Natural History

Observation of Nature

Valley Nature Website  - This website (created and maintained by me) is available to display the results of citizen science in natural history for the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. As of 2016, it has information on milkweed growing in the Annapolis Valley and related facts.  Hopefully the site will be used by others to provide useful natural history information for the area.

Observation and Images of the April 2023 Total Solar Eclipse

It was a perfect sunny day in the Maritimes and in Stanley, New Brunswick where I observed the total eclipse of the Sun. This is on Valley Nature website. It has my pictures of the partial and total eclipse. I explain how I took the images. I also include my weather data at home that shows the effects of the eclipse in Brooklyn Corner, N.S.

Raising Monarch Butterflies
Description of the raising of Monach Butterflies to increase the dwindling population and hopefully help keep the migration of this species in existence.  Over the years we have raised anywhere from none to 100's of butterflies during the summer.  A history of the success of our milkweed field is shown on the Table of Monarch Releases from 2005 to the present.

Local Weather
The above link shows Accuweather's forcast for the next 36 hours for the local area. I have been interested in weather because many of my favorite activities are out of doors. Soaring, Bicycling, Kayaking, Astronomy, Hiking, and Natural History. I have written a weather article for the Blomidon Naturalists Society Newsletter for several decades. You can read them on line by downloading the pdf files of the old newsletters - see BNS Newsletter Page . I also maintain a small Personal Weather Station and record the current weather.I have an Ecowitt weather station that monitors temperature, wind, humidity and solar/UV radiation.  The data  is shared with Weather Underground where it is displayed for all to see.  INOVASCO38 - Woodville-Lakeville

Northern Lights Pictures
Here in Nova Scotia, we are a goodly distance east and south of the northern magnetic pole about which the Aurora Borealis are usually center. However, from time to time we see spectacular "northern lights" especially during the period of good sunspot activity. These pictures show what is possible and took place in November 2004.

Cloud Images
As a glider pilot I found the clouds a fascinating part of flying. Clear, blue skies are pleasant but boring.  When the sky is littered with clouds, and one can fly in three dimension under and around them, they can be seen in many perspectives.  When on the ground, I love to look up and look at the various cloud forms to judge what is going on up there in the atmosphere.

Many of my observations of nature are recorded in images I have taken so I refer readers to the Links to my Photo Blog and Nature1st.net Gallery.

Created on ... August 21, 2006 - revised July 2011