NATURE
MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, December 14, 2018 (Friday)
Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
** Today is Day One of the count period
for the Moncton Christmas Bird Count with tomorrow, Saturday, the day when the
fleet will be out tallying. The count
period does extend to next Tuesday, Dec. 18th, so be on the watch
for any species that may not get tallied on Saturday, so they may be included
as well. Feeder yard watchers are asked
to make a special list tally tomorrow as well, but count period week surprises
are on the watch list too.
** Pearl and Connie Colpitts have
spotted a DARK-EYED
JUNCO [Junco ardoisé] among
their Junco troupe with a distinct white eye ring. There seems to be no comments on this in the
literature that we were able to find, so I’m posting the photos for any
comments anyone may have. Probably many
of us will be looking a bit more closely at this common bird to see just how common
this feature is. I personally think it’s
not at all common.
** Jane and Ed LeBlanc, Brian Stone and
I paid a visit to Tantramar Marsh on Thursday.
The High Marsh Rd and Coles Island Rd were very driveable; however, we
learned the hard way that the Goose Lake Rd is not a good choice even though
some raptors were indeed there. We did
see several ROUGH-LEGGED
HAWKS [Buse pattue],
mostly at great distance with numbers very much lower than recent years. It would appear the vole population has
crashed even though some areas of vole trails in the snow were noted. Jane did get one nice photo of a Rough-legged
Hawk, light morph, in flight to readily note the distinct field marks. Any GOLDEN EAGLE [Aigle royal] successfully evaded us; however Jane
LeBlanc shares 3 nice close-up photos she took of Golden Eagles at the Canadian
Raptor Conservancy in Simcoe, Ont. in 2016.
Jane very much recommends a visit to this sight in that area as very
special. BALD EAGLES [Pygargue à tête
blanche] were
well represented about the marsh area with adults and immature. No Red-tailed Hawks were seen; however, on
the road home, a phone call from Daryl Doucet reported he had just seen two
raptors in trees around the Dieppe traffic circle. We went directly there to see two RED-TAILED HAWKS [Buse à
queue rousse] which
Brian photographed as well as possible trying to navigate the traffic
circle. It seems ironic to see no
Red-tailed Hawks all day, then two at one of the busiest traffic areas in the
city.
** A good-sized stick nest was easily
seen in trees on Folkins Dr. with leaves fallen. It appeared like it may be a raptor or a
corvid nest.
The sack-like pupal case (cocoon) of our
largest very beautiful moth, the CECROPIA, was found on a roadside bush. The rather ornate pupa is housed within the
sack-like structure. It was collected to
hopefully hatch and be safely released in the spring.
** Sightings of RING-NECKED PHEASANTS
[Faisan de Colchide] with
plumages different from the expected are getting, it would appear, more common,
especially on the Tantramar Marsh. At
least two and I think more were spotted yesterday near the cattle farm that is
on Donald Harper Lane up from the lagoon site there. A rather exhaustive website search and
consultations with different folks seem to have little explanation. However, the one site attached below does
indicate the ones photographed yesterday are a match for what it cited in that
source as female melanistic Ring-necked Pheasants, so they are labelled as such
until someone has a different explanation.
They are beautifully plumaged specimens.
Other plumages of Ring-necked Pheasant have been reported over the
years, especially in the Memramcook area and the Harvey, Albert County
area. Sleuthing will continue.
** 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,
December 15 – December 22
Evening stargazing can be tricky this time of year with all the festive lights,
especially if you have a neighbourhood Griswald. You can make the best of it by
finding a darker location or waiting until most people have turned their lights
off. Occasionally I make the best of it by targeting some distant colourful
outdoor display with binoculars or a telescope.
If you happen to be out, try identifying a few constellations. In the northeast
there is pentagonal Auriga the Charioteer, with bright Capella the Goat Star at
one corner. To the right is the V-shaped face of Taurus the Bull, with the
dipper-like star cluster of the Pleiades marking its shoulder. Orion and Gemini
follow below Taurus and Auriga. Above Auriga is Perseus, seemingly standing on
the bull’s back. It is here a patient stargazer can watch a marvel of the night
sky.
In mythology, Perseus beheaded Medusa to seek revenge on tormentors by turning
them to stone. The second brightest star in the constellation Perseus
represents the evil eye of Medusa and it is called Algol, the ghoul or demon.
There is a reason for this name. Every three days, minus about three hours,
this star slowly dims by a factor of three and regains brightness over several
hours. Algol is an eclipsing binary, two stars orbiting each other
closely and aligned to our line of sight. When the smaller, dimmer star passes
in front of the brighter one we can see their combined-light diminish and
recover. By comparing it with nearby stars of similar brightness you might
notice Algol getting brighter. Our next evening opportunity to watch this is
around 10 pm Christmas night.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:54 am and sunset will occur at 4:34 pm,
giving 8 hours, 40 minutes of daylight (7:56 am and 4:42 pm in Saint John).
Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:58 am and set at 4:36 pm, giving 8 hours,
38 minutes of daylight (8:00 am and 4:44 pm in Saint John). The Winter Solstice
occurs on December 21 at 6:23 pm, the day of minimum sunlight but giving lots
of time for stargazing.
The Moon is at first quarter this Saturday and full next Saturday, the Long
Night Moon or the Mi’mgaw Chief Moon. Mercury is at greatest elongation this
Saturday, rising nearly two hours before the Sun and two hours after Venus.
Jupiter climbs to within one degree of Mercury by Thursday, and next Saturday
they rise together with brighter Jupiter on the right. Mars is at its highest
in the south at 6 pm, but Saturn is too low in the west at sunset for
observing. Comet 46P/Wirtanen passes between the V-shaped Hyades star cluster
and the Pleiades star cluster this weekend as it moves to within 11.5 million
kilometres of Earth. It is seen best with binoculars, resembling a hazy
thumbprint the size of the Moon or larger. You might also catch a few late
meteors from the Geminid shower this weekend.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
Algol
BALD EAGLES. DEC. 13, 2018. BRIAN STONE
CECROPIA MOTH COCOON. DEC 13, 2018. NELSON POIRIER
DARK-EYED JUNCO (WITH WHITE EYE RING). DEC 13, 2018. CONNIE COLPITTS
GOLDEN EAGLE MAY 2016.. JANE LeBLANC
GOLDEN EAGLE MAY 2016.. JANE LeBLANC
GOLDEN EAGLE MAY 2016.. JANE LeBLANC
RAPTOR NEST.. DEC. 13, 2018. BRIAN STONE
RED-TAILED HAWK. DEC. 13, 2018. BRIAN STONE
RED-TAILED HAWK. DEC. 13, 2018. BRIAN STONE
RING-NECKED PHEASANTS (MELANISTIC FEMALE). DEC. 13, 2018. BRIAN STONE
RING-NECKED PHEASANTS (MELANISTIC FEMALE). DEC. 13, 2018. BRIAN STONE
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. DEC 13, 2018. JANE LeBLANC
VOLE TRAIL. DEC. 13, 2018. BRIAN STONE
VOLE TRAIL. DEC. 13, 2018. BRIAN STONE
