“Nesting Under the Milky Way” by Mihail Minkov, Detelina Village, close to Varna, Bulgaria, July 2020. www.fineartshot.com
December 18–25, 2021
MOUNT WASHINGTON — Suspended in starlit cosmic darkness, a stork is poised at the edge of a spherical, earthy nest, its chicks nestled into the prime of the mound. As the New Year nears, “Nesting Under the Milky Way” elicits ideas of the folklore of storks delivering newborns to households and the symbolism of a stork bringing in the New Year in the kind of a human child. The astrophotographer’s picture poignantly spotlights life on Earth in relationship to our dwelling in the Milky Way Galaxy.
All of December, you and I are suspended in starlit cosmic darkness from late afternoon into morning, with about 9 hours of daylight. This afternoon and all evening, the Sun’s gentle is mirrored to Earth by the Full Long Night Moon. Look for the nice moon in the east-northeast at 3:55 p.m. — permit an hour delay the place hills and buildings populate the skyline. Sunset is at 4:23 p.m. on the southwest horizon. Tomorrow morning, the nineteenth, upon awakening, get pleasure from the sight of the Full Moon setting in the west-northwest. It will slip underneath the horizon at 7:52 a.m. Moonrise is shut to an hour later on daily basis and sundown a minute later.
Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the yr, arrives on Tuesday the twenty first. Yes, the Sun units a minute later on daily basis, however dawn continues to be later every day into January. Sunrise on the twenty first is at 7:19 a.m., sundown at 4:24 p.m.
All week, as nightfall gathers, the sky to the south-southwest lights up with a string of planets. Brilliant Venus, low to the southwest horizon, is seen earlier than 5 p.m. and units shut to 6 p.m. Bright Jupiter seems above and to the south shortly after Venus. Jupiter units round 9 p.m. Between Jupiter and Venus, dimmer Saturn makes its mark as the sky darkens. The ringed planet units at 7:25 p.m.

Through winter’s lengthy nights underneath starry heavens, resident birds sleep singly or in teams in cavities and different nooks and crannies in the panorama. While I fluff up my goose down comforter every evening earlier than sleep in an unheated bed room, tufted titmouse and downy woodpecker fluff their feathers and then flip their heads to tuck invoice, and then toes into their insulating coat. In the morning and at feeding occasions throughout the day a stream of birds fly in to complement their wild meals with a nibble from my suet cake feeder that hangs from a second story eave. All about winter hen feeding will be discovered at The Cornell Lab’s Project FeederWatch web site.
Two of the greatest alternatives to study and get pleasure from winter hen watching are to be part of with specialists and novice ornithologists alike in the present day, December 18, and on New Year’s Day for the Audubon Christmas Bird Counts. Today is the Northern and Central Berkshire Count. To join in the present day’s occasion, contact Holly Higinbotham at higinbo@hotmail.com. Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022 is the Southern Berkshire Count. For particulars about each outings, contact Rene Wendell at renewendell@hotmail.com.

The winterberry shrub in the {photograph} is an instance of a local woody that could be a very good hen feeding station and panorama plant via the seasons. Its good purple berries draw the eye in all climate. When planting, be certain to embody a male if winterberry has not been noticed close by in the wild. Although days are quick, a stroll in the polyculture backyard yields kale, collards, and parsley.
I’m delighted to meet readers about city, a number of who’ve unmasked to establish themselves. A bow to our shared interconnectedness with heaven and earth.