The Sturgeon Supermoon

 Another supermonn tonight; the last supermoon of the year.  This one is the Sturgeon Moon named by the Algonquin tribes in what is now the north eastern United States after the fish that were more easily caught in the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water at this time of year.  

The Photographers' Ephemeris told me that it would rise over the fields behind Scartho adjacent to the Horsefield so just as the sun was setting in the north west at one end of the fields we waited fro the moon to appear in the south east.  For once there was no bank of cloud on the horizon so we waited with anticipation.  A short while after the appointed hour we saw an orange glow behind New Waltham and then there it was: a deep orange-red orb haning in the sky about the fields.  It was a moving and magical spiritual experience and I could only wonder at the emotions felt by those Algonquin people so many years ago.

The next full moon is the Harvest Moon on September the 10th when we are at the caravan on the edge of The Lakes.  Fingers crossed for a clear night.

To view large, please click on an image.

The Buck Supermoon

 With a friend Heather and I went out to try and photograph another supermoon; this one the Buck Moon, so called because this is the time of year when the deer's antlers are fully grown ready for the rut in Autumn.  This time we decided to go to the yacht club car park on the Fitties as, in theory, there would be an unimpeded view.  This would certainly have been the case had there not been a thick bank of cloud on the horizon.  We eventually gave the cloud best and went home hoping to photograph it later in the evening.  Unfortunately it did't climb very high in the sky and, even when it emerged from the clouds it remained hidden by trees.  The following night, however, I was awake at 3.30 and managed some shots through a gap in the trees.

To view large, please click on the image.