... write a blog post.
This past Saturday there was a report of a Lapland Longspur at the PPA, just a few miles from our place. This would be a life bird for our other friend Terry (seen with the binoculars in this post). And as good friends we went to help her find it, hidden, as it were, amongst five hundred or so Horned Lark and a large but smaller number of Snow Bunting, with a few Meadowlark sprinkled in (at any other time we'd be quite happy to see those birds, but today they were just a distraction, and in the way).
Spoiler Alert: We did not find it.
But that's not what this post is about.
Nope it is about Thin Film Interference.
So while our small group was standing in a cold windy field scanning for a small bird in a large expanse, I was admiring the curious color pattern preventing me from joining in the fun.
After an hour and a half we gave up and headed home. And once there my bins promptly cleared up. A good thing as they would be needed later in the day.
As far as I know, Terry is still out there looking ...
~~~~~~~~~~
Update: We went back Sunday morning. Terry was there. Patty spotted the bird, after an hour and a half or so of scanning the field. Alas they flew before Terry could get a look.
I'm sure she'll be back.
And my bins fogged up again. Thankfully, they cleared before we left.
No comments:
Post a Comment