Moonset over mountains

Some evenings I sit outside and not much happens. Other times I see lots of interesting birds. Last night was one of those—a small flock of 14 cedar waxwings and (I’m almost certain) a Philadelphia vireo, in addition to the usual run of bluebirds, crows and house finch to name a few. Yesterday was a good migration day for raptors, too, which nearly always means it will be a good day for migrating songbirds.

A clear sky, little wind—if I were a bird that’s when I’d like to migrate, too. Why wait until the last moment, when all the other birds are rushing ahead of some terrible bit of weather, fighting a headwind and scared they can’t fly fast enough to miss the storm that’s hot on their little tails? No, the smart birds leave when the weather is still pretty nice.

This morning as I was walking Baby Dog August’s second full moon of the month was sinking slowly behind the mountains. I grabbed the camera and tried for an early morning shot as the moon dipped behind the western ridges. I dropped Baby Dog’s leash (it’s her seventh birthday) and went in search of a good spot for a shot. Baby Dog just stood there, waiting for me to tell her to do something. When she realized I wasn’t going to tell her anything, she nosed her way along the forest edge, sniffing for rabbits. Fortunately, she didn’t find any or I’m sure she would have zipped off into the brush, which would in turn require me to go chasing after her and likely missing my moon shot.

I’ve been trying to get a decent photo of the setting moon for sometime, with little success. Sometimes the moon sets while it’s still too dark for a decent shot. Sometimes, it’s gotten too light. Sometimes the moon sinks behind clouds and disappears entirely. Today, none of that happened; Baby Dog didn’t find a rabbit to tear off after, and I got a shot of the moon setting over the mountains.