|
|
|
|
|
NIGHT SKIES
“All shadows of clouds the sun cannot hide like the moon cannot stop oceanic tide; but a hidden star can still be smiling at night's black spell on darkness, beguiling.” ― Munia Khan
Frank Dietz, Comal County resident,
CCCA Board Member, &
Herald Zeitung monthly columnist
Gracias — Do Look Up!
October 20, 2020
|
The CCCA wishes to express thanks to 61+ generous folks who reached toward open space protection with BIG GIVE gifts to enhance the Land Conservation Fund! For those wishing they had or who failed to reach out on that day, you can go to the CCCA website and hit DONATE! Thanks for helping!
When last have you looked skyward at night? There's much in the NIGHT SKIES you'll want to see and some you'll wish you could see! Let's chat a bit about this gift that for too many of us is diminishing. Let's thank those seeking to make a difference as well. My early life opportunities took us as a family out on a pier into a bay along the Gulf Coast. On waning and waxing moonlit nights, the clarity of the array of celestial displays was spectacular. My first sighting of the Milky Way led to an inquiry, "what's up there?" I suspect my heart beat more rapidly as I wondered, "could those be headlights or something?!" Some of those nights' star reflections were on the calm waters as was true when the moon would be full. That clear memory stirred with a rapid heartbeat again when I first came to Comal County in the late 1950s. In those days the Night Skies were glorious at Slumber Falls Camp for youth and the ranch where we share a patch of pasture. Through the long years, the ever developing I-35 corridor and our springs and rivers village brought a fading skies with a crescendo of bright night lights. Now we drive a distance rather than into one of the pastures for clarity of night time skies. The GOOD NEWS is that across the Hill Country and its communities as well as right here in Comal County and New Braunfels there are folks determined to mitigate the intrusive lights with special measures. Our Comal County Commissioners resolved in 2018 to take our celestial gifts to heart and pursue constructive measures. This had followed a lead |
from New Braunfels Utilities mid-year to pursue specific measures to enhance our night skies. Might it be time for our Mayor and Councilors to assemble a group to develop a clear policy direction toward allowing our celestial gifts to be a part of the dynamic future exploding all around us? Mr. Mayor, help us take these constructive steps linking us with many colleague communities. Let's begin the conversation! The Comal County Friends of the Night Skies Group is no doubt ready and willing. I know a bunch of youngsters that will be your cheering squad when you step forward!
Night Skies matter! They will be enhanced by the broader efforts to conserve and set aside natural space where commercial and subdividing endeavors will not take place. Kudos go to those developers providing protections for our night skies by avoiding unprotected streetlights and super bright commercial strips. Toward that end our CCCA continues a journey of outreach, education and enablement. Check CCCA's website for a special night at 6 p.m. 13 October when a Night Skies enthusiast, Cliff Kaplan of the Hill Country Alliance will bring together a number of concerned leadership people to help us envision a future with night skies in view. We shouldn't have to travel to Big Bend or other points distant to receive some of the sparkling gifts of the night skies. These are the same and always evolving skies that have enhanced and guided mariners, planters, shepherds, poets and children on every continent. The sense of awe I experienced many years ago on that bayside pier contributed to my calling to ordained ministry and an array of life pursuits. Over time, that awesomeness regarding an expanding and ever-changing universe has been nurtured by astronomers, NASA, the Hubble images and Space Shuttlers reporting home. Yes, look up! Take note! Shout joy! |
Lights Out Texas 2022
WHAT: Lights Out Texas 2022 Meeting
WHEN: February 18 at 10 AM
WHERE: Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89765597106?pwd=U05uTEh2ejJRWmFwS3NvOU44S29OZz09
WHEN: February 18 at 10 AM
WHERE: Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89765597106?pwd=U05uTEh2ejJRWmFwS3NvOU44S29OZz09
- Meeting ID: 897 6559 7106
- Passcode: birds
- +1 346 248 7799 US
- Passcode: 275007
Call To Action
|
Dear Fellow Texans,
Each year during fall and spring migrations, nearly two billion birds travel through Texas in one of the planet’s great wildlife spectacles. This spring, 1 out of every 3 birds migrating through the U.S. will pass through Texas between March 1st through June 15th. Birds are globally important, they provide ecosystem services, act as benchmarks for environmental health, increase livability, and connect people of all ages and abilities to the natural world. Light pollution is a growing and under recognized threat to birds. The light emanating from our cities disorients birds, leaving them confused and vulnerable to collisions with buildings. In fact, nearly one billion birds are estimated to die annually due to collisions with buildings. To emphasize this threat, this year’s World Migratory Bird Day focus is light pollution. Join us in participating in Lights Out Texas to protect migrating birds by turning off non-essential lights at night from 11 pm - 6 am during the spring migration period of March 1 - June 15. Where conflicts apply, prioritize lights out during the critical peak fall migration period from April 22 - May 12. Each night and |
each light turned out helps save migrating birds. As an added bonus, turning off non-essential lights also saves money and conserves energy for cities, local businesses, and homeowners!
The Lights Out Texas effort is co-facilitated statewide by Texan by Nature and Audubon Texas in 2022. The initiative is supported by a coalition that includes conservation non-profits, universities, governmental organizations, and Texans dedicated to the conservation of birds. Learn more about how you can help migrating birds this migration season and for migration seasons to come on the next pages of this letter and on this webpage. We hope that every Texan and business operating in Texas will participate in Lights Out Texas year-round, starting this spring by turning out lights from 11 pm to 6 am, March 1 - June 15. Our collective vision is for Lights Out Texas to become the standard for turning out lights at night all year long, keeping Texas’ skies dark and starry and ensuring a safe flight for birds on their migration journey. Sincerely, Joni Carswell CEO & President, Texan by Nature Lisa Gonzalez Vice President & Executive Director Audubon Texas |
Here's How You Can Help Migrating Birds
|
Whether you are a business or homeowner, help protect migrating birds passing through Texas by turning off all non-essential nighttime lighting on and within buildings from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. each night during spring
migration from March 1 - June 15. Where conflicts apply, prioritize lights out from April 22 - May 12 during the peak of migration when the most birds are passing through Texas. Learn more about Lights Out Texas and how you can get involved HERE. Guidelines for EVERYONE:
|
CONTACT INFORMATION: Caitlin Tran, Junior Program Manager, Texan by Nature: Jennifer Croy, State Office Manager, Audubon Texas: |
Did You Know? Facts About How Lights At Night Impact Birds
|
Texas contains 3 of the top 20 U.S. cities in exposing migrating birds to hazards created by light pollution, with Houston ranked #2 and the Dallas-Fort Worth area ranked #3. Because most migratory birds fly at night, bright lights of commercial and residential buildings attract and disorient birds, causing collisions and leaving birds vulnerable to threats on the ground.
|
|
|
Photo credit: Dallas Morning News, March 14, 2021.
|
|
Lights Out for Wildlife 2021
|
THE PROBLEM
Certify your home or building here. Many birds migrate at night. Every spring and fall, they soar across Texas in flocks by the hundreds of millions. Our night sky becomes a super highway of birds! Unfortunately, birds are attracted to light, so brightly-lit homes and buildings can confuse and disorient them. They often collide with windows and walls. It's hard to believe, but we lose up to one billion birds to collisions in the US every year. If by chance they survive, hazards in the city abound like busy streets, food scarcity, and feral cats. To keep Texas birds flying high, it’s as easy as flipping a switch – go Lights Out for Wildlife April 19 to May 7 from 11 PM to 6 AM. THE SOLUTION Texans can solve this problem; we know how to get things done. By working together toward a dark sky every spring and fall, we will keep birds safely on course and out of harm’s way. Go Lights Out for Wildlife April 19 to May 7 from 11 PM to 6 AM to save millions of Texas birds. TAKE ACTION FOR TEXAS BIRDS
Every person and every business, school, hotel, home, high rise, restaurant, municipal building, and place of worship can receive Lights Out for Wildlife certification. Certification comes with a free certificate to celebrate your pledge to save wildlife and let's you share your commitment publicly with colleagues, coworkers, customers, family, and friends. It provides a public way to show off your commitment to conservation while inspiring others to take action and join in. Certification is a source of pride for all involved and it's free, so sign up today! |
Texans love our wildlife and abundant natural heritage. Unfortunately, Texas birds are declining, in part due to collisions with brightly lit businesses, homes, and other buildings. We’re calling on all Texans to go Lights Out for Wildlife and save birds by dimming non-essential lighting, April 19 to May 7 from 11 PM to 6 AM. With the simple flip of a switch, each of us can do our part to protect millions of migrating birds soaring across our Lone Star sky. Certify your business or residence with Lights Out for Wildlife. You will receive a certificate to celebrate your commitment to conservation and you'll inspire others to join in. It's free!
|
|
|
Lights Out, Texas!
Texas is globally important for birds. Approximately 1 of every 3 birds migrating through the U.S. in spring, and 1 of every 4 bird migrating through the U.S. in the fall, or nearly two billion birds, pass through Texas. Protecting birds in Texas promotes conservation of bird populations across the Americas.
Thanks to a partnership effort, the Lights Out Texas initiative and pilot project made a lot of exciting news during the Fall of 2020. This initiative was led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Texas Conservation Alliance, Dallas Zoo, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Houston Audubon, Texan by Nature, and many others. Mayor Johnson issued a proclamation declaring “Lights Out Nights” in Dallas last Fall.
For Spring 2021, these groups unified efforts across Texas for even bigger impact.
Real-time analysis maps show intensities of actual nocturnal bird migration as detected by the US weather surveillance radar network between local sunset to sunrise. All graphics are relative to the Eastern time zone. When present, the red line moving east to west represents the timing of local sunset, the yellow line represents the timing of local sunrise. Areas with lighter colors experienced more intense bird migration. Orange arrows show directions to which birds flew. Green dots represent radar locations for which data are available; red dots represent radar locations with no data available. Note that many radars in mountainous areas (e.g. the Rockies) have obstructions that restrict radar coverage, providing the appearance of no migration where migration may be occurring.
Thanks to a partnership effort, the Lights Out Texas initiative and pilot project made a lot of exciting news during the Fall of 2020. This initiative was led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Texas Conservation Alliance, Dallas Zoo, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Houston Audubon, Texan by Nature, and many others. Mayor Johnson issued a proclamation declaring “Lights Out Nights” in Dallas last Fall.
For Spring 2021, these groups unified efforts across Texas for even bigger impact.
Real-time analysis maps show intensities of actual nocturnal bird migration as detected by the US weather surveillance radar network between local sunset to sunrise. All graphics are relative to the Eastern time zone. When present, the red line moving east to west represents the timing of local sunset, the yellow line represents the timing of local sunrise. Areas with lighter colors experienced more intense bird migration. Orange arrows show directions to which birds flew. Green dots represent radar locations for which data are available; red dots represent radar locations with no data available. Note that many radars in mountainous areas (e.g. the Rockies) have obstructions that restrict radar coverage, providing the appearance of no migration where migration may be occurring.
|
THE PROBLEM
U.S. bird populations are declining rapidly, with 1 out of every 4 birds lost since 1970. An estimated one billion U.S. bird deaths occur annually from collisions with buildings and structures, with migratory species at most risk. Attraction and disorientation resulting from light pollution concentrate migrant birds in cities. WHY IT MATTERS Birds are essential to our planet’s ecology – and local economies. Birds provide ecosystem services, act as benchmarks for environmental health, increase livability, and connect people of all ages and abilities to the natural world. Birds also support the Texas economy. In the Rio Grande Valley alone, Texas A&M found that nature tourism – which is dominated by bird watching – contributes $300 million to the economy and supports 4,407 full and part-time jobs annually. HERE'S HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE Building owners, businesses, developers, and homeowners can help protect migrating birds by turning off all non-essential nighttime lighting on buildings and other structures from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. each night. |
Click this picture to see a real-time migration map.
|
|
Every spring and fall, billions of birds migrate through the US, mostly under the cover of darkness. This mass movement of birds must contend with a dramatically increasing but still largely unrecognized threat. Light pollution harms birds, but you can help!
Light attracts and disorients these migrating birds, confusing and exhausting them as well as making them vulnerable to collisions with buildings, not to mention other urban threats like cats and toxins. An estimated 365 – 988 million birds die in collisions with buildings annually, including a number of species of high conservation concern. The BirdCast team joins a growing international Lights Out efforts already underway, including in over 30 cities in North America, in proposing and implementing a simple solution: turning off unnecessary lighting during critical migration periods. Turning off lights dramatically reduces hazards from attraction to and disorientation by light, allowing birds to safely proceed with their migratory journeys. And further, Lights Out does more than save birds, it saves energy and money! The Environmental Protection Agency highlights energy as the largest operating expense for commercial buildings. Reducing energy use by shutting off lights for migration season makes environmental sense and fiscal sense. Lights Out is a win-win for birds and cities, and the people who love both. |
Scarlet Tanager. Brian Sullivan/Macaulay Library. eBird S14026862
|
AND THERE'S MORE ... Are you interested in learning about how you can participate in this simple conservation action? Get in touch! Learn more Learn more about what you can do to help protect birds. Learn more Check out our pilot campaign in Texas in two of the cities representing the greatest threat of light pollution exposure risks to migrating birds. Learn more Need background information or more detailed resources? Learn more
Former First Lady Urges Texas to Turn Off Lights for Migrating Birds
|
Laura Bush is asking fellow Texans to turn out the lights in order to protect flocks of migrating birds.
The former first lady posted on Instagram on Monday asking those in the state to “darken the night sky” by turning off all non-essential lights. On her Instagram page, she posted a link to BirdCast.info, a site created by Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology which forecasts bird migration patterns using weather, radar and community science data. Mrs Bush wrote: "Tonight, 594 million birds will take flight across the U.S. as part of the fall migration, and 1 out of every 5 will fly over Texas. Darker skies can prevent these birds from colliding with buildings and other structures. “Join me in helping to keep migrating birds safe on their journey home by turning off your non-essential lights. To learn more about the birds migrating in your area, please visit birdcast.info (link in profile). #lightsouttexas #darkskies #bringbirdsback” BirdCast posted a migration alert on Monday saying that the next few nights will likely be one of the largest series of bird migrations in the US this year. The scientists also advised turning off lights in highly urbanized areas, especially cities in the central and southern US. Bird populations are rapidly declining in the US with one out of every four birds lost since 1970. |
Laura Bush
An estimated one billion birds die each year in the US due to collisions with buildings and structures, and migrating birds are particularly at risk. Light pollution in cities can attract them and cause them to become disorientated. In an interview for the Bush Institute last year, Mrs Bush explained that she had developed an interest in nature as a child, and was particularly drawn to birdwatching because of her mother. “My mother really was the one who inspired me to be a conservationist. She was my Girl Scout leader when we got our bird badge,” she said. “She became a very knowledgeable, self-taught birdwatcher and joined the MidNats, the Midland Naturalists, who were all birdwatchers and conservationists.” In 2011, Mrs Bush founded the organization, Texan by Nature, to protect her home state’s natural resources. |
The Night Sky is Vanishing: 80 Percent of Americans Can No Longer See the Milky Way
By Brad Plumer
June 10, 2016
June 10, 2016
|
If cities were to turn off all their lights — all their street lamps, billboards, neon signs, car headlights — a clear night sky would look something like this:
The Milky Way, as seen over Dinosaur National Park in Utah. (Dan Duriscoe) That shimmering river of stars is, of course, the Milky Way. Most of us living in urban areas can’t see it because of all the light pollution. In big cities, we’re lucky to even glimpse the Big Dipper. It’s becoming harder and harder to pick out our place in the universe. How hard is it? In a new study for Science Advances, an international team of researchers created the most detailed atlas yet of light pollution around the world. They estimate that the Milky Way is no longer visible to fully one-third of humanity — including 60 percent of Europeans and 80 percent of Americans. Artificial light from cities has created a permanent "skyglow" at night, obscuring our view of the stars. |
The Milky Way, as seen over Dinosaur National Park.
Photo by Dan Duriscoe
|
Why Dark Skies Need to be Preserved
The brilliance of the Milky Way isn’t the only reason to protect dark skies. So what else is at stake?
|
Every time I’m out in the darkness of a wilderness area, I look up at the starry sky and think to myself, wow, we don’t see stars like this in the city. There’s an awe in rediscovering the night sky, and it’s one of the many reasons I go backpacking and camping. I keep the rainfly off my tent, lay back, and observe. Watching stars in the night sky has become a treat, an escape from the city noise and lights.
But more and more, even the wilderness is invaded by light. Across the globe artificial light at night is increasing — and it’s getting brighter. The disappearance of dark skies has impacts beyond stargazing. Here are a few reasons it’s important that we protect our dark skies. |
Photo by Robert Yarrow
|
The Importance of Awe
|
The “11th emotion” got many of us into astronomy.
Can children today still experience it? Guest post by William Sheehan, courtesy of Sky & Telescope While struggling in abject poverty in Nashville after the Civil War, future astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard received a Bible from his Sunday school teacher. He kept it his entire life, but apart from inscribing his name, he underlined but one passage (Job 38:31–32): Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? When Barnard was a boy, it was still possible to see the Milky Way from downtown Nashville, and the sight of it filled him with awe. Today, in the U.S., less than 10 percent of children live in areas where views of the night sky are similar to those Barnard enjoyed. Would Barnard have felt the same sense of awe under the night sky that motivated him to underline that passage of Job, and that inspired him to a passionate life of studying and observing the sky, if he had lived under light-polluted skies?
Awe, the emotion that is at the heart of what motivates us to do astronomy, is only recently getting its due from psychologists. Less familiar than the “big ten” (love, fear, sadness, etc.), it has been called the 11th emotion. Humans may be the only species that can feel it, and some people may never |
experience it. Others, however, are intimately familiar with it and know well the accompanying tingling of the spine.
Neuropsychologist Paul Pearsall defined awe as an “overwhelming and bewildering sense of connection with a startling universe that is usually far beyond the narrow band of our consciousness.” No doubt many Sky & Telescope readers can date the beginnings of their interest to a specific occasion of awe, perhaps the sight of a total eclipse or a majestic comet. Perhaps Barnard, if he had lived today, instead of musing in solitude at the nearby planets in his small telescope, would have invested his time in Facebook. Maybe then he would have had more self-esteem, since recent studies have shown that use of social media increases narcissism (self-love). Awe, on the other hand, leads to a sense of a small self, says psychologist Paul Piff (University of California, Irvine), and it encourages those who feel it to exhibit more prosocial tendencies. They are more generous, empathic, and caring about others than their less awe-inspired peers. |
Celebrate the Night Sky With Us This October!
The first annual Hill Country Night Sky Month, October 2020, is a celebration of our region’s night skies and of the hard work that Hill Country communities do to preserve it. So many ways to celebrate!
|
HOST AN EVENT IN YOUR COMMUNITY
|
The Hill Country sits on the edge of the night. To its east is a nighttime landscape dominated by artificial lighting that stretches to the East Coast. To its west lies a less inhabited landscape, famous for its starry skies. Stepping outside on a cool, clear Hill Country night to gaze at the stars helps us escape the fast pace of our daily lives, though few regulations currently stand in place to preserve this experience for future generations. The Hill Country Alliance Night Skies program helps Hill Country counties and cities minimize the impacts of light pollution through education and outreach, the establishment of outdoor lighting policies, and the recognition and celebration of certified Dark Sky Places in our region. Join us in our effort to stop the spread of light pollution and keep our Texas night skies “big and bright”. |
Night Sky Videos
The Disappearing Night Sky
The Disappearing Night Sky
Where Are The Stars – See How Light Pollution Affects Night Skies
A Colorado Town Goes Dark To Let The Milky Way Shine Bright
Crystal Skies
Applications to Help You See the Night Skies
