Eclipse

           I missed our visit last week. I only had nine photos and I don’t know how many pages of jibber-jabber to go with it, but it didn’t feel like much. I thought I’d pick up those nine photos and stories and combine them with this week’s letter blog. Little did I know that we’d travel to the path of totality to see the eclipse.

          We did.

          Now I have somewhere north of 130 photos and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed. But I know one thing for sure, the longest journey starts with one step.

I’m eclectic when it comes to taking photos. You’re gonna see flowers and birds, farms and barns, houses and shacks. You’ll see highways and license plates, city streets and memorials, factories and fences. You might even see a few critters and something I’ve created. Some of those things may not be your cup o’ sunshine, but there’s usually somebody else who does like them.

          The weather forecast was for clouds. Mike tracked it for days trying to figure out the best place for us to go to see the total eclipse of the sun. We bought eclipse glasses and a solar filter for my camera. The filter came on a card because it was designed to be used with your cell phone or a camera. I didn’t want to have to hold it in front of my lens so I took a cereal box and boxing tape and made a cover. It may not be the prettiest but it gets the job done.

          My oldest, beautifulest, and much-adored sister sent me an article on how to take pictures of the eclipse safely. I’ll tell you what! Patti can be a lifesaver! I had never once given any thought as to how I was going to take pictures of the eclipse. No, not once! I guess I was going to use my automatic settings like I normally do. The article covered what settings to use so I took my camera with its fancy-schmancy filter and went out to practice.

          You’re gonna laugh when you hear what I did. Or maybe you’ll just smile and shake your head like I did.

I put on my eclipse glasses, held the camera up to the sun — and couldn’t see a thing. I snapped a picture anyway. I lowered the camera, took off the eclipse glasses, and reviewed my photo. It was blacker than the blackest night! I held the camera back up to the sun, this time without the glasses on, and still couldn’t see the sun!

          What is going on! I wondered.

          I pulled the filter off and saw I’d forgotten to remove the lens cap.

          I played around with the settings until I got something that looked like this.

          Satisfied, I left the settings where they were and flipped my camera back to auto.

          We decided on Rochester, NY, and left early on the morning of the eclipse. Mike heard the traffic would be bad as they expected tons of people would be traveling to the path of totality.

          Can you say, “Road pictures?”

          I was ecstatic when I saw an eagle and got my camera up in time to take his picture.

          I was even more ecstatic — what word means even more ecstatic? Overjoyed? Elated? Euphoric? Yes! I was euphoric when I saw not one but two eagles sitting near each other in the same tree!

          “The bottom one doesn’t look like an eagle,” you say.

          Bald Eagles don’t get their white heads until four-and-a-half to five years of age.

          “Is it this year's young eagle?” you wanna know.

          I wanted to know that, too, so I talked to Copilot, my AI (artificial intelligence) chat buddy. I’ll tell you what. I don’t have to read tons of web pages anymore to find out what I want to know. Copilot does it for me and does it faster!

          Bald eagle chicks typically stay in the nest for ten to twelve weeks after hatching. After leaving the nest, fledglings will stay with their parents for an additional one to two months. Next, I had to find out when the eagles lay their eggs, which is typically in February. Incubation is 35 days and they leave the nest at 12 weeks. This year’s eaglets won’t fledge until late May or early June. So, this has to be last year’s young one!

          “How rare is it for a young eagle to stay a year with its parents?” I asked Copilot.

          “It’s relatively uncommon for young Bald eagles to stay with their parents for a full year. Typically, after fledging, which occurs around 10-12 weeks after hatching, juvenile bald eagles may remain in close proximity to their parents for an additional 1 to 2 months. During this time, they continue to learn essential survival skills. However, after this period, they usually disperse to establish their own territories and begin their independent lives. Staying with their parents for a year would be an exception rather than the norm,” Copilot responded, citing its sources.

          “I believe I have a photo of a young eagle still with its parent a year later. Who would want to see my photo?” I asked Copilot.

          “That’s a remarkable observation! Organizations and communities interested in bird conservation would certainly appreciate this sighting. You might consider sharing your photo with local wildlife authorities or birding communities, such as those associated with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds. Additionally, conservation organizations like Save The Eagles International and citizen science projects like eBird and iNaturalist, are platforms where such sightings can contribute to ongoing research and conservation efforts. They often welcome submissions from the public that can help with their studies on bird behavior and population dynamics. Sharing your photo with them would not only document the rare occurrence but also support their work in protecting these magnificent birds."

          I feel lucky to have gotten a shot like that.

 

          This wood-built fence fascinated me because it was so long! Maybe wood was cheaper back when it was built but it certainly had to be more labor intensive than other kinds of fencing.

          They went the extra mile to put a fancy window frame in this old barn. 

         Then we were there, in a Walmart parking lot in Rochester. There were sky rats — err, Ring-billed Gulls flying around the parking lot. Two of them landed near our car.

         Just for kicks and grins, I tossed a few chips out the window. As you can imagine, it didn’t take them long to get their brave on, grab the chips that landed really close to the car, and scamper away. Another gull tried to lay claim to a missed chip and was quickly chased away.

          “How about some crackers?” I asked Mike and we tossed a few Ritz into the parking lot.

          Holy cow! Word gets around fast! Within seconds the whole flock descended on us! I was using my camera with a long lens so I wasn’t able to get a shot of all of them at once but trust me, it was a little daunting.

          “They probably don’t want you to feed them,” Mike guessed.

          “Probably not,” I agreed.

          We didn’t run into the predicted heavy traffic and made good time. That means we were there plenty early with tons of time to kill. We were in the deserted end of the parking lot when another car parks a few rows away, facing us, the doors open but no one gets out.

          “I bet they’re from Pennsylvania, too,” Mike said.

          “What makes you think that?” I wanted to know.

          “Because there’s no front plate on the car. New York has a front plate.”

          Time passes and we chat. My mind turns to the article I read about photographing the eclipse. “Can we find a different spot to watch the eclipse from?” I asked.

          “What’s wrong with here?”

          “That article Patti sent me said parking lot lights can interfere with getting my pictures.”

          “Where do you want to go?” Mike asked.

          “Let’s go check out that empty complex we saw on the way in. It’s right down the road and if we don’t like it, we can come back here.”

          We drove back to it and pulled in. Mike followed the road as it wound its way around several complexes. We came to an area where there were no buildings, no parking lot lights, and no street lights. There was plenty of room for us to get out of the lane of travel.

          “Will this work?” Mike asked and I concurred.

          On the way back to the Walmart parking lot, I snapped a picture of the geese in a flooded ditch.

          “Let’s talk to them,” Mike said of the car that pulled in after us.

          “Okay but pull up on your side. I don’t like it when you talk across me.”

          We spent the next hour getting to know two gals who drove up from Northumberland. During the conversation, we were talking about photos when Tammy said, "Did you see that one tree?"

           It's funny because I knew exactly which tree she was talking about! "I did!" I exclaimed. "I think I even got a picture of it!" I never really know until I look at them on the 'puter. The picture doesn't do it justice. 

          Eventually, Mike got around to mentioning that we found a spot with no lights in which to view the eclipse, then invited them to join us.

          Tammy and Bren (short for Brenda) agreed and followed us back to the industrial complex ahead of the eclipse.

          We still had an hour to wait and I used that time to take tons of pictures, one of which was a flock of birds that landed in a tree.

Mike was engaged in conversation with the gals and I kinda sorta just walked away. I don’t mean it to be rude. I wasn’t involved in the conversation and I saw something across the road that interested me more.

“What would that be?” you ask.

It would be gulls in the flooded part of the field. I was trying for birds with their reflections but didn’t have much luck.

This one came right at me.

   

         And veered off at the last second.

Then I heard the distinctive call of a Killdeer. It took me forever to find him. Can you spot him without going to the next photo where I circle him in red for you?

Then he took off. As I followed with my camera, I got a shot of his beautiful plumage.

          As time passed and it was getting closer to eclipse time, I went back and joined our little group.

          “There’s the sun!” Bren exclaimed when it briefly broke through the cloud cover.

          “I can see it in your car,” I said. It was a lot easier than breaking my neck looking up.

          “Cool!” she said.

          Unfortunately, it was the last time we saw the sun. The clouds rolled in and were so thick we didn’t even see a vestige of the sun.

          The business across the road let its employees out to view the eclipse.

          These two cutie patooties came over and talked with us.

          This daredevil rode on the back tire of his motorcycle for a long, long, way. He flashed me the peace sign as he went past. I don’t know how hard this is to do, but he was good! I quit watching before he put the bike down.

Then it started to get dark. (I know, it's blurry. I don't have the software to fix it.)

And got darker and darker!

It got really dark and the peepers started peeping. Lucky for me I’d already set my camera for nighttime pictures.

           Then it started getting light again and it was over. We chatted for a few more minutes and headed for home.

          I had to lighten the picture A LOT to see the colors.

       

I could hear the girlies in the back seat laughing when they saw me taking a picture of their cow.

   

            An eagle's nest.

           Hawk.

          Then we hit traffic!

          Sometimes we wonder about bumper stickers. We saw one with a capital N, capital I, and a backward capital N.

          “What does that mean?” Mike asked.

          “I don’t know.”

          I asked Copilot if he knew.

          “The bumper sticker with “NIN” and the last “N” backward is likely a reference to the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. The band is known for its stylized logo, which includes the last “N” reversed.”

          Copilot figured out the bumper sticker. I wonder if it knows plates.

          “What does this plate mean?” I asked.

          “It’s likely a reference to the popular anime character Goku from the Dragon Ball series,” Copilot said.

          I’d never have gotten that since I don’t know what the Dragon Ball series is.

          I tried another one. I was guessing it stood for North Fork Gal which brought to mind the old TV series Dallas. But that was Southfork, wasn’t it?

          “The personalized license plate likely stands for ‘North Fork Gal,’ suggesting that the vehicle’s owner is a woman who identifies with or is from the North Fork area in New York. It could refer to the northeast part of Long Island known for its vineyards, farms, and beaches.”

          I guessed the plate but not what it meant. Interesting.

          I took this picture knowing it would silhouette the bird, but it was a big bird.

          I was able to lighten the next shot of it enough to see that it was a hawk.

          Okay, my loves, that brings us to the end of our trip. Even though we didn’t get to see the eclipse, we had a good trip, met some nice people, and got a few good photos. All in all, not a complete waste of time. I’m not sad. There’s not much use in crying over spilt milk. Mike, on the other hand, is rather disappointed and slightly angry that he didn’t get to see it.

          It’s my plan, my intention, at least at this point, to write an extra edition of Peggy’s Jibber-Jabber and catch you up on all the mundane happenings here at the Luby household in the beautiful mountains of northeast Pennsylvania. 

          Until then, know that you are in my heart. 

          Let’s call this one done!