All posts by mjh

Mark Justice Hinton lives in New Mexico and loves the Four Corners region, as well as the Rocky Mountains. Write him at chaco@mjhinton.com.
wildlife

The Hunting Industry is out-of-control

Letters to the editor | ABQJournal Online

Industry corrupts hunting

RE: MARCH 5 OP-ED from the NM Council of Outfitters and guides

I agree with one assertion from the executive director of the New Mexico Council of Outfitters and Guides: Hunting has become an “industry.” The Council of Outfitters and Guides is a perfect example of a special interest that profits from hunting by promoting it.

Decisions made by the New Mexico Game Commission and New Mexico Game and Fish Department are much more likely to be based on the profits that industry generates than on the needs of nature. It is a vicious cycle. Hunters pay the agency in the form of license purchases and the agency makes decisions that affect how much money they can make from hunters.

Conservation and maintaining the sustainability of the entire wildlife community don’t really figure into it. As that quote says, “It is impossible to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it.”

New Mexico bear and cougar hunting quotas are today not based on the best available science. Trapping mid-sized carnivores like bobcats and foxes – with no quotas or bag limits at all – is done to profit from selling their fur.

New Mexico Game and Fish does not know what the populations of these species are or how they are trending. Coyotes are killed in unlimited number without any license purchase needed, so these killers are not even contributing to the revenue stream of the agency. However, this misguided arrangement does please livestock interests, yet another “industry” with its hand in the wildlife pie.

Someday, I hope hunters will return to their conservation roots. Hunters like Aldo Leopold wrote eloquently about “thinking like a mountain” and the importance of all the parts. For now, as an “industry,” hunting is losing its conservation credibility, and it is the money that has corrupted it.

MARY KATHERINE RAY, Winston

Wildlife worth more than jerks

A MAN GETS out of a truck, walks to a cave where a cougar is cornered by dogs and shoots it. And this is called hunting? I hope that serious hunters in New Mexico are outraged by the actions of this creep millionaire Jason Roselius. That cougar was of far more value to the planet than jerks like Roselius, (Larry) Webb and (Scott) Bidegain, all of whom apparently see wildlife simply as a way to make money … .”

RICHARD M. BERTHOLD, Albuquerque

Letters to the editor | ABQJournal Online

sky

Happy Crow Moon!

The Sky This Week, 2014 March 11 – 18 — Naval Oceanography Portal

The Moon brightens the overnight hours this week, waxing to her Full phase on the 16th at 1:08 pm Eastern Daylight Time. The Full Moon of March is variously known as the Worm Moon, Crow Moon, Sap Moon, or Lenten Moon. Since it occurs near the point in the sky that marks the autumnal equinox, it is one of the few Full Moons in the year that is visible from the entire surface of the Earth.

The Sky This Week, 2014 March 11 – 18 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Albuquerque, birds, photos

Neighborhood Merlin

Just this morning, as I walked Luke to the park, I thought about how we didn’t see our usual merlin (falcon) this winter. In years past, it occupied a particular telephone pole top almost every late afternoon from October to March. Not so this winter. Imagine my surprise when I spotted this merlin an hour later near the usual spot.

merlin (falcon) - mjh

merlin (falcon) - mjh
Death bows its head.

As I watched and photographed, the merlin left its prey and moved to a nearby tree. A scrub jay flew at it and the merlin flew around a bit before landing in another nearby tree. The jay went straight at the merlin and landed near it. A moment later, the merlin left the area. Drama on our street. Was the prey related to the jay?

sky

We’re all there in the sky …

Taurus the Bull (mjh), Lepus the Hare (MRudd), with Canis Major (Luke) and Canis Minor (Autumn).

Monthly Sky Watch

February Sky Map

Astronomer Jeff DeTray has created the sky map below to help you navigate the [February] sky. Visit Jeff’s site at AstronomyBoy.com

This month’s highlight: The Hunters and the Hunted.

Orion the Hunter is considered to be the most easily recognizable constellation in the sky. February evenings are the best time of year to see that Orion is surrounded on all sides by animals of many kinds. For those of us in the northern hemisphere that means bundle up to stay warm!

Looking due south on February evenings, you’ll find the Orion standing tall and bright. In fact, Orion is the brightest constellation that is visible from the northern hemisphere, with seven stars of magnitude 2 or brighter. Two of Orions stars, Betelgeuse and Rigel, are among the top ten brightest stars in the sky. If you compare this month’s sky map to the actual sky you will soon learn to spot Orion at a glance. Three bright stars form Orion’s belt. Four more—Betegeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel, and Saiph—mark his two shoulders and his two knees. To the right, the dimmer stars of one arm hold forth a shield. High above his head, Orion wields a club for dispatching his prey.

With Orion clearly in sight, you are ready to search out the wildlife in his vicinity.

Every hunter needs companions, and Orion is accompanied by two of man’s best friends, Canis Major and Canis Minor. These are the Greater and Lesser Dogs, assisting Orion in his search for prey. Each of the dogs is home to a very bright star, Sirius in Canis Major, and Procyon in Canis Minor.

Located above Orion’s shield is Taurus the Bull. The bright star Aldebaran marks one of the Bull’s eyes, glaring down at Orion. It appears that Orion is about to strike Taurus with his upraised club. Compare the color of Aldebaran to that of Betelgeuse and Rigel. Both Aldebaran and Betelgeuse have a faint orangish hue, while Rigel is bright white. Star colors are very subtle, so don’t expect the color differences to be blindingly obvious.

Beneath Orion’s feet is Lepus the Hare being chased by Canis Major, who has also flushed Columbia the Dove from its hiding place near the horizon. Canis Minor is going after larger game, Monoceros the Unicorn. The stars of Monoceros are faint, so you’ll need a very dark location to perceive its outline.

Elsewhere in the southern sky, there are five more animal figures to be seen, if your sky is dark enough. Far to Orion’s left are Cancer the Crab and Hydra the Water Snake. To the right are Ares the Ram, Pisces the Fishes, and Cetus the Whale. These five constellations are dim and therefore challenging to spot. Don’t be discouraged, though. Even if you only learn to find Orion, his dogs, and Taurus, you’ll know more about the night sky than most people!

FEBRUARY Sky Map: Click to View PDF

February 2014 Sky Map

Sky map produced using Chris Marriott’s Skymap Pro

Monthly Sky Watch

wildlands

Free National Park Admission

Free entry to national parks on Monday | ABQJournal Online

By Journal and wire reports

Visitors can enter Bandelier National Monument, as well as other national parks and monuments throughout the United States, free of charge on the following dates in 2014. All National Park Service sites will open their gates to visitors without charging entrance fees.

The days are:

  • Jan. 21, Martin Luther King Jr. Day;
  • Feb. 15-17, Presidents Day weekend;
  • April 15-17, the first weekend of National Park Week;
  • Aug. 25, Founders Day, the birthday of the National Park Service;
  • Sept. 27, Public Lands Day; and
  • Nov. 11, Veterans Day.

Fee-free day waivers apply to entrance fees, commercial entrance fees and transportation entrance fees only. Other fees such as camping, tours and concession fees are not waived.

Free entry to national parks on Monday | ABQJournal Online

wildlands, wildlife

Monarch butterflies drop, migration may disappear | ABQJournal Online

Life on earth will be so much poorer when the monarch butterflies are gone, when the polar bears are gone, when the oceans are dead. Exterminated by humankind, nature’s biggest mistake.

Monarch butterflies drop, migration may disappear | ABQJournal Online

After steep and steady declines in the previous three years, the black-and-orange butterflies now cover only 1.65 acres in the pine and fir forests west of Mexico City, compared to 2.93 acres last year, said the report released by the World Wildlife Fund, Mexico’s Environment Department and the Natural Protected Areas Commission. They covered more than 44.5 acres at their recorded peak in 1996.

Because the butterflies clump together by the thousands in trees, they are counted by the area they cover.

Monarch butterflies drop, migration may disappear | ABQJournal Online

arizona, colorado, newmexico, utah, wildlands

Free entry to all national parks on Monday | ABQJournal Online

Free entry to national parks on Monday | ABQJournal Online

By Journal and wire reports | 9 hours ago

On Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, visitors can enter Bandelier National Monument, as well as other national parks and monuments throughout the United States, free of charge.

Monday’s holiday is the first of nine days in 2014 when all National Park Service sites will open their gates to visitors without charging entrance fees.

Fee-free day waivers apply to entrance fees, commercial entrance fees and transportation entrance fees only. Other fees such as camping, tours and concession fees are not waived.

Free entry to national parks on Monday | ABQJournal Online

sky

Howl at the Wolf Moon on 1/15!

The Sky This Week, 2014 January 7 – 14 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Full Moon falling on the 15th at 11:52 pm (EST).  January’s Full Moon is popularly known as the Moon After Yule, the Old Moon, or the Wolf Moon.  I particularly like the latter name as it conjures images of wolf packs patrolling the frozen ground by its pale light reflected off the snow.  Look for Luna near the Pleiades star cluster on the evenings of the 10th and 11th.  On the 11 she is also just four degrees northwest of the bright star Aldebaran in the constellation of Taurus, the Bull.  On the 14th she’s five degrees south of bright Jupiter.

The Sky This Week, 2014 January 7 – 14 — Naval Oceanography Portal

sky

Using Orion to identify the Great Winter Circle — get out!

Full moon, dogs, and Taurus — must be my time of year.

The Sky This Week, 2014 January 7 – 14 — Naval Oceanography Portal

If you draw an imaginary line through Orion’s belt stars and extend it to the southeast, you’ll run into the night’s brightest star, Sirius.  Although the literal translation of the name means “The Scorcher”, this star is popularly known as The Dog Star due to its location in the constellation of Canis Major, the Greater Dog.  If you imagine Sirius as a jewel in a dog’s collar, you can more or less trace out the figure of a faithful canid leaping up at the heels of his master, Orion. 

From Sirius, sweep your gaze to the northeast to find a more solitary star, Procyon, brightest star in Canis Minor, the Little Dog. 

Continue upward from here to spot the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux.  Gemini is currently hosting the planet Jupiter, who overshadows all of his stellar neighbors. 

Now turn your view to the northwest of the Twin Stars and look for the bright golden glow of Capella, the lead star in the constellation of Auriga, the Charioteer.  This star is actually a “quadruple” system, with two red dwarf stars orbiting a more massive pair of yellow giants.  The yellow stars were the first pair to be resolved using a technique called “interferometry”. 

Heading southwest from Capella, we encounter Aldebaran, a rose-tinted star that marks the right “eye” of Taurus, the Bull.  Aldebaran appears to be a member of a large V-shaped group of stars called the Hyades, but in reality it lies at about half the distance to this cluster. 

Finally, sweeping southeast from Aldebaran, we land on Rigel, the brightest (usually) star in Orion. 

Collectively these stars are known as the Great Winter Circle, and within their bounds you’ll find nine of the 25 brightest stars in the sky.

The Sky This Week, 2014 January 7 – 14 — Naval Oceanography Portal

sky

Latest sunrise of the year

I forgot to note yesterday that it was the latest sunrise of the year (01/04/14). Although the days have been getting longer since the solstice, only now is dawn a tiny bit earlier each day. Enjoy!

sky

Happy Solstice — summer is coming

The Sky This Week, 2013 December 17 – 24 — Naval Oceanography Portal

The winter solstice falls on the 21st at 12:11 pm EST.  This is the moment when the Sun reaches an ecliptic longitude of 270 degrees, which also happens to be the time when it reaches its most southerly declination.  At this moment the Sun stands directly over the Tropic of Capricorn about 500 miles off the west coast of Chile.  The day of the solstice is the shortest for residents of the Northern Hemisphere….The duration of daylight on the solstice will be just 9 hours 26 minutes here in Washington.

The Sky This Week, 2013 December 17 – 24 — Naval Oceanography Portal

WFO ABQ Winter Solstice Feature

[W]hile the solstice is the shortest day of the year, with 9 hours and 47 minutes of daylight in Albuquerque, it is just seconds shorter than days on either side of the solstice.  In fact, the U.S. Observatory lists the length of daylight in Albuquerque (in 2013) as 9 hours and 48 minutes from December 16th through 20th and December 22nd through 26th.

WFO ABQ Winter Solstice Feature

Safe to say Abq is farther south than DC — we get 21 extra minutes of daylight (plus about 200 days more). I wonder if you can calculate just how much farther south using that time difference.

sky

The year’s earliest sunset is 12/7

The Sky This Week, 2013 December 3 – 10 — Naval Oceanography Portal

December 7th marks the beginning of the series of phenomena associated with the winter solstice. This is the evening of the year’s earliest sunset, which in the Washington, DC area occurs at 4:46 pm EST. From this evening onward Old Sol will set a little bit later on successive nights. The change is very incremental at first, but by the time the solstice occurs on the 21st sunset will be four minutes later. By the end of the year sunset will occur at 4:58 pm. The trade-off comes with the time of latest sunrise. That won’t occur until January 4th, 2012, when the Sun peeks over the horizon at 7:27 am. The shortest day of the year still falls halfway between these dates on the solstice itself, marking the astronomical beginning to the winter season. The reason for this seeming discrepancy has to do with the “equation of time”, which is the formula used to correct “sundial” or “apparent” solar time to “mean” solar time. This is graphically displayed on Earth globes as the “figure-8” diagram, the “annalema”, that’s usually printed over the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. The rate of change of the equation of time reaches its maximum near the time of the winter solstice, causing the times of sunrise and sunset to be “skewed” in the weeks surrounding the solstice itself.

The Sky This Week, 2013 December 3 – 10 — Naval Oceanography Portal