Nature's Notebook

In a little over a week, residents of the Northwest Corner and much of the eastern United States will have an opportunity to enjoy a special celestial event: a total eclipse of the moon.

Next Saturday evening, March 3, the earth will pass directly between the sun and the moon, casting a dark shadow over the entire lunar surface. The moment of greatest totality will occur at around 6:20 p.m., just as darkness has fallen. Observers facing east, opposite the setting sun, with a clear view of the horizon will see the rising moon as a thinning sliver, already nearing total eclipse.

During the total eclipse, which will last for more than an hour, the moon will not appear completely dark. Instead, it will be bathed in a deep coppery-red glow. That’s because some of the sun’s rays bend around the earth’s atmosphere and reach the moon. The steep angle of refraction causes the light to turn red, much as a sunset low on our horizon throws off red light.

This is the first total lunar eclipse since October 2004. (A second will occur this year in August but will be visible only in the western United States). Lunar eclipses occur twice a year because of the complex cycles of the moon’s orbit around the earth. They do not occur each time the moon passes on the sun’s side of the earth — that is, every month — because the moon’s orbit is tilted relative to the earth’s orbit around the sun.

Over millenia, superstitions have come and gone about the significance of the lunar eclipse. It has most often been viewed as an ill omen. In one account, a lunar eclipse in the year 413 BC contributed to the downfall of ancient Greek civilization.

For those who anticipate an even more spectacular total eclipse of the sun, don’t hold your breath: Unless you’re a world traveler, you’ve got 10 years to wait until the next visible solar eclipse in our region. Whew!

Last month, Frank Bartle stopped by the offices of The Journal to report that he saw a woodcocknear the old Pollard farm in Salisbury, just off Route 112. Woodcocks are returning this time of year from the south and actually begin their "spring" displays as early as late February.

"The bears are back," reports Lakeville Journal publisher emeritus Bob Estabrook. "Nancy Paine on Reservoir Road in Lakeville was going out on Tuesday night and was confronted by a bear and a cub.

"Michael Harris, who lives next door, and his wife, Wendy, have also had their birdfeeder wrecked a couple of times in the past few days.

"So the neighborhood bear is back, in the Reservoir Road area at least!"

Fred Baumgarten is a naturalist and writer. He can be reached at fredb58@sbcglobal.net. His blog is at thatbirdblog.blogspot.com.