Recently in Bryce Canyon Category

The Astronomy Festival last week created a little havoc with my work schedule and I went seven straight days without a day off. By the end of all that, I was tired. The fact that 4 of those 7 days were during the festival and I never hit the sack before 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. - way past my normal bedtime - helped with wearing me out. I can take those late nights here and there, but 4 in a row was tough and then we had small post-festival night sky party on Sunday night for a few members of staff only. Skies were mixed during the festival: Two were pretty cloudy, the other two were clear but with a lot of moisture in the air (especially Saturday).

Sunday the air was dry without a single cloud. Just above the southern horizon we used binoculars to look at Omega Centauri, the largest and brightest of the globular clusters that orbit the Milky Way Galaxy. We looked at a lot of different objects once the evening twilight disappeared, but the real highlight for me was peering into a portion of the Virgo (galaxy) Cluster. The section we were looking at contained two Messier objects, galaxies M84 and M86, the two brightest in that particular region of the cluster. But there were another SIX in the same field of view. M86 is about 52 million light years away, while M84 is about 60 million. All in all it was a fantastic evening, seeing galaxies and nebulae with far greater detail than I have ever seen before (it doesn't hurt that some of the staff and volunteers have huge telescopes I can only dream of owning . . . ).

Today I'm packing a lunch, loading up Roxy, and going to roam out in the forest looking for birds, butterflies, and wildflowers. I'll let you know if we find anything of interest.

Two years ago today Roxy and I rolled in to Bryce Canyon with the plan of staying as a volunteer for 5 or 6 months, then going to find a job doing what I know how to do. And, of course, we're still here doing that and a little more. To help us celebrate, click on the thumbnail to open up a new window with a Flash slide show containing a few photos from the year past.  

It just doesn't seem to end. Get a couple of days of nice weather, then another Arctic front comes swooping down bringing snow, fierce winds (gusting up to 45 mph yesterday), and cold air. I think we're paying the price for the Spring-like weather had in January and early February. Interestingly, I have been looking back and putting together a little spreadsheet with last year's and this year's "first sightings" for the first 3 months. The mild weather we had experienced seems to come into play as, almost across the board, everything is earlier this year. In fact, Ring-necked Ducks, Redhead, and American Coot were more than a month earlier thanks to a pond that was free of ice down in Tropic in early February. There are a few others, however, that I have yet to see; I had my first Killdeer, for example, on March 18 last year, but still looking for one this year. Still, overall, it appears that the majority of migrants will be earlier in 2009 when compared to 2008.

I Had my first Pied-billed Grebe (pictured, from Florida) on April 1 last year, but if there isn't a sudden change in the weather in the next couple of days, this species will be later this time. The Sun is supposed to be out tomorrow, but more Arctic weather is forecast to be right behind that . . . 

With all the new snow, it seemed like a good idea to get out the snowshoes and go for a little walk. It's about 1/4 mile or so to the Rim Trail from where I'm living and it was a bit of a chore in spots. Even with the snowshoes, at times I would sink 8-10 inches in the light, fluffy snow. Nobody had been up there since the snow the night before, so I was breaking trail the whole way.

This Bristlecone Pine is growing adjacent to the trail and probably measures around 45-51 cm (18-20 inches) in diameter at the widest point on the trunk. The height is probably around 6 meters (20 feet) and, though there is no way to tell without getting a core sample, a Pinus Longaeva that size is almost certainly well over 1,000 years old. Hard to imagine that this tree was a little sapling back in the Dark Ages (or maybe even before)!

I knew it was coming, but, tied up doing some research last night, about 5 inches of (desperately needed) fresh snow fell when I wasn't looking. By the time I woke up this morning the total had climbed to 10 inches. They were here to clear the road earlier than I expected, so, why not head out for a photograph? I'm sure I've said it before but, while this place is simply amazing, it is even better with a fresh coat of snow on the hoodoos!

The sun came out for most of the day yesterday, but it was cold and the wind was howling. Late in PM we went out for a ride just to shake off being cooped for the better part of my days off for the week. This is Swamp Canyon with the fresh coat of snow, though the wind had stripped it from the trees already. I saw exactly two birds while we were out, both ravens, perched together in a snag and probably looking for handouts. 

We've been threatened for about 3 days now with nothing more than a trace actually hitting the ground, but overnight we've had about an inch and it seems to be coming down with a purpose as I write. It's a good thing because this part of Utah is way behind in winter precipitation this season.(This photo is from my files from last Winter, looking toward Sunrise Point from Sunset Point.)

A couple of other items of note:

Thursday is the 12th and the bicentennial(s) of the births of two of history's more significant individuals: Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. Tomorrow (Monday) PBS's American Experience will premiere a new program on Lincoln, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On Tuesday (2/10) National Geographic has a new program, Darwin's Secret Notebooks and The Science Channel is airing three different programs about Darwin in prime time on Thursday.

Next weekend, Friday Feb. 13 through Monday Feb. 16 is the Great Backyard Bird Count. I am going to personally try and participate, even though there aren't many birds up here on the plateau - and I have to work three of the four days. Back in the old Florida days I was always working at the speedway (don't miss that one iota) and always missed out, but I'm really going to try this time.