NATURE
MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, March 17, 2017 (Friday)
Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in wording or
photo labeling.
Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
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** Doreen
Rossiter reports that she has had an influx of DARK-EYED
JUNCOS [Junco ardoisé] to her Alma yard, and 3 or 4 SONG
SPARROWS [Bruant chanteur] have arrived which she suspects are spring migrants as she
did not have any of this species overwintering this year. Doreen also had a visit from a NORTHERN SHRIKE [Pie-grièche grise].
** Kevin
Renton reports there continues to be a nice turnout of PINE
GROSBEAKS [Durbec des sapins], EVENING
GROSBEAKS [Gros-bec errant], and BOHEMIAN
WAXWINGS [Jaseur boréal] to their Stilesville feeder yard along with the expected
regulars, but still including the star patron, a FIELD
SPARROW [Bruant des champs], that has spent most of the winter with
them.
** Bev
Schneider was able to get a great photo of the VARIED
THRUSH [Grive à collier] that visited a yard in the Fredericton area in earlier March. What a strikingly plumaged specimen.
** Brian
Stone spotted two AMERICAN CROWS [Corneille
d'Amérique] very
intensely foraging on a dead RED SQUIRREL [Écureuil roux] outside his home on
Thursday. This was very possibly the
result of an animal struck by a car and the crows being opportunistic. Crows and Ravens can be very alert while
patrolling roadways for other birds and animals struck by cars.
** I was
under the impression that WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de
Virginie] numbers
were low in the northern area of New Brunswick, but on a recent visit to
Plaster Rock, I sure found there seemed to be a significant number in that
area. Travelling between Perth-Andover
and Plaster Rock, I saw several near the road in wooded areas and when stopping
in on Fred and Donna Green’s in Plaster Rock, I was sure surprised to see a
group of 17 in a wooded grove near their home where they put out food for them. Donna says they usually see between 17 to 26
most days. Note a very small one in one
of Donna’s photos. This was a fawn born
very late in the season, and they wondered if it would make it. Obviously it came along and now seems to be
doing very well. Fred and Donna make no
effort to tame the deer to keep them with a wariness of humans, but supplement
their winter larder.
** Danny
Sullivan spotted a BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête
blanche] and
AMERICAN CROWS [Corneille d'Amérique] foraging
on dead chickens a farmer had put out in a field at the McLaughlin Rd. end of
the Indian Mountain Rd. on Thursday.
This is a very popular fare for eagles and crows in the Annapolis Valley
near the large poultry farms there.
** Don and Faye
Leaman were in Rockwood Park in Saint John Thursday evening to spot a group of
9 WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de Virginie]. They noted one animal had an obvious lesion
in the neck area of denuded hair, wondering what may be the cause and were able
to get a photo. To me this looks like a
very circumscribed lesion that appears to be scabbing over nicely. It does not appear like mange mite
infestation would appear or lesions from ticks or an area rubbed. I would expect the lesion to be from an
injury, possibly from a predator. It
does not appear like a coyote snare as damage is only on the top part of the
neck. This animal is otherwise in nice
condition for the time of year.
** We took
visiting family and grandkids to Mapleton Park on Thursday. The host of primarily MALLARDS [Canard colvert] were delighted to see them with a
cracked corn handout, and the grandkids and parents were delighted to oblige. The leucistic Mallard was still present, but
no WOOD DUCK [Canard branchu] or NORTHERN PINTAIL [Canard pilet] noted while we
visited. The BLACK-CAPPED
CHICKADEES [Mésange à tête noire] made for many smiles of delight when
they came to handfuls of sunflower chips.
** This
week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is added to this edition, courtesy of Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, March 18 – March 25
This week we will take the path less travelled to pick out a few of the more obscure constellations in our sky. If you don’t have a clear view to the south or if you are cursed by light pollution in that direction, they will be obscure to the point of invisible. Around 9 pm, cast your eyes toward Sirius in Canis Major, the Big Dog. If you can’t see that star, the brightest in the sky, then go back inside and read a book.
Hugging the horizon below Sirius you might detect a Y-shaped group of stars that forms Columba the Dove. This is one of the later constellations, created a century after Christopher Columbus made his first voyage, and it was meant to depict a dove sent by another famous sailor called Noah. It could also be the dove released by yet another famous sailor, Jason of the Argonauts fame, to gauge the speed of the Clashing Rocks of the Symplegades. The dove lost some tail feathers, and the Argo lost a bit of its stern.
There is a good case to be made for this interpretation. To the left of Columba, rising past the rear end of Canis Major, is the upper part of Puppis the Stern. It was once part of a much larger constellation called Argo Navis, Jason’s ship, which has been disassembled to form Puppis, Vela the Sails and Carina the Keel. Puppis is more traditionally described as the Poop Deck, a rather appropriate name considering its location relative to the Big Dog. To the left of Puppis is a vertical line of three stars forming Pyxis the (Mariner’s) Compass. At its highest it does point roughly north-south.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:25 am and sunset will occur at 7:29 pm, giving 12 hours, 4 minutes of daylight (7:30 am and 7:34 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:12 am and set at 7:38 pm, giving 12 hours, 26 minutes of daylight (7:17 am and 7:43 pm in Saint John). On Monday at 6:29 am the Sun crosses the equator heading northward, marking the beginning of spring. Any remaining snow will magically turn to mud at that moment and marble season will officially open.
The Moon is at third quarter near Saturn on Monday, so have a look before you watch the Sun rise due east. After the Sun sets early this week, use binoculars to look for the slim crescent of Venus above it. An ambitious and careful observer might also catch it in the east before sunrise. Venus is at inferior conjunction on March 25 and becomes the Morning Star in early April. This Saturday, Mercury sets an hour after sunset with Venus 8 degrees to its right and a tad higher. Jupiter rises at 9 pm mid-week, about two hours before Mars sets. Keen eyed observers might catch the glow of the zodiacal light along the western ecliptic, in a dark sky untarnished by light pollution, about an hour after sunset.
The provincial astronomy club, RASC NB, meets at Moncton High School on Saturday, March 18 at 1 pm. One of the speakers will be a recently retired NASA astronomer and club member who was involved in building the Hubble Space Telescope. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
This week we will take the path less travelled to pick out a few of the more obscure constellations in our sky. If you don’t have a clear view to the south or if you are cursed by light pollution in that direction, they will be obscure to the point of invisible. Around 9 pm, cast your eyes toward Sirius in Canis Major, the Big Dog. If you can’t see that star, the brightest in the sky, then go back inside and read a book.
Hugging the horizon below Sirius you might detect a Y-shaped group of stars that forms Columba the Dove. This is one of the later constellations, created a century after Christopher Columbus made his first voyage, and it was meant to depict a dove sent by another famous sailor called Noah. It could also be the dove released by yet another famous sailor, Jason of the Argonauts fame, to gauge the speed of the Clashing Rocks of the Symplegades. The dove lost some tail feathers, and the Argo lost a bit of its stern.
There is a good case to be made for this interpretation. To the left of Columba, rising past the rear end of Canis Major, is the upper part of Puppis the Stern. It was once part of a much larger constellation called Argo Navis, Jason’s ship, which has been disassembled to form Puppis, Vela the Sails and Carina the Keel. Puppis is more traditionally described as the Poop Deck, a rather appropriate name considering its location relative to the Big Dog. To the left of Puppis is a vertical line of three stars forming Pyxis the (Mariner’s) Compass. At its highest it does point roughly north-south.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:25 am and sunset will occur at 7:29 pm, giving 12 hours, 4 minutes of daylight (7:30 am and 7:34 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:12 am and set at 7:38 pm, giving 12 hours, 26 minutes of daylight (7:17 am and 7:43 pm in Saint John). On Monday at 6:29 am the Sun crosses the equator heading northward, marking the beginning of spring. Any remaining snow will magically turn to mud at that moment and marble season will officially open.
The Moon is at third quarter near Saturn on Monday, so have a look before you watch the Sun rise due east. After the Sun sets early this week, use binoculars to look for the slim crescent of Venus above it. An ambitious and careful observer might also catch it in the east before sunrise. Venus is at inferior conjunction on March 25 and becomes the Morning Star in early April. This Saturday, Mercury sets an hour after sunset with Venus 8 degrees to its right and a tad higher. Jupiter rises at 9 pm mid-week, about two hours before Mars sets. Keen eyed observers might catch the glow of the zodiacal light along the western ecliptic, in a dark sky untarnished by light pollution, about an hour after sunset.
The provincial astronomy club, RASC NB, meets at Moncton High School on Saturday, March 18 at 1 pm. One of the speakers will be a recently retired NASA astronomer and club member who was involved in building the Hubble Space Telescope. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
BALD EAGLE and CROWS. MAR. 16, 2017. DANNY SULLIVAN
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE TO HAND.MARCH 16, 2017.CHRISTINE POIRIER
CROW FEEDING ON SQUIRREL. MAR. 16, 2017. BRIAN STONE
Doves Poop South
VARIED THRUSH.MARCH ,2017.BEV SCHNEIDER
WHITE-TAILED DEER.MARCH 16, 2017.FAYE LEAMAN
WHITE-TAILED DEER.MARCH , 2017.DONNA GREEN
WHITE-TAILED DEER.MARCH , 2017.DONNA GREEN
