Nature Moncton Nature News: March 3 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

March 3, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Dale and Helen Halfpenny photographed an interesting contest between two female White-tailed Deer that were standing on their hind legs in a hoof duel over who had the first rights to a nearby food source. Photographs were taken right outside their window.

They also captured a photo of a Sharp-shinned Hawk that was mantling over its captured prey of an Evening Grosbeak.

** Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins still has Evening Grosbeaks coming to her yard in good numbers. This week she also had a Song, Tree, and White-throated Sparrow as well.

On the beach Friday morning, she had a sighting of approximately a dozen Snow Buntings. These have been few and far between this winter.

**Susan Richards shares 2 photos of White-tailed Deer at the feeder station then out in the field, resting after eating all the sunflower seeds and corn mixture that is cast out for the birds. Early Thursday morning, with the sun shining on them, they had the same coating of rime ice on their faces and whiskers and backs as the trees had. The Richards have had up to 9 White-tailed Deer, from the momma deer who knows Susan’s voice to the skittish young ones that were born in May/June last year.

When they are done at the feeder station, they file along the tree line and up to the neighbours' house single file; it is quite the parade.

**Patty McCarthy has had a Yellow-spotted Salamander enjoying its winter torpor in her basement. Patty noticed it moving about on November 21 and December 12 but has not noticed it since. It presumably moved into a small crevice to overwinter when the temperature dropped. Salamanders will go into torpor at cold temperatures, but one can rest assured that at the first indication of melting vernal pools, they will become very active, releasing spermatophores if male and gathering them up if female for a very lively period of procreation.

On January 21, Patty noted at first what she thought was a seal on the ice near the Home Hardware parking lot in Shediac bridge. On a closer look, she realised it was a River Otter and was able to get some nice photos. River Otters are always a special animal to see and interesting to watch their antics.

**Janice MacLean, who recently moved to Lake Ainslie in Cape Breton, NS, from Riverview, was able to capture a photo of the close conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter just after sunset on Wednesday.

Brian Stone reviewed the special photo and labelled it. Jupiter is a much larger planet looking smaller in Janice’s photo as it is so much farther away from Earth.

**Brian Stone revisited Mill Creek Park in Riverview again on Thursday to find many Weasel or Mink and Snowshoe Hare tracks and trails alongside the walking trails. Few birds were seen, but a few Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches came close around some bird feeder areas. A male Hairy Woodpecker was moving about.

Brian also noted the ice on the reservoir dam had melted away significantly in just the two days since he had been there last. Before leaving for the walk in the park, Brian also photographed a long rodent trail in the snow in his backyard that suggested Shrew trails, but Brian mentions he knows that Deer Mice are under his deck so that cannot be eliminated as the source of the tracks.

**Nelson Poirier recently hung a 16-inch section of a severely cankered Beech log with the bird feeders and smeared it with peanut butter, hanging it with an eye hook. Prompt approval was given by Black-capped Chickadees, which soon got the attention of woodpeckers and other peanut butter connoisseurs. This natural feeder, along with an 8-foot erect log with 2-inch holes filled with suet, has become very popular.

(Editor’s note: it has been surprising how popular the suet and peanut butter is with American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos in the natural logs but not so much in the suet cages).

** It’s Friday already, and time to check what clear sky nights may have in store for us this coming week.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2023 March 4 – March 11
This week we will take the path less travelled to pick out a few of the more obscure constellations in our sky. If you don’t have a clear view to the south or if you are cursed by light pollution in that direction, they will be obscure to the point of invisibility. Around 9 pm, cast your eyes toward Sirius in Canis Major, the Big Dog. Hugging the horizon below Sirius you might detect a Y-shaped group of stars that forms Columba the Dove. This is one of the later constellations, created a century after Christopher Columbus made his first voyage, and it was meant to depict a dove sent by another famous sailor called Noah. It could also be the dove released by yet another famous sailor, Jason of the Argonauts fame, to gauge the speed of the Clashing Rocks of the Symplegades. The dove lost some tail feathers, and the Argo lost a bit of its stern.

There is a good case to be made for this interpretation. To the left of Columba, rising past the rear end of Canis Major is the upper part of Puppis the Stern. It was once part of a much larger constellation called Argo Navis, Jason’s ship, which has been disassembled to form Puppis, Vela the Sails and Carina the Keel. To the left of Puppis is a vertical line of three stars forming Pyxis, the (Mariner’s) Compass, and some say it once formed the mast of Argo Navis. At its highest, it does point roughly north-south.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:53 am and sunset will occur at 6:09 pm, giving 11 hours, 16 minutes of daylight (6:57 am and 6:15 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:39 am and set at 6:19 pm, giving 11 hours, 40 minutes of daylight (6:44 am and 6:24 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is near Regulus on Sunday and it is full on Tuesday. Venus and Jupiter are parting significantly, with Venus setting 50 minutes later than Jupiter by next weekend. Mars continues to move through the horns of Taurus the Bull, and by next weekend it will be between the horn tips. Mercury and Saturn are too close to the Sun for observing. Beginning Thursday, there is a two-week moonless period when rural observers might see a subtle pyramid of light in the western sky. Caused by sunlight scattering off dust along the ecliptic, the zodiacal light is seen best from 60 to 90 minutes after sunset. Venus will be within it, and it is recommended to scan back and forth to notice where the brightness drops off.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets at the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre this Saturday at 7 pm. All are welcome. 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.

**The New Brunswick Environmental Network shares information on upcoming events they are aware of available to those interested in the environment. A left click on each event opens it up to give further details and, in some cases, a link to register.

Upcoming Events for the Month of March

March 1st: