Birds in FOV!

Lately I have aquired a pair of binocs (10 x 50 from Orion) and was
practicing some astro-viewing with them. So I was in my backyard last
Thursday, staring at Auriga, trying to see if I could identify any of
the Messier open clusters there, when suddenly a large, amorphous,
shape-shifting blob wandered into the field of view. I dropped the
binocs to look up, but didn't see anything odd with the naked eye.
Looking through the binocs again, I could see that it was a large
flock of birds (perhaps pigeons; it was hard to tell, maybe geese if
they were far enough away), dimly illuminated from below by the light
wash of the city. I followed it across the sky until it crossed the
rich star field of Perseus, which was nice because that was a pretty
sight. Thanks, birds!

Nick

--
Nick Theodorakis

nicholas_theodorakis [at] urmc [dot] rochester [dot] edu

(Nick Theodorakis) wrote in message . ..
Lately I have aquired a pair of binocs (10 x 50 from Orion) and was
practicing some astro-viewing with them. So I was in my backyard last
Thursday, staring at Auriga, trying to see if I could identify any of
the Messier open clusters there, when suddenly a large, amorphous,
shape-shifting blob wandered into the field of view. I dropped the
binocs to look up, but didn't see anything odd with the naked eye.
Looking through the binocs again, I could see that it was a large
flock of birds (perhaps pigeons; it was hard to tell, maybe geese if
they were far enough away), dimly illuminated from below by the light
wash of the city. I followed it across the sky until it crossed the
rich star field of Perseus, which was nice because that was a pretty
sight. Thanks, birds!

Nick

Sounds great! I've seen bats before in the early evening, darting
around in the wide FOV of the binoculars set against the emerging
night sky - quite a sight!

"John Steinberg" wrote

Anyway, it is cool to catch some natural life in the FOV while
observing. Enjoy it while you can, courtesy of recent changes at the
EPA, the opportunity for enjoying same may change in our lifetimes.

What kinds of changes? How about re-naming that brown, black, and
white-cheeked honker to "Canada Goose?" That way you don't have to directly
blame the Canadians for all the poop on your lawn. Don't like "Canada
Goose?" How about "DeLuca Goose?"

HL





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"John Steinberg" wrote

Howard bin Lester wrote:

What kinds of changes?

That was supposed to only lead into the rear end of a Canada Goose. I was
not expecting a lead in to Christie's or any other person's rear end.

Evisceration of many aspects of the clean air act. In short,
industrial polluters have been given greater license to pollute the air
and water. Ever wonder why Christie Todd Whitman left D.C. on the
first train out? She got bush-whacked when she actually thought she'd
be allow to actually work proactively on environmental issues under the
current regime. Ha!

How about re-naming that brown, black, and white-cheeked honker to
"Canada Goose?"

Canada Goose? Naw, that sounds awful. What next, naming our national
bird the "America Eagle?" We used to think of pigeons as the flying
rodents of the sky but that changed when Pierre Trudeau, in a secret
meeting in Ottawa, arranged to send all these $%#@* Canadian Geese
south in an effort to destabilize the US economy. When that met with
only limited success, he gave Rich Anderson access to Usenet. The rest,
as they say, is history.

Are you calling Rich Anderson a goose?

That way you don't have to directly blame the Canadians for all the
poop on your lawn. Don't like "Canada Goose?" How about "DeLuca
Goose?"

Hmmm, DeLuca Goose, now that really cooks!

Dude!

For anyone who may have attended NEAF:

Let me apologize for not attending; I got a better offer. I spent most
of yesterday at Giant Stadium autocrossing Porches.

Adirondack style? Picket fences? Covered porches?

Good news was, I didn't kill anybody or roll the car.

If Min was there, maybe you would have made a better attempt.

HL

John Steinberg wrote in message:

Let me apologize for not attending; I got a better offer. I spent most
of yesterday at Giant Stadium autocrossing Porches.

Now, John...I would have believed you if you had said "autocrossing
Porsches", but "autocrossing Porches" is another thing entirely. Not since
your mother and I...have I been this confused.

Dave
PS I didn't attend NEAF either. Bummer.

Likely a flock of *Canadian Geese* headed south to NYC. Hopefully, Mr.
Rich DeLuca will pick this thread up as he's both a huge fan of
these... um, birds, and monitors their activity closely.

The official/real name for "Canadian Geese" is Canada Goose. They have
little to do with
Canada or being Canadian.

They didn't come from Canada. They come from the Denver Federal Center in
Lakewood, Colorado, where 90% of the worlds population works at keeping the
grass very green and ah....... how can I put this delicately. Aromatic,
yah, that's the word I'm looking for. Aromatic, like the Coors Brewery
down the road in Golden;-)

Good day,
F Marion

(Nick Theodorakis) wrote in message . ..
Lately I have aquired a pair of binocs (10 x 50 from Orion) and was
practicing some astro-viewing with them. So I was in my backyard last
Thursday, staring at Auriga, trying to see if I could identify any of
the Messier open clusters there, when suddenly a large, amorphous,
shape-shifting blob wandered into the field of view. I dropped the
binocs to look up, but didn't see anything odd with the naked eye.
Looking through the binocs again, I could see that it was a large
flock of birds (perhaps pigeons; it was hard to tell, maybe geese if
they were far enough away), dimly illuminated from below by the light
wash of the city. I followed it across the sky until it crossed the
rich star field of Perseus, which was nice because that was a pretty
sight. Thanks, birds!

Nick

Nick, I think what is really neat is to be looking at the moon through
a telescope, & see the silhouette of a bird slowly crossing the lunar
landscape. DR

"Darian Rachal" wrote

Nick, I think what is really neat is to be looking at the moon through
a telescope, & see the silhouette of a bird slowly crossing the lunar
landscape. DR

If it's moving slowly... on foot... watch out.

"Howard Lester" wrote in message
...

"Darian Rachal" wrote

Nick, I think what is really neat is to be looking at the moon through
a telescope, & see the silhouette of a bird slowly crossing the lunar
landscape. DR

If it's moving slowly... on foot... watch out.


Don't tell me another of those pesky ostriches got loose from the BIG egg
ranch down there...

Lotsa' wildlife down Tucson way... Ferocious man-eating mountain lions in
Sabino Canyon, ...and backyard Sasquatch!

Whew!!! Scary place down (or up, depending on how you look at it)
there...

They're called Astro-Physics geese, as rumor has it they all originate from the lawns of
Machesney Park, Illinois.

A flying "V" formation of them flew right through my view of Venus last night. I followed
them in the TMB152 and binoviewer at 84x until they entered the clouds.

I wonder if the very same goose could poop on my Saturn station wagon here in Alaska
just a week or so after pooping on Rolands Ford Taurus? I would be honored. Say Spock,
what are the odds of that?

Mike