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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)
**John
Chardine reports he had another wonderful session with the Hopewell Rocks
PEREGRINE FALCONS on Thursday morning. John shares a photo of the male perched
away from the nest after transferring a Blue Jay to the female he had captured
in midair. Both genders of this species are excellent parents.
The
high-speed Peregrine Falcon easily takes its prey in flight unlike many raptor
species to show its aerial prowess in high-speed dives. Most raptors take their
prey at ground level and subdue their prey with their powerful talons piercing
the bodies of their victims pin cushion style. The falcons usually do a very
rapid neck dislocation.
As with many
raptors the female is 15-20% larger than the male and with the female Peregrine
Falcon can be 40-50 % heavier.
Thanks to
John for sharing his photos taken at highly zoomed in range to create no
disturbance to the family life of the birds yet let us see and appreciate this
species going about their mission.
** Susan Richards comments that it is
like a BALTIMORE
ORIOLE [Oriole de Baltimore] knew what
she wished for as she blew out her birthday candle! A Baltimore Oriole arrived to the Richards’
yard on Thursday and enjoyed the orange sections. It went to a suet block, as well as testing
out the hummingbird feeder.
** Aldo Dorio got a photo of a male INDIGO BUNTING [Passerin
indigo] at a
feeder in Tabusintac on Thursday. A very
beautiful bird species -- however, the female is a bland brown. The Indigo Bunting is not a common bird in
New Brunswick; however, there are ample nesting records.
**Brian
Stone and I spent a wonderful day sleuthing nature at a burn-over site to
encounter many special moments. As expected on an outing with Brian, he was the
photographer and I acted as tag-along spotter. Only a few of Brian’s photo
efforts are shared today with others to follow over the next few days.
The
BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS were in pleasant numbers but elusive to follow for
photos but very rewarding. Watching their behavior and seeing their modus
operandi was revealing and captivating.
Following
the vocalization of a LEAST FLYCATCHER led to Brian getting some excellent
photos of this Empidonax flycatcher that can be hard to be certain of
identification without hearing them.
Another
bonus was an EASTERN PINE ELFIN BUTTERFLY that momentarily cooperated. This
butterfly species is small and has a short flight season in spring so pleased
to have an audience. The more common DREAMY DUSKYWING BUTTERFLY also allowed a
quick observation. This still is a relatively small butterfly but one of the
larger skipper troupe.
There will
be lots more photographed observations to follow with the exception of a sow
BLACK BEAR with 2 year-old cubs that would not stop for snoopy naturalists.
** It’s Friday and time to review the
next week’s Sky-at-a-Glace, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 May 22 – 2021 May 29
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 brightest 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. Venus is currently at mag
-3.8 but it will brighten to -4.6 by December. By the way, that star we see in
daytime is mag -26.7 at midday.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 5:39 am and sunset will occur at 8:53 pm,
giving 15 hours, 14 minutes of daylight (5:46 am and 8:55 pm in Saint
John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 5:33 am and set at 9:00 pm,
giving 15 hours, 27 minutes of daylight (5:41 am and 9:02 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is full on Wednesday morning, just nine hours after perigee, resulting
in some of the most extreme tides for the year at the end of the week. There is
also a lunar eclipse that morning but it begins shortly after the Moon sets for
New Brunswick. Mercury’s sunward movement brings it within half a degree to the
left of Venus on Friday, May 28. A scope might be required to see Mercury. Mars
makes an ever-changing triangle in fading twilight with Pollux and Castor, the
Twins of Gemini. Saturn is stationary on Sunday, beginning its westward
retrograde motion relative to the stars. Jupiter rises around 2:00 am late in
the week, 45 minutes after Saturn.
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.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
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