NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
March 29, 2024
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The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon
nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
**David Lilly
is always photographing birds in Oromocto. On his website link below you can
see David’s latest bird photos.
David has a Fox Sparrow visiting
his feeder for the last week and has good photos.
**Leigh Eaton came across a very
interesting video which he shares at the link below. It shows the antics of a
variety of wildlife from a trail camera very much enjoying themselves rubbing
and rolling about in joy around a particular log. The video shows a Fisher, Coyote,
Black Bear, Red Fox, as well as a Martin near the end of the video that shows
its orange throat patch.
https://youtu.be/deHvzzeHYLM?si=GAwtMLpbpodDADaH
**It’s Friday
and that time of the week when sky guru Curt Nason gives us a preview of what
we may see in next week’s night sky.
(Editor’s note: the path of the total eclipse of
the sun will be passing through New Brunswick in 11 days. If the day is clear, as predicted at the moment, stay tuned to Nature News for a group Nature
Moncton event.)
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 March 30 – April 6
With Easter happening this weekend let us look for signs of it in the night
sky. Lambs have long been associated with spring and Easter, so we can start
with Aries the Ram low in the west. For many, the symbol of Easter is Peter
Cottontail, the Easter Bunny. When darkness sets in we can see Lepus the Hare
below the feet of Orion. 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.
In Germanic mythology Ostara, the goddess of spring, found a wounded bird and
changed it into a hare so that it could survive. This animal was allowed to run
as fast as it could fly and it retained the ability to lay eggs, which it did
in spring to honour its rescuer. The Saxon name for the goddess was
Eostre.
Sunrise services are a popular way to celebrate Easter, and that is a good time
to look for religious Easter symbols in the sky if you are an hour or two
early. The Northern Cross, the most recognizable part of Cygnus the Swan, is on
its side high in the east among the procession of constellations. Look for
semicircular Corona Borealis high in the south, one third of the way from the
bright star Arcturus toward equally bright Vega. Can you picture this as a cave
with an open door?
I think the best symbol is seen on the Moon when it is full or nearly so. When
it rises in spring, look for the dark bunny ears to the upper right. With them
identified, it isn’t difficult to picture Peter Cottontail clutching a giant
egg.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:01 and sunset will occur at 7:45, giving
12 hours, 44 minutes of daylight (7:07 and 7:50 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 6:48 and set at 7:55, giving 13 hours, 7 minutes of
daylight (6:54 and 7:59 in Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter on Tuesday, heading toward a meet-up with Mars
and Saturn next weekend. This weekend Mercury sets 90 minutes after sunset,
but that gap will close to 45 minutes by the end of the week. With the
lengthening daylight Jupiter is appearing lower in the west and past prime
observing, heading toward conjunction in mid-May. Rising around 6 am midweek,
Mars is moving toward a conjunction with Saturn in the following week. Venus is
getting too close to the Sun for comfortable viewing as it crawls toward
superior conjunction in early June. The subtle wedge of zodiacal light might be
see in rural areas about 90 minutes after sunset, and on Monday comet
12P/Pons-Brooks might be seen within a binocular view of Hamal, the brightest
star in Aries.
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
