary's Pt. Rd. feeder yard on Thursday. He had two appear a few days earlier. Several NORTHERN FLICKERS [Pic flamboyant] were seen in the Harvey area to suggest migrants. On Thursday evening, David Christie flushed 8 GREAT BLUE HERONS [Grand Héron] from the creek that drains the Lars Larson marsh in Harvey.

** Clarence Cormier continues to have large flocks of AMERICAN ROBINS [Merle d'Amérique] around his Grande-Digue site, noting a flock of approximately 50 late afternoon on Thursday. One male was being particularly melodious compared to the rest. A SHORT-TAILED WEASEL [Belette à courte queue] appeared which was mostly in brown pelage from the winter white. There seemed to be only just a small patch of white near the black tail tip.

** Aldo Dorio shares a photo of a male and two female RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS [Harle huppé] at Neguac on March 30th along with a COMMON REDPOLL [Sizerin flame], a species that seems to be suddenly showing up more as it nears time for them to be leaving us.

** Brian Stone and I took Roger Leblanc's suggestion to visit Saint Thomas wharf, doing so on Wednesday. We were very rewarded with wonderful BLACK SCOTER [Macreuse noire] observations at fairly close range as they interacted and fed. The unique purring sounds of the males filled the air. The number was very predominantly males with some females present. There were also a few SURF SCOTERS [Macreuse à front blanc] in the blend, but dwarfed by the Black Scoter numbers. While in the area, we visited the Bouctouche lagoon to see lots of Scaup activity, suspecting most, if not all, LESSER SCAUP [Petit Fuligule]. Lower numbers of other ducks such as RING-NECKED DUCKS [Fuligule à collier] and GOLDENEYE [Garrot] were also present. One pair of Barrow’s Goldeneye was present in striking breeding plumage but would offer no photo ops. A distant pair of HOODED MERGANSERS [Harle couronné] were spotted on a small river. A visit to the Ducks Unlimited site on the Perry Rd. that Jean-Paul and Stella LeBlanc mentioned recently had a large contingent of MALLARD [Canard colvert] ducks ready to move into the still-frozen pond. A visit to the butcher shop dump site in Haute Ste. Antoine had some Bald Eagles, many Ravens, and some woodpeckers were present. Too many photos taken but they were hard to resist.

This week’s sky at a glance is added below courtesy of Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, April 2 – April 9
In April we can start a long goodbye with the winter constellations.
Orion and Taurus are setting together, which makes it easier to imagine
their eternal battle. The bull is protecting the Pleiades (Seven
Sisters) from the amorous advances of Orion, who is about to strike a
downward blow to the bull’s head with his upraised club. The bull’s long
horns, one tip of which is the bottom left star of Auriga (Elnath -
officially the second brightest star of Taurus), are not to be taken
lightly. It is difficult to tell which of the two combatants is more
keratinous.

The winter constellations are still up all evening, but as midnight
approaches the circle of bright stars concentrates near the western
horizon. Sometimes they are enhanced with planets in the same area,
since Taurus and Gemini are part of the ecliptic. That won’t happen this
spring but Mercury will make a valiant effort to climb into Taurus. I
recall a decade ago when a planet or two and a bright comet joined the
string of winter stars.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:56 am and sunset will occur at
7:50 pm, giving 12 hours, 54 minutes of daylight (7:02 am and 7:54 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:43 am and set at 7:59
pm, giving 13 hours, 16 minutes of daylight (6:49 am and 8:03 pm in
Saint John).

The Moon is new on Thursday morning, just six hours before it reaches
perigee. With this pairing also occurring near an equinox we will have
one of the most extreme tides in 19 years, matching those near the full
Moon last September. The highest Bay of Fundy tides will occur on April
9, barring any storm surges during the few days before. The planet
Uranus is also lined up in conjunction with the Sun, Moon and Earth on
that day, adding absolutely nothing measurable to the size of the tides.
Mars and Saturn continue to edge closer, forming an eye-catching
triangle with Antares below. Jupiter dominates the evening sky; check
out the nightly positional changes of its four moons with binoculars or
a scope. If you have a telescope, try for Jupiter’s famous Red Spot
storm at 10:30 pm Sunday, near midnight Tuesday evening, or 9:30 pm on
Friday. Use as high a magnification that your equipment and the sky
conditions allow. This spring the Red Spot is more prominent than I have
seen it in two decades.

With the Moon waning toward new this week Comet P/252 LINEAR might be
seen with binoculars moving up through Ophiuchus in the morning. Look up
its position on the Heavens-Above Web site. It entered our sky over a
week ago but on the only clear morning we have had the Moon was just a
few degrees away, making the fuzzy object invisible.

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