Newsletter #138 - Big Day
Nothing will ever be the same.
May 11th, 2024 was Cornell Lab’s Global Big Day. If you don’t know, every May, Cornell asks people all around the world to go birding and submit what birds they see as a way to learn the status of birds and their locations. I love this massive citizen science project, and I wanted to make a day of it and challenge myself to spot as many birds as I possibly could.
The night before, I packed up my gear to get ready so I could head out first thing in the morning.
While packing up my camera gear, I saw a strange color in the sky through the window. I went outside and there was a massive glowing aurora over my house and studio.
I couldn’t believe it. The aurora visible this far south? Unbelievable.
I stayed up way past my bedtime to make some photos. It was well worth it.
The next morning I felt a bit strange and didn’t feel like getting out of bed. I had a headache and my body hurt.
But I got my stuff together and headed out anyway. I was determined for it to be a Big Day.
Something must have happened to me during the aurora. It felt like some weird energy had infiltrated my body.
I knew it was supposed to be about the birds, but I only wanted to take photos of me making photos using different cameras.
I have so many cameras around. I was inexplicably compelled to use them all to continuously make these different combinations of photographs.
Why was I doing this?!
Don’t get me wrong, I did see a bunch of birds.
This is my list:
Chipping Sparrow
Great Crested Flycatcher
Red-breasted Nuthatch
American Crow
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Blue Jay
Ovenbird
Magnolia Warbler
Eastern Phoebe
House Wren
Indigo Bunting
Scarlet tanager
Red-eyed Vireo
American Robin
Tree Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Eastern Bluebird
Black-capped Chickadee
Pine Warbler
Tufted Titmouse
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Raven
Northern Cardinal
Broad Winged Hawk
Turkey VultureÂ
Mourning Dove
Common Yellowthroat
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Pileated Woodpecker
But I didn’t take many photos of them. I just wasn’t interested. I was only interested in myself.
This is madness.
The news was reporting that there was going to be one more night that the aurora would be visible at my location.
I stayed up late again, thinking that maybe if I could photograph the aurora again, this self-obsessed curse would be lifted. I went outside and looked north.
It was cloudy.
I think I might be like this forever.
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Julia Sforza didn’t see the aurora because she fell asleep.
Zach Vitale heard you needed to use a device to perceive the aurora.
Seth Werkheiser didn’t even know the aurora was happening.
Experiencing totality and such a strong aurora within a short period of time has got to alter a person's mental state. Jealous of the indigo bunting and the scarlet tanager on the same day!
I like it when your weirdness shows