Last night, 15 May 2022, there was a total lunar eclipse, which turned the full moon dark red. By the time the moon rose above the trees to the east the red phase was in full swing. I learned that it’s extremely difficult to photograph what is essentially the new moon against the night sky….
Author: Allison J. Gong
Brunch al fresco
It feels like forever since I’ve checked in on the cormorants at Natural Bridges. I simply haven’t had time to mosey down there, take a gajillion photos, and then deal with them on the computer. But today I thought I’d give myself until lunch time to play with photos and such, before I hit the…
When things are just a little too swell
One of the things that I’ve been doing with my Ecology class since almost the very beginning is LiMPETS monitoring in the rocky intertidal. Usually we have a classroom training session before meeting in the field to do the actual work. This year we are teaching the class in a hybrid mode, with lecture material…
Springtime in the sea and in the air
This week was my spring break, and although I have more than enough work to catch up on, I decided that each day I would spend a few hours doing something fun before or after getting stuck in with adult responsibilities. I didn’t set up formal plans, but knew I wanted to collect a plankton…
Same or different?
Are the two objects in this photo the same or different? The answer to come!
New kids on the rock
For the second year in a row (that I am aware of, anyway), the Brandt’s cormorants (Urile penicillatus) have claimed the last remaining arch at Natural Bridges as a breeding rookery. I remember being so excited at “discovering” them in 2021. Anyway, they’re back again, building piles of algae into nests. BTW, if you’re keeping…
Great Backyard Bird Count, Day 2
Date/time: Saturday 2022-02-19, 08:00-09:30Location: Natural Bridges State ParkWeather: Chilly (8.3C), as sun hadn’t yet risen above the roofs of the houses nearby; very light breeze For Day 2 of the 2022 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) I went to Natural Bridges, not suspecting that I would be able to ID and count so many species…
Great Backyard Bird Count 2022
This weekend, 18-21 February 2022, are the four days of the Great Background Bird Count. This is a global community science project in which people go out and document bird life. The beauty of a project like this is that is available to anyone who has a window to the outside. Of course, anybody can…
The ripple effect
At ~05:00h UTC on 15 January 2022, the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano erupted. The eruption was probably followed by a massive undersea landslide, which set tsunami waves out across the Pacific Ocean. This time translates to ~21:00h PST on Friday 14 January, and for the rest of this entry all times and dates…
Glow
On this winter solstice, as we anticipate the return of light, I thought I’d write about a different kind of light. Merriam-Webster defines fluorescence as “luminescence that is caused by the absorption of radiation at one wavelength followed by nearly immediate reradiation usually at a different wavelength and that ceases almost at once when the…