Our second encounter with a total eclipse--in this case, a close encounter of the partial kind.
So, it's all behind us now, the thrills, the chills (our temperature dropped over 4 degrees during the eclipse), the spills--(exaggerating. Nothing spilled).
We sat out on the patio as it began...noticed first that the shadows were odd. Shimmery, sparkly, longer than usual, darker, more distinct, maybe. The temp got colder. A bird flew into a tree. The pug girls continued to sleep on the dead grass that is our yard while the sky darkened--not as dark as a good rainstorm, though. Gradually it all went back to normal; a lot of birdsong after. The temp eventually came back up.
Cinder seemed hungrier than usual the rest of the day, but that could be my imagination.
There is no further info regarding that bird. He has been avoiding this interviewer.
In 1979 (My son was 3 1/2), I had a viewer and it was interesting...got dark, sun ring around the moon and all that...but it was a fairly quick event just as this one was. I noticed NO animal behavior other than the two Catarrhine Old World Monkeys on our property. THEY were busy trying to use the viewer properly. THAT time (totality) I'd certainly have noticed it if I were even looking outside, but I'm not sure what I'd have thought of it if I hadn't already known what it was. THIS time (definitely partial) I could have overlooked it entirely. Even the weird shadows were "colored" by my knowledge that it was a partial eclipse.
The bird has finally reported in. It said, "MEH."
So I'll agree, partial and total are like "rainy day" and "brief night."
BEST
Kai
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