Category Archives: Background

Northern Lights Forecasting: Aurora-Alerts App

Background, Year 8

After consideration and research I have changed my recommended Northern Lights / Forecasting App to Aurora-Alerts. This review is for their paid app (i.e. worth a few dollars). My annotated screenshots given later in this blog post show the interface and explain functionality. I like the clean, easy to follow user interface. The alerts work fine and are updated twice per hour.

Aurora-Alerts is available for Apple or Android devices. See their web site to learn more, or download / install a local copy. I also have SpaceWeatherLive’s app installed on my devices and receive their alerts. While I love their alerts and news, I suspect their app would be very confusing to a person who is not real knowledgeable about the Northern Lights. As always, I do NOT receive any money for my reviews & recommendations.

The Northern Lights Lake Superior Region Facebook Group which I founded and where I am one of the two admins has over 6,000 members. This Facebook Groups helps one know when lights are expected to be active near Lake Superior, and enjoy photographs of the Aurora taken from the local region (i.e. not Alaska or Norway, etc.). A Facebook account is required to join / read posts in the group.

Finally, don’t forget to read the Northern Lights page of this blog. It has many helpful explanations and links concerning the Northern Lights.

Aurora-Alerts Splash Screen (current conditions)

Aurora-Alerts Forecasts

Ovation Aurora & Trend Data (from NASA and NOAA)

Alerts (sent out twice per hour)

Tracking the Bird Migration in your Home Town

Background, Year 8

Over the past few years, folks in the know have been able to gather data about the Spring or Fall bird migrations as they were in progress (birding forecasts & real time updates). However it took a Phd in web knowledge to find this data and review same. Now Cornell, Colorado State and UMass Amherst have collaborated to create a great new web site with easily viewable data. Better yet, with just a few clicks you may discover what the expected migration conditions will be like in your home town (or region). The service is called BirdCast.

I have taken nine screenshots via my own mobile phone and annotated the screenshots with red arrows, lines and rectangles to provide a basic introduction to BirdCast’s capabilities. Finally, although the BirdCast service does not provide an automated feed for their migration news updates, I figured out the RSS code required. Thus, if you use a RSS news reader to automatically obtain content updates … use this code stream / url. (copy url … paste into your RSS subscribe content area). Alternatively, you could download and use my free Minnesota Birding News (BirdCast is one of the over 40 web sites to which one may receive automatic updates).

BirdCast Capabilities

(Screenshots taken on my mobile phone. If you connect with a personal computer, the menus will be identical but appear via the menubar found at the top of every web page)

Birdcast Homepage and Main Menu

Birdcast Main Menu … Dropdown activated

BirdCast News (use my tools to get auto updates)

BirdCast Migration Tools

Scroll down to view / select desired tools

Using the BirdCast “Local” Tool (Duluth selected)

And finally an image from yesterday afternoon. The weather outside did not encourage birding (39F, freezing rain and a strong wind). However, when we arrived at my daughter’s house I heard chickadees scolding something. This Raccoon was the culprit. It was unusual to see “Rory” out in the middle of the afternoon.

Counting Birds

Background, Year 8

I’ll admit it, I am not a list person. While I will occasionally submit a birding list to eBird, this is not a normal activity for me, nor have I ever kept an annual list of sightings. However a few folks every year decide to have a Big Year. The goal is to see as many bird species possible in the United States and Canada. Steve Martin even starred in a movie based upon the book with the same name, The Big Year. Here is a clip from the movie (link for email subscribers)

While I don’t keep lists, today through Sunday (February 12 to 14) is the Great Backyard Birdcount sponsored by Audubon and eBird. Learn even more via the count’s web site. Over the next few days, thousands and thousands of birding lists from around the world … 15 minutes of sightings each … will be submitted. This data is then analyzed by the Cornell School of Ornithology and a better understanding is gained about how climate and habitat loss are affecting the bird population. Consider spending 15 minutes this weekend to help support this ongoing research. If you ask why, consider the “canary in a coal mine” scenario. These birds were kept down in coal mines. If the birds started to have trouble breathing the miners took notice (read article from the Smithsonian).

Here is my list from this morning … my own backyard. Thus, some lists are important! See the latest sightings from around the world.

Our cold snap continues. Every night the temperature drops to between -15F and -23F. During the day we don’t reach 0F. Right now it appears our cold snap will last for about 13 days. I am making occasional birding forays, but this weather encourages one to stay inside … too darn cold. Here is one of the cardinals that always visits my own feeders every morning. Photo taken about 10:00 am this morning.