NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
Feb 4, 2022 (Friday)
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Edited by:
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**Aldo Dorio was fortunate to have a female Merlin pose for photographs from 3 different angles near his Neguac home on Thursday.
Aldo’s
photos nicely show the weak single moustache line, vertical breast striping,
and dark bars on the tail that are clearly thicker than the pale bars. The Merlin is one
of the smaller falcons at an average of 12 inches.
**
Brian Stone visited Mapleton Park briefly on Thursday to check out the
duck population. With the help of a friend he met in the park, he found a
female American Wigeon duck resting in the snow beside the creek at the
bridge. He also photographed a couple of the 4 Mallard duck hybrids that
were present. Most other ducks were regular Mallard ducks with a few American Black Ducks scattered among them. This is basically the same group makeup
that is there regularly. (Editor’s note: some of Brian’s Mallard duck hybrid
photos merit some sober second thoughts. Comments welcomed.)
Ron
Arsenault comments:
“The first
one #1, labelled as intersex: I agree. My thoughts are that this is most likely
an intersex female mallard.
The second
photo #2, the one labelled as a hybrid: I do not see any evidence of Black Duck
in this individual. I think this is either an aberrantly coloured male
mallard or an intersex female that did not follow the usual progression where the
bill is last to take on male colouration.
The third
picture #3 also labelled as a hybrid: I agree that this one looks like it has
both Mallard Duck and Black Duck in its ancestry, but more likely a backcross
of some description and not an F1 (first generation) hybrid.”
Flocks of American Goldfinches were zipping around the area and the ever present Black-capped Chickadees were haunting the feeder spots that park patrons were setting up for them. American Robins were hopping through the low bushes on the sides of the trail and occasionally popping out onto the trail itself.
A
nest was photographed in a tree overlooking the creek that appears possibly to be a Vireo nest.
**Gart Bishop shares a cartoon
too good not to share called
"Hiking with a Naturalist."
Click on it
in the photo section to enlarge it to enjoy a bit of humour while the snow
swirls outside!
**The
challenge of differentiating Sharp-shinned Hawk from a Cooper’s Hawk often
arises.
I
had one take a Starling as his prey (no, it’s not for hire!) on Wednesday that
seemed to have some features of both species when studying briefly-allowed
photographs. In consult with experienced birders, the consensus leads to a Cooper's Hawk. I will share thoughts given.
Judging
by size alone, this bird goes into the category of Cooper’s Hawk appearing
considerably larger than his prey that averages 8 ½ inches. The legs and toes
are thick and robust and the bill seems large. The bird seems to have a rather flat-topped
head that also may be suggestive of Cooper’s Hawk.
Tawny-brown
head colouration also suggests Cooper’s Hawk. Todd Watts points out that eye
position and facial appearance suggest Cooper’s Hawk, noting that Sharp-shinned Hawks tend to look bug-eyed while Cooper’s Hawks look more fierce. The
chest markings seem finer than would be expected on a Sharp-shinned Hawk.
This
raptor arrived back in the heavy snow of Friday morning to again give a few
quick photos that clearly show some Cooper’s Hawk identification clinchers. The
outer tail rectrices are definitely shorter than the middle ones to give a rounded tail apex and the slim
streaks on the chest do not go all the way down as they would in a Sharp-shinned
Hawk.
**It’s
Friday and hopefully there will be a few clear nights ahead to see some of the sky objects
sky guru Curt Nason points out in his weekly report below:
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2022 February 5 –
February 12
The most inconspicuous of the zodiac constellations is faint Cancer the Crab,
which is nestled between Gemini and Leo. In mythology, the crab was sent by the
goddess queen Hera to distract Hercules while he was battling the Hydra. The
crab was no match for the strongman’s stomp. Ancient Egyptians saw it as their
sacred dung beetle, the scarab. In the first millennium BC the Sun was in
Cancer at the summer solstice, the time when it halts its northward motion and
slowly starts heading south. This back-and-forth motion of the rising and
setting Sun on the horizon was perhaps reminiscent of a crab sidling on a
beach. The summer Sun is now situated in Taurus near the constellation border
with Gemini.
Cancer is recognized by a trapezoid of dim naked eye stars as the crab’s body,
with a couple of other stars representing the claws. The four stars were also
seen as a manger flanked by a pair of donkeys, Asellus Borealis and Asellus
Australus. On a clear dark night, we can see a hazy patch of hay within the
manger, and binoculars reveal it as a beautiful star cluster called the Beehive,
Praesepe or M44. Being near the ecliptic, the planets often pass through or
near this cluster, masquerading as a bright guest star. The Beehive was once
used to forecast storms, for if it could not be seen it was hidden by light
clouds at the front of a weather system. Binoculars can reveal another star
cluster, number 67 on the Messier list of fuzzy non-comets, less than a
fist-width south of M44.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:36 am and sunset will occur at 5:30 pm,
giving 9 hours, 54 minutes of daylight (7:39 am and 5:37 pm in Saint John).
Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:26 am and set at 5:40 pm, giving 10 hours,
14 minutes of daylight (7:30 am and 5:47 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is about a thumb-with to the left of Uranus around 8 pm on Monday,
allowing a good chance to see the seventh planet in binoculars. It is at first
quarter on Tuesday and telescope users might catch the lunar X around 2 pm.
Jupiter is the only naked-eye planet in the evening sky but it is getting too
low to offer a steady view in a scope, setting soon after 7 pm. Venus dominates
the morning sky, being near its brightest and peaking a planetary triangle with
Mars to the lower right and Mercury farther to the lower left.
On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the
Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
**Mitch Doucet has already posted this message on
naturenb listserv but has suggested it be posted here as well for
nonsubscribers to naturenb listserv. Apologies for double posting for some.
“A Varied Thrush (Grive à collier) VATH was reported by homeowner Lorraine Wheaton on
2022-02-02.
It has been present for
about a week according to the neighbour.
Bad weather
in the forecast so hopefully he will make it through.
The bird
can be observed at *8 or 12 Racetrack Rd* in Dorchester, NB.
Be
respectful of the homeowner's properties as usual and try not to block traffic.”
The Varied
Thrush breeds in Western Canada to Alaska and moves into the Western US in the
winter. It is a long way from home but every few years, this colourful thrush
pays a visit to New Brunswick and when it does is often faithful to a feeder yard.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
