Nature Moncton Nature News: February 19 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

February 19, 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

**There are 2 more Nature Moncton activities going on this week: tomorrow is Tuesday night’s monthly meeting featuring Curt Nason on the upcoming solar eclipse. After the break, Rhonda and Paul Langelaan will give a short talk about their trip to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas with some special bird photos.

A birdfeeder tour event outing will follow on this coming Saturday, February 24.

President Fred Richards reminds us that there will be a vote to amend a few Nature Moncton bylaws at this meeting which will be very brief. The bylaw notice change has previously been distributed.

The write-up for Tuesday evening’s presentation is below:

FEBRUARY MONTHLY MEETING PRESENTATION

Topic: NB Total Solar Eclipse 2024

February 20^th, 2024 at 7:00 PM

Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge

Presenter: Curt Nason

On April 8, 2024, the Moon’s shadow will race across the central half of New Brunswick, an event that has not occurred in most of the province since before 1900. As we look forward to this once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, we are fortunate to be joined by Curt Nason, a long-time member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and the Saint John Astronomy Club, who will prepare us to get the most out of the April eclipse. Curt, who is honoured to be the namesake of asteroid “10052 Nason,” has been interested in the night sky for over 60 years and still feels 10 years old when stargazing. His presentation will explain why total solar eclipses occur so rarely in any one location, what you might see on the 8^th of April, where to watch it, and how to observe it safely.

This will be a virtual presentation that will be shown on the screen at the Mapleton Rotary Lodge. The audience present and the virtual audience will both be able to interact with Curt.

Join the Zoom interactive presentation virtually at the link below;

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81841511558?pwd=T3UwWm9RNEFORC9FTW9DVWVyK0JOQT09

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

**Nature Moncton hopes to have an outing planned to observe this once-in-a-lifetime event and will offer more information and safe solar viewing glasses for sale ($5.00 a pair) at the Tuesday, February 20th meeting. These glasses will be offered to club members first, while supplies last, before the general public. These glasses will be an absolute necessity for live viewing of the phases of the eclipse as direct viewing of the Sun, even when partially eclipsed, will result in permanent damage to the eyes. Here's hoping for clear skies and warm weather for this amazing solar spectacle.

The main path of the eclipse viewing is in today’s photo line-up.

** Yves Poussart, Suzanne Tarte-Poussart, and a close friend drove along the coast on Saturday, February 17 between Cocagne and the Bouctouche Irving Ecocenter.

Compared to the situation seen last week where the coastal ice was limited to about 500-750 meters in most places, the ice was essentially absent except in protected shallow locations. Very few birds were seen in the open water areas. The photos attached were captured either from the St-Thomas wharf or near the wharf in Bouctouche. Almost no marine ducks were seen elsewhere.

It was nevertheless a pleasant drive with good company.

**Lynn and Fred Dube paid a visit to Caledonia Mountain on Sunday to be rewarded with a Canada Jay perched on the tiptop of a tree surveying its domain.

They were also able to capture a documentary photo of a Boreal Chickadee, something that is becoming a very special event in recent years.

**Brian Coyle was out on a small lake Saturday afternoon and spotted very fresh Raccoon tracks, which reminded him that it is the start of the mating season for Raccoons, and they will come out of their semi-hibernation, even on cold nights, to look for a mate. The tracks are in pairs with obvious ‘fingers’ and the gait was about 16".

He also photographed some Weasel tracks. All 4 paws come together as they bound and the track is a bit angled, unlike a squirrel's track which is at right angles to the direction of travel. The bounds varied from about 24" to 30" apart.

Also, he noticed Snow Fleas (Springtails) showing up in his footprints upon the return journey. They always seem to congregate in fresh footprints, particularly under spruce trees. There was also a beautiful solar halo.

**Suzanne Rousseau had a bountiful crop of fruit on her Sussex yard Mountain Ash tree in the fall and a lot of American Robins enjoyed the fruit in December plus some Bohemian Waxwings in January, but no pictures of those. The tree is now completely devoid of fruit. The White-tailed Deer enjoyed the fruit that fell on the ground.

Suzanne also has had a pair of Northern Cardinals in her yard for the past 2 years and enjoys seeing them now as much as on the day they first arrived!

**On Sunday morning Brian Stone visited a fellow birder's feeder yard to get some photos of the resident Northern Mockingbird that has made that yard its home. The bird came to suet feeders regularly at 15-to-20-minute intervals for as long as Brian was there and perched in a tree resting at times before feeding. Reportedly it occasionally acts in a territorial manner and chases some birds away that it seems to feel some competition from, but Black-capped Chickadees and Blue Jays fed along with it with no problem while Brian was there.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton