NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, 6 February 2021
(Saturday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier
nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by: Catherine Clements
Info Line #: 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
**On Friday morning, Anita Cannon heard a small
bird hit their bay window,
followed by a much larger bird. Anita first saw
the SHARP-SHINNED HAWK clinging to a branch with one foot, then it quickly came
to, then to the ground, back up into the bush it had been clinging to, and then
to a 2-inch railing, and off. The sought-after prey did not wait around, or
even offer assistance! They estimated the hawk at 12-14 inches, from the 2-inch
railing. Anita got great pictures for identification purposes, to show the
notched tail, slender legs, and nape and crown uniform dark colour.
Anita captured great photos in a short time frame
and through a window.
****Yvette
Richard got a photo of a first winter male BARROW’S GOLDENEYE along the coast
near St. Thomas wharf on Thursday. Most pelagic waterfowl take two years (or
more) to mature. The steep forehead and narrow facial crescent would make this
a male Barrow’s Goldeneye over a male Common Goldeneye and the bill is all
black to rule out female. This is a very special photo!
Yvette also got an action photo of a full breeding plumage
adult male SURF SCOTER ready to boogie at the same location.
Yvette captured a photo of a NORTHERN
SHRIKE on the Chartersville side of the Riverview Marsh on Friday. It was
perched on a watching post very likely with redpolls on its mind.
A MERLIN was also perched nearby possibly
with the same thoughts.
**Stella LeBlanc
noticed seed pods on a tree at the Irving Arboretum in Bouctouche in December
and sent a photo. From the photo I felt it was Northern Catalpa. Stella took
some of the seeds home and planted them indoors and they are now growing very
fast and it is very obvious my diagnosis was off seeing the leaves. Doug Hiltz
at the Maritime College of Forest technology set us straight that it is a BLACK
LOCUST and gave a great commentary that is quoted below. Stella has more seeds
if anyone would like them but I have first dibs even with making a mistake in
identity. Quoting Doug Hiltz:
“What you have there is Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia).
Catalpa seed pods generally look longer and thinner like a bean whereas locusts
look like flat pea pods. Though locusts actually are related to beans, catalpas
are not. Black Locust is a really nice tree. Very dense wood, interesting
spines on the twigs where the leaves attach (as they get older anyway), and
very salt tolerant (so they tend to do well in cities). It can be tricky to get
the seeds to germinate sometimes so congratulations.” (Editor’s note…to Stella)
**Georges Brun had just passed the Trans-Aqua complex
heading towards the Petitcodiac River on Friday when he saw some different
footprints that were not fox or coyote but could not figure what they
were. All of a sudden he saw this bird come flying over him out of the
blue. He started taking photos trying to get close-ups to see later on
what it was then realizing it was a PEREGRINE FALCON. It flew high and
low and quite daring when it flew over a BOBCAT. Good thing he checked or
says he would have missed it. Georges comments “not the best photos but
just to record the event for documentation”. In one of the photos the
Bobcat is in the side of the road and next its on the road with the Peregrine
Falcon almost over it. (Editor’s note: it is lucky to get a good photo of the
stealthy Bobcat at the best of times!)
Georges has surely spotted a diversity of wildlife on the
Riverview Marsh.
**Louise Nichols did a run to Cape Tormentine and the Sackville area on Friday.
Cape Tormentine was very quiet, and there was a
lot of open water. She drove back homewards and went to the Beaubassin Research
Station, parked the car, and walked along the dyke alongside Cumberland Basin.
Scarce pickings, but there was a large number of AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS [Canard
noir] on the water, perhaps close to 1,000. No photo because they were too far
out. She saw a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK [Buse pattue] (distant in flight) and a
RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse] perched in a distant tree. Louise
comments it was a beautiful day for a walk out there, calm, and mild. She
attaches a couple of scenic photos.
Louise comments that there have been reports of
SNOWY OWL [Harfang des
neiges] and SHORT-EARED OWL [Hibou des marais] on
the Tantramar Marsh, but the road is quite soft these days. She thinks she’s
going to wait until freeze-up again. Louise also got a photo of a female GOLDEN
CROWNED KINGLET displaying its all-yellow crown stripe versus the orange-red median
crown stripe bordered by yellow of the male.
Louise
also took note of a number of Clam [Palourde] shells on the shoreline,
measuring ¾ inch or less. Fred Schueler looked at the photo and feels that they
are the Macoma genus of clams,
of which we have different species.
The shells were closed but empty, probably washed
up, as they live buried in mud and/or sand.
**A note has been sent out about the New
Brunswick Environmental Network
presentation for February, but to remind about
the one on “New Brunswick Bats -how are they doing?” on February 10th with Don
McAlpine as presenter. You can register by clicking on the announcement on
February 10th in the lineup attached below.
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New
Brunswick Environmental Network also is having a Trivia Night
coming up on Feb. 11 and that is attached below
as well, if you would like to register.
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**Pat and I did a run along portions of the coast from Pointe-du-Chêne to Bouctouche on Friday. We were very surprised at all the open water in February.It seemed generally quiet for wildlife, except for gulls [Goéland] enjoying the ride on some floating ice floes. The Bouctouche lagoon and pond beside it were alive with MALLARD DUCKS [Canard colvert] at probably 85% and BLACK DUCKS [Canard noir] at approximately 15%. We did not see any other species, but could not access the whole lagoon. The poutine râpée from ‘Saint-Antoine Poutine’ on Irving Boulevard in ‘Bouctouche’ was very delicious.
**It’s a day late, but time to review what the
sky will show us next week if Mother Nature offers us a clear sky. This report
is courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 February 6 –
2021 February 13
By the time I was ten I had been into astronomy for a year or two, thanks in
part to a fascination with mythology. That summer I suffered through
advertisements for the movie Jason and the Argonauts, knowing I wouldn’t get to
Saint John to see it and it likely wouldn’t get to the Vogue theatre in McAdam
for 20 years. Twenty years later the Vogue was closed and I was living in Saint
John, but I finally saw the movie after buying the VHS tape. Throughout the
year I get to see some of the tale in the constellations.
One of the 48 constellations in Ptolemy’s second century star chart was Argo
Navis, the ship that carried the Argonauts to their adventures. The
constellation was large, too large for the astronomers who designated the 88
constellations that now fill our sky, and they broke it up into three: Carina
the Keel, Vela the Sails, and Puppis the Poop Deck or Stern. The first is below
our southern horizon and just the tip of the sails rises, but a good chunk of
Puppis is seen on winter evenings. It is the stars just behind the tail of
Orion’s big dog, Canis Major, and perhaps that is why it is called the poop
deck. Nicolaus Louis de Lacaille, an 18th century astronomer, had unofficially
dismantled Argo Navis into these constellations and made the ship’s mast into
the constellation of Pyxis, the Compass.
Some of the Argonauts are also in the sky, particularly Hercules, who is rising
around midnight, and the Gemini twins Castor and Pollux. Also present are the
musician Orpheus, represented by his harp Lyra, and the healer Asclepius who is
depicted by Ophiuchus. The Golden Fleece, which the Argonauts sought, is
represented in the sky by Aries the Ram. Draco is sometimes regarded as the
vigilant dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:34 am and sunset will occur at 5:32 pm,
giving 9 hours, 58 minutes of daylight (7:38 am and 5:39 pm in Saint
John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:24 am and set at 5:42 pm,
giving 10 hours, 18 minutes of daylight (7:28 am and 5:49 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is new on Thursday, but on Wednesday the slim waning crescent makes a
15 ° wide grouping with Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. This will be very
difficult to observe safely as they rise 20-25 minutes before the Sun. Mercury
is at inferior conjunction on Monday, making Mars is the only visible planet
over the evening. This is a good week for astrologers but not for planetary
astronomers.
With astronomy meetings and outreach activities on hold, you can watch the
local Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm, and view archived shows, on YouTube
at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAEHfOWyL-kNH7dBVHK8spg
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
