Since there have probably already been thousands of "There was a solar eclipse in North America" posts today, I thought I'd take a slightly different approach: "Things we noticed while standing in the yard, waiting for the eclipse to happen."
Flight of the Skippers!
Skipper in the sun...
Over the last couple of days, I've been noticing little flashes or russet-orange competing with the bees feeding on our lavender.
I remember these tiny butterflies from growing up in Denmark-- they always seemed to be fairly late summer visitors. "Skippers," as they are commonly called, are members of the Hesperiidae family.
Skippers are typically very hard to photograph because they seldom sit still for very long, and their flight is super fast and erratic... a bit like a hummingbird's.
Skipper, sideways look
Solar eclipses are strange. We see lots and lots of photos of the actual eclipse, and "coronal effects" and what have you... but a lot less attention is paid to the surrounding experience.
Skippers... Slowed Down...
One of the things Skippers like to do is settle into a sunny spot and let the sun's rays warm their wings.
Meanwhile, one of the remarkable things that happens during a solar eclipse is that in the latter parts towards totality, it still looks like sunshine but all the warmth drains from the air. You can stand with what seems like "full sun" on your back and yet it's actually quite cold, like after sunset. This happens in a matter of minutes, especially if it's a morning eclipse like we had here... before the ground was warm.
This one was near maximum darkness
As the eclipse progressed, the Skippers stopped darting around... they sat in the "diluted" sun, yet weren't getting warm... their instincts confused. Suddenly they seemed far less inclined to dart about, as they usually do.
The other unique thing about solar eclipses is the way the light simply "dilutes."
The photos shared here were taken while the Sun was covered by the Moon from about 70% to the maximum of 92%. If they look slightly "odd" or like the colors have been manipulated... it's actually natural.
It's quite different from sunset and dusk... the effect is more like having a picture of a bright sunny day up on your monitor and turning half the pixels to black. It's still a picture of a bright sunny day... but it's almost like you're looking at it through a clear black filter.
Then the Sun Returned...
It was only another 15-20 minutes after maximum darkness before the warmth returned and the Skippers resumed their usual darting flight patterns.
At which point, it was time for me to get back to work...
How about You? Were you in the path of the August 21st solar eclipse? Aside from "sun gazing," did you notice any changes to the environment around you? Did bird sounds subside... and insects become less active? Leave a comment-- share your experiences and feedback-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Published 20170821 16:21 PDT
The crows were still cawing as usual, but perhaps saying, "hey, is it bed time already?"
That's very cool about the Skippers!
Everyone here at my eclipse party noticed the cooling effect of the shade and a joke was made about getting a large sheet of tin-foil out in space to stop global warming.
I posted pictures of the eclipse with explanations of how I was able to capture the images with my camera, starting with just a big glare (no filters) and ending with some very unique and memorable images (for me, anyway). Please check out my blog page if interested.
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Those are some great photos on your page! Using welding lenses is a great idea for photography... not even doubling up on my darkest camera filters did much other than create some amazing stars and lens flare.
We're not that far "below" you (Olympic Peninsula), and it didn't get much beyond a "slight dusk" but the birdsong stopped completely for about 10 minutes, and on our covered back porch you could definitely tell it was MUCH darker than usual.
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Thanks for the supportive comments and up-votes. I was rather disappointed with what I was seeing in my camera for the first while. Then the idea hit me and I wondered if it would focus through a lens simply held in front of the camera. I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked.
I actually looked up where you live on Google maps and see that you are mostly surrounded by water. Must be very beautiful there. Do you use the ferries a lot or do you mostly drive around the water?
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That's an awesome observation! Sadly I was at work. We had a large outside luncheon for the whole office and watched the eclipse. So needless to say the only cool thing I noticed was how different shadows became. The shape of the eclipse appeared in the shadow of the trees. And a whole lot of dressed up folks stood still and stared at the sky. For a moment it was somewhat blissful to see the busy work day pause for a moment to enjoy a naturally occuring event. Who would have thought that many men in suites could all sit quiet and content in a parking lot together. Especially when some of us are rivals. Haha.
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Good point... the energy of the world definitely did slow down for a little while; made me think about how little time we (humans) actually take to just sit and do nothing. It's sad, in a way.
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That little phrase "stop and smell the roses" seems to get buried in the rush of every day life. Or maybe it's not roses for some but rather view a sunset. Either way I think you get my point.
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It is really interesting we both noticed the butterflies during the eclipse. I wonder if the rare butterfly I saw stopped and rested due to the eclipse and the strange light. I didn't know how to describe it but "diluted" is the perfect word. I really was indifferent about seeing the eclipse but I really thought it was more interesting to look at the world and see how it looked strange under the weird light.
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meep
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Hi meep, nice to see you here... have an upvote!
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meep
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You're welcome.
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meep
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Yeah, the eclipse itself was really no big deal-- looked through our eclipse glasses a couple of times and went "Yup, seen it." But the subtle changes to the surrounding environment... standing in what seemed like full sun yet it was cold; like a lightbulb. Felt otherworldly, somehow.
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Wow interesting info about the skippers! Great photo! Believe me I know what you mean, I have a hard time catching skippers in decent photos. My husband and I observed amazing crescent shaped under our trees in our yard during the partial eclipse. We has about 75% here in Allen, Tx. Dallas/Ft Worth area of Tx.
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It was just odd how they became still and docile... but evidently felt the sun was still out.
Interestingly enough the last time I watched an eclipse (partial) was while I was living in Austin, in 1994.
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My husband and I both experienced that the temp dropped. It was quite odd and made for an interesting experience.
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So cool of an observation.
The only thing that slowed down here were the workers in my factory. Everyone was going outside to get a peek of the eclipse. We had about an 80 percent eclipse at max.
Darryl @dadview
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I doubt much of anything got done anywhere... the lure of a "once in a lifetime" event was too great. Half the smaller shops here didn't open till 11:30 or noon. But then again, no loss... nobody was looking to go shopping.
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You nailed it!
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Hi, @denmarkguy
Your information is very good.
I also considered observing the surroundings of my garden in the period of the eclipse and noticed that the birds went to their nests earlier and the night butterflies came out.
Thank you for letting us know about your experience. You can visit me with no other commitment than just read my experience. Sorry if the suggestion seems ugly.
https://steemit.com/spanish/@armonia/el-eclipse-parcial-de-sol-en-venezuela-21-08-2017-the-partial-eclipse-of-sun-in-venezuela-08-21-2017
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Yes, it was interesting how it changed the behavior of animals and insects.
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I had been around for long @denmarkguy to witness such a solar event ad what I notice is that the chickens roost as well as the birds.
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We did notice that the birds became very quiet, yes.
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I knew I could not watch, so I slept through it. Thanks for noticing the effects.
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If you couldn't watch, sleeping was probably a good use of your time. Thanks for the resteem!
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So cool bro @denmarkguy.
I give you an upvote, let see my new article if you are not busy
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Thank you!
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