August 25-31, 2024

A return of clear blue skies, and days in the high 80s and low 90s, made for a beautiful week.

Week in Review

Let's start by returning to some topics we discussed in last week's newsletter. I had commented on the odd weather we were having, including a heavy rainstorm and clouds at the end of the week. Right after I sent out the newsletter, clouds parted to reveal fresh snow on the high peaks, so I checked my records, and two years in a row the first snow of the season happened on the evening of August 23rd! What are the chances of that?!

I also commented on a big group of black swifts that might have been migrating and I wondered whether common nighthawks had already left. Well...the next day I observed another big group of swifts in Mazama and a big group of nighthawks at Twin Lakes so clearly these birds are still hanging around.

This has been such a busy week for nature observations, and there's so much going on, that I don't even know how to share all the photos I have with you. This was especially true on a walk around the beaver pond at the Chickadee Trailhead, where there are countless dragonflies, frogs, snakes, butterflies, and birds all over the place.

A wide variety of invertebrates are active right now too. Spiders are especially noticeable because females have reached their maximum size, and males are wandering in search of females. But other insects that are conspicuous at this time of year include praying mantises and velvet ants.

This is also the time of the year when you're most likely to find excavated yellowjacket nests. These underground nests are now at their peak size with large numbers of tasty larvae and pupae inside, so they prove irresistible to bears and skunks who are willing to dig out the nests and risk the wrath of the yellowjackets in order to feast on their vulnerable babies.

Observation of the Week: STEVE in the Methow Valley

STEVE made a special visit to the Methow Valley this week, and if you're not familiar with STEVE it's time that you met.

On the night of the August 27, and lasting into the wee hours of August 28, there was a wild display of northern lights over the Methow Valley. At first, we were fixated on the colors to the north but then we started noticing an odd pillar of light on the western horizon.

As the clouds parted, the pillar eventually extended almost completely across the sky, nearly horizon to horizon, with a very bright white light.

To the naked eye it looked like a searchlight over a car dealership, but in the camera, you could also see a "picket fence" of dancing green lights.

This is STEVE (a Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), which resembles the northern lights (and often accompanies the northern lights), but is a unique and poorly understood phenomenon that was first named by amateur Aurora chasers in 2016. You can read more about the science behind STEVE in this Wikipedia entry but keep your eyes open because you might see STEVE one night and wonder what's going on!