Some exciting things are happening around Oregon and the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest!
Last Monday in Corvallis, we were able to experience 2 minutes and some change of a total solar eclipse! I have to admit, I didn't think it was going to be as interesting as it was. At the last minute (and because of all the hype), we decided to drive up to Corvallis to be in the path of totality. And it was completely worth it! Even the traffic on the way back to the HJ Andrews.
Good thing we had bought our eclipse glasses from the HJ Andrews! All the stores around us were sold out weeks before the event.
Even our friend's dog joined in on some of the eclipse festivities.
Our view from Corvallis of the solar eclipse.
One of the interesting parts of the eclipse was how much cooler it became when even just half of the sun was blocked by the moon. But the highlight was seeing the sun's white corona when the sun was completely blocked by the moon. I'm feeling super lucky that we didn't have any smoke or cloud cover during our eclipse. I'm looking forward to looking through our carnivore cameras to see if any of the behaviors of the animals around the HJ Andrews changed during the partial eclipse.
In the mean time, here's a series of short tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) pictures from one of our cameras. It looks like it took a nap in one of the cavities by the tree roots before resuming its interest in the fresh mouse bait.
