09/01/2017 The Great 2017 American Eclipse

09/01/2017 – The Great 2017 American Eclipse (Karen Benson)

During the two minutes or so of totality, the sky darkened to a twilight hue. Eclipse watchers were treated to incredible views of the solar corona and the “diamond ring effect.” Karen Benson photo.

What a Week!  Hurricane Harvey “Eclipses” Solar Eclipse

What a week it has been for natural phenomena!  On Monday, we were in Wyoming witnessing a total solar eclipse.  On Friday, we were watching a Cat 1 hurricane rapidly morphing into a Cat 2 (then 3, then 4!) as it took aim on the Coastal Bend of Texas.

Like everyone else, we gathered supplies, hunkered down and waited.  Bird feeders, hanging plants, and lawn furniture were stacked away in the garage.  Candles and flashlights were ready.  Our phones beeped and chirped hurricane and flashflood warnings.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds, like this female, are on their way to the tropics. They just need to feed heavily at flowers and feeders to put on enough weight to make the non-stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Harvey has put a damper on their food sources, especially hummingbird feeders, as people have had to flee the storm. Robert Benson photo.

The wind whistled and blew leaves off trees and plastered them to the windows.  It rained continuously, but not torrentially, all night.  The electronic rain gauge read three and a half inches.  Then we lost power.  It was too dark to see the backup rain gauge.  At dawn, we stepped out the front door and heard a loud humming.  Oh, no!  Wires down?  No, just a couple of dozen hummingbirds swirling around a forgotten feeder!

Normally coastal birds, like Laughing Gulls, are showing up in inland locations like Beeville, as hurricane winds blow them off course. Robert Benson photo.

Grateful that things were not worse (well, there was that big old mesquite down in the driveway), we refilled the feeder and watched the little birds tank up.  As dozens of hummers buzzed about, we kept the feeder filled and out of the wind all day.  They had one thing on their minds:  eat enough to survive the weather.

As devastating as hurricanes are to humans, they also dislocate many animals.  Hummingbirds, like the ones on our porch, are in the middle of their fall migration.  Normally, in late August and early September, millions of the tiny birds are on the Texas coast, taking full advantage of the plentiful feeders to feed and gain weight.  They must put on about 50% more body fat in order to make the nonstop flight across the Gulf of Mexico.  This year, with evacuations and storm preparations, I suspect there are very few feeders out.   High winds have stripped flowers from plants.  What are the poor hummingbirds going to eat?  Our own sugar supply was getting low…

On Sunday, we made an emergency sugar run to Wal-Mart.  Along the highway we saw Laughing Gulls, blown inland by the storm.  Birding websites reported Magnificent Frigatebirds in the city of Corpus Christi.  I wonder what other species will turn up in strange places before Hurricane Harvey lets go of Texas?

Harvey’s “astronomical” amounts of rain have devastated Texas.  Although we must all deal with the aftermath of such a storm, and deal with it now, I hope we will all remember the astronomical event of 2017.

Just about everyone in the United States had a chance to see the partial eclipse, and millions were in the 70-mile wide, 4,000-mile long path of totality.  It was an experience of a lifetime for many Americans.  Everyone observing will have made special memories of the event.

I recall last Monday morning vividly.   Just as the moon completely obscured the sun, there was a bright flash of light on the lower left edge.  This was the Diamond Ring Effect.  It lasted only a fraction of a second.  Then I took off the eclipse glasses and used my binoculars to look for the sun’s corona.  We on the ground were bathed in an eerie twilight as we watched.  The crickets increased their stridulations thinking it was nighttime.  After two minutes of totality the moon began to move off of the solar disk and again:  Another Diamond Ring!  Wow!

A week later and we are back in Texas.  Today, as many in the state are reeling from the impact of a major hurricane, I realize how lucky we Bee Countians are.  We were spared the worst of the storm.  The rain fell but slowly, soaking into the dry ground.  Most of us got only five inches or so of rain.  The wind was strong enough to blow down some trees and knock out power, but not destroy whole buildings.  Send good thoughts, aid, and assistance to those Texans to the north and east of us, who were not so fortunate.

As a naturalist, I cannot help but have some concern for wildlife.  Hurricanes are hard on all living things.  Mammals, birds, and reptiles must flee their homes and habitats.  Food sources diminished.  The copious rain upsets the saltwater/freshwater balance of estuaries.  Many fish and invertebrates die.  Wild creatures will suffer the effects of a major storm just like us.  Maybe we can remember to replant with wildlife in mind.  We can temporarily put out extra food.  We can allow dislocated wildlife, even snakes, to make their own way back to their homes.

Nature will restore harmony among the wild things again, but it will take years.  Humans will repair and replace our own society (although it will again take years). We have a chance now to rebuild our structures and cities. We can even make them better than they were.  Will we remember to leave wild things their wild spaces in our quest to rebuild?  I hope so.