by Sid Baglini
Tuesday, April 23, 2024 8:15 P.M.
Our first walk in Spring is under the Pink Moon, not because the orb will be rosy hued but because of the native flowers called Phlox subulata. More commonly known as creeping phlox or moss pink, they are putting on a show this time of year. As we walk, we will keep our eyes out for some patches of them in Malvern gardens.
As always, we have other names to choose from which originated with the indigenous people or the European settlers. The resumption of travel by canoe naturally led to the Breaking Ice Moon and Moon When the Streams Are Again Navigable. After the starving months of winter, it’s natural that attention is paid to the return of wildlife with names like Moon When the Ducks Come Back and Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs or just the Egg Moon. We even have the Frog Moon and with luck, we will hear Spring Peepers singing in the distance. Not to be overlooked, the Sucker Moon refers to a fish that returns to the rivers to lay eggs. Even meadows get into the act with the Moon of the Red Grass Appearing.
We will be walking under the Lyrids Meteor Shower which will have peaked on the night of the 21st into the morning of the 22nd of April. Lyrids meteors can be sighted from April 15th until the 29th. Of course, trying to view meteors under a brightly shining Full Moon will make them more difficult to see but perhaps we will be lucky.
Jupiter will be sliding closer to the horizon this month until it will disappear from our night sky, a position it has held through the autumn and long winter. Most of our other familiar planets like Saturn and Venus are already early morning risers so we will be left trying to pick out the constellations in their absence. We will also be on alert for the opportunity to spot the International Space Station should it be in our neighborhood that night and also checking in with findstarlink.com to see if one of Elon Musk’s arrays of communication satellites will be passing over as we walk. Also, as it will be the height of Spring migration, bring a pair of binoculars so you can attempt to see flocks of birds silhouetted by the light of the Full Moon.
We meet behind Borough Hall and there is plenty of parking on Channing or 1st Avenues. We hope you can join us for an evening stroll “by the light of the silvery Moon” or if we catch it as it rises, “the golden Moon”.