Winter Sunset with Green-Blue Flash

Clear and calm. Temperatures into the low 40s.

The official low overnight stayed above freezing. However, when I stepped outside this morning, I found frost on my car. It had nice feathery patterns, and I took a little time to take pictures of some.

Lucky Chance peaks rise up behind the end of Silver Bay

My first stop was the industrial park and Sawmill Cove. I did a couple of drive arounds of the park with a stop on the dock between. I don’t know if the Snow Bunting is still around, but I didn’t find it today.

I checked Totem Park for the Hooded Merganser, but didn’t find it. I did hear a Hairy Woodpecker, my second year bird of the day. (I heard Red Crossbills when I stepped out on the porch this morning.)

It looks like fall and winter high tides pushed seaweed up nearly to the trail

I ended up walking around the park before heading back to my car.

On an afternoon walk around Japonski Island, I didn’t see anything unexpected. I noticed a White-throated Sparrow calling from the bushes along the fence near the lagoon. The light was poor, but I was able to get a confirming photo when it perched near the top of a short hemlock.

A second trip out to the industrial park did not turn up the bunting.

I didn’t have high hopes for the sunset. Haze and/or high clouds seemed to be present out to the west.

I headed down anyway. This was my first chance to see where the sun was setting since a couple of days before winter solstice.

As it turned out, the clouds had dissipated enough that the horizon itself was clear.

Sometimes a bit of green shows at the edge of the sun, though it can be difficult to see against the brightness of the sun

I’m glad I went. I got pictures of the best green/blue flash I’ve seen from the bridge. I still haven’t mastered how to get the best exposures, but they were good enough (and better than a couple of previous misses of green flashes).

A big challenge is the sun is still quite bright, even when only a tiny fraction of it is still showing. The green flash itself is bright enough to be blown out in the photo if it isn’t very under exposed. On the other hand, too under exposed and it looks like just a spot of color on a dark background.