I hope you guys had a chance to step out and enjoy the lunar eclipse tonight. It's pretty cool. I went out to try and digiscope it and Non Birding Bill came with me. He didn't have to, but I think he wanted to keep an eye on me out in the cold and using a spotting scope on the sidewalk at night. He was a trooper and I remembered the last time I took him to see something celestial. Mars was the closest it would be to Earth in years and we went out in the dark to watch. He said, "Wow, I never thought you'd find something more boring than birding, but here we are, starting at the sky, looking at a pink dot."

The eclipse was a nice way to round out today. This morning when we woke up, it was -11 outside and the heat was out in the apartment building. We also had a house guest and I felt bad that she woke up to a general lack of heat. I turned on the oven and we huddled around for warmth--oh to be Cinnamon and naturally fur covered. She seemed unaffected.

When I was driving our guest to the airport today, I was pointing out red-tailed hawks along the way. One was flying along the highway towards us and I noted an adult red-winged blackbird chasing it...then I realized, hey! It's a bit early for red-winged blackbirds, what's that guy doing here? I know it's advantageous to return from migration early and get a head start on primed territory, but I bet even this male was questioning that wisdom in today's temperature.

And now I must return to my favorite tv channel: TLC. Tonight is My Shocking Story: Half Man Half Tree.