Nature Moncton Nature News: January 26 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

January 26, 2024

Nature Moncton members as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond are invited to share their photos and descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition of Nature News

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

Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

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

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**The newly formed Nature Moncton Outdoors Committee has organized its first activity of the year which will be a workshop on cell phone apps for naturalists to be held tomorrow Saturday, Jan 27. It is short notice, but the new committee wants to get activities up and running with lots more to follow.

The write-up is below. If attending, register with Fred Richards at fredrichards@rogers.com

**Nature Moncton Workshop

Cell Phone Nature Apps

Nature Moncton will present its first training session of the year

on Saturday, January 27, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Tankville School, 1979 Elmwood Drive, Moncton

This workshop will provide an opportunity to learn four apps that have been found useful to many of our members. These will be presented by members who have experience with the app. There will be time for hands-on learning. If you wish to follow along on an app, please load it before the session.

Apps:

Google Lens, a product of Google, presented by Fred Richards. This is an identification app using your cell camera or photos.

eBird, an app for sharing your observations to a database. This will be presented by Cathy Simon

iNaturalist, for sharing your observations to scientific databases. It will also help with IDs. Presented by Gordon Rattray

PictureThis, an app for field ID of plants. Presenter to be named later.

If time, we will look at Merlin, a bird ID app from Cornell University that is especially useful for song IDs.

As always, everyone is welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

**Jane LeBlanc noticed a different bird with the American Goldfinch this morning. It was a Pine Siskin. She hasn't seen one for a while.

Jane has also had a Ruffed Grouse foraging for their favoured winter menu of nutritionally packed buds from a yard birch tree.

**Norbert Dupuis again shared beautiful photographs of his two female Northern Cardinals that have been regular patrons for him now for 77 days consecutively.

**It appears so far there is not a big presence of Bohemian Waxwing flocks in New Brunswick.

Nelson Poirier was surprised to have one lone Bohemian Waxwing arrive to a Multiflora rosebush in his yard and start gleaning the few rosehips that seemed to be left. Nelson immediately put out a few sprigs of frozen Mountain Ash berries collected in the fall. The waxwing continues to turn its bill up at the Mountain Ash Berry offering but seemed to be looking them over.

It is the first time Nelson has ever seen a Bohemian Waxwing foraging solo.

**Friday has arrived with some clear nights in the forecast to peruse what we may see in the night sky courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 January 27 – February 3
The constellation Hydra is the largest of the 88 and it represents a female water snake. I mention the gender because there is a male water snake constellation, Hydrus, in the southern hemisphere. A small trapezoid of stars, located about halfway below a line between Procyon in Canis Minor and Regulus in Leo, represents the snake’s head. To its lower left is a solitary bright star called Alphard, the heart of the snake. The rest of the constellation is a long serpentine string of fainter stars that stretches to Virgo. It takes about eight hours for the entire constellation to rise. Two other constellations, Corvus the Crow and Crater the Cup, are sitting on Hydra’s back.

In mythology, Hercules had to kill the multiheaded Hydra as the second of his famous labours. Knowing the creature could only be killed by severing all of the heads, and that two would grow in where one was severed, he placed a tree stump in a fire. When he cut off a head he cauterized the wound with the glowing stump to prevent regrowth. When Hera saw that Hercules might win she sent a crab to distract him, but he easily stomped it dead. That explains the presence of the dim constellation Cancer the Crab just above the head of Hydra. Hera despised Hercules because he was the illegitimate son (one of many) of her husband Zeus. When the Hydra was slain, Hercules dipped his arrows in the Hydra’s poisonous blood for later use.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:47 and sunset will occur at 5:16, giving 9 hours, 29 minutes of daylight (7:50 and 5:23 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:39 and set at 5:26, giving 9 hours, 47 minutes of daylight (7:42 and 5:33 in Saint John).

The Moon passes near Spica in Virgo from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, and it is at third quarter phase on Friday. Saturn sets around 7:30 pm midweek, heading toward conjunction at the end of February. On Monday evening telescope users might see Jupiter’s moons Io and Europa disappear behind the planet at 6:57 and 8:29, respectively. Io reappears from Jupiter’s shadow at 10:28, while Europa emerges from occultation at 10:53 and gets eclipsed at 11:15. Mercury and Mars rise just two minutes apart and an hour before sunrise this Saturday morning, about a hand span lower left of Venus. You will need binoculars and a clear horizon, with dimmer Mars being a tougher target below Mercury.

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.