“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”
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| Even the bushbabies were curious as to what was transpiring last night. |
Most of today’s blood moon photos don’t include any captions. The moon speaks for itself.
From this site:
We knew we’d be in for quite a treat with the announcement over the past month regarding the rare appearance of the ‘blood moon” and a total eclipse of the moon clearly (weather providing) visible in South Africa.
With the weather forecast predicting a cloudy night, we were thrilled when the sky was apparent by nightfall. We set up our usual routine, including the light to see the wildlife arriving for a visit, the burning repellent candle on the big wood table, the coil repellent at our feet.
The vegetable container for the animals was freshly chopped with carrots and apples. The container for pellets was ready to go, and the birdseed bin was ready for Frank and the Mrs., who never disappoint. The cup of yogurt for the bushbabies was filled to the brim with the fruity treat and placed on their little stand.
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At 1730 hours (5:30 pm), Frank and the Mrs. sounded their nightly alarm as they headed into the bush to make their usual announcement that darkness is imminent. They never fail to sound the alarm at night and again as the sun rises in the morning.
Within minutes, the bushbabies appeared on the little stand, ready to share the tasty yogurt, flying through the trees for taste after taste. It’s a stunning ritual to observe night after night.
Our dinner was ready to go into the oven. The salad was made and tossed. Tom made a brandy and Sprite Zero cocktail, and I poured myself a glass of my new favorite low-alcohol red wine. The table was set with flatware, plates, and napkins. The two-person full-moon-blood moon-total-eclipse party was ready to begin.
Both cameras had fresh batteries and were set identically for nighttime photos. Of course, our lack of expertise didn’t necessarily result in the most professional-looking photos. Still, in our laid-back manner, we did our best and decided against editing the photos. We share them here as they were taken, except for cropping as mentioned above.
The evening was so whole and busy we were on our feet most of the time. We started at 1700 hours (5:00 pm) as we always do and never went inside for the night until 2230 hours (10:30 pm) when the moon had done most of its magic.
It couldn’t have been a perfect evening. We sat down to dinner, but we jumped up time and again to toss pellets and veggies when visitors came. There was no way we’d ignore our usual visitors when they have faithfully provided us with so much entertainment night after night.
Between taking photos of the ever-changing views of the moon, trying to finish dinner, and feeding our friends, it was quite an active event. By the time we headed indoors, we were ready to call it a night. Tom did the dishes while I cleaned the kitchen; neither of us could wipe the smiles off of our faces.
Speaking of “feeding our friends,” this time humankind, Louise, and Danie are coming for dinner tonight. I did most of the prep yesterday, so today will be easy with only a few side dishes left to prepare. We love spending time with this beautiful couple.
Ah, it’s a good life. We don’t have a complaint in the world, other than the pesky monkeys who won’t leave us or our birdfeeder alone. Several times a day, Tom has to chase them away. Monkeys generally don’t respond to women doing the chasing as if to mock us. Go figure.
Have a great day!
Photo from one year ago today, July 28, 2017:
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| These two birds were too busy preening to look up as we passed their habitat at the wildlife center in Henderson. For more details as we wound down the time in Nevada, please click here. |