September Night Sky

Commonly known as the Corn Moon - it is also known as the Fruit, Barley, and Hungry Ghost Moon. 

When the the moon rises tonight and tomorrow it will appear full on both Sunday and Monday evenings this time of year.   

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The Farmer's Almanac first published Native American names for the full Moons in the 1930s and over the years these names have become widely known. Algonquin tribes in what is now the northeastern states called this the Corn Moon - as this was the time for gathering their main staple crops of corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice. 

European names for this full Moon are the Fruit Moon, as a number of fruits ripen as the end of summer approaches, and the Barley Moon, from the harvesting and threshing of the barley. 

This full Moon is also associated with the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival. The seventh month of the Chinese calendar is the Ghost Month and a Full Moon is known as the Ghost Day – when spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come out to visit the living. 

Have a terrific full moon. 

 

Autumn is definitely in the air.

 

 

Menagerie

From the trail camera trap line there is a curious doe, bearded hen, a ghostly whitetail, velvet buck and a couple of fawns.

 

Ghost Deer

Speaking of deer there is this very recent trail camera photo in infrared (IR) mode.  No visible flash.  Black and white result.  It's all in keeping with the spirit of Halloween.

I refer to these a 'ghost deer' because of the ethereal qualities imparted-upon the imagery as a consequence of the trail camera medium.

They're also stealthy animals and frequently sneak-up on the unwary and unwitting bow hunter just like a ghost.

Boo!

Happy Halloween

Halloween is mix of traditions from Celtic, Catholic and Roman religious rituals. The Celts believed that the boundaries between the living and the dead blurred on Halloween - making it easier for ghosts and spirits to return to make mischief.  As a consequence these ancient Celts would dress in costumes and light bonfires to ward off the spirits.  

Jack-’o-lanterns have been around for hundreds of years and they have their origin in a tale of a man named Jack who invited the devil for a drink.  Not wishing to pay for his drink Jack struck a deal convincing the devil to turn himself into a coin that could be used to settle the tab. Jack skipped out on the bill and kept the devil-coin in his pocket with a silver cross so that the devil couldn’t shift back to his original form.   Jack eventually let the devil loose, but made him promise that he wouldn’t seek revenge on Jack and wouldn’t claim his soul when he died.   When Jack eventually kicked the bucket, God would not allow him into heaven, and the devil, keeping his word, rejected Jack’s soul at the gates of hell.  Instead, the devil gave him a single burning coal to light his way and sent him off into the night to find his final resting place.  Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has supposedly been roaming the earth with it ever since.  In Ireland, the ghost lights seen in the swamps were said to be Jack’s improvised lantern moving about as his restless soul wandered the countryside. He and the lights were dubbed Jack of the Lantern, or Jack O'Lantern.  The original jack-’o-lanterns in Ireland were carved out of turnips or potatoes. 

Pumpkins are actually indigenous to the Western Hemisphere and have been found on the continent for more than 5,000 years.   Pumpkins entered into the Halloween celebration after Irish immigrants came to America and found that pumpkins were easier to carve than potatoes or turnips for the holiday.

Have a festive holiday...

Ghost Deer

Been moving cameras around The Platz and scored another one of those photos demonstrating the ethereal effect of the infrared setting in low light.  

A couple of ghost deer...

click on image to enlarge

Trail Camera Experimentation - Ghost Deer

Another ethereal study in B&W from one of the trail cameras.  The IR (infrared) mode really shows-off when the light is just right at dusk.  And you can get a white tail to pose too...

click on image to enlarge

Ghosts

No, these snapshots have not been photo shopped.

The light conditions were just low enough to trigger the infrared capability of the camera resulting in a black and white image.

I think the result is pretty cool - in a ghostly sort of way...

click on image to enlarge

Ghost Deer

This trail camera picture was captured not quite a week ago in darkness with the infrared flash.

These look like ghosts.

click on image to enlarge

It's also the smallest fawn I've seen yet.

Ghost Deer

Interesting composition.

A ghostly image of a sprinting buck.

Those antlers will start to fall before too long and the girls and I will be going shed-hunting.

Scary post

I don't want anyone to think that I'm superstitious or anything but on more than one occasion my trail cameras have captured pictures of paranormal phenomena.

Yes.

Alien visitations and ghostly phenomena.

Just like this picture of a ghost that was captured recently...