Editor & Proofreader

Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Friday 20 January 2023

Jan 20 2023

 

 

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Jan 20, 2023

 

 

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

 

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

 

**On Thursday, Barb Curlew and Rick Elliott were surprised to find a dolphin was beached and deceased on the beach near Cape Enrage. It appeared to be in good condition but deceased and partly buried in the seaweed.

They consulted Don McAlpine, and he identified it as Common Dolphin ( Delphinus delphis) commenting this is not a particularly common species in the Bay of Fundy.

No doubt further investigations will be done on this very interesting observation.

Barb and Rick share photos of their find.

 

 

**Fred and Sue Richards went for a walk to check on their bee hives on their Taylor Village property Wednesday afternoon.  The bees were not active;  there was one that came out and flew around and went back in. 

 Further along past the forest, they saw the river open, free-flowing with about 35 mergansers, 1 Bald Eagle, and 3 different gull species:  Greater Black-Backed, Iceland Gull, and another one they could not ID due to distance.

They also saw molehills by their pond which is iced over. 

 These molehills are created by the Star-nosed Mole which is our only New Brunswick mole. These mounds of earth are the leftover tailings as the mole digs its underground tunnels. It is no problem to rake away these as the mounds are simply leftovers. The Star-nosed Mole is not at all uncommon but we very rarely see it due to its nocturnal nature in summer and underground in winter. They tend to like to dig their tunnels close to a water source as their diet consists of aquatic worms, including leeches, aquatic insects, and terrestrial worms.

The 22 fleshy finger-like tentacles on the edge of the nose will immediately distinguish the Star-nosed Mole from any other species of New Brunswick mammal. The long tail gives for positive identification because it is constricted at the base and swollen with stored fat. A very interesting mammal!

The Richards also noted mammal tracks by the dyke that they felt to be a Coyote which is highly suggestive.

 

**Frank Branch in Paquetville was wondering why none of his usual 30+ Mourning Doves was in his yard Wednesday morning. The reason soon became apparent when Frank spotted a Northern Goshawk that cooperated for a quick photograph.

 

**Nelson Poirier has been noting what he suspected to be a Cooper’s Hawk make periodic fly passes through his birdfeeder yard. It briefly stopped for one photo on Wednesday. The rounded tail tip with the central rectrices longer than the outer ones and the apparent large legs/ feet were suggestive of a Cooper’s Hawk but other more convincing field marks were not permitted.

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

 

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2023 January 21 – January 28
There are many critters represented as constellations; birds, fish, canines, felines, insects, snakes and even a unicorn. But no rodents have been so honoured, although the second brightest star in Gemini is called Castor, which is the genus of beavers. However, some time ago the cute bunnies decided they didn’t want to be associated with rodents and called themselves lagomorphs. So, at the risk of being attacked by the killer rabbit in Arthurian legend, I will let them represent rodentia this week.

By 9:30 pm Orion stands high in the southern sky while Lepus cowers below his feet, hoping to avoid detection by Orion’s larger canine companion to the east. I see the constellation as three vertical pairs of stars, with the brightest pair in the middle and the widest to the right. With a reasonably dark sky you can see the bunny ears between the widest pair and Orion’s brightest star, Rigel. If you extend the middle pair down an equal distance a small telescope will reveal a fuzzy patch called M79. This globular cluster is unusual in that it is in our winter sky, whereas most of the globulars are seen among the summer constellations. M79 could be part of another galaxy that is interacting with the Milky Way.

If you draw a line from the top of the middle pair to the top of the widest pair and extend it a little more than half that distance, a telescope might pick up Hind’s Crimson Star, one of the reddest stars in the sky. Its brightness varies by a factor of 300 over 14 months, with the red colour being most pronounced at its dimmest.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:53 am and sunset will occur at 5:08 pm, giving 9 hours, 15 minutes of daylight (7:55 am and 5:15 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:46 am and set at 5:18 pm, giving 9 hours, 32 minutes of daylight (7:49 am and 5:25 pm in Saint John).
    
The Moon is new on Saturday (editor’s note: potentially high Moncton tidal bore on Sunday and Monday) at the same time it reaches perigee, resulting in extreme tides for a few days. The crescent will be to the upper left of Venus and Saturn early Monday evening, and below Jupiter on Wednesday. Venus and Saturn have a close conjunction on Sunday, with Venus at the beginning of an evening apparition and Saturn heading to a conjunction in February. Telescope users might see Jupiter’s Red Spot around 6:30 Sunday and 8 pm on Tuesday. Mars continues to be brighter than any star except Sirius, passing slowly eastward over Taurus. Mercury is five degrees above the southeastern horizon an hour before sunrise this weekend.

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.

 

 

 Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

 Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

 

 

 

COMMON DOLPHIN  (Delphinus delphis)(BEACHED). JAN 19, 2023.  BARB CURLEW

COMMON DOLPHIN  (Delphinus delphis)(BEACHED). JAN 19, 2023.  BARB CURLEW

COMMON DOLPHIN  (Delphinus delphis)(BEACHED). JAN 19, 2023.  BARB CURLEW

COMMON DOLPHIN  (Delphinus delphis)(BEACHED). JAN 19, 2023.  BARB CURLEW

NORTHERN GOSWAHK. JAN 19, 2023. FRANK BRANCH

COOPER'S HAWK (SUSPECTED). JAN 19, 2023. NELSON POIRIER

STAR-NOSED MOLE (MOLEHILL). JAN 19, 2023. FRED RICHARDS


COYOTE TRACK. JAN. 18, 2023. FRED RICHARDS

Lepus 2023