Super Blue Blood Moon

For the first time in over 150 years, we had a Super Blue Blood Moon here on our farm. Super because it was at the closest point in its orbit around the earth and so looks bigger, Blue because it was the second full moon of the month, and Blood because it was eclipsed by the earth, letting only the red wave lengths from the sun reach the moon.

Johnny woke me up at 2:30 a.m. on January 30th to watch it eclipse. Alas, I had told him 2:30 instead of 4:30. And, more alas, we had thought January 30th was Jan. 31st. After sitting on a pillow upstairs staring out the window at the moon for awhile, which seemed to have no interest in eclipsing, I checked the computer and discovered we were up a day early. But I had taken a picture of the moon-that-looked-full on my way out to do evening chores at 7 p.m., thinking it was the Super Blue Moon soon to be Blood red. So here it is:

It may have been a day early but it looked full to me.

 And zoomed up close, it was quite lovely. A Super Moon, indeed.

 Why this image came out with a blue halo, I have no idea. But it made it look like a Blue Moon.

Of course, it did not eclipse so I did not get an early morning shot of a Blood Moon. In fact, I got no photo at all on the morning of the eclipse, Jan. 31, because clouds covered our sky. The only way we knew the moon was there was because the sky was somewhat light, at least we could see the tree out the window. We were lying on the guest room bed looking out that window, willing the clouds to dissipate. And periodically going upstairs to watch NASA's live feed of the eclipse from California, where the skies were clear.

But at 4 a.m., when the moon was totally eclipsed behind the clouds, we looked out back and realized that the night had become pitch dark. The moon was in eclipse! But no red hue behind those clouds for us. So I stole this one from NASA. I cannot figure out to downsize it, so here is the Super Blue Blood Moon, super sized.

We have another chance at a lunar eclipse, also a Super Moon, next January 21st. It will not be a Blue Moon, however. I just hope the skies are clear on that night. Surely we will get the date right, since January 21st is Johnny's birthday. A Happy Birthday Super Blood Moon!

January on the Farm

Johnny turned 75 this month. Thanks to the ongoing pain and stiffness, he probably feels more like 100. Walking is difficult. Fortunately, driving is not so much so he is able to go on our birding treks, to stores (with the help of a wheelchair or motorized cart) and sometimes to church, when he is feeling well enough. We're hoping for a good diagnosis and then solutions from Hope Orthopedics in Salem... as soon as he can get an appointment. Update: Turned out they only do feet and ankles. So he now has an appointment on Feb. 14 with the excellent orthopedic surgeon in Tualatin who did his back surgery years ago. Here's hoping...

Meanwhile, Johnny keeps the home fires burning while I do chores and enjoy the unseasonably warm (although often wet) January weather... and now and then hike around taking photos of our farm.

reflections on our seasonal pond

wild rose hips

winter blooming jasmine outside the back door

one of our Speckled Sussex chickens

Fred the peacock

Northern Flicker

Gertrude the Guinea Hen

Nightingale, Jessie Anne and Mr. Smith with snow on the hills behind them

a Waxcap (Hygrocybe) in the woods

moss and lichen covered fir trunk

more reflections with invisible bathing Robin

grand old Bigleaf Maple

another waxcap

Sleepy Barn Owl in the loft of the goat barn

Happy New Year!

On the last day of 2017, we drove up Agency Creek Road to look for American Dippers. Johnny drove; I took photos with my Nikon. It was a lovely, if cold, day with Agency Creek running high from our recent torrential rains. We had a hard time finding Dippers. Maybe because the creek was populated with Bald Eagles. Our guess is that the Grand Ronde tribe has done it's annual fish fling recently... when they deposit milked-out salmon from hatcheries into the creek to replenish the nutrients needed by baby salmon.  Eagles love salmon... carcasses or live, makes no difference.

Our first stop, though, was the gravel quarry with its ever-changing colors and bizarre lava flows.

Along the creek, nobody was visible except the eagles... adults and subadults, perched high in tree tops.

 "The Chutes" was a wild stretch of rushing water and beauty... no Dippers in sight.

 The gate to the railroad bridge was open... the first time we've seen it so. 

The view looking downstream from the bridge... nothing but water and mist and bare trees.

The view from another bridge was equally lovely... but no Dippers.

We could not even find a Dipper near where the Yoncalla (pictured below) flows into Agency Creek. A pair nests near here every year.

We stopped by a cascading waterfall where Dippers sometimes feed so I could take a photo of the falls. I saw no Dipper until I put the camera down... and realized one was on a rock in the middle of the stream! I quickly raised the camera to zoom in on the Dipper, but it disappeared. I waited many minutes but never saw it again. Perhaps it went down the waterfall and out of my sight. Dippers were certainly keeping a low profile this day.

However, when I put the photo of the falls on the computer and zoomed in, there was the Dipper! The tiny dot on a rock in the center of the above photo is the Dipper. I zoomed it in below but now it just looks like a tiny dark smudge above the rock. Believe me, it's a Dipper! That's exactly where I saw it.

 Farther along, the scenery was lovely but Dippers not in sight.

 However in an area of many dead trees where we often find woodpeckers, there was a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers scolding and flying about. Johnny spotted Gray Jays working through the area, too. And we found one very conspicuous and busy Pileated Woodpecker, that finally posed for a photo.

Back home, our lone guinea hen greeted us, as always. She seems to think the vehicles belong to her and escorts them back into the shop/garage, where she apparently thinks they ought to stay.

The next day, New Year's Day, dawned sunny and clear. I needed some photos for my monthly humor column in United Caprine News, so I took my Panasonic  (not as heavy as the Nikon) out with me. The goats were enjoying the sunshine after the frost was off the grass.

Most lay in family groups.

Dam and daughter Ginseng and Gin & Tonic

Dam and daughter Cindy Lou and Cleopatra standing, dam/daughter/granddaughter Felicity, Happy Day and Golden Day reclining

Also out enjoying the sunshine was llama Lindoro with his dog, Shirley

Happy New Year from the Fink Family Farm!