Nature Moncton Nature News: May 20 2016

** Elaine Gallant had a very pleasant surprise on Friday morning when a SUMMER TANAGER [Tangara vermillon] arrived to her Parlee Beach yard and checked out a metal tube peanut butter feeder. It did not stay very long, so she is not sure if she will revisit the area.

** Jean-Paul and Stella Leblanc have been seeing BOBOLINKS [Goglu des prés] in their Bouctouche neighborhood. Since earlier in the week they have seen approximately ten, all males so far. They now get them every year to their yard.

** Jamie and Karen Burris were in the Grey Brook Marsh area on Tuesday. They were startled by the sudden flush of a MALLARD [Canard colvert] duck from a nest that had twelve eggs in it and they got a quick photo before moving on. They then moved over to the wetland part to hear COMMON YELLOWTHROAT [Paruline masquée] warblers loudly vocalizing their "witchety-witchety-witchety" calls. They were also able to see and get a photo of a WILSON'S WARBLER [Paruline à calotte noire] there ... a warbler they had not seen in a long time.

Jamie was in the Colpitts Settlement area on Thursday morning and came across a little beetle which is commonly called the OIL BEETLE ... about one and a quarter inches of striking color. A photo is attached. Jamie also saw a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER [Pic à tête rouge] on the Nixon Rd. in the civic number 600’s. He plans to search again for it this week, in hopes of a photo.

** Gordon Rattray got a nice photo of a male BALTIMORE ORIOLE [Oriole de Baltimore], the first one he has seen in thirty years. It is a beauty. Another friend in Shepody had one arrive to orange sections on Thursday. Gordon also got a photo of a CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER [Paruline à flancs marron] in the Hopewell Cape area.

** Brian Coyle has had a pair of RAVENS [Grand corbeau] nest in woods behind his Upper Mountain Rd. home, and at least one has fledged the nest and is begging for parental offerings. Brian is not sure how many the nest has produced as it is very concealed in a spruce tree and is hard to monitor.

** Jules Cormier reports his male BALTIMORE ORIOLE [Oriole de Baltimore] has left after ten days of gobbling down two oranges per day. Jules also reports what he suspects to be a bonded pair of Baltimore Orioles at 17 Leblanc St. in College Bridge. This is the first street after the railway track there. Edmund Leblanc is the homeowner and suspects that they nest in that area, and it would be a great opportunity for a photo op at the moment in a very bird friendly yard.

The TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] are starting to come to Jules's Belliveau Village houses, but no EASTERN BLUEBIRDS [Merlebleu de l'Est] for him as yet. However Francis Leblanc and Michael Cormier in the area have seen some.

** Penny Clark shares a photo of one of her many EASTERN CHIPMUNKS [Suisse] at her McKees Mills summer cottage. She acknowledges Brian Stone's of yesterday were nice, but she says hers is cuter.
( Transcriber's note ... challenge accepted Penny ... so much cute will be forthcoming! ).

** Aldo Dorio got a photo of a female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD [Carouge à épaulettes] to remind us of how different this bird looks from its male partner. He also got a nice photo of a HERMIT THRUSH [Grive solitaire] as well as a documentary photo of a NASHVILLE WARBLER [Paruline à joues grises].

** Brian and Annette Stone found a nice walking trail right in town. It was alive with warblers and had a very interesting pond. It is in the Ryan Rd. area and building is going on all around it so it may not be there for long. They got a female BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER [Paruline noir et blanc] photo, a BLUE-HEADED VIREO [Viréo à tête bleue], CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER [Paruline à flancs marron], PALM WARBLER [Paruline à couronne rousse], NORTHERN PARULA [Paruline à collier], OVENBIRD [Paruline couronnée], which is an excellent photo, and a HERMIT THRUSH [Grive solitaire]. There were more there, these were just the highlights.

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

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, May 21 – May 28
In the second century BC the Greek astronomer Hipparchus of Nicaea
ranked the stars according to their brightness in six categories called
magnitudes (for greatness). The 20 brightest stars were rated first
magnitude and the faintest were sixth magnitude. This system was
retained for two millennia, and standardized in the 19th century when
much fainter stars were being detected by astrophotography. English
astronomer Norman Pogson devised a logarithmic system whereby five
magnitudes was a difference in star brightness of exactly 100 times.
With this system, a magnitude 1 star is about 2.5 times brighter than a
magnitude 2 star, and that one is 2.5 times brighter than a magnitude 3
star.

For many of us, the faintest star we can detect with the naked eye in a
reasonably dark sky is sixth magnitude (commonly just called mag 6).
Vega, the fifth brightest star, is mag 0, as is slightly brighter
Arcturus. With the ability to measure the exact brightness of stars,
their magnitudes are often recorded to one or two decimal places, and
negative values are used for very bright objects. Sirius is mag -1.4;
Jupiter is currently mag -2.1 and Mars -2.0. The full Moon is mag -12.6,
approximately 400,000 times fainter than the Sun at -26.7. A first
magnitude star is brighter than mag 1.5, a second magnitude star shines
between mag 1.5 and 2.5, and so on.

These brightness values are for the apparent magnitude of a star, as we
see them when they are highest in the sky. At lower altitudes the
atmosphere will absorb some of the starlight, making them appear dimmer.
Astronomers call this effect extinction. The apparent magnitude of a
star depends on its size and temperature, and also on its distance from
us. A doubling of distance reduces the brightness by a factor of four,
and ten times the distance by a factor of 100. Therefore, if one star is
ten times farther than a mag 3 star of equal size and temperature, it
would be at mag 8 and we would require binoculars to see it.

Just a little astronomy lesson to brighten your day.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:40 am and sunset will occur at
8:52 pm, giving 15 hours, 12 minutes of daylight (5:48 am and 8:55 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:34 am and set at 9:00
pm, giving 15 hours, 26 minutes of daylight (5:42 am and 9:02 pm in
Saint John).

The full Flower Moon blooms on Saturday, rising at sunset and setting
around sunrise. Jupiter is high at sunset and is at its best for
observing in late twilight. See if you can spot it with binoculars
before sunset and then try to get it naked eye. On Monday its moons
Ganymede and Io pop out from Jupiter’s shadow around 10 pm and 11:30 pm,
respectively. Mars reaches opposition on Sunday, its distinct orange orb
glowing nearly as brightly as Jupiter. Saturn is at opposition the
following week. With the three most interesting telescopic planets in
the evening sky we are in stargazers’ paradise.

RASC NB star party season is approaching quickly, with the first public
observing event at Kouchibouguac National Park on the weekend of June
10-12. This is the perfect opportunity to see the Sun, planets and the
Moon through large and good quality telescopes. Other star parties are
at Mactaquac on July 8-10, Mount Carleton on July 29-31, and at Fundy
National Park on September 2-4.

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

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca