Asian Lady Beetle
We are in the middle of an invasion. Thousands of Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle can be seen in just about any sunny location as it tries find a place to spend the winter.
Invasions
This past winter many parts of the northland saw a record breaking invasion of owls. Great Gray Owls, Northern Hawk Owls and Boreal Owls delighted local birders and drew birders from all over the country to witness the spectacle. How many owls were there? While the exact numbers are impossible to know, the best estimates are have been recently published by the Minnesota Ornithologist Union (MOU). In December volunteers were able to record over 250 owls. In January, volunteer owl watchers were able to find over 450 birds in one weekend. By the end of winter the MOU records Committee tallied reports exceeding 2500 Great Gray Owls, more than 300 Northern Hawk Owls and more than 400 Boreal Owls. Compare these numbers to the winter of 2004 which saw 35 Great Gray Owls, 6 Northern Hawk Owls and just one Boreal Owl and you can see this was one heck of a year. It is estimated that there are only 30,000 Great Gray Owls worldwide and that 80 percent of these occur in North America. Considering these numbers, it looks like we played host to nearly 10 percent of the worlds Great Gray Owl population last year. Now it appears we have another invasion on our hands. This spring and summer, birders from all over the region are reporting widespread distribution of several uncommon species of bird–the Dickcissel and the Henslow’s Sparrow. Neither of these birds is very common in any one given area. Like a wondering band of gypsies, they tend to move around from year to year, rarely inhabiting the same area. The Dickcissel is an extremely handsome bird which superficially resembles the Eastern Meadowlark. It has a warm chestnut colored shoulders with a yellow chest offset by a black V-shaped bib. As far as sparrows go, the Henslow’s Sparrow is a very attractive bird although rather non-descript. It also has a warm chestnut colored shoulders. The face and head are a very pale yellow with a distinct white eye-ring. Both of these birds are found in open fields, prairies and along weedy roadsides. While the Henslow’s is a very secretive the Dickcissel has nothing to hide. It will sing its loud and clear song from the top of any perch strong enough to hold them up. Once you become family with the repetitive song of the Dickcissel you will find it much easier to locate this bird. In fact, the way I find them is to drive down the road with my window open and listen when passing weedy fields. The Henslow’s Sparrow is everything the Dickcissel isn’t when it comes to singing. While it is hard to get the Dickcissel to shut-up, the Henslow’s Sparrow only gives a soft insect-like hiccup call. In addition they often remain hidden and give their call from deep within the tall grasses. Occasionally a male will sit up tall and climb to the top of a sturdy perch to sing but it’s not all that common. In addition they don’t particularly like people around making them a challenge to see. Both of these birds have a limited ranged in the eastern half of the U.S. and the Henslow’s is listed in several states as an endangered or threatened species. While neither of these birds is as captivating as the northern owls they are a great follow up act in this year of the invasion.
Hummingbirds
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that I am crazy about birds. I am fascinated by the shear variety and stunning beauty of our avian friends. And one of my most favorite birds is the hummingbirds. Of the nearly 9,000 species of birds in the world, about 320 are a kind of hummingbird. The majority of these hummers are found in the tropical regions of the world. In North America there are 17 species of hummers with the most of these found in southeastern Arizona. Sorry to say, we only have one species of hummer in the northland–the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris). The ruby-throat is our smallest bird measuring only 3″ long (8 cm). Females are slightly larger than the males and have longer bill. An individual hummer weights only 2-3 grams; it takes 5 average-sized hummingbirds to equal the weight of a single Black-capped Chickadee. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds often appear to be gray in color when viewed in dim or low light but are bright green in seen in direct sunlight. They have highly specialized feathers that contain individual cells that will absorb the sunlight and reflect only the green spectrum of sunlight back, making them appear green. Males have a specialized throat patch called a gorget that appears black in color until he turns to face you. Then the gorget lights up in a brilliant ruby red color as if someone has flipped a switch on a neon red light. The bright ruby color is also a result of reflected sunlight. The gorget is used to attract females. The bigger and brighter the gorget the more the females are attracted. Hummingbirds received their name from the “humming” noise created as their wings whiz through the air. Hummingbird wings flap around 50-60 times per second during normal flight and can reach up to 200 beats per second during courtship flights. (Try doing anything 200 times per second.) They can fly up to 50 mph and usually fly no higher than 300 feet. Hummingbirds can hover, fly up and down, and are also the only birds that can fly backwards. To power all of that wing activity, the hummers have very large hearts that beat at an amazing 1,260 beats per minute compared to our own heart that beats about 70 – 90 beats per minute. Their heart is so large it comprises one quarter of a hummers total body weight. They fuel all of their muscle activity with oxygen by breathing at 250 times per minute compared to our own respiratory effort at 12-18 per minute. To keep these flying machines going, hummingbirds have a metabolism that is 40 times that of our own. They survive on top of the line fuel—fast acting sucrose obtained from flower nectar. They consume up to 50 % of their own weight in nectar daily. That would be the same as you or I drinking a bathtub of soda daily. Hummingbirds are one of the few birds that don’t sing a song. They communicate with a single “chip” note. Often they string a bunch of chip notes together to produce something that sounds like chattering. I guess if you look and fly as well as a hummingbird you don’t need to sing a beautiful song. Hummers feed about every 10 minutes throughout the day but flower nectar is not the only food on their menu. Tiny insects such as gnats and flees make up most of their non-nectar diet and provide them with the protein not found in a sugar water diet. Until next time…
Dragonfly
The sense of smell is a powerful one. A whiff of this or a whiff of that can send your mind tripping back to times gone-by. For me, the heavy musky smell of a summer evening catapults me back to the grassy fields of my youth. Fields filled with the sounds of crickets and the flash of fireflies. High over-head, Common Nighthawks would repeat their raspy call—peent, peent, peent. But mostly I remember the precision flights of dragonflies as they wing across the tops of the tall grasses in search of a meal. It wouldn’t be summer without dragonflies. These critters have been around for a long time. Their fossil record dates back 350 million years ago. That’s about 100 millions years before the dinosaurs. There are over 5,000 different species of dragonflies in the world. In North America there are about 400 species and a little over 100 species in the Northland. Like all insects, the dragonfly has three body parts—the head, thorax and abdomen. The head of the dragonfly has two huge eyes. The eyes are so big that in some species they actually merge together on top of the head. Each eye is made up of hundreds of individual eyes–called compound eyes. The head of a dragonfly swivels freely allowing the dragonfly extraordinary field of vision. The thorax is the small segment in the middle of the dragonfly. It’s where the four wings and six legs are attached. Lastly, the abdomen is what most people call the tail. It is long and thin and is often mistakenly thought to be a stinger. It is important to note that no dragonfly has the ability to sting. You can tell a dragonfly from the similar looking damselfly by looking at their wings. All dragonflies hold their wings flat or horizontal and out to their sides when at rest–like the wings of an airplane. The damselfly folds their wings neatly over their backs when at rest. Dragonflies have four wings, which allow them to fly forwards, backwards and hover. The top speed of a dragonfly is around 35 mph. A dragonfly’s life revolves around flying. They capture and eat their food while flying and they even mate while flying. Their diet is mainly small flying insects like mosquitoes. This is how they got the name “mosquito hawk”. They catch their lunch by holding their legs like a catcher’s mitt, and scoop the prey up while in flight. A typical dragonfly can eat hundreds of insects a day. This pernicious behavior goes a long way to help keep mosquito populations down. While eating during flying isn’t very hard, mating on the wing is a little tricky. The male searches out a receptive female and locks on to her just behind her head with a small pair of pincers located at the tip of his tail (abdomen). The female curls her tail up and receives a reproductive packet from the male. This position is called the wheel and is easily observed. Because females will mate with several males if allowed, the male tries to stay locked on to her while she lays her eggs to ensure he is the father of the offspring. The two will fly around together as she deposits hundreds of individual eggs underwater. The eggs hatch into tiny alligator looking insects with a voracious appetite. At this stage of life they are called a naiad. For the next two years the naiad aggressively seeks out and eats mosquito larva, small tadpoles and even small fish. After several molts it attains full size and crawls out of the water onto a rock or vegetation. The back of the naiad splits open and the adult dragonfly emerges. After several hours the dragonfly wings are dry and ready to fly off to eat more mosquitoes and mate, thus completing the dragonfly life cycle. Until next time…
Squirrels
I just love squirrels! You won’t hear many bird nuts like me professing a love for these four legged, bird food robbing bandits. But I am not afraid to admit it. I enjoy all squirrels but in particular I really enjoy the tree squirrels. All squirrels are broken into two groups—tree squirrels and ground squirrels. For example, the Eastern Gray Squirrel and Fox Squirrel are types of tree squirrels while Chipmunks and Woodchucks are types of ground squirrels. Tree squirrels are mammals that belong to the order Rodentia or more commonly known as the rodents. There are over 1,600 species in this group which constitutes one third of the 4,500 species of mammals living on earth today. In other words, one in three mammals walking this earth is a type of rodent. Looking at the fossil record, tree squirrels appear to have originated in North America and subsequently spread to Eurasia, Africa and South America. The morphology of squirrels hasn’t changed much over the past 5 million years. In fact, squirrels have changed so little over this time that most authorities refer to tree squirrels as living fossils. Currently there are 26 species of tree squirrels in the genus Sciurus, with 3 species found in Eurasia and the remainder found in North and South America. The reason for their success is their ability to eat energy rich seeds and nuts and live in trees where other mammalian predators find it hard to go. So what makes a rodent a rodent? Scientist look at the skull and teeth to classify mammals. Squirrels lack canine teeth. The canines are the sharp pointed teeth located between the incisors and the molars or cheek teeth. The incisors of a squirrel or any other rodent for that matter are strong prominent teeth with a chiseled edge on the inner surface that equips the animal with tremendous gnawing ability. Like other rodents the incisors of a squirrel are open rooted and grow continuously through its life. Gnawing on thick shelled nuts and other hard surfaces keep the incisors from growing too long. An incisor that grows unchecked, called a malocclusion, can eventually pierce the skull and kill the animal. The jaws of a squirrel are amazingly strong and powerful. Combine the jaw strength with razor sharp incisors and you have a nut cracking and seed eating machine that will stop at nothing feed itself. One of the things I find fascinating about tree squirrels is their inability to digest cellulose. Cellulose is the chief component of green plants. Cellulose is a polysaccharide comprising up to 90 percent of a plant. Most herbivores (animals that only eat plants) require symbiotic organisms (usually bacteria) to aid in the digestion of cellulose, whereas many other species, including squirrels, are unable to digest cellulose. In other words they cannot live on green plants and must restrict their diet to the energy rich seeds and nuts. Let me just stop right here for a moment and digress just a bit. Many people believe that if they see an animal such as a squirrel or deer eat something in the wild, it must be safe for people to eat. Nothing could be further from the truth. For example, both squirrels and deer have been known to eat deadly Amanita mushrooms without any ill effect. If you or I were to eat one of these mushrooms you would not survive. Simple as that. Now back to the squirrels. Tree squirrels are well adapted to a life in the trees. This is called an arboreal lifestyle. All tree squirrels have extremely strong legs and elongated toes or digits, each equipped with a very sharp recurved claw. In addition their hind legs and feet can rotate 180 degrees, allowing squirrels to scamper down trees headfirst and hang from limbs to reach nuts for food and leaves for their nests. By far the tail of a tree squirrel is its most distinguishing feature. It is a multi-functioning appendage that aids in balance when scampering and jumping around on thin branches in the tree tops while at the same time helps to regulate heat loss and is also used as a flag or signal when communicating with other squirrels. In general tree squirrels have excellent eyesight. Aside from the primates, such as apes and monkeys, tree squirrels are one of the few mammals that can see in color. The position of their eyes is also very important. Set wide apart on either side of the head, tree squirrels posse an extremely wide field of view. Anyone who has tried sneaking up on a squirrel knows what I mean. Although tree squirrels are mostly diurnal (active during the day) tree squirrels possess extra light gathering cells, called cones, in their eyes which allow them to see in very low light of dawn and dusk. Excellent eyesight allows them to keep watch for predators. Now can you see why I like squirrels so much? Until next time…
Sandhill Cranes
Birds are one of the most diverse groups of animals on the face of the earth. From the tiniest of all birds, the 3-inch long hummingbird, to the largest, the 6-foot tall Ostrich, birds are remarkably different. Think about it. There are over 9,000 different types of birds in the world and each is very unique. Even birds that are closely related to each other are often very different. In the Eastern half of North America, there are 17 species of gulls, but each gull is remarkably different from the next. And each of the 14 species of blackbirds is vastly different from each other. We have over 20 species of ducks and 6 different kinds of geese. And you guessed it; they are all very different from each other. Amongst all of this avian diversity stand the Cranes. There are 15 species of crane in the world but just two occur in North America—the Whooping Crane and the Sandhill Crane (Grus Canadensis). Sandhill Cranes are tall and stately birds, standing four feet tall and have wingspans of 6-7 feet. They are certainly the tallest birds in the northland. Males weight between 10 and 12 pounds while the females are 9-10 pounds. Sandhill Cranes are slate-gray with long legs and neck. In defiance of their dull gray color, they sport a bright crimson red cap punctuated with a piercing orange-yellow eye. In most areas Sandhills frequently preen with mud stained with iron oxide, consequently they appear reddish brown rather than gray. Sandhill Cranes are often confused with Great Blue Herons. While they may be of similar height, and color, there are a lot of differences between the birds. One easy way to differentiate between the heron and the cane is in the way they hold their necks. The Sandhill Crane holds their neck straight, especially in flight or while walking on land. The Great Blue Heron holds its neck in a tight “S” pattern, especially in flight. Cranes also have a distinctive rapid upstroke in flight compared to the herons slow and steady flapping. What really amazes me about the Sandhill Crane is not its size or coloration. No, I am amazed at how long the Sandhill Crane has been flying across North America. Sandhills are some of the oldest living birds in North America. Fossils of Sandhills date back 9 million years. That is several million years before people started to walk upright and long before many other birds. A bird with that kind of lineage would lead a naturalist to suspect it was a primitive or an outdated bird destine for extinction. But that is not the case with these birds. They have changed little over the past 9 million years, presumably because they are so well adapted for any change the world throws their way. If the sight of a Sandhill Crane doesn’t move you to absolute admiration, the call of the Sandhill will resound within you for a lifetime. Its distinctive trumpet-like call comes from deep within a curved windpipe, like the bent tubes of a trumpet. The call can be so loud that an individual bird can be heard up to 3 miles away making them heard well before they are seen. It is not uncommon for Sandhill Cranes to live up to 20 years. They don’t breed until 3 to 5 years of age. During the first few attempts of mating they may change partners until they get a good partner and a good territory. After that they will stay mated for the rest of their lives and occupy the same territory. Befitting their grace and beauty, the Sandhill Crane is a dazzling dancer. For courtship and for shear pleasure, the cranes will dance. Standing face to face, the pair will bow than with their wings spread and neck arched, they throw back their heads and trumpet a musical song just before they spring up into the air. Flapping their wings as if in slow motion they slowly return to earth. They than skip, hop and spin around like a ballerina and than spring back into the air. At times they pick up a small twig or bunch of grass and toss it about to break up the dance routine. It is a wonderful sight. Until next time…
Migration
The annual autumn migration is well under way all across this great big planet. From the mammoth Humpback Whale swimming along the Pacific Coast to the delicate and dainty Monarch Butterfly on its annual flight to Mexico. In Jackson Hole, Wyoming the Elk are moving down and out of the mountains to spend the winter at lower elevations to the march of the Emperor Penguins in Antarctic, this ancient need to migrate is well underway. All across the Northland many backyard bird watchers are noticing an increase presence of small woodland hawks in their yards. The annual migration of these birds brings hundreds of thousands of these diurnal raptors into backyards where they are looking for a quick bite to eat before returning to their migratory activity. The tall and stately Sandhill Crane is gathering right now in groups of up to several thousand birds before heading south for the winter. Unlike the hawks that don’t migrate in large flocks, Sandhill Cranes revel in their large numbers. During daylight hours, small groups of cranes fly out to plowed agricultural fields to forage for large insects and spilled grain or corn. Come evening thousands will gather, their trumpeting calls filling the air as it has for millions of years, in wet meadows or shallow ponds to spend the night. They depend upon the relative safety of the water and the huge number of eyes to watch for predators such as foxes and coyote. A few lucky people have some unusual visitors to their feeders right now during migration. Harris’s Sparrows are showing up under feeders scratching for seeds. These handsome brown and tan sparrows have a black crest, face, chin and upper chest. They nest in the far reaches of Canada and are heading for Texas for the winter. Those lucky enough to have them visit will only see them for a couple days before they continue on their way south. Some of our favorite backyard songbirds such as the Rose-breasted Grosbeak are long distance migratos. They leave our backyards and head for the tropical regions of Central and South America. Unlike the raptors these birds migrate at night. Just before sunset, the birds take flight and will fly all night using a combination of the stars, major land forms such as large rivers and the natural magnetic pull of the earth’s poles to guide these birds on their amazing journey. The champion of these tiny migrants is the Black-pole Warbler. They are a tiny warbler that look like a cross between a Black-capped chickadee and a Black-and-white Warbler. The Blackpoll nests in the northern conifer forests of Canada and Alaska. Each autumn it starts its famous long migration by heading eastward to the Atlantic coast between Nova Scotia and Virginia. From there they stage and begin to feed heavily to build fat reserves. Then when the weather conditions are just right they embark on a 1,600 mile non-stop flight to the West Indies while others fly 2,200 miles non-stop to parts of South America. Birds trapped for banding in the staging area just before heading out weight 9 grams (the weight of three pennies). Bird physiologists have determined that the 4.5 grams of extra fat on the Blackpoll is enough to fuel a non-stop flight to the West Indies or South America. They start their journey at sunset and fly all night when the upper level winds tend to be less turbulent. It will take them up to three days of non stop flying to reach their destination. Some birds will rest in Bermuda which is along the flight path while others may take a break on ships. Birds without enough fat presumably will run out of energy and fall into the ocean and die. And you thought your daily commute to work was tough. Come next spring they will return to start the cycle all over again. Until next time…
Deer Antlers Part 2
In my last Nature Smart column we looked at deer antlers. More specifically we examined the difference between horns and antlers. (Yes there is a difference.) We also learned that antlers are composed of calcium, just like bones. In fact antlers are the fastest growing bones in the mammalian world. Where all of this calcium came from to build the antlers was even more interesting. Bucks pull the extra calcium from their ribs and sternum, making the bones prone to rib fractures. In fact the mobilization of minerals from the skeleton to a White-tails antler’s is so remarkable it may someday give us an insight into the mysteries of osteosarcoma (bone cancer) and also osteoporosis (a serious bone disease of older women). There is much to learn from Mother Nature. I am always amazed at the different color of antlers. They can range from Ivory to dark mahogany. The coloration comes from staining due to rubbing the antlers on tree bark or from the stain of blood hemoglobin when the antler is still in velvet. I have also seen antlers with different colored moss and lichen growing on the antlers, particularly at the bases, which makes them look different colors. By the end of the mating season a bucks antlers can be nearly white. Rain and sun do much to bleach the antlers. And by the end of January and occasionally February, bucks will shed or discard their antlers. Casting or shedding of the antlers occurs with little to no pain and very little blood. In fact the attachment spot heals quickly, usually within a couple days and new antlers start to grow within weeks starting the process all over again. Discarded antlers just don’t lie around the forest floor forever. No they are chewed upon, presumably to gain the calcium, by a host of small mammals. In fact a friend of mine once drilled a hole through a deer antler and threaded a heavy gauge wire through it. He then secured the antler to the ground with the wire and took note how long it took for the antler to be eaten. In a short 8 weeks there wasn’t much left of the antler. As incredible as antlers are, what is even more incredible is why a deer has antlers in the first place. Think about it. Of what use are a buck’s antlers? If you examine a buck’s entire year you will find that antlers are more of a hindrance than help. Think of it, from the day the antlers start to grow a deer must take great care to not injury the delicate growing antlers. During spring and summer bucks act and move around like does rather than the usual wild-eye buck. During this time, any disagreements between bucks is handled doe-like, with much rearing on hind legs and flailing with their forefeet because they need to protect their growing antlers. During summer it is the females that are dominant, not the bucks. In fact there is good evidence that bucks live in summertime bachelor groups because the does have driven them into segregation. So why do bucks have antlers? A common theory is that bucks grow antlers to defend against natural enemies and other bucks. But if that was true, why don’t female white-tails have antlers as well? The does are preyed upon even more than the bucks. Also, why don’t the bucks retain their antlers (more horn-like) throughout the winter when the predation is the worst? Besides isn’t a white-tails best defense its ability to quickly run away. Every deer I have come across has responded to me by running away and not standing and fighting. A new and more intriguing theory as to why bucks have antlers is now coming out and there is some good evidence backing it up. We will take a look at this way of thinking about antlers and also look at a trip I took to Canada to photograph moose with a moose biologist who is studying the size of moose antlers and what they are used for. Until then …
Deer Antlers Part 3
In part II of my Nature Smart column on Deer Antlers, we looked at where all the calcium comes from to produce a antlers and the consequences of such massive calcium shift. We also looked at the different colors of antlers. I also discussed what happens to antler sheds each winter. And we learned that nothing goes to waste in nature. But more importantly, I asked the question; why do male deer have antlers in the first place and I promised that I would write about my time spent with a Canadian moose researcher. So here we go with part III of deer antlers. Most believe that antlers are used to defend against predators. But if that was true, why don’t female white-tails have antlers as well? Female deer are preyed upon even more than the bucks. Also, why don’t the bucks retain their antlers (more horn-like) throughout the winter when the predation is the worst? Besides isn’t a white-tails best defense its ability to quickly run away. Well, a more intriguing theory suggests that antlers are for attracting mates—to impress the girls. Kind of like a fancy car and nice clothing for people. It is widely accepted that a male cardinal’s bright colors is a signal to potential mates that he is a healthy male with a good territory that he has a good food supply available to him. Food sole component for brightly colored feathers. Female birds choose their mates based on how the male looks and how well he sings. Since deer don’t sing, it would appear that does look for bucks with the largest antlers for a mate. Therefore large antlers are indicting his good health, food supply and genetics. In part one of this series we talked about how a buck’s diet is a major factor in the growth of the antlers. The more nutritious the diet the larger and thicker the antlers will grow. That, along with good genetics, will produce bucks with an impressive rack. Not only do large antlers impress the girls, the size of a buck’s antlers establishes a place or ranking in white-tail hierarchy. Early in the season, bucks with the most massive antlers and swollen necks will spare with bucks that are approximately their own size to determine dominancy. Rarely are the large bucks challenged by smaller less dominant bucks. Once the strongest and most skilled of these bucks establishes their ranking they usually don’t have to fight again and all of their attention is focused on breeding. So really a White-tailed Deer’s antlers are a visible way to say, “Hey, I am a strong and healthy male that will produce strong and healthy offspring”, “consider me for breeding.” This brings me to a photography trip where I spent several days with a moose researcher in Canada’s Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba. Researcher Vince Crichton, whom you may have seen on an Animal Planet channel special, uses a stuffed moose head with interchangeable antlers to interact with bull moose and observe their behavior. He would strap the moose head to his chest, kind of like a reverse backpack and using a moose call walk up to bull moose during the rut. The goal was to observe the reaction the bull moose would have to Vince’s antlers. My reaction was that he was nuts, but that is a different story. Vince has established that when he approached a moose with smaller antlers, presumably a less dominant moose, that moose would not challenge Vince and his large antlers. Bulls with equal or larger antlers would stand their ground and become agitated indicating their willingness to fight by rocking their heads back and forth to show off their antlers. For several days I followed Vince around the north woods of Riding Mountain National Park and observed the behavior of the moose and was amazed at how these bull moose didn’t see a man with a moose head strapped to his chest but rather they seemed to only see the antlers further indicating how important antlers are to the members of the deer family. Until next time…
Trumpeter Swan
December is an interesting month. It’s a month that can provide some of the most interesting and dramatic winter landscapes of the season and it’s when you feel winter is upon us. But what is funny, December looks like winter but technically it’s not winter. Let me explain. The first day of winter is actually December 21st at 6:04 AM in the Northern Hemisphere. The winter solstice! This is at the end of the month! So how can the entire month of December be considered winter? I think most people consider December as being part of winter. And you would be mostly right if you thought this since the meteorological first day of winter is December 1st. This is different from the solstice. It’s the day that most meteorologists consider the start of winter or at least the winter weather season. I say, good enough for me. Getting back to the solstice. The solstice is an astronomical event that occurs twice a year. Once in the spring and once in the fall. Every day the earth is tilting on its axis either towards the North Pole or towards the South Pole depending upon the time of year. The axis is the imaginary line drawn through the earth from the North Pole to the South Pole. At this time of year the earth tilts on its axis moving the northern hemisphere (us) away from the sun and exposing the southern hemisphere more to the sun. The furthest the earth tilts is 23.5 degrees north or south of the equator, or about a quarter angle to the sun. When we reach the end of our movement north or south the tilting comes to a stand still, which is called the solstice. The name solstice comes from the Latin, sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). Believe it or not, just that small amount of tilting away from the sun is enough to give us winter or summer. What makes it more mind boggling is the earth revolves around the sun in an elliptical pattern and during winter we actually move closer to the sun by over 2 million miles than we are in summer. So even though we are closer to the sun in winter the angle or title of the earth is enough to plunges us into the cold depths of winter. Adding to Decembers interests, this year on December 1st we had a very interesting celestial event. The planets of Venus and Jupiter were seen lined up with the moon in the night sky. This is known as a planetary conjunction. The lining up of these planets only happens once every 13 months. Venus and Jupiter are our brightest planets making this conjunction an amazing sight. Just after sunset and lasting for only a couple hours the crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter we so bright and obvious that anyone with clear skies and the inklings to look up were treated to a very cool celestial show. I know I spent nearly an hour looking and photographing the night sky event. So with snow blanketing most of the upper Midwest and temperatures that force us to wear hats and gloves, I would say that December is definitely a winter month no matter if you consider winter starting at the first of the month or the 21st. Until next time…