Hello, Birders. I'm thinking the hour before sunrise tomorrow morning, Sunday, Dec. 18th, may be just about the most glorious of the year.
For starters, Mercury will be at its best for the entire year, rising well into the southeastern sky even before nautical dawn begins at 6:11 a.m. For a bonus, Saturn, high in the southeast, will be easily found--right next to bright Spica. Saturn's ring complex is perfectly oriented now for excellent viewing with a birding scope. Fortunately, the moon is well past full, so the sky should be nice and dark--which means you'll catch the tail end of the great Geminid meteor shower. It will be close to a week since the Geminids' peak, but you'll still see some good'ns, flaming across the dark sky. And this is a wonderful time of year for owls! Eastern Screech-Owls will be whinnying at dawn, and Great Horned Owls will be carrying on for sure. This is a propitious time of year, too, for a rare encounter with a Northern Pygmy-Owl or Long-eared Owl. The weather should be splendid. Totally clear overnight, with enough of a wind, early on, to keep the temps from dropping too low. By dawn, it will be calm and, all things considered for this time of the year, downright mild. What I'm saying is, I cannot conceive of any excuse for not being out and about ca. 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning! Especially if you're doing the Boulder Christmas Bird Count... Have fun out there! Ted Floyd [email protected] Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
