Earth-N-Sky School of Nature & Wilderness Studies

10/18/2023

The longest road in the World: The Panamericana Route
Panamericana connects Alaska, in the United States, with the Land of Fire, in the south of Argentina, finding different landscapes, deserts, mountains, jungles and crossing 14 countries (Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua) USA, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina)
This road has an incomplete stretch of 87 kilometers known as the Darien Gap, which lies between Panama and Colombia.

10/16/2023

Winter is coming! Black bears can lose up to half their fat over the winter. Now is a great time to catch them feasting on acorns or other scavenged foods while they prepare for winter.

The black bears in the park don’t go into a true hibernation. Instead, they enter “torpor," a state of inactivity that isn’t as heavy as hibernation.

Black bears are abundant in the park. If you choose to visit, remember to keep your distance (at least 50 yards/150ft) and never feed wildlife.

Photo Credit: A. Linder

10/16/2023

Amazing!

In the shadow of the moon.

We wanted to be dead center of totality so we could capture a perfectly centered moon in front of the sun. Using some interactive maps and Google maps, I pinpointed a spot and parked right there. Planning paid off, look at that.

Annular Eclipse Oct 14th, 2023, in the Navajo Nation.

10/16/2023

Mount Kilimanjaro

Volcano in Tanzania
Mount Kilimanjaro the Famous Tanzania GiantMount Kilimanjaro is the 6th tallest mountain from the Earth's core. This dormant volcano measures 5895 meters or 19340 ft and is located in Africa.

10/16/2023

So many villages on the west coast were lost to colonization.

10/14/2023

On World Migratory Bird Day, test your bird ID skills! Using the silhouetted bird image and the clue below, can you tell us who this bird is? Reply A, B, or C.

CLUE: When this bird is seen circling above, it will look like its wings are black in the front and silver in the back. When seen soaring head on, its wings form a distinctive "V" shape.

A. Red-tailed Hawk
B. Turkey Vulture
C. Peregrine Falcon

10/14/2023

Global Event:[Annular Solar Eclipse](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/annular-solar-eclipse.html)

Local Type:[Partial Solar Eclipse](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/partial-solar-eclipse.html) in Harvey, [Louisiana](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/louisiana?iso=20231014)

Begins:[Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 10:34 am](https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/eclipse?iso=20231014&p0=%404327047)

Maximum:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 12:07 pm [0.793 Magnitude](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/magnitude.html)

Ends:Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 1:46 pm

Duration: 3 hours, 12 minutes

10/10/2023

Back in the late 1990’s Julia Hill climbed a 1500-year-old redwood tree named Luna and she didn’t come down for another 738 days.

From December 1997 to December 1999, she lived in the canopy of a giant 1500 year old redwood tree named Luna. She ended her revolutionary action when an agreement was made with Pacific Lumber Company to spare the tree and a 200 foot buffer zone surrounding the tree.

Once up the tree, she vowed not to come down until she had made a difference. Clinging to her mattress through violent storms, supported with food and necessities by a ground crew, she stayed two years and eight days.

10/09/2023

🔸The Hands at the Cuevas de las Manos, Argentina.

Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands) is a cave named for hundreds of paintings of hands stenciled on rock walls. Art was created in several waves between 7300 BC - 700 AD, during Archaic period of pre-Columbian South America.

10/09/2023

Bird-safe window markings.

One of the best ways to help birds avoid collisions is to apply bird-safe window markings to your windows. Not all window markings are made the same. To ensure your visual markers are effective, review these 5 guidelines from Global Bird Rescue as well as tips from ABC's Collisions Team at https://bit.ly/46bDV7v.

10/07/2023

☁️ WOW! These clouds, called Undulatus asperatus clouds, were spotted in Gorham New Hampshire.

Believe it or not, this is a fairly new classification of cloud in our sky! First noticed and documented back in 2009, these other worldly-looking clouds were proposed to be the newest cloud formation added to the official International Cloud Atlas since 1951.

They became official in March of 2017 and were simply named "Asperitas," shortened from Undulatus Asperatus.

10/07/2023

I didn’t know this!
Donkey nanny, Lombardy, Italy.
In the early spring shepherds drive huge flocks of livestock, here sheep, mules, donkeys, and goats from the Pre-Alpine hills to the plains of Lombardy, for grazing. The newborn lambs are carried in a custom made side saddle by the donkeys, and returned to their mothers at rest time.
Photo: Elspeth Kinneir