Tuesday, after the Cook-out, we went out in the dark at 9.30 to look for stars. Curiously, despite completely clear skies at 7.30, two hours later we were under continuous cloud. Dang...
But there I was, with about 15 or 20 people of various ages (all the way down to the 7 and 8 year olds!), so we decided to just see what we could find.
We counted cricket chirps. Count them for 15 seconds, and add 40, and you will have the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. Crickets don't chirp in metric... It's called Dolbear's Law, and it's really a funky thing to know.
We talked about bats, and how a moth who hears the ping of the bat radar will fold wings and drop like a diving submarine. About how a little brown bat weighs as much as a nickel and two dimes, and eats about that amount of insects every night.
We talked about owls. I hooted for the Barred Owl, the classic "Who Cooks for You?" hoot. Nothing, just the wonderful cricket filled night air.
Until, riding to rescue, came a great display of Northern Lights. Much ooh-ing and ah-ing from everyone as the broad green beams of light lifted over the horizon and climbed into the sky, bright, strong, and then fading down again. Over and over, we got the light show. So we talked about that...
Then the barred owl who had evidently failed to set his alarm to remind him we'd be out on Tuesday night looking for him called to us from Lumina Hill. We called back. He replied. We had quite a conversation.
The sky started to clear, and stars popped into view. We cased out various constallations. We talked about wolves, and wolf behaviour and Algonquin Park and it's world famous August Wolf Howls and wolf research. I howled. And -- how lucky can we get in one night??? - we got a reply. The pack was pretty distant, probably up near the Oxtongue Craft Cabin, but we could hear them faintly.
Right about then, the sky cleared off completely in the northern half, so while we weren't able to clearly see Antares and Scorpio, we got great views of the Andromeda Galaxy, Algol, the variable star in Perseus, Big Dipper, North Star, Little Dipper, Draco and Casseiopia. With the green laser, we drew the outline of Cygnus the Swan (also the Northern Cross), Lyra's harp, and Aquila the Eagle with outstretched wings, all under the gleaming banner of the Milky Way.
When it was time to call it an evening, the kids were all clamouring to know if we could 'do it again' next evening. That was what they were all talking about the following day... Northern Lights, Owls, Wolves and Stars. They may forget how to do cricket math, but they'll always remember the night we called the Wild, and it Answered HUGE.
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