Nature Moncton Nature News: April 15 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 15, 2022 (Friday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Louise Nichols had a new yard visitor on Thursday when a Pied-billed Grebe visited their yard pond in Aulac and stayed for the day, sharing the pond with a couple of Mallard Ducks.

Louise has also been seeing a Muskrat on the pond lately. She also saw a Mink on Thursday morning which, in Mink fashion, moved too fast to photograph. Louise also saw a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the woods on Wednesday, tapping into some birch trees.

Louise wonders if Mink would prey on Muskrat. A literature search suggests that they will but wonder how prevalent this actually is in nature. It would be very interesting to hear comments about that relationship.

**The Eastern Phoebe is normally our first flycatcher to arrive in the spring. Frank Branch in Paquetville comments April 12 (Tuesday) will be the earliest arrival to his property he has recorded. It fed all day on big black flies (editors note: probably Cluster Flies) emerging from under the cedar shingles of both the house and the garage but it stayed for only one day. Frank gives his recorded dates below:

2017= April 26

2018= April 25

2019= MAY 08

2020= April 15

2021= April 20

2022= April 12

**Aldo Dorio photographed a pair of Green-winged Teal that arrived to Hay Island on Thursday to comfortably settle in.

**Gordon Rattray made a trip to the White Rock Recreational area to scout the area before the Nature Moncton gathering on Apr 23. The trail still has a few snow packed areas, but it most certainly will be clear of snow by next week. There is evidence that life is returning to many of the trees. No ground plants have emerged, except for Coltsfoot. Gordon spotted a willow showing last year's seed cases and several trees like the Balsam Poplar and the Trembling Aspen are budding out. Gordon did a close examination of a Red Spruce to see the identifying hairs on the twigs. Pine Cone Gall was apparent on many willow shrubs.

Gordon also photographed some lichens found in the area. A special treat was finding Beaked Hazel in flower on the old rail line in Albert Mines.

**Another photograph Gordon took a few days ago in his yard shows a miniature forest of lichens and mosses. The grey branching lichen is one of the group of Cladonia species often referred to as Reindeer Mosses (or more accurately Reindeer Lichens). This group of lichens provides winter forage for reindeer/caribou. Somewhat surprisingly the dark grey-green cup-like structures scattered about the picture and British Soldier Lichen belong to the same diverse genus of lichens.

**On Wednesday Brian Stone Drove through the Jolicure and Tantramar Marsh area on another photo expedition. He stopped by the Sandhill Crane spot and photographed, again, one of the cranes that are still foraging in that large field beside the Parson Rd.

He found a marshy area where Wood Frogs were calling loudly and struggled to find one to photograph but finally managed to find one poking its head up deep in the wet area. Considering how many were calling he was surprised that only one was visible.

There were clouds of small insects, Midges maybe, hovering over the marshy spot and Brian did his best to photograph them but could not get close enough to get a sample for closer inspection.

A male Ring-necked Pheasant crossed the road lazily in front of his car and made him come to a stop, getting photographed in return.

The Bald Eagle was still sitting on the nest in the marsh, looking relaxed and comfortable.

**On Thursday Brian Stone visited the Sackville Waterfowl Park and walked the central boardwalk area. Tree Swallows were present and were checking out nest boxes prior to moving in. Red-winged Blackbirds were all around the marsh getting ready to nest in the reeds. Alder Catkins were hanging from every alder branch and Honey Bees and other small bees and flies were busy collecting pollen from the blooming male Pussy Willow catkins.

At the Arthur St. lagoon in Memramcook on the way home, Brian photographed one of the dozens of Ring-necked Ducks, one of the 6 Northern Pintail Ducks, and the one, lone remaining Long-tailed Duck that was present.

**On the Lichen effort, Nelson Poirier photographed a striking growth of a Platismatia lichen species with one view showing the Old Man’s Beard lichen attached.

Kendra Driscoll comments

“This is a Platismatia species lichen of which we have several that look similar in New Brunswick. It is really quite a striking lichen. A relatively small portion of this lichen is normally attached to the substrate and it's pretty normal to see it spreading well beyond the edges of a branch just as shown in the photo. Sometimes after a windstorm you can find this kind of lichen loose on the ground giving a clue to lichens growing well above your head. There is a bit of old man's beard present as well”.

We are getting some nice lichen photos coming in and after having Kendra Driscoll from the New Brunswick Museum offer comments and identity, the editor feels we are better to learn the scientific genera name which will make it easier to talk to these interesting creatures by name when we meet them. There appears to be approximately a dozen genera that are commonly encountered in New Brunswick. In this and future editions, we will use the genus name with those lichens that look similar and common names with those that are well recognized with a common name.

**It’s Friday already time to review what next week’s night sky has in store for us courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2022 April 16 – April 23
With Easter happening this weekend let us look for signs of it in the night sky. Lambs have long been associated with spring and Easter, so we can start with Aries the Ram low in the west after sunset. For many, the symbol of Easter is Peter Cottontail, the Easter Bunny. When darkness sets in we can see Lepus the Hare below the feet of Orion. I see the constellation as three vertical pairs of stars, with the brightest pair in the middle and the widest to the right. In Germanic mythology, Ostara, the goddess of spring, found a wounded bird and changed it into a hare so that it could survive. This animal was allowed to run as fast as it could fly and it retained the ability to lay eggs, which it did in spring to honour its rescuer. The Saxon name for the goddess was Eostre. With a late Easter this year both Aries and Lepus will be difficult targets, near setting on the western horizon at 9 pm.

Sunrise services are a popular way to celebrate Easter, and that is a good time to look for religious Easter symbols in the sky if you are an hour or two early. The Northern Cross, the most recognizable part of Cygnus the Swan, is high in the east among the procession of constellations. Look for semicircular Corona Borealis to the southwest, one third of the way from the bright star Arcturus toward equally bright Vega. Can you picture this as a cave with an open door? It does play the role of a cave in a local aboriginal legend in which the bowl of the Big Dipper is a bear pursued by seven hunters.

I think the best symbol is seen on the full Moon when it is full or nearly so. When it rises in spring, look for the dark bunny ears to the upper right. With them identified, it isn’t difficult to picture Peter Cottontail clutching a giant egg.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:31 am and sunset will occur at 8:07 pm, giving 13 hours, 36 minutes of daylight (6:37 am and 8:11 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:18 am and set at 8:17 pm, giving 13 hours, 59 minutes of daylight (6:25 am and 8:20 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is full this Saturday; the first full Moon after March 21 and hence this is Easter weekend; and it will reach third quarter phase next Saturday. The planets Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter are stretched out along the shallow-angled ecliptic in the morning sky, with Saturn rising first midweek around 4:10 and with each planet leading the next by 20-30 minutes. For the next two weeks Mercury will be at its best evening observing for the year, reaching greatest elongation from the Sun on April 29 near the Pleiades. On Friday or Saturday morning and late Friday night we might see a few extra shooting stars arising from near the bright star Vega as the Lyrid meteor shower peaks.

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.