Today marked a nearly complete solar eclipse at the house with about 93% of the sun covered by the moon. It was a very neat astronomical event to witness and although we missed the path of totality seeing nearly the entire disk of the sun covered was memorable. We really lucked out with the weather with nearly clear skies with just a bit of high clouds at the end of the event and warm temps in the 60's. There was a noticeable drop in temps as the max coverage of the sun occurred. The next total eclipse in the US is not until 2044 and it will only be visible in the Dakotas and Montana.
Before the onset of the eclipse I was out birding for the morning and although I didn't find anything too unusual it was a beautiful morning to be out. Although it started cool in the upper 20's it warmed up rapidly once the sun got to work.
Before the eclipse I checked duck box #2 to see if by chance a duck had finally found the box to lay some eggs and I was pleasantly surprised to find several eggs in the box. Not sure on species yet but I'm sure to find out soon enough. I didn't check the other two boxes as I didn't want to disturb the Hooded Mergansers sitting on the eggs. I put on cameras in a couple weeks to prep for the young ones fledging.
