# Today in nature I saw **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 20, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854 "2020-07-20T18:22:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 201
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4004 "2025-12-13T17:39:22Z")
That’s just how it is! We don’t feed them or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4005 "2025-12-13T17:40:40Z")
I’ve certainly had moments of “Wow, that’s a very tall dog over there”. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4006 "2025-12-17T06:00:55Z")
I was on a trip tofsy to a wildlife refuge in southeast Missouri. My sister, cousin, and her husband were all together. We saw at least ten thousand snow geese and a huge amount of swans, along with a number of other water fowl. But the best was all the eagles, at least a hundred. I have never seen more than three eagles together at once. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4007 "2025-12-17T20:16:06Z")
That’s awesome! I’d have liked to see the swans. I went to a funeral today, and when we came out of the church, this was in the sky! Is that cool or what? I’m not a believer, but it did seem awfully symbolic of something or other. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54990506356_ffa8b4707d_b.jpg "Sun dog") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/45215582@N06/54990506356/) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4008 "2025-12-17T22:08:57Z")
I can’t begin to figure out what that is (!). Is the bright spot the sun behind cloud, or is the arc around the sun (with sun out of shot, obviously)? j ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4009 "2025-12-17T22:22:18Z")
I’ve seen lines through the Sun like that, but usually there’s also a vertical one to go with the horizontal. Though the bright spot could also be a sun dog, rather than the Sun itself, with the Sun itself a bit off to the left or right. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4010 "2025-12-17T23:20:37Z")
Could the bright line be a straight line in reality? Look at how the prolongation of the tree trunks hit the line perpendicularly: a wide angle would explain this. And at a certain point this trail reflects the sun behind the camera. The trees seem to be illuminated from behind the camera too, though I am not sure of that. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4011 "2025-12-17T23:53:23Z")
It was a curved line in the sky, though I’m not sure it was a whole circle. And I don’t know if the bright spot is the real sun or a reflection. I think the sunlight was coming from behind me. I see stuff online about ice crystals, but it was like 70 degrees outside! 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4012 "2025-12-18T01:03:43Z")
It doesn’t have to be cold at the ground to have ice crystals at the height in the atmosphere where these effects occur. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4013 "2025-12-18T01:04:58Z")
Oh, and if there’s anyone around here who would know the full explanation, it’d be @CalMeacham . ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4014 "2025-12-18T04:04:47Z")
You rang? What the picture shows is an ice crystal phenomenon called the _Parhelic Circle_. It’s caused by sunlight reflecting from ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere all lined up the same way because of atmospheric drag. You can tell that it’s due to sunlight reflection from the faces of crystals, rather than due to light passing through the crystals and refracting, because there’s no color separation. The Parhelic circle can be a full 360 degree circle going around the sky at the altitude of the sun, or it might be only a part of the circle – it all depends on whether there are ice crystals in those parts of the sky to reflect the sunlight. Those of you who said that they saw this in association with other ice crystal phenomena are quite correct – you’ll often get other things as well, such as the vertical Sun Pillar that also passes through the sun, the 23 degreee halo due to light refracting through ice crystals, the Sundogs at 23 degrees (which separate from the 23 degree halo as the sun rises), and others. But you can also get a parhelic circle all by itself. [https://atoptics.co.uk/blog/parhelic-circle/](https://atoptics.co.uk/blog/parhelic-circle/) > **[Parhelic circle - Cloud Appreciation Society](https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/cloud-library/parhelic-circle/)** > > A parhelic circle is a white band light that runs parallel to the horizon. Caused by sunlight passing through, and reflecting off, the sides of tiny hexagonal plate-shaped ice crystals, the light effect always appears at the same height in the sky as... ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4015 "2025-12-18T14:38:41Z")
Awesome. Thank you so much! ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4016 "2025-12-18T16:22:08Z")
That is a very cool website too! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4017 "2025-12-29T22:35:56Z")
Today I heard woodpeckers drumming - barely a week after the solstice, Man, that’s early for the UK. Late winter/early spring is the norm. j ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4018 "2025-12-29T23:29:37Z")
My wife and I finally took the DSNG train for a little ride. We have never been able to do the full trip to Silverton, because it’s a nine hour trip, and we don’t want to leave to dog alone for that length of time. In the winter, they do a shorter trip to Cascade canyon, so we did that. i was really hoping for snow, but now such luck. Still, it was a fun trip. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55012982398_6a22584e92_b.jpg "FABC1E1F-AD5F-492C-8858-0CC4B8F4F807\_1\_201\_a") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/55012982398/in/dateposted-public/) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4019 "2025-12-30T17:52:38Z")
I had to go out and get some gas this morning, but before I melted the frost on the windshield, I had to admire the beautiful patterns it made: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55013271477_d7d46fb8ed_b.jpg "C0AD7680-C320-4013-94AD-AA8AF54147DE\_1\_201\_a") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/55013271477/in/dateposted-public/) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4020 "2025-12-31T18:30:34Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > i was really hoping for snow, but now such luck. Still, it was a fun trip. That’s still beautiful! What is DSNG? > [@beowulff](#): > > I had to go out and get some gas this morning, but before I melted the frost on the windshield Also really cool! I’d pay for an art display of that. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4021 "2025-12-31T18:32:51Z")
Well, darn. I thought this thread was going to be about _Nature_, the prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journal. I was hoping for an article about dark matter or something. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4022 "2025-12-31T18:43:01Z")
The Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad. Once a mining train, now a tourist train, although they still bring supplies to Silverton when the road is cut off by snow. Train: > [@Today in Civilization I Saw](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-civilization-i-saw/1018708/79): > > I assume that a train implies civilization, right? [[Imgur] ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/55014826185/in/dateposted-public/) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/4023 "2026-01-18T22:00:27Z")
Today we saw a cormorant on a mill pond in Dorking (about 20 miles south of London). So what? Well, that mill pond is a small body of water, and we were at a narrow point, so we watched it fish from not much more than five meters away. We had front row seats to observe it dive and then surface, with a fish crossways in its beak, juggle it north-south, and then swallow it - which it did repeatedly. The per-dive success rate was very impressive - more than 50%.There must have been a ton of fish in that lake (they were 6 or 7 cm long I guess). Never seen anything quite like that before. j [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=200) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=202)