9 April 2024

For 3 minutes yesterday afternoon, individuals in a large swath of the U.S. from Texas to Maine had been wowed by the entire photo voltaic eclipse. Jeff Cieslak was within the totality zone in Berea, Ohio and captured the picture at prime. Look carefully on the darkish edge and also you’ll see photo voltaic prominences (flares).

Pittsburgh and Dubois, PA, simply east of the totality zone, had been each shut sufficient to expertise a 97% eclipse. Our mild stage was like nightfall and the temperature obtained cooler. Charity Kheshgi captured the partial eclipse in Pittsburgh at 3:17 to three:20pm.

In the meantime Marianne Atkinson observed a change in honeybee conduct at her residence in Dubois, PA. She’s offering a honeybee feeder this spring, crammed with sugar water, to feed hungry bees within the early days earlier than the flowers bloom. Yesterday morning her feeder was mobbed with honeybees and was working dry.

There have been too many bees for her to securely refill the feeder so she put out a second one (white rim). It was mobbed, too.

After which the eclipse started. Marianne describes what occurred.

I had simply added a second honey bee feeder this afternoon, not lengthy earlier than the eclipse began. However, in the course of the eclipse at 97%, there have been only a few bees on both feeder! The yellow feeder solely had two bees and the gravel feeder had 3 bees. I took this chance so as to add extra nectar to the yellow feeder, because it was empty.

[Meanwhile] The numerous American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins had been chattering away within the timber close by throughout the entire eclipse. The sky had gotten a little bit darker, however not darkish like a photo voltaic eclipse in totality. There have been clouds throughout a lot of the eclipse, with occasional peaks of solar or seeing it by skinny clouds. I used to be in a position to view it on and off.

— e-mail from Marianne Atkinson, Dubois, PA, 8 April 2024

Honeybees are diurnal and they return to their hive at nightfall to spend the evening indoors. Apparently the sunshine stage throughout a 97% eclipse is low sufficient to immediate bees to go residence. After the eclipse the honeybees got here again shortly to each feeders. Marianne mentioned, “That they had only recently found the pea gravel feeder, however didn’t waste any time in using it!”

Did you discover any particular animal or insect conduct in the course of the eclipse? Go away a remark together with your observations.

(credit are within the captions)