NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, April
9, 2021 (Friday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
** Wow!
Seven SANDHILL
CRANES [Grue du Canada]. Fred and Sue Richards spotted 7 Sandhill
Cranes that kind of hovered over their Taylor Village yard pond, then flew off
in a northeast direction. They did not
have their camera, so no photos. They
hopped in the car and drove down to the causeway and walked along the trail
there along the Memramcook River looking in the fields for the cranes but did
not see them. At the lagoon, they looked
behind the blind there. They saw some of
the ducks shown in the pictures. They
saw some RING-NECKED
DUCKS [Fuligule à collier], MALLARDS [Canard colvert], AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS [Canard
noir], GREATER SCAUP, and one
gull. There might have been 60
altogether. There was quite a wind, so
the NORTHERN
PINTAILS’ [Canard pilet] tails are
curled over them in one picture. The
birds were quite vocal. They drove to
the Reid McManus Nature Reserve in Memramcook to look from that blind to see
three mergansers and two other ducks.
The female LONG-TAILED DUCKS [Harelde kakawi] shown in recent photos seem to be showing
significant signs of molt to breeding plumage.
** Peter and Deana Gadd are pleased to
still have their male RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER [Pic à ventre roux].
It was very regular over the winter, but now comes once or twice a week
at least. Peter is noting that it
appears to be a lot whiter in the frontal area over the last few weeks. Peter got three beautiful photos of this
special visitor as it enjoyed the shelled peanut offering.
** Yvette Richard’s COMMON REDPOLL [Sizerin
flammé] troupe is dwindling as everyone else’s is;
however, Yvette was able to capture two excellent photos to compare a Common
Redpoll in breeding plumage and a HOARY REDPOLL [Sizerin
blanchâtre]. Note the stubby bill and the pale chest area
of the Hoary Redpoll crown poll that some literature seems to suggest is a
different look to the Common Redpoll.
Also interesting to note that the Hoary Redpoll is in a shrub that
appears to show the swelling buds of a LILAC bush.
Yvette also got photos of a male MERLIN [Faucon émerillon] that eyed its prey of a MOURNING DOVE [Tourterelle
triste] which it
successfully captured. Mourning Dove
would seem to be large prey for a Merlin-sized bird, but the Merlin seems very
able to handle it. Note the decapitation
in the photo which is a falcon tactic.
** Jane Leblanc got an excellent photo
of a TRI-COLOURED BUMBLEBEE on her blooming crocus plants. The triangular wedge pointed towards the tail
on the thorax black patch helps to identify this species. Note the body laden pollen
to make the bee such a valuable member to Mother Nature’s community.
Jane also spotted her first-of-the-year SAVANNAH SPARROW [Bruant
des prés] on the St.
Martins beach on Thursday morning to nicely show its yellow lore and dark
breast striping that can sometimes end with a breast spot as Jane’s specimen
shows.
** Stella Leblanc got a pleasant photo
of a pair of NORTHERN
SHOVELERS [Canard souchet] in Saint-Antoine
on Thursday. Their photo nicely shows
the shovel-like bill that give them their name.
** Brian Stone repeated his outing from
Wednesday again on Thursday to see if any new arrivals had shown up but saw
nothing new. The numbers of ducks had
increased significantly though.
Memramcook Lake had more than 100 BLACK SCOTERS [Macreuse noire] on it this time, along with a half
dozen SURF
SCOTERS [Macreuse à front blanc], a few RING-NECKED DUCKS [Fuligule à
collier] and a lone NORTHERN PINTAIL [Canard
pilet]. At the Arthur St. lagoon, there were a couple
of the same group of LONG-TAILED DUCKS [Harelde kakawi]. He went a
little farther to the Dorchester lagoon and saw a similar selection of ducks
there, but in reduced numbers. A healthy
looking RED-TAILED
HAWK [Buse à queue rousse] flew over
him, but managed to evade the camera. An
adult ICELAND
GULL [Goéland arctique] posed
nicely to show the pale mantle, pinkish legs and lack of black on the primary
projection.
** Jamie and Karen Burris went for a
walk on an old railway line that is now an ATV trail. They came across some very active BEAVER [Castor] work on each side of the trail. Jamie got a video showing the action which is
just like being there. Turn up the
volume and view/listen to the scene at the link below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x6rh1etdym1xown/GH010138.MP4?dl=0
** It’s Friday and time to review the
outlook for next week’s Sky-at-a-Glance, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason. The forecast is making musings about clear
nights so we can see it all.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 April 10 – 2021 April 17
As the Sun is setting this week, Spica is rising in the east. This blue giant
star is the brightest in the constellation Virgo the Maiden, and the 14th
brightest star of the night sky. It is usually located by following the arc of
the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus and driving a spike to Spica. With Arcturus
in Boötes and Regulus (or dimmer Denebola) in Leo, it forms the Spring
Triangle. If you toss in Cor Coroli in Canes Venatici, below the handle of the
Big Dipper, you get the Spring Diamond.
Spica represents an ear of wheat in the hand of Virgo. In Greek mythology she
was Demeter, the goddess of wheat or agriculture (Ceres in Roman mythology).
The Sun passes through this constellation in harvest time and it is in the head
of Virgo at the autumnal equinox. Virgo is the second largest of the 88
constellations in terms of area of sky, trailing only Hydra the Water Snake.
Coincidentally, it also trails Hydra in the sky, which can be seen stretching
below Leo. The constellation is home to 11 Messier objects, second to
Sagittarius in this distinction, and all of them are galaxies. Included in this
group is M87, the huge galaxy that had the image of its central black hole
shadow released at this time two years ago.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:41 am and sunset will occur at 8:00 pm,
giving 13 hours, 19 minutes of daylight (6:47 am and 8:04 pm in Saint
John). Next Saturday, the Sun will rise at 6:28 am and set at 8:09 pm,
giving 13 hours, 41 minutes of daylight (6:35 am and 8:13 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is new this Sunday, and with weather luck and binoculars a very slim
21 hour old crescent might be spotted after sunset Monday. Mars starts the week
between horn tips of Taurus the Bull, and within two weeks it will have crossed
the constellation border into Gemini. The borders are open in the night sky.
Jupiter and Saturn are the attention grabbers in the morning sky. Mercury and
Venus will be out of sight until late in the month when they pop up in the west
after sunset.
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
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
