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