After enduring two weeks of below freezing temperatures and over a foot of snow we are finally starting to thaw out. Temperatures have been balmy, snow is melting, birds are chirping (well, a chirp here and there), and the sun peeked out from the clouds. My tolerance for winter wears out very fast.
I’m ready for spring. Here’s a view from my backyard deck taken around the end of June.
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Pollo alla Cacciatora or Chicken Cacciatore is a traditional Italian dish of chicken braised in a tomato and white wine sauce with mushrooms and vegetables. It is sometimes referred to as Hunter’s Stew – “Alla Cacciatora” means “Hunter’s Style” in Italian.
This is a great winter dish, one of my favorites and easy to make. It practically cooks itself. I’ve modified it slightly from the traditional by changing the vegetables and using boneless chicken breasts. I serve it over polenta in the traditional northern style but it can also be served over pasta.
Ingredients:
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It hasn’t happened on New Year’s Eve since 1990 and won’t happen on one again until 2028. Tonight, look up into the sky and see a rare phenomenon, the second full month in the same month, a Blue Moon. Assuming the night is clear, and that’s a big assumption here in Chicagoland, I’ll be looking high in the sky.
Why is this a rare thing? Because most years only have 12 full moons which occur approximately monthly. However, the solar calendar year contains about eleven days more than the lunar year. After a period of time those days add up to an extra cycle giving us 13 full moons every two or three years.
Will it look blue? No, but it should be brighter than usual. Tonight the earth will be at a point where it comes closest to the sun. Both the earth and the moon receive more sunlight, making the moon brighter this month. It will appear about 7% larger than average. And yes, that’s correct, we are now closer to the sun even though it is freezing cold here. That is because the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun giving us shorter days and less heat.
Then why is this called a Blue Moon? It can be traced to a 55 year old mistake. It’s use comes from a misinterpretation of the Maine Farmer’s Almanac in an article in the March 1946 Sky and Telescope Magazine. Widespread adoption of the definition of a “blue moon” as the second full moon in a month followed its use on the popular radio program StarDate on January 31, 1980. What is the traditional use of the term Blue Moon? According to the Farmer’s Almanac it is the fourth full moon in a season, a season being 3 months such as winter, spring, etc.
A safe and happy New Year’s Eve to everyone. See you next year.
Posted in Holiday, Science | Tagged BlueMoon, Holiday, Science | 1 Comment »
For the past few weeks there has been a bunny in my yard all evening. Rabbits are primarily active at dusk and dawn. In the summer I would occasionally see them during the day, usually eating something in my garden, but never after dark.
This picture was taken about 9pm. I just looked outside and he is still roaming around out there at 11:30pm eating seed under the bird feeders. I hope he stays out of the path of the owls.
According to rabbit.org,
Rabbits are actually “crepuscular”, meaning they are most active in the twilight hours of both sunrise and sunset. This is because before becoming domesticated, rabbits evolved as a prey species for thousands of years. Evolutionarily it was safest for rabbits to leave the safety of their burrow and forrage for food in the transition between day and night when the light is dim. This is the time when nocturnal (night) predators such as owls can’t see well because of too much light, and when diurnal (day) predators such as foxes, can’t see well because it is too dark.
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The ice is very pretty but it’s treacherous out there. One pass around the yard was enough for me. This is a shot of my Magnolia tree coated with ice.
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This little guy was chomping away at a walnut and didn’t care how close I got.
More Wordless Wednesday.
Posted in Squirrels, Wildlife, Wordless Wednesday | Tagged photo, Squirrels, WordlessWednesday | 1 Comment »
The official start of winter in the Northern hemisphere begins today when the solstice occurs at 11:47am Central Standard Time.
The sun is at it’s lowest point in the sky giving us the shortest day of the year. Technically, the day with the least amount of sun light, all days are 24 hours. Although it will continue to get colder for another month, I celebrate the lengthening days and the coming spring.
Continue Reading »
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Saturday I participated in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count at Cantigny Gardens, part of the counting circle for the Dupage Birding Club.
The longest running Citizen Science survey in the world, Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will take place between December 14, 2009 and January 5, 2010. From Alaska to Antarctica, tens of thousands of volunteers will add a new layer to over a century of bird population information.
Scientists rely on this remarkable trend data to better understand how birds and their environment are faring, and what needs to be done to protect them. Data from Audubon’s signature Citizen Science program are at the heart of numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies.
The weather was not the best. It was cloudy with temperatures in the low 30’s and light snow most of the day. We didn’t see as many birds as we expected with a final count of 519 birds and 25 species. Not one robin was seen and house sparrows were scarce. There were a lot of geese, and no crows.
After I was done counting I spent some time near one of the feeders and took some pictures of a few of the birds:
Northern Cardinal – Male
Northern Cardinal – Female
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One of the smaller gray squirrels has been climbing up on the bird feeders and I could not figure out how he was doing it. He would only jump up there when I wasn’t looking.
I have squirrel baffles on both feeder poles and the nearest tree branches are too high for him to jump from and not impale himself on the pole. But there he was hanging from the tube feeder!
Turns out he was able to climb up below the baffle on the black pole and then jump sideways to the bottom of the thistle feeder and from there to the tube feeder and the sunflower seeds. I’ll need to move the poles farther apart when the ground thaws; something I hadn’t anticipated when I put the poles so close together. Until then I’ll grease the pole and watch him slide back down. Good fun.
Actually, I think he just likes to mess with me. I put out food for the squirrels on the other side of the yard, but they love the challenge of the hanging feeders.
Posted in Squirrels, Wildlife | Tagged Squirrels, Wildlife | 3 Comments »
