The names associated with our full moons are frequently
derived from the names given by the indigenous peoples that inhabited North
America. The tribes used a calendar to
track the seasons by means of the names given to the return of a full
moon.
In
the northern hemisphere the full moon that greets
us today is called the Buck Moon in recognition of the rapidly-growing,
velvet-covered, antlers of the whitetail deer. It will appear at its fullest tonight and tomorrow night. Look for it to rise
in the east after sunset; highest at midnight and setting in the west at dawn.
With the arrival of European settlers two
additional monikers come to mind:the
Meade Moon which coincides the harvest of honey used to ferment this drink and
the Hay Moon as the first cuttings of cattle fodder occur.
This one taken with a iPhone 14 Pro of a male house finch (left) and brown-headed cowbird (right) copping some seed at a tube feeder in the front yard.
And a trail camera photo of a female house finch indulging her sweet tooth with some grape jelly at the "oriole" feeder. Which is also universally visited by all manner of other birds.
Be sure to come back periodically for more bird photos that are posted from time-to-time.
I really need to spring for a good digital camera. It would amp-up my distance shots of wildlife and nighttime photography. If anyone has a suggestion leave a message. You probably know how to find me.
A clear dark night, 11:16 PM, last potty call for doggo and me. This is a time-lapse photo using the iPhone 14 Pro stabilization feature and Snapseed filters to enhance the exposure. View is directly at the heart of the spring triangle featuring three constellations.
View south from the porch. Because camera filters pick-up a lot of faint stars that the naked eye filters out finding the shapes can be a bit of a connect the dots puzzle.
Leo the Lion, high in the southwest (upper right quadrant of the image) is easily identified by the sickle asterism that appears like a reversed question mark. The anchor stars include Regulus the period at the bottom of the shape and Denebola to the left.
Virgo the Maiden, located lower and to the left of Leo is the second-largest constellation in the sky and the largest constellation of the Zodiac. It also contains the bright star Spica. Look for a lazy, sprawling "Y" shape of stars lying horizontally just above Spica which is situated in the lower right center of the image.
Boötes the Herdsman, is situated upper left quadrant high in the southern sky and resembles a kite shape. The very bright star is Arcturus; the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. Extending up and slightly left of Arcturus you can trace an elongated kite of ice cream cone shape.
The Spring Triangle is a large asterism (an equilateral triangle) formed by the three bright stars from the preceding constellations: Arcturus (top left), Spica (bottom right) and Denebola (upper right).
Yesterday the moon was 17.9 days old and 89.21 percent illuminated.
So I took some photos.
And
while I had some downtime in my busy day this afternoon I fiddled with
some filters on one photo. The moon is not very distinct (a shortcoming
of even an iPhone 14 Pro). But the Google Snapseed filtering allows for some interesting results.
Original, enhanced color spectrum and artsy black and white.
The Missus trapped this critter as it was jumping across the dining room table while she was completing some paperwork. For it's diminutive size it was making some spectacular leaps and she eventually trapped it under a adult beverage highball glass.
At first glance I thought it was a flea; but upon closer examination with my iPhone camera it was revealed to be a small spider. Similar to others I've seen around the kitchen or bathroom sink recently.
A Google Gemini search reveals this to be a Jumping Spider. Meet the Tan Jumping Spider - Platycryptus undatus - reported to be common in the Midwest.
Buddha would approve of our decision not to kill this critter as quickly as we would the nasty Asian beetles thawing-out recently as this arachnid is harmless to people and an active hunter of flies, gnats and mosquitoes. Furthermore, relative to other spiders they're endowed with excellent vision, complex brains and are known to be curious about humans and will track your movements with their large front eyes. Yup, if you pay us a visit you may be watched.
They don't construct webs preferring to actively hunt and pounce-upon their prey. Nevertheless, while jumping they sometimes deploy a single strand of silk that serves as a safety tether. Spider-Man would approve.
I haven't spotted these in large numbers as they don't live in colonies and since they don't bite and neither of us have any spider phobias maybe they'll keep the fruit flies in check around the box wine and kitchen compost container. If they're bothersome they're easily-enough moveable outside after it warms-up. A simple-enough mechanism to get rid of a new roommate if things don't work out...
The full moon for the month of March is frequently called the Full Worm Moon. The backstory is because of the earthworms that wriggle out of the ground as
the earth begins to thaw in March. As a consequence some Native
American Tribes referred to it as the Worm Moon and the return of
robins to feast on the emerging worms.
The
fact of the matter is that Northern tribes would not have embraced
this name for the March moon as there were no earthworms. A Southern
tribe maybe – but certainly not a Northern tribe.
Historically,
earthworms did not exist in the northern reaches of continental North
America. The ice sheets of the last glaciation wiped them out. All
of the earthworms and night crawlers we see nowadays were introduced
by European colonists – brought here in plant root balls and soil
used as ship ballast. That’s right – earthworms are an invasive species. But I digress.
Northern
American tribes such as the Shawnee tribe know this as the Sap Moon -
a reminder for the tribes that they can begin tapping maple trees for
the making of syrup.
In
general, March’s full moon is known as a herald for the beginning
of spring and new agricultural cycles. The European settlers referred
to this as the Lenten Moon and as a way to measure the progress of their
crops. They called it the Storm Moon if the weather was inclement –
an indicator their crops might fail. Under ideal growing conditions
they called it the Rugged Moon – a sign of a successful harvest
that year.
One
of its other names is the Chaste Moon, symbolizing the purity of
early spring. The Pueblo tribe named it the Moon When the Leaves
Break Forth, The Cree called it the Goose Moon, while in Shoshone culture it was known as the Warming
Moon. The Ojibwa called it the the Crows Come Back Moon, after the crows and other
birds that appear as winter draws to a close. It is also called the Crust Moon, because of the snow that becomes crusty when
it thaws in the sun and freezes in the moonlight.
The moon will be at its fullest tomorrow evening although to the casual observer it will appear full this evening.
There's a bonus this year; a total lunar eclipse. This full moon will pass directly through the Earth's umbral shadow
producing a total lunar eclipse visible to about 2.5 billion people (a third of the world population) across North America, Australia, New Zealand East Asia and the Pacific. At my
latitude the action will unfold around 3:50 AM Tuesday morning with the first
"bite" out of the moon beginning. Totality will commence at 5:04 AM and at maximum eclipse, 5:33 AM, the moon will be fully in the earth's shadow and it will appear reddened - a Blood Moon. Totality will end at 6:02 AM and, depending-upon your precise location, the moon will set around 6:26 - 6:33 AM.
Viewing Tips: Look toward the west/northwest and find a clear, unobstructed view of the western horizon as the moon will be very low in the sky at totality. If you live in the city, Newport State Park is designated as a 'Dark Sky Park' and a prime viewing location. If you live in flyover country like me you'll likely have near-optimal viewing conditions. Lastly, this is a lunar eclipse and no special eye protection is needed. If you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope - use them.
Fingers-crossed for clear, early morning skies...
Edit to add:
My view west of the lunar eclipse Tuesday morning at 4:48 am.
Sigh....
A little more than 24 hours ago our sun unleashed a powerful X-Class solar flare along with a fast
Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME). It arrived overnight and, expecting it, I snapped some average photos* of the arrival of the northern lights.
The first couple of photos were snapped before bedtime at 10.06 PM the evening of January 19, 2026. They were OK - yet not what I expected.
For any of the following photos click on the image for a closer look.
Twice more I arose to check on the progress of the lights (thank you bladder) and peering from the bathroom window to the north only once did my naked eye perceive any action. With wind chills -20F I wasn't inclined to take an actual photo sampling.
Finally I arose before 6 AM (permanently) and took a peek outdoors.
Yowza! The aurora borealis had gathered in strength with the night and as darkness began to wane was dancing in the pre-dawn skies. Here is a sampling of the shots I took; January 20, 2027 at 5:58 AM.
And, in-case you needed a guide to decipher the lights, here you go...
*iPhone 14 Pro
I use a Snapseed App to manipulate the aperture and ISO. My device uses a stabilizer setting for extended exposures.
With the arrival of this evening comes the first full
moon of 2026.
According to Native
American tradition January's full moon is named after howling wolves and is
remembered as the Wolf Moon. It is said that
at any given time there are estimated to be a dozen wolves wandering-about here on the peninsula.I
haven’t heard any wolves howling - just the resident coyotes - likely
explained by the fact that the only wolves here are solitary males.
They've been known to find their way here having dispersed from other
packs in northeastern Wisconsin or Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I am also told it is unlikely there is a breeding population around here. But I digress. In other cultures
this is called the Old Moon, Snow Moon, Ice Moon or Moon after Yule. My Celtic ancestors called this the Stay At Home Moon.
This also happens to be super moon and will occur overnight tonight and tomorrow. Full moons are always opposite the sun and fully illuminated. They rise at sunset and set at sunrise. In wintertime these moons reach as high in the sky at midnight as a summer noonday sun and cast shadows! This is the third consecutive super moon (November, December and January) and will appear 8% larger and 16% brighter than your basic garden-variety full moon. Here in the Midwest the crest of the full moon falls at 4:03 AM tomorrow. Nevertheless, it will appear full both tonight and tomorrow and glow near Jupiter and the twin stars of Gemini - Castor and Pollux.
And so it begins - if you like clear skies
and howling at the moon - 2026 is going to deliver 13 must-see moon events including Super Moons, conjunctions and an eclipse. You may wish to bookmark this link so you don’t miss anything. Fingers-crossed
for cold, clear winter sky-gazing tonight.
On this last day
of the year it seem appropriate to share some highlights of those brief,
fleeting, moments associated with family, travel, food, community and more.
Google Photo periodically furnishes unsolicited photo vignettes using their AI platform
Happy New Year and thank you for reading, following and sharing. See you next year on the flip side....
A few days ago I had to run into town on some holiday errands and encountered this.
One of our resident bald eagles. The bird casually allowed me to snap photos and even reposition the car on the road. As I departed the bird did too. I wonder if he/she deliberately allowed me the convenience of observation and study. Naw. That would be too much Disney-like anthropomorphism.
Thirty years ago these weren’t as common as they are nowadays.
On the south side of County D a short distance from my front door…
Beginning last month and through February this constellation can be found traversing the southern night sky.
Orion - a familiar image situated on the celestial equator -
is one of the most recognizable constellations in the
night sky. Finding Orion's Belt is the easiest way to locate the Orion
Constellation. Orion's Belt is formed by three bright stars; Alnilam,
Mintaka and Alnitak.
Named for Orion 'The Hunter' of Greek mythology the
constellation's brightest stars are blue-white Rigel and red
Betelgeuse. The most noticeable part of Orion is Orion’s
Belt – with the alignment
of three stars sure to catch your eye. Hanging from The
Hunter’s belt is a sword identified as three fainter stars. The
central star of the sword is actually not a star at all – it is the
Great Orion Nebula.
In the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere
this time of year Orion appears to be lying on his side – with the
Belt stars pointing upward – when he rises in the eastern sky.
click on the image for a closer look
This photo was taken a couple weeks ago with my iPhone 14 Pro at midnight, from the porch, looking south. The unusual brightness is the timing of the photo with the December Cold Full Moon. A larger and brighter Super Moon.
As the story goes - Orion hunted along the river Eridanus along with his ever-present dogs – Canis Major
and Canis Minor. With his dogs Orion stalked various celestial
animals including Lepus the rabbit, and Taurus the bull. In the
mythology of the ancient Greeks Orion was in love with Merope - one
of the Seven Sisters forming the constellation Pleiades. Alas,
Merope spurned Orion’s advances. Tragically, the heartbroken Orion met his end
when he was stung by Scorpious the scorpion.
Nevertheless, the gods were kind and they consequently
fixed Orion permanently in the heavens with his two dogs. The
creatures he hunted were placed in the sky as constellations as well.
With foresight the gods exiled Scorpius to the opposite side of the
heavens so that Orion would forever be safe from harm.
Visibility peaks this month and January. Raising a toast to cold, clear skies and star gazing.
Last evening was a busy one for the night skies. Following a mass coronal ejection the previous day the heavens were awash in charged particles leading to a spectacular display of the aurora borealis; or northern lights.
Wednesday I had to rise early, drive to the Naked City, conduct a guided hike at the Forest Exploration Center, run an errand or two and drive home. That's roughly 6 hours on the road with an early start and I was running on fumes.
The light show was actually an on-again, off-again affair and inconsistent in duration. Consequently, went outdoors at periodic intervals, let my eyes adjust to dark and if the display appeared robust, take some photos.
Finally, I had to go to bed. I was pooped. At 11:46 PM I captured some more decent photos.
In the last photo in the tree line (center) is a red navigation beacon on a cellular tower located atop distant Brussels Hill. A reasonably tall hill with a tall tower. The photo provides a good illustration of the scale of the display above the horizon.
On
11 November 2025, an intense solar flare was observed, with a peak
around 10:04 UTC. This was followed less than an hour later with the observation of a coronal mass ejection (CME), with an initial speed
estimated to be around 1500 km/s and arriving at Earth on 12 November in
the late evening or on 13 November in the early morning, although these
estimates include some uncertainty.
- European Space Agency
Last night we scored a handful of decent photos around 8:30 PM - view to the north east horizon. Activity seems to have petered-out by bedtime.
On the way to class this morning I spotted one of our resident bald
eagles accompanied by three juveniles dining on a road-killed whitetail
in a neighbor’s field.
The third juvenile had just taken to the air; look for it in the center of the photo (trees in the background).
Bald eagles develop their distinctive white head, neck, tail feathers and yellow beak and eyes around five years of age.
Want to read previous posts on the subject of bald eagles? Use the handy Label feature to the left or click on this link.
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