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Fw: Y-b Sapsuckers and Leonids



So we are a bit off topic, but I must jump and tell folks about the Leonids
seen here in the Columbia, SC area. Early this morning (from about midnight
to 6:30 AM), Caroline and I, other members of Columbia Audubon, and as many
as 30 other folks lay huddled in sleeping bags and blankets in the field
next to the after hours parking lot at Congaree Swamp National Monument,
experiencing a well nigh unbelievable meteor shower.  We also heard or saw a
few birds -- several Barred Owls, a couple of Eastern Screen-Owls, and a
couple of American Woodcocks, as well as a few nocturnal flight notes from
unknown passerines. I actually SAW an Eastern Screen-Owl flying by, backlit
by the glow of a great fireball of a meteor. Some of the meteors left
glowing clouds which persisted for up to one minute. I also saw the two
woodcocks, flying silhouetted against the first light of dawn in the east.

What a rush, like a hawk watch at Cape May in early October!

Here are our meteor shower numbers. One of our guests was an amateur
astronomer, who will report these numbers to whoever tracks this stuff.

midnight to 1 AM --              25
1 AM to 2 AM    --              75
2 AM to 3 AM    --            117
3 AM to 4 AM    --            234
4 AM to 5 AM    --            502
5 AM to 6 AM    --            803
6 AM to 6:30 AM --            53

Total for the night  --         1809

In just one night I saw more meteors than I had seen in all of my life up to
this point!

Robin Carter
Columbia, SC
rcarter@sc.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tomm Lorenzin" <skytomm@1000plus.com>
To: "Listserv CarolinaBirds (E-mail)" <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Cc: "Knowlton, David (E-mail)" <hoz429@aol.com>; "D'Auria, Tippy (E-mail)"
<mdauria@mdcc.edu>; "D'Auria, Tippy (E-mail 2)" <71510.1220@Compuserve.com>;
"Lorenzin, Lisa (E-mail)" <lisa@1000plus.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2001 9:40 AM
Subject: Y-b Sapsuckers and Leonids


> This morning from 0330 until first light on North Carolina's Lake Norman,
> insomniac birders (like me and my daughter Alex) will have seen in the
dark
> of the star-studded sky an immense flock of bright, fast Leonid meteors at
> the estimated average rate of approx. 3000/hr (nearly 1/sec.!!!),
including
> FIVE (!) "bolides" (exploding meteors) and two rare "out-of-radiant"
meteors
> (those coming right AT the observer). Nearly all of these "birds" left
> "trains" (meteor trails) of trampled velvet among the bright starflowers.
>
> Yesterday, in the early afternoon, a pair of vocal Sapsuckers,
"maa-aah"ing
> like catbirds flew among the lower levels of the large trees in our yard,
> creeping up the trunks in plain view.
>
> Tomm "naughty boy" Lorenzin
> Mooresville (Lake Norman), NC
> Sky6Tomm9@61000plus9.com
> (remove sixes and nines to use addresses)
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> So he stood in his shoes
>    And he wonder'd,
>    He wonder'd,
> He stood in his
>    Shoes and he wonder'd.
>               ~ John Keats
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Visit me at: http://www.1000plus.com/Cataract/
>
>
>
>