You don’t have to look far to see signs of spring. From the budding of trees and the warming of temperatures to the animals coming out of their winter hideaways, the promise of new birth and fresh color fills the springtime air. In our area, signs of the change in season have been popping up for weeks. La Niña provided a mild winter with above normal rainfall, and we’ve enjoyed some wonderful early spring-like weather.

The first day of spring is usually March 20 but sometimes, like last year, it falls on the 21st to correspond with the vernal equinox when the sun rests directly above the equator on its apparent trip northward. As the earth revolves around the sun, the Northern Hemisphere tilts more toward the sun as winter turns to spring. Conversely, the Southern Hemisphere tilts more away from the sun ushering in the beginning of autumn for people in that hemisphere.

The word “equinox” is derived from Latin and means “equal nights.” Around March 20 (or 21st as the case may be), sunrise and sunset are about twelve hours apart everywhere on Earth. Because of that, some folks mistakenly believe that day and night on that date are of equal length. In reality, though, the day is a little longer and here’s why. Sunrise occurs when the top of the sun rather than its center is on the horizon. But the sun actually appears to be above the horizon when it is in fact still below it. That’s because the earth’s atmosphere refracts, or “bends,” light coming from the sun, so we “see” the sun a couple of minutes before it actually rises over the horizon. And if you add the daylight that persists after sunset, you’ll find the day on the equinox is several minutes longer than the night.

Spring is a time of transition, not only for plants and animals, but for the weather, too. It can mean weather extremes from very cold and snowy days to humid and stormy days. Some of the country’s biggest snowfalls have occurred in March and the period from March to May brings severe thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes to much of the south. In the Sacramento region, spring is my favorite season. It means hiking and other outdoor activities, longer days and warmer nights, and myriad opportunities for landscape and wildlife photography.

And let’s lay to rest the myth about your being able to balance a raw egg on end on the first day of spring when, supposedly, the pull of gravity is more equal because the sun is more directly overhead. There’s simply no scientific support for this.

The balancing egg legend apparently got its start in 1945 when a reporter for Life Magazine wrote a story about a Chinese ritual in which people stood eggs on end on the first day of spring. But the Chinese recognized the first day of spring in early February, or about six weeks before the spring equinox! Hmmmm…

Later, in 1983, a hundred New Yorkers got together on March 20 to balance eggs and an article about the event appeared in the New Yorker magazine. A year later, five thousand New Yorkers repeated the tradition on the first day of spring, and the egg legend grew. The truth is that if you can get a raw egg to balance upright on the spring equinox, you can get it to balance any other day of the year. The pull of gravity or the position of the sun in the sky has nothing to do with it.

But balancing egg or no balancing egg, by all means embrace spring! Get outside, listen to the birds and smell the flowers. Take long walks. Explore. Immerse yourself in the newness of the season!

Today’s post is a photo album of more images taken during our getaway to Stinson Beach (see Friday’s post). I haven’t processed all the images Dawn and I made - I’ll post another album this week.

Thanks to all of you that commented about Friday’s images. I hope you enjoy these as well.

“Forgive me, gentle readers… it’s been seven days since my last post…”

It’s true. We drove to Stinson Beach last Thursday with four dear friends for a long weekend and some much needed “R&R”, and it’s taken me most of this week to catch up with myself and get back in the swing of things. Obviously, the decompression worked!

For those of you unfamiliar with Stinson Beach, it’s a little beach community in Marin County, California, with about 750 residents. A popular day trip for people from the San Francisco Bay Area and for tourists visiting northern California, it’s near such attractions as Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Beach, and Mount Tamalpais. It has a long beach with occasional opportunities for surfing, although the water is cold and fog is common throughout the year.

In 2002, a surfer was attacked by a 12-15 foot great white shark while surfing off Stinson Beach. The young man survived, but received more than 100 stitches to close his wounds. The attack was the second in Stinson Beach since 1998 and the 13th in Marin County since 1952. The surf off Stinson Beach is within an area known as the Red Triangle, where there have been an unusually high number of shark attacks. Needless to say, we stayed out of the water!

Our friends had the use of a beautiful beach house and invited us to share the weekend with them. What a rare treat! I won’t go into detail about what its owners refer to as their “beach house” — a luxury home by most people’s standards — but we enjoyed a panoramic view of the ocean and fell off to sleep every night listening to the surf just 16 steps from our back door!

Needless to say, Dawn and I took a lot of photos of the beach and the little towns of Stinson Beach and nearby Bolinas. We even visited the Point Reyes Lighthouse. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend with good friends, no cell phones and no itinerary. I’ll try to get more images posted once I’ve had time to process and assemble them into an album. Meanwhile. I hope you enjoy these. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.

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Dawn is reading The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II. In it, the authors proffer that dairy and meat are bad for our health and should be omitted from our diets, and support their opinions with science. Now, those of you that know Dawn know that she’s already a quasi-vegetarian — she eats no beef, pork or lamb — but now she’s leaning toward following the authors’ recommendations and becoming “fully fledged”. That means no more chicken or turkey. What does it mean for me? Well, unless we want to be preparing separate meals, it looks like I’ll be joining her.

It doesn’t really bother me. I mean, I’m all for healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. In fact, we’ve already begun eating brown rice — processed foods, like white rice, are taboo — and an assortment of whole grains and organic fruits and vegetables. Most fish are “good” foods, too. And the vegetarian meals we’ve enjoyed so far have been great. However, the authors warn that some of the foods will take some getting used to since we’re not used to digesting them. The aforementioned brown rice comes immediately to mind. But we’re told that, after a couple of weeks, our bodies will be on track.

We’ve been grocery shopping at El Dorado Hills’ new Nugget Market and found their fresh veggies and fruits to be wonderful. And Randall Munroe came up with this funny yet handy Fruit Chart I’m using to help with fruit selection, so we’re off and running. I’ve reserved the right to enjoy an occasional steak or a good buffalo burger from time to time, but I’m giving this the old college try. I’ll keep you posted!

Not for the squeamish, the image below depicts what can happen when a bunch of otherwise “good eggs” gets together for a little innocent fun and, before they know it, things get out of hand…

Thanks James!

This May, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most powerful particle accelerator yet created by humans, is scheduled to start smashing protons into each other with unprecedented impact speeds. The LHC will explore the leading explanation that mass arises from ordinary particles slogging through an otherwise invisible but pervasive field of virtual Higgs particles. In this image by Maximilien Brice, a person stands in front of the huge ATLAS detector (center, near bottom of frame), one of six detectors being attached to the LHC. This was the February 25, 2008 Astronomy Picture of the Day.

James sent this political cartoon. I’m honestly not sure what it’s supposed to be saying, though. Is Davies suggesting that Bush had something (anything) to do with the Cuban embargo? As I recall, that was JFK and it hasn’t been repealed by any president since. Or is he implying that GW is too dimwitted to understand the headline?

In either case, I thought it was humorous enough (I love political cartoons!) to post.

Here’s a first look at the Quaranta solar-assisted hybrid supercar concept that Italdesign Giugiaro will be taking to the Geneva Motor Show. In an article for Wired, Chuck Squatriglia writes, “Cover it back up, please.”

Personally, I kind of like it. I see it as futuristic and suspect that, like most edgy automobile designs, it will take some getting used to if, in fact, it ever makes it into production. More important, I think, are the performance specs: a mid-engined all-wheel-drive hybrid that accelerates from zero to 62 mph (100 kph) in 4.05 seconds and tops out at 155 mph. As Squatriglia is quick to acknowledge, “That’s Tesla Roadster and Porsche 911 GT3 kind of acceleration…”

“The Quaranta borrows its hybrid powertrain from the Toyota Highlander Hybrid and the Lexus RX400h: a 3.3-liter V-6 and the Hybrid Synergy Drive system with a combined output of 268 horsepower and 213 pound-feet of torque. Italdesign claims the car will return a city/highway average of 33 mpg, and a pair of fuel tanks that together hold about sixteen gallons of gasoline provide a 620-mile range. ‘E-Four’ is, in fact, a fancy name for Toyota’s part-time all-wheel drive system (called ‘4WD-i’ in the Highlander Hybrid), which uses a separate, 68-horsepower electric motor at the rear wheels that kicks in during acceleration or when slippage is detected.”

Suddenly hybrids are looking a lot more attractive, yes?

Got this from James. It was apparently taken in Norfolk, UK. No other info available. Seems kinda sweet, doesn’t it?

Of the three birds I photographed for this short series, this was by far the most uncooperative — he simply refused to look at me or the camera. As a result, all my images of him were “one-eye” captures. Not to worry, though, because I met some nice people at the Folsom Moose Lodge and had fun during the short photo shoot. And I learned something new about three birds I’d not photographed in the wild! It was an enjoyable and educational experience that proved my original point: Photo opportunities are everywhere — we just need to be open to spotting them. And have a camera ready! (Click on thumbnails to enlarge)

Great Horned Owl

Here’s one you may recognize: The Great Horned Owl was first seen in the Virginia colonies and the first published description was made in 1788 by Johann Gmelin. Sometimes known as Hoot Owls, Cat Owls or Winged Tigers, Great Horned Owls are found throughout North America from the northern tree line and then in Central and South America. They’re resident year-round, although birds living in the northern part of the species’ range may migrate south.

Great Horned Owls have large, staring yellow-orange eyes, usually bordered by an orange-buff facial disc. The name is derived from tufts of feathers resembling “horns” which are sometimes referred to as “ear tufts” but have nothing to do with hearing. The large feet are feathered to the ends of the toes, and their wingspan is 36-60 inches. Females are 10-20 percent larger than males.

They hunt by perching on snags and poles and watching for prey, or by gliding slowly above the ground. From high perches they dive down to the ground with wings folded before snatching prey, usually killed instantly when grasped by its large talons. A Great Horned Owl may take prey 2-3 times heavier than itself. They sometimes hunt by walking on the ground to capture small prey or wading into water to snatch frogs and fish. They’ve even been known to walk into chicken coops to take domestic fowl.

A long-lived owl, captive birds have been known to live 29-38 years, and wild owls up to 13 years. Most mortality is related to man — shootings, traps, road kills and electrocutions. Its only natural enemies are other Great Horned Owls and, occasionally, Northern Goshawks during disputes over nest sites. Peregrine Falcons have also been observed attacking Great Horned Owls.

Today is leap day, an “extra” day that rolls around every four years. Many take this day off from work on the pretext that, because it’s an “extra” day for which they’re not receiving extra pay, it should be used for something special. A few see it as a chance to “stick it to the man” by not showing up for work.

In any event, Happyfeet asked me to explain the illustration in Monday’s Leap Years post and so here’s my “long way around” take on it, with a little history and folklore thrown in for good measure:

Brief History

In ancient Rome, leap day was on February 24 due to February being the last month of the calendar. The original Roman calendar added an extra month every few years to maintain the correct seasonal changes. The Julian calendar was implemented in 45 BCE, resulting in a leap day being added to the end of February every four years.

In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII refined the Julian calendar with a new rule that a century year is not a leap year unless it is evenly divisible by 400. The introduction of the Gregorian calendar was observed in some countries including Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. The conversion took longer for other countries such as Great Britain (1752) and Lithuania (1915).

Tradition and Folklore

A tradition was introduced many centuries ago to allow women to propose to men during a leap year. This privilege of proposing was restricted to leap day in some areas. Leap day was sometimes known as “Bachelors’ Day”. A man was expected to pay a penalty, such as a gown or money, if he refused a marriage offer from a woman. Sadie Hawkins Day, from the old Li’l Abner comic strip, was loosely based on leap day.

The tradition’s origin stemmed from an old Irish tale referring to St Bridget striking a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men every four years. This old custom was probably made to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how the leap day balances the calendar.

It was also considered to be unlucky for someone to be born on a leap day in Scotland and for couples to marry in a leap year, including on a leap day, in Greece.

So here’s that explanation, Happyfeet. The illustration depicts a woman offering her heart in marriage on a leap day. She’s apparently received a refusal or two since she’s carrying a bag of money and may be wearing a new gown. But the day’s not over and she’s still “on the job”. Work for you? Works for me.

Observances

Leap day is also St Oswald’s Day, named after a 10th century archbishop of York who died on February 29, 992. The feast is celebrated on February 29 during leap years and on February 28 in other years. February 29 is one of the days of Ayyám-i-Há (February 26 to March 1) in the Bahá’í calendar. These days are dedicated to fasting preparations, charity, hospitality and gift-giving.

Continuing from yesterday’s post, I also photographed a Eurasian Eagle Owl, a very cool and seemingly aloof bird with a face only a mother could love. (Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge.)

Eurasian Eagle Owl

Eagle owls are the largest owls in the world with an average wingspan of nearly six feet and are best known for their large, striking orange eyes. They are often called the Old World version of America’s widely distributed great horned owl. They have prominent ear tufts and are primarily brown-black and tawny-buff in color.

Found in North Africa, Europe, The Middle East and Asia, Eagle owls are primarily solitary animals except during the mating period. They fiercely defend their territory against other owls and will only overlap territories slightly if food is sparse. Despite their large size, they are very elusive creatures, spending most of their days roosting high in trees and remaining relatively inactive. They are nocturnal and become active at dusk and remain so throughout the night.

At the top of the food chain, Eagle owls are carnivores. They are primarily nocturnal hunters and have various hunting techniques. They take their prey in flight or on the ground. They prefer to hunt in open spacious locations rather than forests. Most owls are very capable hunters and the eagle owl is no exception. Owl wings have evolved to make very little noise when flapping. With their night vision, advanced hearing, and silent flight they are the hit men of their territory. Their prey usually has no idea they were being stalked. They feed on almost anything they can catch including rats, mice, voles, beetles and even large prey like deer fawns and foxes.

Eagle owls are considered rare but not yet threatened. Their numbers are steadily declining due to habitat loss from human encroachment.

Next: Great Horned Owl

Sometimes a photo op presents itself when you least expect it.

Dawn and I had just finished a jog a couple weekends ago and were driving home when we came upon a couple walking with an owl and a falcon! You don’t see that every day! To make a long story short, the couple was helping the Folsom Moose Lodge with a membership drive and invited us over to photograph their birds! Didn’t have to ask me twice!  (Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge)

Lanner Falcon

The Lanner Falcon is a native of all of Africa and the southern parts of Italy, Sicily, Greece and Asia Minor. It is essentially a bird of mountainous terrain except in Africa, where it can also be found in savannahs, plains and deserts. A fast-flying raptor, it is well designed for catching birds up to the size of a Guinea Fowl, and bats, especially the larger fruit bats. When prey of this kind is scarce, ground living mammals and lizards are taken. It will also gorge on locusts and flying termites when they are swarming.

Much, but not all of the Lanner Falcon’s prey is taken in the air, when the falcon descends to its prey and binds to it with a smack which can be heard for some distance. It then carries it off. Occasionally, it will strike its prey in the air and allow it to drop to the ground and collect it there, but this is less frequent behavior. When defending its nesting territory, it will often swoop with tremendous force at an animal it cannot hope to kill, which seems, nonetheless, an effective deterrent.

The Lanner Falcon has a shrill, piercing, almost screaming voice, similar in content to that of the Peregrine Falcon, but somewhat higher pitched.

Tomorrow: Eurasian Eagle Owl

The Sacramento Autorama, billed as the largest and second oldest running indoor car show in the world, returned to Cal Expo for its 58th annual exhibition February 8-10. Dawn and I, along with friends Michael and Sisko, went to see the 350 or so custom cars, hot rods, classics, motorcycles, and specialty vehicles from around the county and weren’t disappointed, although we somehow missed Henry Winkler and a couple other “Happy Days” actors that were apparently on hand. I took a camera and my “walk around” lens and snapped some photos.

Photographing an indoor car show, with all its chrome and bright lighting (and crowds!) always presents unique photographic challenges. I think next time I’ll bite the bullet and schlep a tripod and faster lenses. I’m thinking long exposures without flash might yield better results. These images were, in most cases, made using flash, all hand held. Also, here’s a list of show winners.