Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Upside Down Thistle Feeder

Upside Down Thistle Feeder

We have a new goldfinch feeder – a Perky Pet Upside Down Thistle Feeder. We got it from Amazon.com last week just to try it out.

The product description on Amazon follows:

Keep undesirable house finches and larger birds away from your finch feeders with this unique finch feeder. It’s designed to attract goldfinches, who can easily feed upside down while other species cannot. Holds up to 2 pounds of thistle seed or finch mix. Features plastic squirrel-resistant cap and perches. Cap slides along a hanging bail for ease of filling. Weather-resistant 18 inch feeder tube. Six upside-down feeding ports & perches. Feeder empties completely leaving no residue.

The feeder hangs from a garden crook just outside of the courtyard where we can see it through the front window. Click on the image to enlarge.

20 Jan 2013 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

Feather of a Fallen Dove

Feather

It is an almost daily occurrence to find tail feathers from a mourning dove or some other unfortunate prey of the many hawks and other raptors that hunt the blue skies of Arizona. This one softly landed on the Sedona rocks that cover our RV drive and much of the landscaped part of the property. Click on the image to enlarge.

19 Jan 2013 by Arizona Critters Environment Photography

A Touch of Fragrance

A Touch of Fragrance

Thursday is our usual day for grocery shopping. Today, as usual, included a stop at the flower concession to pick out a bouquet for this week. The name of the bouquet of roses and Asian lilies is “A Touch of Fragrance. When the roses and lilies open up over the weekend (I hope), the area around the vase should smell really pretty. Click on the image to enlarge.

17 Jan 2013 by Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Sunspot AR 1654

ar1654.jpg

I stepped out into the courtyard today and took this image of the sun. There are several sunspots that my modest solar camera can resolve today, including AR 1654 which could erupt according to SpaceWeather.com:

CHANCE OF FLARES: So far today, solar activity is low. However, that could be the calm before the storm. The magnetic field of big sunspot AR1654 has grown more complex. It is now classified as a ‘beta-gamma-delta’ magnetic field, which means it harbors energy for X-class eruptions.

If you follow the X-class eruptions link it takes you to a NASA site wherein flare classes are defined. There is a neat little three minute video there, that expands on the classification of solar flares. Click on the image to enlarge.

16 Jan 2013 by Astronomy Science

Solar Flare

I watched this short video of a solar flare captured by SDO on New Year’s Eve. The video was on today’s APOD. They compared the prominence to a ballet:

Of particular interest is the tangled magnetic field that directs a type of solar ballet for the hot plasma as it falls back to the Sun.

The sun is approaching solar maximum sometime soon. In some circles, scientists believe we may already have passed the maximum which will prove to be a disappointment to greenbats. It will also disappoint some Ham radio operators who delight in ionospheric radio propagation which is enhanced by solar activity.

15 Jan 2013 by Aerospace Astronomy Environment Science

Wickenburg Station

Wickenburg Station

Today was a cool and crisp, blue sky day in our retirement town. We had some errands to run down by old Downtown Wickenburg and I got this shot of the historic train station. No trains stop here these days, but one express freighter came through just a short while after I got the photo. Click on the image to enlarge.

14 Jan 2013 by Arizona Photography Retirement

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