Nature Moncton Nature News: December 15 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

December 15, 2023

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .

Please advise both the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

** While participating in the St. Martins Christmas bird count, Jane LeBlanc found 3 Boreal Chickadees while walking behind the big Catholic Church. She hasn't seen any of these little birds for many years.

**Shannon Inman came across a tom turkey trying to cross the road in Hillsborough on Thursday.
She stopped to get him off the road and he got his dander up so she decided against a helpful confrontation!
(Editor’s note: Tom turkeys can have a mind of their own and assumedly Shannon’s meeting was with a young male as those dangerous spurred legs would appear yet to develop. The tailfeathers tipped with chestnut are indeed a feature of the wild turkey and the wild turkey is now considered a resident bird of New Brunswick. However, at the moment, only those in the proximity of the Maine border from northern to southern New Brunswick can be considered truly wild.)

**Richard Blacquiere spotted a very cooperative 1st winter Lesser Black-backed Gull among the gulls roosting at the McAllister Place parking lot in Saint John on a windy, chilly Thursday morning. It immediately stood out as being smaller than the Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls next to it, and barely larger than some nearby Ring-billed Gulls. Richard comments that it was nice to be able to study it at leisure, and in comfort, from his warm vehicle.
(Editor’s note: Richard's photos beautifully demonstrate the ID features that confirm this to be the 1st-winter phase of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, a species we don’t see very often, let alone a first-cycle bird!
Richard’s photos show the darker greater coverts as well as the dark tail band that is much thicker than that of the 1st-winter Great Black-backed Gull, as well as the whitish upper tail coverts and tail base.)

**Georges Brun had an immature Bald Eagle fly over their heads at the Landing (Halls Creek-Petitcodiac River) on Thursday.

An adult Bald Eagle was standing on the ice at the western side of the new Riverview Bridge on Sunday, Dec. 10.

A European Starling decided to show off atop the railing while checking the waste disposal unit nearby!

(Editor’s note: the European Starling may not be our favourite species, but its winter plumage of starlets that gave it its name has to be considered showy!)

**Brian Stone spent 6 hours (split evenly over three nights, the 13th, 14th, and 15th) reclining on a lawn chair in his sister's Upham backyard after midnight counting and trying to photograph meteors from the Geminid meteor shower that was peaking over those 3 evenings. On the first evening, Brian counted only 9 meteors and then gave up for the evening, expecting better results on the next two nights. On the 14th Brian saw more meteors but most were not the brightest that the shower could produce and made for unimpressive photos.

On the 15th Brian was hoping for his first good, impressive-as-heck, meteor photo, and one hour into his vigil he struck it rich when a nicely bright fireball meteor whizzed through his camera's field of view during the long exposure. In meteor photography, this can be considered a 'lifer.' The fireball meteor was big enough to leave a glowing meteor train of compressed, heated, and ionized air behind that was visible in subsequent photos resembling a wavy jet contrail.

Clouds moved through frequently and one bright meteor was photographed passing behind the clouds and was still able to shine through. Brian was a wee bit nervous lying out in the very dark yard on his last evening, way out in the dark countryside, under the dark sky, alone in his sister's quite dark backyard, because of the troupe of very vocal coyotes that were circling his sister's property at quite close range for most of the time that he was out stargazing. The howling and whining and yipping seemed to translate in Brian's mind as "Let's find us a nice, tasty astronomy lover and have him ~~over~~ for dinner!".

Brian also sends a labeled photo of the section of the night sky that he was photographing that includes one of the dimmer meteors that he managed to capture. In total, over all three 2-hour viewing sessions, Brian saw 82 meteors, three of which were classed as fireballs.

****It’s Friday and time for a sneak peek into what to expect to see in next week’s night sky, courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2023 December 16 – December 23
Having official constellations doesn’t prevent us from imagining our own. The sight of Orion, with club raised high and a lion-skin shield warding off the horns of a raging bull, has been etched in my memory for over half a century. But, come December, reddish Betelgeuse in Orion’s armpit becomes Santa’s red nose in profile, the curve of the shield outlines a sack of toys, and the iconic three-star belt is…well, Santa’s wide black leather belt. And on cold, clear nights there is no mistaking that twinkle in his eye. Look to the north and there is Santa’s sleigh, usually seen as the Big Dipper, being loaded up for the long night’s ride.
Many doors and windows are decorated with wreaths and the window of the winter sky is no exception. Here, Betelgeuse is a red light near the middle of a wreath we call the Winter Circlet or Winter Hexagon. By mid-evening you can trace the lights decorating the wreath, from blue-white Rigel in Orion’s leg to brilliantly colourful Sirius the Dog Star, up through Procyon the Little Dog Star, around Pollux and Castor in Gemini and Capella in Auriga to orange Aldebaran as the Bull’s eye, and back to Rigel. Imagination is a gift and Santa won’t mind if you open yours before Christmas.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:55 and sunset will occur at 4:34, giving 8 hours, 39 minutes of daylight (7:57 and 4:42 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:59 and set at 4:37, giving 8 hours, 38 minutes of daylight (8:01 and 4:45 in Saint John). The Sun reaches the winter solstice, its most southerly point on the ecliptic, on Thursday at 11:27 pm.

The Moon is near Saturn this Sunday, at first quarter on Tuesday and near Jupiter on Friday. Saturn is best seen in the early evening, setting around 10 pm midweek. On Tuesday telescope users can watch Jupiter’s moon Ganymede disappear behind the planet at 7:44 and reappear at 9:27, and then disappear into Jupiter’s shadow just after midnight. Mercury becomes increasingly difficult to see, reaching inferior conjunction next Friday. Venus is slowly moving sunward but it will remain in the morning sky throughout the winter. The minor Ursid meteor shower, with its radiant near the bowl of the Little Dipper, peaks next Friday evening.
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. This will be the last live show until January 7, but you can binge previous shows on the YouTube Channel.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton