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Waterthrush"},{"term":"Oil Spill"},{"term":"Olivia Gentile"},{"term":"Ovenbird"},{"term":"Owls"},{"term":"Pesticide"},{"term":"Phoebe Snetsinger"},{"term":"Pictographs"},{"term":"Pileated Woodpecker"},{"term":"Pitcher Plant"},{"term":"Plants"},{"term":"Pleistocene"},{"term":"Poetry"},{"term":"Pumpkin"},{"term":"Ragweed"},{"term":"Rain"},{"term":"Rain Barrel"},{"term":"Raptor Release"},{"term":"Rattlesnake Orchid"},{"term":"Red-bellied woodpecker"},{"term":"Red-tailed Hawk"},{"term":"Roger Tory Peterson"},{"term":"Sandhill Crane"},{"term":"Savages"},{"term":"Screech Owl"},{"term":"Sewage"},{"term":"Sex"},{"term":"Sharp-shinned Hawk"},{"term":"Shrike"},{"term":"Skunk"},{"term":"Solar Decathalon"},{"term":"Solar House"},{"term":"Solstice"},{"term":"South Dakota"},{"term":"Springtail"},{"term":"Sprites"},{"term":"Starling"},{"term":"Stomach"},{"term":"Survey"},{"term":"Swainson's Thrush"},{"term":"Technology"},{"term":"Tibet"},{"term":"Time-lapse"},{"term":"Tips"},{"term":"Tracks"},{"term":"Training"},{"term":"University of Minnesota"},{"term":"Volunteer"},{"term":"White Nose Syndrome"},{"term":"White Oak"},{"term":"Wild Turkey"},{"term":"Wind"},{"term":"Winter Finches"},{"term":"Winter Wren"},{"term":"Woodpeckers"},{"term":"drawings"},{"term":"endangered species"},{"term":"nuclear power"},{"term":"nuclear waste"},{"term":"prairie island"},{"term":"twitter"},{"term":"wolf"},{"term":"xcel energy"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Twin Cities Naturalist"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":""},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/-\/Winter?alt=json-in-script\u0026max-results=5"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/search\/label\/Winter"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/-\/Winter\/-\/Winter?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=6\u0026max-results=5"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"7"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"5"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6896212391193095248.post-4289123438403967039"},"published":{"$t":"2015-01-30T13:56:00.002-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2015-02-02T12:10:15.806-06:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Snow"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Winter"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Can you guess what this is?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-Ilmughf4GlY\/VMaFdiKxd8I\/AAAAAAAAH6k\/4gdagnJ-blY\/s640\/blogger-image-1429974283.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-Ilmughf4GlY\/VMaFdiKxd8I\/AAAAAAAAH6k\/4gdagnJ-blY\/s640\/blogger-image-1429974283.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: start;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: right;\"\u003EImage: Erbe, Pooley: USDA, ARS, EMU\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: start;\"\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: start;\"\u003E\nThis image showed up in my news feed this week. Can you guess what it is? My initial thought is that it appears to be rather crudely made of plaster. A bad sculpt of a tie fighter perhaps? The truth is far stranger.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\nKeen eyed observers may note the white scale bar and label in the lower left hand corner. This object is only about 600 \u0026nbsp;\u003Cspan style=\"-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"\u003Eµm\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003Eacross. That's 600 micrometers or about half a millimeter. The image was taken with an electron microscope and is magnified 50,000 times.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003EThis is an object every reader has seen, most have touched and many have eaten though you should take care to avoid colored versions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003EThis is a snowflake.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003EPerhaps \"flake\" is a bit of a misnomer. Falling snow comes in several varieties. As we often teach school kids in my job, snow comes in stellar dendrites (those are the ones you usually think of) as well as needles, columns and more.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003EThe odd snowflake in the photo is a peculiar variety of capped column. I recognized it right away as we have a cardboard capped column on display at work right now.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-getjQdghyyM\/VMvdXik52KI\/AAAAAAAAH68\/dJhpx0ojjlc\/s640\/blogger-image-1335321311.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-getjQdghyyM\/VMvdXik52KI\/AAAAAAAAH68\/dJhpx0ojjlc\/s640\/blogger-image-1335321311.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003EThe bumps on the side are rime ice that formed on the surface. I find it fascinating that the columnar snow structure the rime ice is growing on is so imperfect. I think we get this impression that snowflakes, essentially just crystals of water should be more perfect. Of course, almost no crystals in nature are ever perfect. I blame Snowflake Bentley.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/-eARjjtvspRk\/VMvdVbXoEyI\/AAAAAAAAH60\/sHKX26NGFfg\/s640\/blogger-image--1412044849.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/-eARjjtvspRk\/VMvdVbXoEyI\/AAAAAAAAH60\/sHKX26NGFfg\/s640\/blogger-image--1412044849.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003EWilson Bentley is in part responsible for our distorted image that all snowflakes are perfect and beautiful. He was one of the first to capture snowflakes on film and they showed for the first time via amazing detail that snowflakes were highly complex and beautiful. Let's be clear though, Mr. Bentley knew that many if not most of the snowflakes that fall are not perfect. He had to sift though many poorly formed snowflakes to find the truly spectacular ones. He looked at so many he knew they were not all perfect. The public only saw the most beautiful ones and since they were the only ones we had seen it distorted our perception of them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003EThe close up photo of the capped column snowflake at the top of the page is beautiful as well but not because of the perfection it displays. It is beautiful because it is imperfect, strange and fills us with wonder.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/button.php?u=kirkmona\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nCopyright © 2012-2015 Kirk Mona, TwinCitiesNaturalist.com \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\"\u003EOriginal post here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/4289123438403967039\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6896212391193095248\u0026postID=4289123438403967039","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/4289123438403967039"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/4289123438403967039"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/2015\/01\/can-you-guess-what-this-is.html","title":"Can you guess what this is?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-Ilmughf4GlY\/VMaFdiKxd8I\/AAAAAAAAH6k\/4gdagnJ-blY\/s72-c\/blogger-image-1429974283.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6896212391193095248.post-4377311694242148314"},"published":{"$t":"2014-03-06T08:06:00.004-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-03-27T08:44:06.254-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Winter"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Don't Eat Blue Snow"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"This time of year you might happen upon blue snow. Same rules as yellow snow apply.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ciframe allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p9qZDu5Yjss?list=UUEhE_24VnabOdxrGLAmlCPw\" width=\"560\"\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-small;\"\u003E(\u003Ci\u003ENote for those reading via email. Embedded videos do not show up in emails. To view the video that goes with this post you must visit www.twincitiesnaturalist.com.)\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/button.php?u=kirkmona\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nCopyright © 2012-2015 Kirk Mona, TwinCitiesNaturalist.com \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\"\u003EOriginal post here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/4377311694242148314\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6896212391193095248\u0026postID=4377311694242148314","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/4377311694242148314"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/4377311694242148314"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/2014\/03\/dont-eat-blue-snow.html","title":"Don't Eat Blue Snow"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6896212391193095248.post-2313313147121457823"},"published":{"$t":"2014-02-06T12:41:00.001-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-03-27T08:44:06.249-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Astronomy"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Winter"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"From the Field: Double Sun Dogs"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"On the way home yesterday there were sun dogs on both sides of the sun as it set.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EThese are caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere. These tiny crystals act like a giant lens and we see a kind of giant lens flare.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EThey always appear 22 degrees to the side of the sun.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-9vfW8WIubhk\/UvPXSsK1cLI\/AAAAAAAAHp8\/2pq4eHQBcw8\/s640\/blogger-image--416822754.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-9vfW8WIubhk\/UvPXSsK1cLI\/AAAAAAAAHp8\/2pq4eHQBcw8\/s640\/blogger-image--416822754.jpg\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EYou can learn more about synod phrenic lensing here. http:\/\/www.atoptics.co.uk.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/button.php?u=kirkmona\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nCopyright © 2012-2015 Kirk Mona, TwinCitiesNaturalist.com \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\"\u003EOriginal post here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/2313313147121457823\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6896212391193095248\u0026postID=2313313147121457823","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/2313313147121457823"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/2313313147121457823"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/2014\/02\/from-field-double-sun-dogs.html","title":"From the Field: Double Sun Dogs"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-9vfW8WIubhk\/UvPXSsK1cLI\/AAAAAAAAHp8\/2pq4eHQBcw8\/s72-c\/blogger-image--416822754.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6896212391193095248.post-8853130575915331466"},"published":{"$t":"2014-01-21T23:15:00.000-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-03-27T08:45:30.312-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Books"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ice"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Winter"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Amazing Ice Crystals"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"A little break from all the warm posts about warm birding down in Texas. Today I went out to check on a quinzhee we built at work. A quinzhee is a giant snow pile that is hollowed out to make a shelter. \u0026nbsp;The one we built is very large, probably big enough to fit 15 kids or more inside. It can be up to 30 degrees or more warmer inside a quinzhee than outside.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWhen I approached the quinzhee with my co-worker Brett we notices some ice crystals around the entrance. There must have been moist air inside (possibly from people's breath) and it crystalized as it slowly escaped into the colder air.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWhen we moved inside, we discovered even more amazing ice crystals. Upon closer inspection we could see they had formed on a few strands of human hair that had stuck to the ceiling during the construction process. Each flake was over an inch wide.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-UydKyfLyaIY\/Ut82-UChtuI\/AAAAAAAAHpY\/xT-YeM2T38I\/s640\/blogger-image--99052941.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-UydKyfLyaIY\/Ut82-UChtuI\/AAAAAAAAHpY\/xT-YeM2T38I\/s640\/blogger-image--99052941.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/center\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI decided to take a quick video to show off how beautiful they really were.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\n\u003Ciframe allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OFetkfk1lT0\" width=\"560\"\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/button.php?u=kirkmona\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nCopyright © 2012-2015 Kirk Mona, TwinCitiesNaturalist.com \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\"\u003EOriginal post here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/8853130575915331466\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6896212391193095248\u0026postID=8853130575915331466","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/8853130575915331466"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/8853130575915331466"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/2014\/01\/amazing-ice-crystals.html","title":"Amazing Ice Crystals"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-UydKyfLyaIY\/Ut82-UChtuI\/AAAAAAAAHpY\/xT-YeM2T38I\/s72-c\/blogger-image--99052941.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6896212391193095248.post-1512498913773954029"},"published":{"$t":"2014-01-16T21:51:00.001-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-03-27T08:45:30.276-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Books"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ice"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Winter"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"From the field: icy sunset rainbows"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/-XMxs9hiH050\/Utio2BMvFuI\/AAAAAAAAHpI\/t8to8c-E1UM\/s640\/blogger-image-1528207211.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/-XMxs9hiH050\/Utio2BMvFuI\/AAAAAAAAHpI\/t8to8c-E1UM\/s640\/blogger-image-1528207211.jpg\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EAtmospheric conditions were just right this evening for a spectacular sight. As the sun set in Minnesota, Ice rainbows appeared on each side. This is the same atmospheric lens effect that causes sun dogs during the middle of the day in the winter. These atmospheric effects are usually about 22° to either side of the sun. Tonight there was a rainbow on both sides of the sun as it set. Unlike rainbows in the summer that are caused by tiny water droplets in the atmosphere refracting the sunlight, these are caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere. The end result is similar but you only get a bright spot instead of the full arc. It didn't snow today, so that means these ice crystals may have been whipped up from the ground and into the atmosphere by the blizzard force winds.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/button.php?u=kirkmona\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nCopyright © 2012-2015 Kirk Mona, TwinCitiesNaturalist.com \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\"\u003EOriginal post here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/1512498913773954029\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6896212391193095248\u0026postID=1512498913773954029","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/1512498913773954029"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/1512498913773954029"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/2014\/01\/from-field-icy-sunset-rainbows.html","title":"From the field: icy sunset rainbows"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/-XMxs9hiH050\/Utio2BMvFuI\/AAAAAAAAHpI\/t8to8c-E1UM\/s72-c\/blogger-image-1528207211.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}}]}});