Peeing in the Woods

Something you don't see every day; a whitetail taking a leak.

Same posture as my dog...

  

July Night Sky

Here's a night sky opportunity that doesn't require staying up late or dragging yourself out of bed in the wee morning hours.

Look to the west after the sun sets and you will spot a crescent moon along with the planet Venus.  If you have a pair of binoculars, use them.

If you have a decent camera, mount it on a tripod because the combination of the very bright Evening Star - Venus -  along with the glowing earthshine on the dark side of the moon can make a cool bit of night photography.  Use a focal length of between 50mm and 100mm to capture both objects in the same frame.  If you can frame them with a silhouette of a tree or dark building, better yet. 

If you're using an iPhone or similar handheld device, both a stabilization and timed exposure setting is preferred.

Regardless of your equipment choice a filter app such as Snapseed is useful for adjusting exposures, aperture and additional settings.

Good Luck!  And fingers-crossed for clear skies and fewer skeets. 

 

Situational Awareness

We happen to have plenty of pollinators winging around the joint.  Naturally, that is a consequence of creating conditions conducive to supporting them; namely habitat.

Anecdotally, it seems to me the numbers have diminished over the years and have dropped-off from the high water mark of 2019.  Don't take my word for it, if you peruse the labels located in the left margin of the blog homepage anything to do with Monarchs or Butterfly Biology is clustered over a handful of years six to nine years ago.  Of course it's also possible my taste for insect subject matter has changed too.  Nevertheless, my anecdotal observation on the raw numbers seems pretty solid.

Anyway, a few days ago The Missus was potting some plants on the picnic table and spotted this newly-emergent monarch sitting of the driveway beneath the table drying its wrinkly wings.  Under ordinary circumstances this moment would pass entirely unobserved.

Likely the first generation born of an earlier migrator.  

You can learn more about the generations of Monarch butterflies here.  And pay attention to what's going around in the natural world.  Situational awareness you know.... 

July Night Sky

New moon is on tap for this evening.  As a consequence of the moon sitting between the earth and the sun the side facing us is totally dark.  In the absence of any moonlight to clutter the night sky this is the best night of the month to observe the heavens.

Our planet is also entering the Perseid meteor shower.  You'll have to wait for the peak of the shower a month from now; nevertheless, earth is entering the outer edge of the debris field left behind by Comet 109P Swift Tuttle.  If you're outside this evening observing the night sky there is a good chance you'll catch some meteors streaking across the sky.

Here's a Pro Tip.  Get yourself into a comfortable lawn chair and pick a wide part of the sky to stare at.  Because this is the Perseids I'm going to look to the northeast and the constellation Cassiopeia.  Constellation Perseus is immediately below.  Grab a lemonade or a cold adult beverage and allow 10-15 minutes for your eyes to adjust too the darkness.  The early Perseids are frequently very fast and bright.

Good luck and fingers-crossed for few skeeters.

 

 

Trail Cam Update

From the trail camera trap line is a selection of photographs....

Sunset

Gobblers

Sandhill Crane

Doe and Fawn

Woodcock

 

Wiley Coyote

 

Better Late Than Never

From the trail camera recently there was this.

One photo grab from a series of several dozen taken over twenty minutes of a gobbler making some moves on a foursome of ladies.  

Pardon me; but isn't it a bit late for gobbler romance? 

Theology Of The Purloined Election

Who won the 2020 presidential election?

Joe Biden did; fair and square.

Court after court after court agreed; including courts presided-over by judges appointed by Donald Trump.

Republican secretaries of state agreed on the matter.

Donald Trump's own attorney general agreed.

Recounts confirmed it.

Audits further confirmed it.

Lawsuits were settled over it. 

Time and again the stolen election hoax has been tested and rejected whenever it finds its way into a courtroom, a sworn affidavit, testimony or deposition is undertaken to present evidence.

Nevertheless, it remains an article of faith in MAGA World and no heresy on the subject matter is permitted because Donald Trump demands it be so.  Absolute fealty and obeisance to the Dear Leader is enforced.  

Even those Republicans who cannot bring themselves to say that the long-dead Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez was somehow involved in hacking the vote tabulators in 2020 are loathe to distance themselves from the Big Lie.  They'll shuffle their feet, nervously change the subject and suggest that voting by mail during COVID was somehow unfair.

As a general rule I don't pontificate (pardon the pun) about religion on social media.  Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs; and if you follow one of the three Abrahamic religions or something else that is your business.  Not mine.  But I'm acquainted with a handful of individuals who gushingly worship the president.  Some days I think that ordinarily level-headed and rational adults have somehow become spellbound by magical wishful thinking.  It's kinda creepy.

The stolen election has now been elevated to a modern day political New Testament.  It is the closest thing American politics has conjured-up in my lifetime to idolatry.  Yup; and there's a Commandment that addresses this business of idol worship.

The public profession of faith in a thing known to be false because devotion to the Leader requires it.  Yuck.