NATURE MONCTON
INFORMATION LINE, October 26, 2018 (Friday)
Please advise editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or
photo labeling.
Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
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** It’s been great to hear all the
activity at feeder yards. Lois Budd
reports a very lively day on Thursday with a first AMERICAN TREE SPARROW
[Bruant hudsonien] arrival
along with an immature WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW [Bruant à couronne blanche].
DARK-EYED
JUNCOS [Junco ardoisé] were
also new patrons. Some White-throated
Sparrows got in Lois’s photos in the background. The American Tree Sparrow missed the photo
op. Note the millet sprays that Lois
puts out. Sparrows really seem to go for
them big time.
** I had a FOX SPARROW [Bruant fauve]
arrive Thursday morning at my Moncton
feeder yard, but there have been no White-crowned Sparrows as yet.
** Dave Christie crossed the Shepody
Marsh from Harvey Dam to Hopewell Hill to note the first few SNOW BUNTINGS [Bruant des
neiges] he
has seen this year and also a first-winter ICELAND GULL [Goéland arctique], again a first-of-the-season for Dave
as it flew by at the Mary’s Point beach.
** Mother Nature is going to do it
again with the forecast for Sunday. The
Nature Moncton visit to the Atlantic Wildlife Institute will have to be
postponed to the following Sunday, November 4th, at the same time,
same meeting places. Louise Nichols will
send an email to those who registered to see if they can switch to November 4th. If anyone else is interested in joining the
tour on the 4th, register with Louise at nicholsl@eastlink.ca.
Aldo Dorio got a nice photo of one of
four Lapland Longspurs he found at Hay Island on Friday. Our northern winter
visitors seem to be all arriving on schedule. We usually don’t get to see the
Lapland Longspur that often. A nice catch!
** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is included in this
edition, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, October 27 – November 3
The western side of the Square of Pegasus points southward to the solitary bright star Fomalhaut in the mouth of Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish. Fomalhaut is the 18th brightest star in our night sky. Astronomers have known it is surrounded by discs of debris for many years and an exoplanet has been imaged near the inner edge of a disc. The eastern side of Pegasus points down to Diphda, the brightest star in Cetus the Whale. This star is also called Deneb Kaitos, the tail of the whale. A circlet of stars well to the east forms the head of the whale.
Between Piscis Austrinus and Cetus is the dim constellation Sculptor, which is a shortened version of its original name, Apparatus Sculptoris (the sculptor’s studio), given by Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. By 11 pm it is low in the south but it does have a prominent marker. Use binoculars to seek out a long triangle of dim stars stretching eastward from Fomalhaut, but don’t be discouraged if your attempt to locate Sculptor is a bust.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:52 am and sunset will occur at 6:12 pm, giving 10 hours, 20 minutes of daylight (7:56 am and 6:19 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 8:02 am and set at 6:02 pm, giving 10 hours of daylight (8:06 am and 6:08 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter on Wednesday, rising much too late to treat the Trick or Treaters and their parents. Mercury passes within a binocular field below Jupiter this weekend but you will need a clear horizon toward the southwest to see them, with Mercury setting by 7 pm. Saturn is still well placed for early evening observing, while Mars has recovered from its global dust storm and is showing a distinct gibbous phase in a telescope.
The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre on November 3 at 7 pm. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
The western side of the Square of Pegasus points southward to the solitary bright star Fomalhaut in the mouth of Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish. Fomalhaut is the 18th brightest star in our night sky. Astronomers have known it is surrounded by discs of debris for many years and an exoplanet has been imaged near the inner edge of a disc. The eastern side of Pegasus points down to Diphda, the brightest star in Cetus the Whale. This star is also called Deneb Kaitos, the tail of the whale. A circlet of stars well to the east forms the head of the whale.
Between Piscis Austrinus and Cetus is the dim constellation Sculptor, which is a shortened version of its original name, Apparatus Sculptoris (the sculptor’s studio), given by Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. By 11 pm it is low in the south but it does have a prominent marker. Use binoculars to seek out a long triangle of dim stars stretching eastward from Fomalhaut, but don’t be discouraged if your attempt to locate Sculptor is a bust.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:52 am and sunset will occur at 6:12 pm, giving 10 hours, 20 minutes of daylight (7:56 am and 6:19 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 8:02 am and set at 6:02 pm, giving 10 hours of daylight (8:06 am and 6:08 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter on Wednesday, rising much too late to treat the Trick or Treaters and their parents. Mercury passes within a binocular field below Jupiter this weekend but you will need a clear horizon toward the southwest to see them, with Mercury setting by 7 pm. Saturn is still well placed for early evening observing, while Mars has recovered from its global dust storm and is showing a distinct gibbous phase in a telescope.
The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre on November 3 at 7 pm. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
Cetus-Sculptor
LAPLAND LONGSPUR. OCT 26, 2018. ALDO DORIO
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (IMMATURE). AND WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. OCT 25, 2018
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (IMMATURE).LOIS BUDD
