Full Moon - February 2019

On Monday (18 February 2019) I led a nighttime hike at the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Sylvan Solace Preserve.  The snowy woods was well-lit by a nearly full moon - at 98% visible the moon could be considered full.  This was my third full moon hike of the winter.  Altogether, about 50 people have joined me on the three hikes.  Monday's hike was attended by nine people.

Monday's full moon was the best we have seen this winter here in Mid-Michigan.  Not only was the sky clear (unlike December) and the temperature moderate (not like the 20 below windchill in January, but February's full moon could be considered a "supermoon".  A supermoon occurs because the moon's orbit around the earth is not a perfect circle.  Instead the orbit is more like an ellipse, resulting in times when the moon is closer to the earth than other times.  If the moon is near its closest point at the full moon stage, the moon is commonly referred to as a supermoon.

Although I didn't photograph the hike, I took several photos of the moon from the parking lot before the hike began.  This was my favorite image - it has been cropped down to a square shape.

I have one more night hike scheduled this winter at Sylvan Solace.  This final hike will take place on the next full moon.  This full moon just happens to coincide with the Vernal Equinox on March 20th.

Waxing gibbous moon (27 January 2018)

On Saturday (27 JAN) shortly after sunset I went outside and noticed a gorgeous waxing gibbous moon.  To say that a moon is waxing means that the illuminated portion of the moon is growing - the moon is getting closer to being full.  The opposite of waxing is waning.  A waning moon is a moon that is past full and its illuminated percentage is decreasing.  Gibbous means that a moon is more than 50% full - the moon last night was at 83%.

I took about 30 images of the moon in all.  Here is one of the original images.

For the photo geeks out there - this image was shot on a Canon 60D with a Canon 100-400 lens (at 400mm), shot at f/11, using an ISO of 100 and exposed for 1/100 second.


I decided to crop this image in a couple of different ways.  First as a horizontal image...

Then as a vertical image...

I'm not sure which of these crops I like better.  In both I intentionally placed the moon slightly off-center.  I like the expanse of black extending further from the lit face of the moon.  This is the same technique used in portraits to give the subject somewhere to look or in photos of animals to give them space within the frame of the photo to look or move.

Friday Night Lights at Sylvan Solace Preserve (28 July 2017)

In about three weeks high school football season kicks off here in Mid-Michigan.  Last week the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Sylvan Solace Preserve was host to its own version of Friday Night Lights.  But instead of football, this version involved insects - specifically moths.

Six amateur lepidopterists (people who study moths and butterflies) gathered at Sylvan Solace with the goal of attracting and identifying some of preserve's many species of moths (and other insects).  This purpose of this event was to celebrate National Moth Week.  This is not the first time the CWC has celebrated National Moth Week, but unlike past attempts this one did not get cancelled due to weather.

There are many ways to attract moths.  One of the simplest ways is to go out into the woods (or other habitat) with a bright light source and a light colored sheet.  Suspend the sheet between a couple of trees and shine the light on it - the moths will be attracted to (or confused by) the bright light and land on the sheet where they can be identified at your leisure.

Setting for this activity was the (relatively) easy part.  However, Sylvan Solace Preserve does not have a source of power so one had to be brought in.  My lepidopterists will use deep-cycle marine batteries to power their lights.  I don't have any batteries handy, but I did have access to a small generator.  So in addition to the sheets and lights, the generator had to be hauled into and out of the woods.  No one wants to sit right next to a loud, smoky generator while they are trying to enjoy nature - so I also hauled about 300 feet of extension cords so the generator could be placed further away.

Once the lights were turned on and darkness fell, the moths began to arrive almost immediately.  Moth identification can be challenging in the woods, especially since so many of the species are small and nondescript (brown, grey, with few distinguishing marks). We did our best, but were only able to positively identify a couple of the more distinctive species in the field.

Several hours of poring over my photographs and field guides led to these identifications:

Gray Half-spot (Nedra ramosula)

Bog Lygropia (Lygropia rivulalis)

European Corn Borer (Ostrinia nibilalis)

Sweetfern Geometer (Cyclophora pendulinaria)

Painted Lichen Moth (Hypoprepia fucosa)

Banded Tussock Moth (Halysidota tessellaris)

There is a possibility that the above moth is not a Banded Tussock Moth, but rather a Syacamore Tussock Moth (H. harrissii).  However, I do not know of any Sycamore trees in the immediate area of Sylvan Solace Preserve.  Without this host plant, I think that it is more likely the Banded Tussock Moth.

Dark-banded Owlet (Phalaenophana pyramusalis)

Oak Leafroller (Argyrotaenia quercifoliana)

Sigmoid Prominent (Clostera albosigma)

Subgothic Dart (Feltia subgothica)

Common Grey (Anavitrinella pampinaria)

These were not the only moths that came to the party.  A few more hours of effort should probably lead to several more identifications - if I identify more species I will add them in a separate posting.  If you notice any errors in identification, please let me know.  

Luna obscura

Last Friday (10 February) was supposed to be a big night for astronomy.  There was a full moon.  There was also a partial lunar eclipse.  Finally, a comet was supposed to be visible in the eastern sky during the night!

Unfortunately, it was cloudy across Mid-Michigan.  Here was my view of the full moon seen through the trees by our house.  It was pretty, but not nearly as amazing as some of the full moons in recent months. 

Full moon through clouds and maple trees (10 FEB 2017)

Like a moth to a flame...

Disclaimer:  There were no actual flames used in the writing of this post. Moths were attracted using lights, not flames.

Last week was National Moth Week. 

On Saturday night (25 JUL) a group of eleven members of the Chippewa Valley Audubon Club gathered at Mission Creek Woodland Park for a moth hunt. 

For many people the word "hunt" implies active pursuit - visions of specially trained dogs, and small bore shotguns; the smell of waxed canvas, gun oil, and leather; hours of walking and then seconds of pulse-pounding excitement as the moths are flushed from cover by the dogs! 

This "hunt" is nothing like that.

For those that have never hunted moths, this actually more of a moth "wait".  We set up a series of lights and sheets and stand around waiting for moths and other insects to appear out of the darkness.

Waiting for moths

This is the second time that we have attempted this activity.  When we did it at the end of June in 2014, we mostly attracted a bunch of nondescript small brown moths that were very hard to identify.  We had a lot of that again this year, but we also had several distinctive species that we were able to identify based on their characteristics.

One of the first moths to show up at the lights was the Painted Lichen Moth (Hypoprepia fucosa).  Several of these moths showed up over the course of the evening.

Painted Lichen Moth

The most distinctive moth of the evening was the Clymene Moth (Haploa clymene). This moth was easily identified by the cross-shaped pattern on its wings.  Although it can't be seen in this photograph, this moth has bright yellow underwings.

Clymene Moth (Haploa clymene)

Another moth that we identified in the field was the Cherry Scallop Shell (Rheumaptera prunivorata).

Cherry Scallop Shell moth

The next moth is one that I photographed, but did not identify in the field.  A quick internet search reveals this to be a Lesser Maple Spanworm (Speranza pustularia).  The small brown spots on the leading edge of the wings are the identifying characteristic of this species.

Lesser Maple Spanworm moth - note distinctive brown spots on edge of forewing

We were able to identify several other species, but unfortunately I did not get photographs of all of them: Grapevine Looper (Eulithis sp.), Grapeleaf Roller (Desmia sp.), Emeralds (various genera).

Moths were not the only animals attracted by the lights.  We had a single female dobsonfly or fishfly that showed up.

One of the kids at the moth hunt found a green-phase Grey Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor).  These frogs are able to change color based on habitat.  This one just happened to be green when it was found.

A green Grey Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)

My favorite photograph of the night was of a daddy long-legs or harvestman silhouetted against the sheet.  Although these arachnids resemble spiders and are often confused with them, they are actually in a separate Order (Opiliones).

Daddy Long-legs at night - not a spider.

If you missed out on this moth hunt, you have another chance.  This Friday (31 July 2015) I will be leading another moth expedition.  This time it will be at the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Sylvan Solace Preserve.  This hunt is being done to commemorate a "blue moon".  The moon will not actually turn blue.  the term is used to describe a month with a second full moon.  For more information and to register for this event please visit the CWC website.  The event is free, but a donation to the CWC is encouraged.

Another Polyphemus Moth Earns Her Wings

One evening late last summer (September 6th, 2014), as I walked out the back door, I noticed something interesting on the lawn - a large green caterpillar.  Specifically, it was a Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) caterpillar.  Earlier in the summer, we had released an adult female Polyphemus that we had reared from a caterpillar the previous summer (2013).  Although we have absolutely no proof, it's cool to think that the caterpillar that I found in our yard was one of the offspring of the moth that we released.

The summer 2014 Polyphemus Caterpillar - photo by Shara LeValley

The caterpillar went into a cocoon after less than twenty-four hours.  It remained in that cocoon for the next 234 days!  Last night when we came home from work we realized that it had finally emerged.  The moth that emerged was another female - this one was in such a hurry that she actually laid a few eggs inside the enclosure.  Without breeding these eggs will never hatch.

After dinner we took her down the street to a local park for release. 

Polyphemus Moth in hand

Female Polyphemus Moth - the false eye spots are probably used to deter predators

We each snapped a few photographs and then placed her up in a willow tree.  With luck she will attract a mate and produce a new generation this summer.

Upon returning home we took a closer look at the cocoon that she emerged from.  Its hard to believe that that moth with a swollen abdomen the width of one of my fingers crawled out of a hole a lillt larger than the diameter of a pencil, but she did.

The cocoon was attached between a leaf and the side of a mush container.  You can see some of the eggs that she deposited before release.

The hole in the end of the cocoon from which the moth emerged

In the Company of Owls

Saturday night was a great night to walk through the woods at the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Sylvan Solace Preserve.  CWC Director Stan Lilley and I led this walk for a total of twenty-one interested people.  Most of those attending had never taken a moonlit walk through the woods before and a few people had never visited Sylvan Solace.  We gave everyone a glowstick so people would not get lost.  The weather cooperated with a crisp clear night with a full moon and lots of stars (until the moonlight blotted most of them out).  We took a little over an hour to walk one for the preserve's trails.

The moon through the trees

At several points along the trail we stopped to call for owls - Eastern Screech, Barred, and Great Horned.  We were successful at calling in a pair of Barred Owls along the Chippewa River.  The first owl just swooped around overhead, but the second landed in a tree nearly overhead.  When we shined a light on it there were several cries of amazement.  Unfortunately I was unable to get a good photograph of it while shining a flashlight at the same time.
 

Stan Lilley calls for owls with an app on his phone.

The blurry thing in the very center of this photo is one of the Barred Owls

After the walk, a small group stayed around to drink hot chocolate and talk.  There is already talk of schedule a spring moonlit walk to listen for frogs and we have a moth outing scheduled for July.

Happy Earth Science Week - Monday

Happy Earth Science Week 2014!

What is Earth Science?  The short answer is that Earth Science is the study of the Earth and its neighbors in space.

Earth Science is generally divided into four disciplines:

Geology (the study of the earth) is a science that deals with the study of the Earth's materials, structures, and processes.

Lichen covered granite - Cadillac Mountain, Acadia NP, Maine

Meteorology is a science that deals with the study of atmosphere and how processes in the atmosphere affect weather and climate (long term weather patterns).

Early morning clouds - Mt. Pleasant, Michigan

Oceanography is a science that involves the study of Earth's oceans and seas and their composition, patterns, and processes.  This science also includes the study of the organisms that inhabit the oceans.

Atlantic Ocean shoreline - Acadia NP, Maine

Astronomy is the study of the universe.  It includes the study of how nearby celestial bodies influence the Earth.

Night Sky (20 July 2007) - Munising, Michigan

To learn more about Earth Science please check out this series of videos produced by the American Geosciences Institute.

A Light in the Dark Woods

On Saturday (21 June 2014) a group of seven Chippewa Valley Audubon club members met at Mission Creek Woodland Park for a new experience.

Mothing.

Moth hunting.

Call it whatever you want.

It involved standing around a sheet hanging from a line in the woods, lit by several 100 watt bulbs.

I often turn on my porch light with the purpose of attracting insects.  This is the first time I have ever done it with a group of people.
 
We turned our lights on at about 8:30PM (before the sun had set) and turned them off at 10:45PM (the park closes at 11:00PM).

In our 2 hours 15 minutes of mothing, we had a great time and saw a couple dozen moths as well as lots of other insects (beetles, flies, gnats, mosquitoes, etc.).

Most of the moths that came to the light were small and not easily identified.  We are still working on identifying most of them.

However, at about 10:35 a large moth flew in and fluttered around for more than a minute before finally settling on someone's boot.

It was a male Polyphemus (Antheraea polyphemus) Moth.

After letting everyone take several photos, I picked it up for a closer look.  You can tell it's a male based on the feathery antennae.   It uses these to sense pheromones that are released by the female.

After admiring it for a minute or two, I placed it on a nearby tree.

Even though we could not readily identify most of the moths and other insects that came to our light, the appearance of the Polyphemus Moth made everything worthwhile.