Month: August 2024

Lightning and Fire

Yesterday afternoon, there were several thunderstorms that went through the area, with lots of lightning but little rain. The National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning and it was a good warning. It was almost sundown when I saw smoke to my south and more smoke to my west. The smoke to the south was more worrisome, there was lots of it and it was hard to tell how far away it was.

This is what it looked like from my camp. I decided I needed to investigate before getting too worried about it. Could be 5 miles away or 20 miles or more.

I drove up Mann Road to the highway, where there is a good view to the south. At 400mm focal length this is what it looked like. I still wasn’t sure how far away it was but I felt like I was in no danger unless the wind started blowing hard from the south. As it turned it, on the news this morning I learned this is the Red Canyon Fire and it is about 20 miles south of my camp.

This is the smoke from the other fire, rising up over the Elk Mountains to my west and no threat to me.

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher has just caught a stink bug. Lost Spring. There seems to be a bumper crop of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in this area.

I finally got the Pinyon Jays in Ferguson Canyon. I’ve been checking for them every time I go to Newcastle for groceries, this time it paid off. Species number 334 for the year.

Not a very good photo, but a very good bird for South Dakota. An Ash-throated Flycatcher, only the second record for South Dakota. This was at Lost Spring. I thought maybe some other birders would come to look for it but no one else ever showed up.

I have so many photos of Townsend’s Solitaire that I wonder why bother to take more. I guess this is why, I really like this one!

Same for the Western Wood-Pewee. As you will notice, it is on the same perch. This is at Baldwin Spring, my favorite bird photography spot in the Black Hills (don’t tell anyone!).

Aurora Borealis

Spectacular Aurora Borealis

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date August 12, 2024
4 Comments on Spectacular Aurora Borealis

Last night, I checked Spaceweather.com and as was predicted, a solar storm was brewing. I drove up to the top of the Antelope Ridge Road where I have an expansive view to the north and east. It was perfectly clear and the moon was setting in the west, excellent conditions. It just so happened that it was also the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, and I did see some bright meteors too.

It wasn’t even dark yet when I saw the first sign of aurora. I could see these pillars with the unaided eye. Thinking this was a good sign I texted other potential aurora watchers to let them know.

For about 3 hours, this is as good as it got. It was a bright aurora, easily visible but not many pillars and not much color.

At 12:30 AM MDT, the whole sky suddenly erupted. For an aurora like this, a 35mm lens is not a wide enough view! This is the eastern side of the display. I quickly realized that I was now overexposing, it was so bright. I ended up using 15 second exposures at f4 and ISO 800. This was by far the most colorful display I have ever seen, I could see the red and green with the unaided eye. The camera just did it better.

Due north after it started to recede a bit.

Here’s the western edge, I enhanced the stars of the Big Dipper.

I took over 70 images, but most of the time I just watched the awesome display. One really has to be there and see it to fully appreciate it.

I kept watching for something else to develop, like STEVE, but it never did show up. According to Spaceweather.com, the brightest part of the storm was a G4 severe magnetic storm.

Birding Herps Insects Photography

Back at Camp

I left Pierre last week and headed for my quiet spot, near Jewel Cave. It is much cooler here and I have shade now, a big plus! It has been a very hot summer so far. I’ve just been up to my usual activities, birding, hiking, photography.