At this high latitude (64.84º N), day lengths are the same as everywhere else on the planet: 24 hours. Night lengths, however, are highly variable during the year. Yes, I am being pedantic, because with both statements being true, that means that day lengths vary too, right?
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Category Archives: Natural history
Lovey Night Squirrels and Two Moose
I was up late reading when, around midnight, I heard the bird feeder thump against the house. Our bird feeder hangs just outside the kitchen window so we can get close looks at the birds. When the feeder thumps the wall, day or night, it’s almost always either a day squirrel or a night squirrel (red or flying).
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Bust a Move, Snowshoe Man
We generally see snow from late October through early April, but with an average annual precipitation of just 11 inches of water, we usually don’t see really deep snow. This year, however, we’ve been getting a lot of snow. It’s the third-highest snowfall ever recorded this far into the winter, and this past week it really piled up. With the long weekend, we’ve been getting out and enjoying it. Blowing it, shoveling it, walking in it, snowshoeing in it.
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A Brief History of Fire in Our Forest
The true-to-title version: I found a fire-scarred birch on the hill above our house and cored it to see how long it’s been since the last forest fire here. It was surprisingly long ago.
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Fairy Wonderpants
We’ve had some good snow lately, and it’s welcome. As it gets colder and darker, a good blanket of snow lightens things up considerably. But over the past couple of days we’ve had that magical combination of light snow and no air movement that causes snow to pile up on everything and look fantastic.
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