Red Deer Log Cabins

Though I am a big fan of people turning OFF their digital devices while they are here, I have been shown a couple of apps that are worthwhile.  I can't give you the names (because I won't advertise them) but I am sure you can find them!

1.  Constellations.  This thing is great because you can hold your machine up to the sky and it will highlight whatever constellation you are pointed at, making it easier to define.

2.  Birds.  There is an app that gives identification information including the song.  Some people have called birds in by playing the song, and we have identified more birds than can be seen by simple observation.

Might as well learn something while you are having fun.  BONUS!

Double bill this week!  The skies are giving us both for the next couple of nights.  There have been aurora for the last couple of nights, but not strong ones here.  People thought they were clouds.  You can't see stars through clouds though...
Pleiades peak is supposed to be Wednesday after midnight, so technically Thursday morning.

What a fabulous weekend! 
The local trail bike ride was this past weekend, Father's Day.  There seemed to be about half the participants of 2014.   I had to blast in to Bancroft for building supplies on Friday, and the road seemed pretty quiet for a Friday pm.

Well, the aurora was a no show.  Not just here, but I saw nothing on the internet the day after.  People are pretty quick to post viddy and pics, so it seems no one saw any.

On the other hand, this is a happening place.  Return dirt bikers, new mushroom pickers (multi-generational), return fisherpeople, and a couple from France who are focused on Algonquin Park.  Oh, and some who are just here to sleep and eat, because they work too hard in the Big Smoke and needed fresh air and to be by the water, surrounded by greenery.  Happy campers/cabiners, currently attending campfires and cooking the evening meal.

It's all good.

Anyone who can get away from city lights tonight is likely to see aurora.  It's looking like a go.
Nothing visible here last night because of the heavy cloud cover.

A massive solar flare is heralding a good possibility of seeing Aurora over the next couple of nights.  Might be tricky, because the moon is just past full, so the effect could be washed out.  Moon rise is about an hour and a half after sunset right now.

Late night (past midnight) skywatchers were treated to a fine display of shooting stars last night.  The peak isn't until August 12, but there will be a full moon then, so the shower will wash out.  The sliver of a moon sets early, so tonight should be good too if the skies stay clear.

Likely too much cloud here, but tonight is the peak of this 20 meteor an hour shower.  Moon sets early too, so should be easy to see some if there is a break in the overcast.  Perseids are spooling up too.

Want to see the International Space Station?  This is a schedule of when you can see it in the sky.  The home page on the site shows what the astronauts are seeing, updated every minute. 

Possible meteor shower this Friday/Saturday, May 23/24.  past full moon, and the rise is late, so a good chance to see something if you can get away from the city.

It's been a long day of preparing for tourists.  The water is finally in the system.  This is only possible because the lines are just below the ground a few inches.  Yesterday I had a snag, where there was still frost ground around a pipe leading to a cabin.  There is still frozen ground 3 feet down; the installation of gas tanks at the corner store has ground to a halt because they can't dig yet.

Fish are jumping!  Under a mackerel sky at sunset, which was a red glow in the northwest sky, as the rest was under cloud.

Lots of bird sounds, far too many for me to identify.  Birders, where are you?  I think there is a pileated in the grounds.  I have been hearing him for more than a month, and today I saw the characteristic hole in a tree.  The old weather forecasting tree beside the office window is DEAD, and that is what the woodpecker has been working on.  Strangely I haven't seen him yet, just a case of not looking at the right time.  Either he is working on a couple of trees, or there is more than one in the 'hood.

The creek was running backwards today.  The dam at Whitney is letting water into the system.  Last night, under the stars, the falls was ROARING.

THIS is what makes Northern Lights, otherwise known as aurora borealis
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Must%20watch/ID/2414444233/
This happened yesterday, so starting tonight, if the skies are clear, there is an opportunity to view this phenomenon, for up to 3 nights.

Sidebar topic on weather network site says autumn is the aurora time of the year.  Scientifically speaking, not.  Aurora depend on solar activity.  It may be easier to see them in the autumn because the sky is dark earlier.  More accessible for many.
Sun storm cycles are not particularly coordinated to our seasons on earth. 
Aurora don't exist without a CME in the direction of the earth.

The full moon is going to likely make it difficult to see the meteor shower Monday just before sunrise.
The penumbral eclipse was a no go here with the recent pervasive cloud cover.

It's obvious that the leaves are starting to change.  It's not that they are turned, but I have been able to see the underlying orange of the maples for most of 2 weeks already.
I don't recall seeing leaf change this way in previous years.  As usual, there are some early, stressed changers.  There is a flash of red and orange here and there, some yellows with downed leaves (poplar, willow).  This part is typical for mid August.  What I find unusual is being able to see the underlying colour while the trees are still green.  Maybe it's just me?

Anyone thinking of colours jaunts to the countryside this autumn should consider booking now.  The bookings for September and October are way up from last year.