Nature Moncton Nature
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well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond, are invited to share their
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**Ted Sears shares a photo
of two wild turkeys among a group of 39 he observed in St. Martins. They
have been growing in numbers between the village and the parkway. A couple of
residents have been putting out food for other birds and now have a much larger
clientele!
**With a thin ice sheet on parts of Jones Lake in Moncton, Georges Brun observed a grouping of approximately 20 hooded mergansers that were joined by a few common mergansers on Monday.
Georges also noted a flock
of approximately 30 snow buntings on the shoreline of the Petitcodiac River on
November 1.
(Editor’s note: from
recent reports, it is shaping up to be a great winter for hosting our northern
winter visitors and some of the nomadic species.)
**John Inman had two rusty
blackbirds arrive to join a few other remnant blackbirds still present. The
rusty blackbirds are very likely to remain with John for the winter, as they
did last winter.
John also photographed a chipping
sparrow in its expected winter non-breeding plumage. When enlarging the
photo, take note of the black eye line extending right to the bill, which is a
consistent chipping sparrow field mark.
John comments that he missed
a photo opportunity of an adult northern goshawk (a raptor we don’t often get photos of)
and a female pine grosbeak.
**Brian Stone took advantage of the nice weather on Thursday afternoon to go for a walk at Wilson Marsh and take some photos. At one point along the path, a pair of snow buntings landed in front of him and stayed long enough for a few photos. A male ring-necked pheasant flew up suddenly from the reeds and, after a few seconds of flight, landed in another patch of reeds and disappeared.
A small
group of ring-billed gulls was standing on the ice out in the frozen
pond and appeared to be walking on water. One nest box Brian walked past
was stuffed with thick grass stems, maybe overstuffed. At a farm on the
Scott Rd., a large flock of European starlings was taking a bath in
a puddle, maybe 30 at a time, and were kicking up quite a spray in the
air.
(Editor’s note: One would
have to wonder if the stuffed nest box may not be a prank of human origin, but
if someone can suggest a possible wildlife source, comments are welcome.)
By 1930 the borders of 88 constellations had been set to cover the entire sky
by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the overlords of all things
astronomical. Many constellations were created by stargazers in Babylonia more
than 6000 years ago, later to be adopted and expanded by the Greeks. Claudius
Ptolemy’s second-century treatise, The Almagest, included a star map which
included 48 constellations, most of which survived the IAU. A few centuries ago
many constellations were made up for the newly “discovered” skies of the deep
southern hemisphere and to fill in gaps in the familiar northern hemisphere. In
New Brunswick we get to see all or parts of 66 constellations, but some are
rather elusive.
Two of the gap-fillers lurk between the traditional autumn and winter
constellations in the northeast these evenings, and they can be as difficult to
see as their namesakes in New Brunswick. Stretching between Ursa Major and the
Gemini-Auriga pair is a sparse zigzag of stars making the Lynx. Just as you are
unlikely to see this cat near urban areas, you need to be in a rural region to
spot Lynx. Between Lynx and the semicircle of Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Perseus
is the enigmatic and tough-to-pronounce-after-a-few Camelopardalis, which of
course is a giraffe. With its head near Polaris, a critter this far north
should have been a reindeer. Before you have a few, go out and see if you can
locate them.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:29 and sunset will occur at 4:40, giving
9 hours, 11 minutes of daylight (7:32 and 4:48 in Saint John). Next Saturday
the Sun will rise at 7:38 and set at 4:36, giving 8 hours, 58 minutes of
daylight (7:41 and 4:43 in Saint John).
The Moon is at first quarter next Friday morning and near Saturn the
following day. Mercury is half a binocular width above Venus Tuesday and
Wednesday, rising about an hour before sunrise and climbing higher while
brightening over the week. Saturn will be at its best for observing
around 8 pm, and it reaches its second stationary point next Friday. This
Saturday telescope users can catch Jupiter’s moon Europa and its shadow on
opposite sides of the planet’s face around 10 pm, with the Red Spot approaching
the middle. Mars is too close to the Sun for viewing; it will be in conjunction
with the Sun early next year.
Tune in to the Sunday
Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of
Astronomy by the Bay.
Questions? Contact Curt
Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
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