NATURE
MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, April 13, 2018 (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
To respond by e-mail, please address
your message to the information line editor nelson@nb.sympatico.ca.
** Clarence Cormier comments on activity at his
Grande-Digue feeder yard. He had his
first FOX SPARROW [Bruant fauve] appear on
Sunday, April 8 and a second appearance on Thursday April 12. There are still Mountain Ash berries mostly
on the ground now that attracted 5 CEDAR WAXWINGS [Jaseur d'Amérique]
on Thursday, and as well on Thursday a male BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD
[Vacher à tête brune] appeared with a
few RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS [Carouge à épaulettes]. His AMERICAN TREE SPARROW [Bruant
hudsonien] contingent is now starting to diminish; however, SONG SPARROWS [Bruant
chanteur] are replacing them and seem to be everywhere.
** The nest box project continues to provide
tidbits of information. Lisa Morris went
to clean out a nest box last fall to find it half filled with eelgrass and some
bark fibers, so left it as is. This
spring she went to replace the nest box with one of the Nature Moncton boxes to
find the old box still had the eelgrass/wood fiber bottom plus the remainder of
the box filled to the hole opening with a second layer of finer fibers with the
hole opening at the top. Scott Makepeace
has a lot of experience with bird/animal nests and offers comments. To him, the nest box photos look quite
typical of squirrel activity. He points
out that our 3 squirrel species use shredded material to fill a box so that the
space occupied enclosed even to the top.
The 2018 photo looks like there is some shredded Cedar Bark, a squirrel
favourite. No Cedar Trees happen to be
in close proximity to the box. The
entrance hole does seem to be typical of squirrel work. This box was in a very open area, a
beech-type habitat, but Scott points out that he has seen this similar scenario
with squirrels in the Saint John River flood plain.
** Brian Stone came across a MALLARD [Canard colvert] hybrid he had
not previously seen at Mapleton Park on Thursday. He also got a photo of it with a female
Mallard duck. If this is indeed a MALLARD [Canard colvert]/AMERICAN BLACK DUCK
[Canard noir] hybrid, they are not sterile as some hybrid
crosses are and able to reproduce. Brian
also spotted a MERLIN [Faucon émerillon] on sentry, atop
a tree, seeing it from his backyard in Moncton.
It was distant and in the fading light of sunset, but he did get a
documentary photo.
** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is added to this
edition, courtesy of Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, April 14 - April 21
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 of Auriga and Gemini are still up past
midnight but Rigel, in the knee of Orion and the low point of the Winter
Circlet of bright stars, is setting by 9 pm. Sometimes these
constellations are enhanced with planets, since Taurus and Gemini are
part of the ecliptic. By next weekend Venus will have crossed the
constellation border from Aries into Taurus to appear within a binocular
width below the Pleiades. And you will need binoculars to see the
Pleiades. I have a pleasant memory of seeing them with binoculars when
they were low in the west in twilight. Shining through a thicker layer
of our atmosphere, the stars were flickering wildly like candles in a
breeze. I had the urge to make a wish and blow them out.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:34 am and sunset will occur at
8:05 pm, giving 13 hours, 31 minutes of daylight (6:40 am and 8:08 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:22 am and set at 8:14
pm, giving 13 hours, 52 minutes of daylight (6:28 am and 8:17 pm in
Saint John).
The Moon is new on Sunday, leading into Dark Sky Week and International
Astronomy Week. A less than 24 hour Moon might be seen with binoculars
as a very slim crescent after sunset on Monday evening. On Tuesday
evening it is near Venus, and it is waxing throughout the week for
public observing events. Jupiter rises around 10 pm this week but still
offers great viewing in the morning sky. Saturn is stationary on
Tuesday, beginning five months of westward retrograde motion relative to
the stars. Mars is getting brighter now as Earth is slowly catching up
in orbit, and it will continue to do so until late July when we will be
treated to its best opposition in 15 years.
During Astronomy Week amateur astronomers tend to set up their
telescopes for public observing if the sky is clear. If you see one,
stop and have a look.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
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 of Auriga and Gemini are still up past
midnight but Rigel, in the knee of Orion and the low point of the Winter
Circlet of bright stars, is setting by 9 pm. Sometimes these
constellations are enhanced with planets, since Taurus and Gemini are
part of the ecliptic. By next weekend Venus will have crossed the
constellation border from Aries into Taurus to appear within a binocular
width below the Pleiades. And you will need binoculars to see the
Pleiades. I have a pleasant memory of seeing them with binoculars when
they were low in the west in twilight. Shining through a thicker layer
of our atmosphere, the stars were flickering wildly like candles in a
breeze. I had the urge to make a wish and blow them out.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:34 am and sunset will occur at
8:05 pm, giving 13 hours, 31 minutes of daylight (6:40 am and 8:08 pm in
Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:22 am and set at 8:14
pm, giving 13 hours, 52 minutes of daylight (6:28 am and 8:17 pm in
Saint John).
The Moon is new on Sunday, leading into Dark Sky Week and International
Astronomy Week. A less than 24 hour Moon might be seen with binoculars
as a very slim crescent after sunset on Monday evening. On Tuesday
evening it is near Venus, and it is waxing throughout the week for
public observing events. Jupiter rises around 10 pm this week but still
offers great viewing in the morning sky. Saturn is stationary on
Tuesday, beginning five months of westward retrograde motion relative to
the stars. Mars is getting brighter now as Earth is slowly catching up
in orbit, and it will continue to do so until late July when we will be
treated to its best opposition in 15 years.
During Astronomy Week amateur astronomers tend to set up their
telescopes for public observing if the sky is clear. If you see one,
stop and have a look.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
MALLARD DUCK HYBRID WITH MALLARD DUCK FEMALE. APRIL 12, 2018. BRIAN STONE
MALLARD DUCK HYBRID . APRIL 12, 2018. BRIAN STONE
MALLARD DUCK HYBRID. APRIL 12, 2018. BRIAN STONE
MERLIN. APRIL 12, 2018._ BRIAN STONE
NEST BOX CONTENTS.APRIL 7, 2018.LISA MORRIS
NEST BOX CONTENTS.OCTOBER,2017.LISA MORRIS
Orion-Taurus 2018
