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.
.
**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.
Nelson Poirier
Nature
Moncton