Walker Nature Center
BRANCHING OUT
A LOOK INSIDE
• Calendar 4 • Kids’ Corner: Beautiful Butterflies 6 • Spring Birds 7
Nature Notes Eyes on the Eclipse MARCH By Pam Findley • • • • •
Eastern Cottontail and Red Fox babies are born. Spring Beauties, Yellow Violets, and Wood Violets bloom. March 19 – Vernal or Spring Equinox – Spring begins. Running Cedar and Ground Pine (Lycopodium) are evergreen on the forest floor. Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers begin to call.
APRIL • • • •
Raccoon kits are born. Bloodroot and Foam Flower have white blossoms. April 8 – Great North American Solar Eclipse (~88% totality in Reston). Red Maples, Spicebush, and Serviceberry are in bloom.
MAY • • • • •
Eastern Box Turtles lay eggs. Wild Geranium blooms. Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks – May 6 and 7. Flowering Dogwood are blooming. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds return.
Ken Rosenthal
On April 8 this spring, millions will have the opportunity to witness a rare event, a total solar eclipse that can be seen from Mexico and Texas, through portions of the Mississippi Valley, the Midwest, along Lakes Erie and Ontario, and into Maine and southern Canada. An estimated 31,625,000 people live along the path of this eclipse, and many more are expected to travel into the path to view it. This eclipse has the potential to be the most viewed celestial event in human history.
What happens during an eclipse?
Solar eclipses occur when the moon blocks the sun during daylight hours. An eclipse may cover only part of the sun (partial or annular) or all of it (total). More occurs than just the light from the sun being obscured, however. The moon moving between the sun and Earth also produces measurable changes to our atmosphere. Ozone levels drop to minimums during a total solar eclipse. Temperatures fall during totality, as if one were stepping into the shade on a sunny day. Temperatures have been recorded falling for another 15 minutes following the peak of the eclipse. These falling temperatures also lead to an increase in relative humidity, and can even affect wind speed. Humans are not the only ones to notice these changes.
Brief Opportunities
While eclipses can be plotted and predicted, widescale observation of phenomena during an eclipse can only be completed during a small window of time occurring irregularly and at different geographic locations. The longest calculated eclipse will be 7 minutes and 29 seconds, but that isn’t until July 16, 2186. The next eclipse similar to this year’s path will not occur for another 24 years. Bottom line, it is difficult to repeat these observations in the same setting. Information on animal behavior during an eclipse is limited as a result of these brief observational opportunities and there is a lack of reliable historical data. (One 16th century report refers to birds falling from the sky during an eclipse as a result of “terror of such horrid darkness.”) If you add in the fact that these stories come from different habitats, you will find yourself with a lot of anecdotes but not a lot of reproducible data.
Is it time to roost already?
There are types of behavior, across species, that do appear to repeat in occurrence. Diurnal animals (active during the day) will begin to prepare for night.
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Spring | 24 |