Hi Folks,

I will hope Norm excuses this non-avian indulgence, but a very rare
astronomical event, the transit of Venus across the sun, will take place
tomorrow, visible from our area beginning at about 5:09 p.m Eastern
Daylight Time, and I know there is a lot of interest in such things in this
forum.  While many or most readers of this listserve may be aware of the
event, they may not know where to go to view it.  The Howard Astronomical
League will be setting up at Alpha Ridge Park in Howard County (also an
excellent birding spot) at about 5:30 p.m., and that is where I plan to be
to view the event.  Watching a transit means looking at the sun, and
therefore great care and proper precautions are warranted, which Is why I'd
like to go where there is some expertise and equipment that will allow for
a satisfactory view.  As to the rarity of the event, the next transit won't
occur till the year 2117.

Wikipedia is running some transit-related material on its main page for the
next 24 hours, and to put in a shameless plug, beginning at 7 p.m. tomorrow
evening (EDT),  the "Did you know..." section is scheduled to run a short
snipet on an article I wrote about Rhode Governor and Declaration of
Independence signer Stephen Hopkins, who made observations during the 1769
transit.

As for birds, while we have had a couple of interesting sightings in the
past few weeks, this has been, by far, the worst season for birds we've
ever had in our yard.  Why?  We have a pair of Cooper's Hawks nesting atop
one of our pine trees.  The consumption of bird food has dropped from about
30 pounds a week to about 3 pounds per week.  The good news:  the squirrel
population is also way down, and occasionally we see a bushy tail hanging
down from a tree limb where a coop is chowing down.  We may actually get to
eat some fruit from our fruit trees this year.

Thanks for the air time, Norm.

Stan Arnold
Ferndale


############################

To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1