Nature Moncton Nature News: May 31 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 31, 2019 (Friday)

To view the photos mentioned in this edition go to http://nminfoline.blogspot.ca

Please advise editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check into the website at www.naturemoncton.com

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com.

** Yolande LeBlanc reports the sheer number of swallows at the Arthur St. lagoon in Memramcook is incredible. There are many insects flying and on the grass around the lagoon and the swallows are getting well-fueled. Yolande saw the four different expected species and was suspicious of a NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW [Hirondelle à ailes hérissées]. Yolande comments that it’s a wonderful opportunity to see all our swallows in one spot.

Yvette Richard visited the lagoon on Thursday to witness Yolande’s comments and was able to get several photos but said photographing the action was challenging with all birds mostly flying and chowing down.

** Another pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS [Merlebleu de l'Est] reporting in. Dick Bisset in Lower Coverdale has one bird box up and a pair of Eastern Bluebirds has become tenants. Another lucky landlord.

** Louise Nichols got some great photos of a TENNESSEE WARBLER [Paruline obscure] from different angles on Thursday as it loudly sang its 3-parted song in her Aulac yard. It’s good to get to know the vocalization of this relatively drab warbler compared to some of its kin. Louise comments, “What a voice!”

** Jane LeBlanc has many pairs of RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS [Colibri à gorge rubis] patronizing her St. Martins yard. They were so busy organizing each other, she photographed them 6 feet away to make two beautiful hummer portrait photos of each gender.

** Wayne Corcoran had a bright male BALTIMORE ORIOLE [Oriole de Baltimore] come to his nectar feeder well-laden with orange halves on Thursday. The set-up does look rather inviting! I’m only a dozen wing beats away, so maybe my visit is soon as well. Wayne’s yard is near Quarryville.

** Bill Wood is another reporting a female BALTIMORE ORIOLE [Oriole de Baltimore] to oranges on Johnson Ave. in Moncton.

** It’s that time of year when FALSE MOREL MUSHROOMS appear. I’m attaching some photos of one found on Thursday, showing it as it looks untouched, pulled from the ground to show the short stock, and cut in half to show the convoluted growth style. This morel is not considered a safe edible as a heat labile ingredient, monomethyl hydrazine, has to be removed by heat or drying and the fumes avoided while doing that. This specimen was six inches across, and a few smaller ones were near it.

** It’s that time of year when RED SPRUCE [Épinette rouge] male cones are very rapidly letting their pollen be wind-distributed, leaving lots of yellow pollen on the ground, waterways and vehicles. The male cones tend to be the red ones on the lower part of the tree that will release their pollen and disappear. The female seed cones tend to be higher in the tree and will form the hard cones with seeds tucked inside. A photo of the male pollen cones is attached with some turning yellow, getting ready to release the pollen grains.

** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is included in this edition, courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason. Thank you Curt.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2019 June 1 – June 8

The basis for ranking stars by brightness dates back to the Greek astronomer Hipparchus in the second century BC. He grouped several hundred stars by their apparent size, with the biggest being in the first magnitude group and the faintest to the naked eye being sixth magnitude. Magnitude in this sense means size, and even now many people refer to bright stars as big. The telescope and astrophotography allowed us to detect stars much fainter, and in the 19th century Norman Pogson adapted the old system to a standard. A five magnitude difference was defined as a difference in brightness of exactly 100. Therefore, a first magnitude star is a tad more than 2.5 times brighter than a second magnitude star, about 16 times brighter than a fourth magnitude star, and 100 times brighter than one of sixth magnitude. The scale extends into negative numbers for very bright objects, including planets and a few stars.

Check out a cloudless sky this week when it is dark. The bright star Vega is often regarded as the benchmark, being very close to mag 0 (astronomers usually shorten magnitude to mag). Arcturus is slightly brighter, edging into the negative decimals at mag -0.05. Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, is very close to mag 1 at 0.98. A mag 2 star is Polaris, the North Star, at the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. Obviously, it is not the brightest star as some people believe; it barely makes the top 50. A mag 3 star is Pherkad, the dimmer of the two stars at the base of the Little Dipper. Jupiter is currently near its brightest at mag -2.6, and Saturn is at mag 0.3. By the way, that star we see in daytime is mag -26.75 at midday.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:31 am and sunset will occur at 9:02 pm, giving 15 hours, 31 minutes of daylight (5:39 am and 9:04 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:28 am and set at 9:08 pm, giving 15 hours, 40 minutes of daylight (5:36 am and 9:09 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is near Venus this Saturday morning, is new on Monday and near the Beehive star cluster on Thursday evening. Mercury sets 90 minutes after the Sun by midweek and can be seen eight degrees above the horizon a half hour after sunset. Watch it and Mars slowly approach each other over the next two weeks. On Tuesday evening, between 9:30 and 10:55, telescope users have the opportunity to see the shadows of Jupiter’s moons Ganymede and Io crossing the planet’s clouds. By midnight later in the week Saturn will be high enough to give a decent view of its rings in a telescope. Venus continues to herald the sunrise by nearly 50 minutes.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre this Saturday at 7 pm. RASC NB members will have telescopes set up for public viewing at the Kouchibouguac Park Spring Starfest on June 7 and 8.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton