Astronomy Picture of the Day

APOD, 17 Nov 10, Masahiro Miyasaka

One of the things I do every morning when I'm reading the blogs I follow, as well as the news of the day, is to check the Astronomy Picture of the Day. This one took my breath away, and I made it my desktop so I can admire it daily for a few months, until another picture attracts my imagination. I love the constellation Orion, and this beautiful frosted leaf so perfectly captured by Miyasaka embodies the spirit of late fall to early winter. To me at least.

We just passed through some of the most difficult weather I can remember, with the north wind howling all evening and night down the Fraser Valley from British Columbia. Last night Bellingham had a gust of 58 mph, but the wind blew constantly at anywhere from 30 to 40 mph, with temperatures hovering in the high teens (-8 C) all night long. I wonder where the birds hang out when it's like that. Certainly they must hide in thick bushes to help protect them from the worst of it. I woke at first light to put out fresh food and broke the ice off the bird bath. I poured hot water in it, which was immediately cold and inserted my trusty birdbath heater. I bought the heater last year during the cold weather and wrote a post about it here.

I was so pleased to find that 16 degrees F and -2 wind chill was not enough to keep my birdies down! They showed up as usual, eating and drinking much more than normal, and they brought all their friends along, too. I spread food exceptionally liberally, not begrudging anyone (including the sparrows) their morning repast. If the squirrels had shown up (which they haven't yet), I would be happy to see them drinking and eating, too. The front porch has been a constant congregation of birds: two kinds of juncos, house sparrows, song sparrows, spotted towhees, chickadees, woodpeckers, flickers, and, of course, my dear goldfinches. Here are a few of them lined up waiting their turn at the feeders:

Click to see their pretty faces up close

The sun came out this morning, as you can see from the picture, and the wind died down to a light breeze. The temperature is still below freezing and will remain that way until Thanksgiving Day. I dressed very warmly this morning and waddled to the bus stop, catching the bus to town in order to enjoy my usual coffee shop crowd and the exercise class at the gym. I took this last picture a few minutes ago before settling inside for the day, with three more hours of this glorious sunshine left to pour in the windows before nightfall.
:-)