Star of the Evening

Continuing the catch up with another astronomical themed blog – this one from 28 November 2013.

So far I’ve been writing about the morning skies in November, but they weren’t the only things that have been bright and amazing. The evening skies have also had there moments, less so on the grand scale of colour and dramatics but still something to behold.

Over the evenings towards the end of November, the sky has had its moments, while the sun had been setting the sky has been lit by a single bright star, visible long before any of the other stars are visible. Though really this sighting is not actually a star, but the planet Venus, which shone like a bright pin-prick of light, highlighting the darkening skies of night.

Star of the Evening – 28 November 2013 (Copyright Carol Jones)

On this evening, Venus shone out from a darkening sky that had been coloured with a rich warming glow of the setting sun. The last rays of the evening sun made the clouds present seem almost black and whereas the surrounding sky was alight with fiery oranges. As the sun sank lower, the remaining rays of light painted the base of the clouds with rich warm oranges, warmer and darker than those of the morning. Then out from this darkening sky, like a single headlight shining out of the darkness to light the way towards the night, shines the Star of the Evening.

Venus – 28 November 2013 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Fading Towards Autumn

Catch up – this time with the changing seasons dating from the 04 September 2013.

After a long summer of sunshine and heat, the vegetation of the Scottish Borders was beginning to tell a tale of hard times and had a distinctive look of tiredness to it. An evening wander round Lindean Reservoir didn’t tell a different tale, but highlighted the changes that were going on all around. Here the grasslands had changed from the various greens of summer that were spotted with masses of colours to a scene of varying browns with just one or two spots of colour from the remaining late summer flowers. These colours came from a few Knapweed flowers that produced splashes of purples accompanied by the occasional white inflorescence from Sneezewort and Yarrow. Just a few examples remaining to remind us of the glories of the summer that had begun to fade and head towards the changes of autumn.

The glories of the autumn that was coming, were already visible in some of the surrounding trees. The leaves of a number had already begun to change from the dark greens associated with summer to the browns and oranges of autumn. Furthest advanced were those of the Rowan, who were already well on the way to an autumnal paper brown, a colour that was highlighted by a heavy crop of bright orange-red berries, so that each tree was like a beacon of orange against the tired greens and browns of the grasses.

The Setting Sun Across Lindean Reservoir – 04 September 2013 (Copyright Carol Jones)

As I’ve mentioned before the approach of autumn means that sunsets become much more accessible as they come at sensible times in the evening, and my early September trip to Lindean Reservoir was not to disappoint on this front. As the sun continued its journey towards the horizon, the final rays of the days sunlight caught touches of cloud that were sitting just above the horizon and began to warm them into a gentle orange. As the sun dropped lower in the sky the clouds began to thicken and the reds continued to warm into a fiery blaze, changing into a cauldron of colour so that the clouds looked as though they had caught fire and were ablaze in the heavens, before fading rapidly into the darkness of night.

The Cauldron of Fire Above the Three Brethren – 04 September 2013 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Lost Naturalist Goes South

This is the first of three blogs that all date from last weekend, 26 – 28 October, when the Lost Naturalist travelled south to North Yorkshire. In fact the first dates from the journey south itself.

Headed south late on Friday afternoon towards North Yorkshire, on a day when the autumn colours shone brightly in the sunlight. There were all the shades of autumnal colours imaginable present, from bright yellows, through brilliant oranges to the warms shades of brown and all sorts of shades in between. A perfect day on which to enjoy the wonders of what seems to be an amazing display autumn colour, highlighted by the clear warm nature of the sunshine and set off against the clear blue sky. All the way the south, the patterns and variations of these colours varied infinitely, patterns and variations that seemed never to end, and mixed with the now end of summer greens, that have now taken on a slightly tired and worn appearance.

Autumnal Colour – 26 October 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

As time stretched on so came the first hints of evening, as the sun began to sink towards the horizon colouring the sky with an amazing show of delicate oranges, many almost apricot in nature that changed and varied by the minute. Eventually slowly darkening as the sun continued its relentless journey towards the west. Accompanying the sunset, was an amazing display from a flock of Starlings that swooped and dived, hundreds of birds all acting with a single purpose, forming a large homogeneous mass, moving one way followed by another. Unfortunatly passing on the way south, meant that they were just a flash in the eye, soon left many miles behind.