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Last night (as in the changed date and time of this post) we saw a (well predicted) spectacular lunar eclipse over Britain.
We were all very fortunate that the viewing conditions were perfect - not a cloud in the sky (unlike the last one in the UK, 3 years ago, which was obscured by cloud).
The Earth's shadow began visibly moving over The Moon at around 21:30 and "Totality" occurred between 22:45 and 11:58 approximately.
The Moon turned a wonderful coppery colour.
People often expect a "blood-red" moon during lunar eclipses, probably down to the media hyping it up. The colour of the eclipsed moon is produced by refracted light from The Earth's atmosphere hitting the moon. If The Earth has, for example, had a recent period of heavy volcanic activity, the lunar eclipse will appear blood-red due to all the dust in the Earth's atmosphere.
We haven't had a recent period of volcanic activity, so the moon turned orange or copper coloured. But what an absolutely fantastic sight and so lucky with the clear night sky! The next lunar eclipse in Britain is not due for almost a year - February 21st 2008, and I dare say we probably won't be so lucky with the weather in February next year!
The photo above is of course a photo of the actual lunar eclipse, last night.
Yesterday (as in the changed date and time of this post), Anna and I took advantage of the sunny weather and went for a walk on "The Ridgeway" about 10 miles south of Didcot, to look for Short-eared Owls. I hadn't ever seen one of these (moorland or downland) owls before, but knew they are regularly seen on "Bury Down" and "Cow Down" south of Didcot, on "The Ridgeway".
As is often the case with this type of activity, the journey to destination or your trip back often proves more fruitful in terms of 'things seen', and so it was yesterday.
Half way up the A34, about 5 minutes from the "Bury Down Car Park" (which is right on top of "The Ridgeway", I witnessed a (unmistakeable) Short-eared Owl flying relatively low over the A34, right in front of and above our car. The first I'd ever seen! A wonderful view, from about 50', and from the sodding car! If we'd have been 30 seconds earlier or later we'd have seen bugger all, as we didn't see any owls on The Downs, (every man, woman and dog were out for a walk also) - "The Ridgeway" does have stunning views though, and we did see Buzzards, Sparrowhawks, a Kestrel, Skylarks, Lapwings and Yellowhammers during our walk along "The Gallops" at the top of The Ridgeway.
Short-eared Owls can often be seen during the day, rather like Little Owls, and because they hunt over moorland or downland, they are (or should be) easier to see than nocturnal woodland owls for example.If you want to see Short-eared Owls, always look along fence posts around such areas - very often, if it isn't disturbed (like yesterday), a Short-eared Owl will be sitting on a post like that, watching you WELL before you see it!
I've added two photos to this post - the first (above) is a marvellous 'portra
it photo' of a Short-eared Owl, taken on "The Downs" that we were walking on yesterday.
The photo to the right is a photo of a Short-eared Owl taken in the same area as we were walking in yesterday, and is pretty well the same sort of view we got from the car.
[Photos (c) Jerry O'Brien and Mike Prince, from "The Birds of Berkshire Website"]
The last photo of this wonderful owl is courtesy of Arthur Grosset again, (c)Arthur Grosset.com, showing the owl engaging in typical moorland quartering behaviour. A fantastic photograph - note the owl's "pyjama bottoms"!
As I watched the Goldfinches (mentioned below), I saw a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Carrion Crow in the distant sky, about half a mile from where I was sat. The Sparrowhawk was too small to be a female Sparrowhawk, and as the two birds continued their 'dogfight', they got closer and the orange breast of the male hawk was revealed to me briefly, in the very clear winter sunshine.
I've noticed sparrowhawks regularly from our old address (14 doors up the street), but this was the first I have seen from the garden of our present address.
NB. The photo (above right) was taken by Tim Ball (from the excellent Birds of Berkshire Website). This is the same geezer who snapped the photo of the Peregrine mentioned on "Blue-Grey" also.
The Sparrowhawk in the photo is a male Sparrowhawk, ringed on the 24th November 2006 (when the photo was taken) at Caversham Heights, Reading - less than a mile from the position of the Sparrowhawk I saw this morning.I will never know if it is the same individual, but it most certainly could be!
The photos below are taken from the fantastic Arthur Grosset site, [(c) Arthur Grosset] (a birdwatcher in Scotland) and shows dogfights between two sparrowhawks and the same (Hooded) Crow. This will give you an idea of the sexual dimorphism of the Sparrowhawk. The First photo is of the "Hoodie" chasing the smaller male Sparrowhawk, (slate grey back, orange barred breast); the second is of the larger female (brown above, barred brown below) seeing off the same Crow!
Having returned from haircut which involved a 2 mile walk up and down the River Thames where I saw nothing of real interest, I sat down in the garden with a cup of coffee to see a dozen or so strong, winter flock of Goldfinch "bouncing" from tree to tree at the end of the garden.
These are glorious little finches that always appear to be 'enjoying themselves', with a bouncy, undulating flight and a bubbly call. The collective noun for Goldfinches is a "Charm".
Their old english name is "King Harold's bird", a nod to the blood-red patch around their eyes. I happen to like that a lot! The gold part of the Goldfinch name refers to the magnificent yellow flash on their wings - very obvious from a distance.
[photo (c) Arthur Grosset]
"Near ring - far rain. Far ring - near rain"
You might have heard of this old country folklore quote before. It relates to the ring or "halo" often seen around the moon on clear(ish) winter nights.
Last night (as in the changed date and time of this post), we were sitting in the garden and I noticed a spectacularly clear "far-ring" (near rain)! The photo below is of a "near-ring" actually, but you get the idea...
"Moon rings" are caused by moonlight (reflected sunlight of course) being refracted through tiny ice-crystals in high atmosphere cirrus clouds. A ring far away from the moon suggests rain within 12 hours or so; a ring nearer the moon suggests heavier rain in 2 or 3 days. Some people have suggested that the number of stars held within a moon ring gives an approximation of days left before the rain arrives, which is more nonsensical, although a bit of fun!
I write this at 7am the next morning, (8 hours after we were looking at the 'far ring') and we've already had heavy rain, hail and thunder.
"Far ring - Near rain".
Oooh-Arrrh me babbers...
[On the subject of the moon, Britain is due a total lunar eclipse on Saturday night. These events are not rare, though this WILL be the only total lunar eclipse in Britain, this year. The weather looks set fair on Saturday night (at present) , so get out and watch it!]
Today I was fortunate enough to hear a Woodpecker calling nearby, and was then treated to a wonderful, long view of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker (not a "Greater" spotted Woodpecker as lots of people call it, due probably to the name of the other spotted woodpecker in the UK, the "Lesser" Spotted Woodpecker). After hearing it and keeping my eyes peeled, it flew over my head and began feeding on the large tree at the end of our garden.
One can tell the sex of the (blackbird-sized) GSW by looking at its head. All juveniles (both sexes) have a scraggy red crown for a short time. The adult females will lose all the red plumage and exhibit a totally black 'cap', whereas the adult male will show a bright red stripe on its nape, (as in the photo). The bird I saw was a beautiful adult male, very vocal and not at all bothered by the two huge woodpigeons it fed right between. NB. Should you want to 'attract' woodpeckers to you, on a woodland walk, listen carefully for any calling, then take two flints and tap them together loudly and every so often. Most male (and some female) woodpeckers find this 'intruder noise' intriguing, and will come and check you out! Just do NOT wear a tuxedo and a red scarf whilst doing this, or you might get more than you bargained for...
I was sitting in the garden today, when I noticed a skein of Geese flying at some height (I would guess at approximately 5000 foot or a mile high) in classic 'V' formation. I'm assuming these were migratory geese, flying back to their breeding grounds, as they were that high, and flying in a due east direction. (ie coming from back from Nova Scotia or Geenland etc...). Unfortunately, because they were that high, and no more than (very difficult to see) dots in the sky, I couldn't identify their species, but I might be bold enough to suggest Brent Geese or White-Fronted Geese, something 'interesting'! Nice to see though, and a sign that spring is arriving fast...!
A view of Saturn which was absolutely mind-blowing - quite literally "out of this world", and its rings (wonderfully clear and a first for me and Anna), through our 18-55x telescope, in the night sky, quite high in the south-east night sky. Amazing!
NB. If you want to know where Saturn is in the night sky at present, look at the moon, it's the nearest bright "star" to the moon. (Only of course, it is not a star - and it doesn't 'twinkle' like all stars do. Saturn will disappear behind the moon on Friday evening - a very rare event, and bound to be a spectacular sight through telescopes...)
[NB Photo was taken from 'Voyager 2 space probe, NOT our telescope!]
