Nature Moncton Nature News: April 8 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 8, 2022 (Friday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Shannon Inman went down to Lars Larsen Marsh in Harvey, Albert County, on Thursday morning to find a group of Great Blue Herons comfortably settled in.

She also photographed 2 male Long-tailed Ducks in the pond. It would be assumed this is an advanced guard of males heading north ahead of the females and taking a rest stop in freshwater en route.

**Aldo Dorio photographed 2 Snow Buntings at Hay Island on Thursday morning. This may be one of the last chances we get to see this species who probably are filing flight plans North at this time.

Note how white these birds are as they move into breeding plumage compared to when they arrived last fall.

**Krista Doyle got nice photographs of 2 Turkeys she spotted strolling in a field near her Lewis Mountain home.

Jim Wilson who did the extensive research before the New Brunswick Birds Record Committee accepted the Wild Turkey as a bird native to New Brunswick has said it is very unlikely at this point that a turkey seen outside the western counties of New Brunswick bordering Maine is of truly wild origin.

However, in saying that, only those turkeys know for sure! There are more and more reports and photos of turkeys being seen in other areas of New Brunswick. Whether they be feral or truly wild, it is very pleasant to see them and get photographs. Krista’s photos do show the rusty apex to the tail which is a feature of the truly Wild Turkey.

**Gordon Rattray took a walk at the Hillsborough Water Park on Thursday. Gordon notes that the trails are bare and dry full length. On his walk Gordon found his first spring flower, the Coltsfoot, always a sign that spring is arriving. He also photographed the new buds of several trees and shrubs. Highbush Cranberry still had some fruit of last year. The Tamarack tree shows the old cones but some new growth is evident in the needle nodes. The Speckled Alder has a nice male catkin but the female cone is still very small.

**Bob Blake reports that what he feels is their resident Chipmunk appeared in their Second North River Yard on Thursday, April 7 which is exactly the same date they first saw it last year.

*A very conservatively plumaged female American Goldfinch was drinking out of the stream that Jane and Ed LeBlanc have hooked up to their pond on Thursday in St. Martins. Later a much brighter now breeding plumage male showed up as well.

**Brian Stone drove through Baie Verte, Port Elgin, and Cape Tormentine on Wednesday searching all the coastal areas in the hope that the rare Steller's Sea Eagle might have flown that far from its last known location in NS on Tuesday. Even though he was disappointed that he didn't find it in any of the areas that he searched he did make the best of it by taking as many pictures that he could of everything else that he saw. His first photo of the day was of a White-tailed Deer walking down Siddall Rd. looking unconcerned in the late morning light.

Brian's first big photo op happened along route 960 near Cape Spear when he came across a deer carcass on the road that was being scavenged by a dozen American Crows and Common Ravens plus 6 Bald Eagles. After taking way too many pictures of those eagles Brian continued on to Cape Tormentine where he photographed the same Black Scoters and Long-tailed Duck that he did the last time he was there.

On the way home at Port Elgin, Brian drove through Indian Point where he noticed a lone Lesser Black-backed Gull hanging out with a large group of other gulls at the water's edge. (Editors note: this is no doubt the first of many of this gull species we will see moving through over the next weeks, not all adult as Brian's photo is. Note the yellow legs, slate coloured mantle, and smaller size in comparison with the Black-backed Gull).

A few meters past the group of gulls Brian saw an American Kestrel perched on the power lines along the roadside. As he took its picture it flew off into a field and landed on the tip of a small evergreen tree.

Back at Baie Verte he took photos of 4 Red-breasted Merganser Ducks that were splashing about in possible mating activity.

Brian also couldn't resist a few more photos of the 3 Sandhill Cranes at Jolicure as he passed late in the day. The light was getting low though and the birds were backlit for poor photo conditions. While he was striving to get pictures of the cranes in the poor light a pair of Turkey Vultures made a low flyover to finish off his day in a nice way.

Brian also sends photos of a Muskrat munching on reeds and of a Fly on Coltsfoot flowers alongside the trail at Highland Park in Salisbury taken on Thursday.

**It’s Friday and once again time to review what next week sky may have in store for us courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason. Long-term weather forecast is calling for clear nights so hoping that holds.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2022 April 9 – April 16
In April we can start a long goodbye with the winter constellations. Orion and Taurus are setting together, which makes it easier to imagine their eternal battle. The bull is protecting the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) from the amorous advances of Orion, who is about to strike a downward blow to the bull’s head with his upraised club. The bull’s long horns, one tip of which is the bottom left star of Auriga (Elnath - officially the second brightest star of Taurus), are not to be taken lightly. It is difficult to tell which of the two combatants is more dangerous.

The winter constellations of Auriga and Gemini are still up past midnight but Rigel, in the knee of Orion and the low point of the Winter Circlet of bright stars, is setting around 10:30 pm. With the Pleiades sinking in the western twilight, through a thicker layer of our atmosphere, they will twinkle more. I have a pleasant memory of seeing them with binoculars when they were low in the west, flickering wildly like candles on a birthday cake. I had the urge to make a wish and blow them out. Mercury will be passing near the Pleiades near month’s end to enhance the binocular view.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:43 am and sunset will occur at 7:58 pm, giving 13 hours, 15 minutes of daylight (6:49 am and 8:02 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:31 am and set at 8:07 pm, giving 13 hours, 36 minutes of daylight (6:37 am and 8:11 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at first quarter on Saturday and full next Saturday. On Tuesday Jupiter rises 55 minutes before the Sun but bright twilight will make it very difficult to see Neptune just below it with a telescope. Venus, Mars and Saturn are stretched out 10 to 25 degrees to the west of Jupiter. Mercury has popped up into the evening sky after last weekend’s conjunction, setting 50 minutes after sunset on Tuesday. The steep angle if the ecliptic on spring evenings places Mercury higher than usual making it easier to locate, especially with binoculars at first.

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.