Nature Moncton Nature News: Dec 9 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Dec 9, 2022

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

NEST BOX LABEL

**Late afternoon on December 8, Yves Poussart had a visit at his home from a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH coming to feed on a suet block. Although the light was far from optimal for photography, Yves was happy to get a few photos of this event. This is the first visit of this species at his home.

In comparison, the RED-BREASTED-NUTHATCH is sometimes seen. On the other hand, the RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER (female) continues to be a daily visitor since November 13.

**Wendy Sullivan has had a White-throated Sparrow as a patron to her Riverview feeder yard present every day for the past few weeks.
Some White-throated Sparrows occasionally do overwinter with us and when they do can be very faithful to a feeder yard.

**Fred Dube checked out the 10 Nature Moncton nest boxes that had been erected at White Birch Estate lagoon on Thursday as well as a few older ones at the site that will need replacement. Fred notes that all the old boxes were occupied and 8 of 10 new ones had been occupied.

300 nest box labels were recently purchased and are available free of charge for folks to put on existing Nature Moncton nest boxes, and all new ones distributed in 2023 will have the labels. Fred Dube has predrilled all the labels, and screws will be available with the labels ready to be attached to the boxes. A close-up photo of what the labels are like is attached today.

**Phil Reibel is proud to announce his new 2023 Calendar of Birds of the Miramichi Area.
If you like nature and birds, this is a great gift or item for your wall. Each month features some of the amazing bird species seen in the area, with a brief description of their key features and habits.
The cost is $20 per calendar with discounts available for larger volumes.

Contact Phil at philriebel@gmail.com if you are interested.

(Editor’s note: Phil has an incredible repertoire of bird photos, and one could expect a perfect native bird photograph and info packet to be a greeting to each month).

**Brian Roulston, Gart Bishop, Bruce Bagnell, and Nelson Poirier did a hike of the calcium-rich gypsum ridges in the Piccadilly-Urney area near Sussex on Tuesday. The very old huge conglomerate boulders with a limey matrix and trees in that habitat had lots of interesting items to sleuth. Christmas Fern (Editor’s note: the signature Christmas stocking is red arrowed) and Rock Polypody Fern were abundant as well as a huge suite of lichens. Lichen photos will be shared as soon as Kendra Driscoll from the NB Museum peruses them. The Dog Lichen and Smooth Lungwort Lichen (Editor’s note: note the prominent brown numerous fruiting bodies called apothecia) photos are attached as well as a liverwort cluster with no common name.

This habitat surely does host its own community!

An interesting scenario was noted with a large very mature White Ash tree. The bark on the east to the northeast side of the tree was the expected deep furrowing. The bark on the westerly side was much smoother appearing quite different from what would be expected on a White Ash tree. It would seem the bark developed very differently with the different orientation exposure. The line of demarcation was very distinct.

The Ironwood Tree was also relatively common in that habitat and a photo of the bark is attached.

**It’s Friday an ad time to look at 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 December 10 – December 17
Evening stargazing can be tricky this time of year with all the festive lights, especially if you have a neighbourhood Griswald. If you happen to be out, try identifying a few constellations. In the northeast, there is pentagonal Auriga the Charioteer, with bright Capella the Goat Star at one corner. To the right is the V-shaped face of Taurus the Bull, with the dipper-like star cluster of the Pleiades marking its shoulder and Mars currently residing within its horns. Orion and Gemini follow below Taurus and Auriga. Above Auriga is Perseus, seemingly standing on the bull’s back. It is here a patient stargazer can watch a marvel of the night sky.
In mythology, Perseus beheaded Medusa and used her snaky head to seek revenge on tormentors by turning them to stone. The second brightest star in the constellation Perseus represents the evil eye of Medusa and it is called Algol, the ghoul or demon. There is a reason for this name. Every three days, minus about three hours, this star slowly dims by a factor of three and regains brightness over several hours. Algol is an eclipsing binary, two stars orbiting each other closely and aligned to our line of sight. When the smaller, dimmer star passes in front of the brighter one we can see the star’s light diminish and recover. By comparing it with nearby stars of similar brightness you might notice Algol dimming and getting brighter. Our next convenient evening opportunity to watch this is on Monday when Algol is dimmest around 10:30 pm.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:50 am and sunset will occur at 4:33 pm, giving 8 hours, 43 minutes of daylight (7:52 am and 4:41 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:56 am and set at 4:34 pm, giving 8 hours, 38 minutes of daylight (7:58 am and 4:42 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at third quarter on Friday, December 16, rising before midnight on Thursday and setting before 1 pm. Mars is highest around midnight, and it will gradually appear smaller in telescopes over the next two months. Saturn is seen best in the early evening, while Jupiter is at its highest around 7 pm. Telescope users might see Jupiter’s Red Spot around 7:30 on Monday and 9 pm Wednesday. The solar system highlight will be the reliable Geminid meteor shower, which peaks over Wednesday night but should be fairly active the night before and after. The waning gibbous Moon will reduce morning observing success but there should be plenty of bright meteors to make braving the chill worthwhile.
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.