Wolf Pack

Here is an ode to the pelican.

Its beak can hold more than its belly can.

by Al B. Tross

Terry:

I am not much of a birdwatcher since my eyesight is almost gone. However, we do have a pair of ospreys that nest nearby. There are occasionally flocks of snowy egrets that descend on the yard looking for lizards and insects. We have two private lakes in our development which host some ducks when there are no alligators around.

We see parrots that are descended from escaped pets. There are also many different birds that stop here during their migration.

We have a nesting pair of burrowing owls that return every winter. They perch on the corner of our roof and hunt small animals that come out at night. They are silhouetted by city light reflected off the clouds.

One of the strangest sights I ever saw down here was a flock of nearly 30 egrets "standing" on an electric wire as if they were about to migrate somewhere.

Keep the "Critter Notes" coming.

I saw a single Ruby Throated Hummingbird September 25th and another on the 28th. They are getting scarce now; involved in their semi-annual migration. Those sightings reminded me of the enjoyment to be found in the marvelous hobby of bird watching, and, to wonder if there were any other bird watches in the Wolf family.

Please share your interest in a posting to our nifty blog. Or with a comment to my posting. Or, in a plain ole email to me if that’s your preference.

By the way, removing your “hummer” feeders to encourage them to leave is a myth. Keep your feeders up until a hard freeze puts the feeder in peril. Hummer migration is more likely driven by the lessening daylight or colder temperatures, not whether or not your feeder is still available. Keeping it operational for a while longer could be very helpful to those birds which might be migrating through your neighborhood from farther north. I know they will be pleased with your generosity.

Keep in mind that hummer you enjoyed all summer likely will winter in the sub-tropics far south of most snowbirds. And, it gets there via the do-it-yourself method of travel. Awesome!

To enjoy birding in general requires very few tools. Two are essential; a good quality binocular and a good bird identification book.

Look for binoculars that are comfortable to carry, focus smoothly near and far and have a bright, clear image. You can find something quite adequate in the $100-$300 price range. I have a 10 x 50 Nikon for use around the house and an 8 x 25 Minolta for use in the field (much smaller and lighter to carry).

My favorite bird identification books are:

1) Birds of North America, by Golden, 2) Field Guide to the Birds of North America, by National Geographic, and 3) Field Guide to North American Birds, by the Audubon Society. You should be able to evaluate these, and others, at your local book store, or, better yet, borrow them from the local library for a good test drive.

Feeding the birds is a nice component of the hobby. Again, a fairly modest investment in several feeders (and maintaining them) will soon attract many species and bring them up close for your watching enjoyment.

Just wait until the first time you see poppa Cardinal feed a carefully selected seed to his potential mate, or, a newly fledged Mourning Dove attempt to extract its first meal from your feeder. The rewards are endless.

Spring's sprung.
Fall's fell.
Winter's come.
It's Florida.

--Yesterday I came in from some chores and my glasses steamed up. Barf!

--Last night the temps dropped into the 30s for the first time this season. Barf!

Sincerely,
Barf

Terry:
Nice astronmy lesson. FYI, a partial eclipse of the moon occured on Sept 7.
Here is photo of a partially eclipsed Moon rising on Sept 7, over an estate in Huddersfield, England.

Backyard astronomy can be a marvelous, viewing adventure. Here are some visual delights easily seen on clear fall evenings:

--Most folks recognize the Big Dipper. That star pattern just after dark this time of year is located high in the northwestern sky. Its handle will be curving from straight south toward the southwest. Did you know the two stars that form the dipper’s ladle opposite the handle and from bottom to top always point to the North Star? And, the dipper is always visible in our night sky? It is circumpolar which means it revolves constantly above our northern horizon around Polaris—the North Star; both always in our sight in clear viewing conditions.

--Yes, there is a Little Dipper as well. Polaris is at the very end of its handle but due to light pollution and the fact most of its stars are not very bright it is very, very difficult to see.

--Straight overhead these early evenings you will find the brightest star in this part of the sky. Look carefully. Not only is it very bright it also has a bluish cast. That star is Vega. A little ways to its east is another fairly bright star. That is Deneb. Hold your hand out at arm’s length and open it wide. Put the end of your little finger on Vega and the end of your thumb will nearly touch Deneb.

Deneb is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus “The Swan”. Almost straight south of those two and almost directly between them is the third bright star in that part of the sky. That’s Altair. If you do the same distance measurement with your open hand you will find Altair is about one and ½ times the span of your hand from both Deneb and Vega. Together those three form an almost perfect triangle and the latter two are about the same apparent brightness.

--If the moon happens to be passing by it’s a mere 250,000 miles away, give or take a few. With your naked eyes you can see more detail on the moon’s surface than astronomers can see in all the other celestial bodies combined with the most powerful telescope on Earth. See, your eyes are not so bad after all.

--Here’s one final tidbit for our excursion into the celestial sphere. Our sun, which is simply a very ordinary star--as stars go--, is about 93 million miles away. Tell someone you can stand in your backyard and clearly see an object over 90 million miles away and they’ll likely scoff at your obvious fib. (But, don’t ever look directly at the sun. That can blind you!)

And, when you first see the sun peak over the eastern horizon you are seeing the sunrise which actually happened about eight minutes previously. That’s because light travels at approximately 186,000 miles per second and it takes that long for the sun’s rays to travel those 93 million miles to Earth. You are actually looking back in time.

Finally, while you are peering skyward some evening you likely will see one of the near countless satellites that orbit our planet. They will look like semi-bright stars passing by at the apparent speed of a high altitude jet airplane, but they are much, much higher than passenger jets; likely over 250 miles above Earth or more.

There! In our little adventure you learned about some constellations, a few stars, some astronomical figures, satellites and a bit about two of our solar system neighbors. Later in the year, the winter sky will treat us to a delightful view of the constellation Orion, arguably the most popular in the entire sky.

Maybe we will take another celestial excursion then.