NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE
Dec 24, 2021 (Friday)
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**The Western Tanager continues to enjoy the menu supplied by Kathie
Carter at 84 Ellerdale Ave. in Moncton. On Wednesday, Dec 22, Gordon
Rattray made a visit hoping for an audience. The visit was mid-morning,
and the Western Tanager was on site immediately for a very relaxed showing.
Fortunately, it
posed aside an American Goldfinch for a nice size comparison.
**The Simon family have been participating in this
year's Project Feederwatch program. Daughter Isabelle Simon has captured a
great shot of her favourite Song Sparrow named "Sneaky."
**Lois Budd was pleased to have our first Ruffed Grouse arrive to her
Salisbury area yard on Thursday to check out the menu. Lois finds they enjoy
cracked corn and some soon will be available.
**Brian Stone visited Morash Pond
in Dartmouth on Thursday in a strong wind that required two hands and a good
lean to get his car door open to find about 200 ducks present, all but one
being either MALLARD DUCKS or AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS. The single
exception was a male NORTHERN PINTAIL DUCK. One other duck there was a
hybrid, possibly a mix of Mallard and Black Duck, which in a way included it in
the main group ... being a bit of both.
**Susan Atkinson wishes to remind folks with bird feeders in the Moncton
area that it is still
not too late to send in any feeder counts from Saturday’s Moncton Christmas
Bird Count as well as for count week that ends Tuesday. They can still be
submitted to susandatkinson@hotmail.com as it is not too late to add more counts
to the preliminary report.
**Roger LeBlanc, Moncton Christmas Bird Count
coordinator, is provided a draft of the bird count of December 18. This is a
preliminary draft is a few counts are not yet in and many bird feeder yard
counts yet to come:
Moncton CBC
2021 Draft results
Canada
Goose 327
American
Black Duck 58
Mallard 1789
Common
Eider 400
Hooded
Merganser 1
Red-necked
Pheasant 12
Bald
Eagle 59
Northern
Harrier 2
Cooper’s
Hawk 3
Red-tailed
Hawk 5
Merlin 1
Peregrin
Falcon 3
Ring-billed
Gull 63
Herring
Gull 3267
Iceland
Gull 457
Lesser
Black-backed Gull 4
Glaucous
Gull 6
Great
Black-back Gull 436
Rock
Pigeon 696
Mourning
Dove 57
Short-eared
Owl 4
Downy
Woodpecker 16
Hairy
Woodpecker 18
Northern
Flicker 1
Pileated
Woodpecker 1
Canada
Jay 1
Blue
Jay 55
American
Crow 3055
Common
Raven 71
Black-capped
Chickadee 774
Red-breasted
Nuthatch 191
White-breasted
Nuthatch 8
Brown
Creeper 5
Golden-crown
Kinglet 67
American
Robin 287
European
Starling 2933
Cedar
Waxwing 4
American
Tree sparrow 25
Song
Sparrow 4
Swamp
sparrow 1
White-throated
Sparrow 3
Dark-eyed
Junco 12
Purple
Finch 152
House
Finch
5
White-winged
Crossbill 43
Pine
Siskin
3
American
Goldfinch 513
House
Sparrow 28
Great blue
Heron 1
Western
Tanager 1
Snowy
Owl 1
Total
species 51 individuals 15929
**It’s
Friday and time to review what Christmas week’s sky has in store for us
courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason:
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 December 25 – 2022
January 1
Before, or after, the flash of New Year’s Eve fireworks this week, take a look
around the sky. As a new year begins, many of the brightest stars are at their
best when you face south. Halfway up the sky is the slanted line of three stars
that forms Orion’s Belt. Above it are the shoulders of the giant hunter, marked
by reddish-orange Betelgeuse and Bellatrix. Below, blue-white Rigel and Saiph
are parts of Orion’s legs. The Belt points to the right at the V-shaped Hyades
star cluster, anchored by orange Aldebaran, and the compact, eye-catching
Pleiades cluster, which together form the face and shoulder of Taurus the Bull.
To the left of the Belt is the night sky’s brightest star, Sirius, in Canis
Major, the larger of Orion’s two canine companions. Bellatrix and dim Meissa,
marking Orion’s head, form an arrowhead with Betelgeuse at the tip, which
points toward Procyon in two-star Canis Minor. Auriga and Gemini ride above
Orion. Among these New Year’s Eve constellations are five of the ten brightest
stars, with 12 more in the top 50. Betelgeuse, like many red supergiant stars,
varies in brightness over long periods as it expands and contracts.
Rather than make a New Year’s resolution that involves great sacrifice and
likely won’t see February, why not start an astronomy project to learn the sky
over the year. I recommend the RASC Explore the Universe program, which
involves observing and describing or sketching objects using your unaided eyes,
binoculars or a small telescope. The objects include constellations and bright
stars, lunar features, the solar system, deep sky, and double stars. By
observing 55 of the 110 objects you could earn a certificate and a pin. For
details, see https://www.rasc.ca/explore-universe or contact me.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 8:00 am and sunset will occur at 4:38 pm,
giving 8 hours, 38 minutes of daylight (8:02 am and 4:46 pm in Saint John).
Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 8:01 am and set at 4:44 pm, giving 8 hours,
43 minutes of daylight (8:03 am and 4:52 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter on Sunday and it passes near Mars on Friday.
Mercury is a binocular width below Venus on Tuesday and sits well to the left
of it on Friday. Saturn and Jupiter are still well placed for observing in
early evening, and on Wednesday telescope users might catch the shadow of
Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede in transit until 6:48 pm. Over the week Mars
slides down to the left of its currently brighter namesake, the orange
supergiant star Antares – “the rival of Mars.”
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
