Northern Lights and Fort Erie's Bald Eagle

Natalie Earl Plato
Received word from cousin’s daughter, Natalie Plato, government scientist at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Not quite what I expected. Natalie apologized that as my northern reporter she didn’t have time to send me a nature report. Instead she sent a recent copy of Canada’s Arctic Journal, Above & Beyond.
Many topics caught my eye but one in particular, “Nature’s Light Show.” From her home base in Yellowknife Natalie has spectacular views of the Northern Lights.
While in Algonquin Park in late summer in past years we have seen the shows of Aurora Borealis. Spectacular flashes and rays in the night sky from the North was a sight to see. The sounds of the Wolf Howl was great too. Cathy Olsen writing in Above & Beyond, shares some observations from Yellowknife. These descriptions of the Northern Lights below are not what we southerners think as Northern Lights.

“ Far North in the night sky a faint glow appears
on the horizon. Green and red flames of light
stretch across the sky. A glowing curtain of
light forms waving and swirling above you.
As the light fade away the dark night closes
over you once again.” Mish Denlinger
The incredible beauty of nature’s light show has captured the imagination of many cultures and folklore is rich with explanations for the Aurora Borealis. A 17th century scientist named the Northern lights - Aurora for the Roman goddess of the dawn and Borealis - for the Latin meaning of “North”. Olsen says, “Yellowknife’s location makes it the most popular area on earth for those who want to experience the thrill of the full Aurora Borealis.” That I didn’t know.
The “fuel” for the Northern lights comes from high-energy particles carried by the sun’s solar winds traveling to earth at a speed of about a million miles per hour. Olsen says, “ When they reach the earth, 40 hours after leaving the sun, the particles are deflected by our planet’s magnetic field toward the polar regions.”
I have written back to Natalie Plato, who had spent some weeks in Antarctica last year, and asked her about “Southern” Lights of the Aurora borealis. I hope she will reply.
Cathy Olsen ends her article with, “ It is estimated that fewer than five per cent of the people on earth have seen the magnificent colours of the Aurora Borealis.”
To see the real thing for us southeners it looks as if we have to head north of the Arctic Circle, eh.
***
A call from Joan Fonfara the other day. “Earl, we have a Bald eagle resting in a tree out front. Ferd and Joan Fonfara live on the Lake Erie waterfront off Prospect Point Road in Ridgeway. I grabbed my new spotting scope and headed for the Fonfaras and a chance to see an eagle.
They were waiting for me and we headed down the hill to their front yard. There perched about 20 feet up in a tree a coup;e of hundred feet to our west was the eagle. “ Everything went quiet when it arrived”, said Joan. “ The Canada geese and mallards were well aware of his presence.”
I set up my new scope. Not securely and the scope fell! Ferd picked it up from its landing in the snow but I reattached it properly. Focus on the brown coloured bird for it was a young eagle not yet mature to be dressed in adult white. Joan mentioned that it takes up to five years for Bald eagles to gain their full white plumage. Remember that the word “Bald” comes from the old English word “balde” that means “White.”
As a novice bird spotter I realized that I had not turned the magnification up in power. When I did the bird of course appeared much larger. We all agreed that there were flecks of white on some of the huge bird’s plumage. A few minutes later he took off and headed west. Where was he going? One thing we knew - the eagle had landed in Fort Erie!