Saturday, March 7, 2015

A Seasonal Marker - the Sun Marches North

You may remember that I'm following a tree for a year, posting monthly updates through the seasons.  My tree is this Butternut tree in our fencerow beyond the shed which I see every morning from my chair where I read blogs while enjoying my morning coffee (and take sunrise pictures through the window).


This was totally unplanned, but the last few weeks I've noticed how the Butternut, which you can recognize by its silhouette, is serving as a marker for the northward movement of the sun - specifically the point on the horizon where the sun rises.  So I went back to December, and found this picture, the closest I have to the winter solstice.

By mid-January you can see that the point at which the sun rises has only moved a little to the left of those trees.  I'm looking southeast for all these pictures, taken from the same window, so the leftward movement of the sun is actually a move to rise further north.

This was the morning that struck me as an emerging pattern.  Suddenly, by mid-February, the sun had jumped a long distance, to rise just beside the Butternut tree.  And I know from past reading that the speed at which the length of daylight changes varies over the year, with the changes slowest hear the solstice and fastest as we approach the equinox.

Only two weeks later, the sunrise had moved well beyond the Butternut (and we've started to have a lot more sunny days).  The point at which the sun rises is moving faster and faster to the north.

And only ten days later, yesterday, the sun had moved considerably further again.  It's now reaching the point where the angle is so sharp I won't be able to take pictures of the sunrise from that window much longer!

So my Butternut Tree has inadvertently turned out to be a very interesting marker of the seasons, giving me a reference point for the rising sun.

I haven't actually put on the snowshoes and tramped out to see the tree, and I find myself wondering how it survives the bitterly cold nights we've had - this is the lowest temperature it had to endure this winter.  But it does survive, and Butternuts grow even a little further north in Ontario than here near the south shore of Georgian Bay.  Maybe by next month I won't need the snowshoes to go and visit my Butternut!

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19 comments:

  1. love it! what spectacular colours in the skies too. I wonder how old the tree actually is

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  2. I had to read it twice to understand, but I got it! Very interesting!

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  3. It's a great reference point for the sunrise!

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  4. That makes a wonderful marker! I have noticed the northerly movement of the setting sun but don't have a view of the rising sun and to be truthful, I am not usually awake at that time. ;-)

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  5. What a great project this is. I did something similar with a backyard trees progress in spring. Going from no leaves to full and beautiful at the start of summer!! These images are especially beautiful, I love the morning, the sunrise, it is truly the best part of the day!!

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  6. Now I'd be following your piot about butternut tree. It is very interesting to see how the sun changes it's position, Oops, it doesn't I mean in the picture. More interesting than that is the feeling that you are always looking forward to something new every morning. It is VERY cold there. Keep warm & spring wishes to you.

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  7. A very good marker of the march of the seasons. Very interesting post.

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  8. I know that we are gaining more than three-and-a-half minutes of daylight every day right now, and the changes are very obvious as I get up at the same time and leave to catch the bus at the same time. I love your butternut tree already, and I'm looking forward to watching it leaf out! Glad I've found your blog so I can enjoy your seasons in the valley. :-)

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  9. Nice to see the sun moving so fast now. The butternut tree is a great marker for you to journal the sun's position.

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  10. I agree, it's really great that the days are getting longer faster, and the sunrise moving north so quickly!

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  11. Lovely photos ! Nature has and always will amaze me . It is sunny and +1 here today beautiful day have been out all morning and most of the afternoon today ! Through out the week we are to get a good melt down as the temps here are to reach + 6 and sunny ! Spring is definitely pushing through ! I am on the lookout for our Robins now ! Thanks for sharing , Have a good weekend !

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  12. What a nice series tracking the movement in the sun's relation to the earth. Hope the deep cold has only killet the fungus that is bothering your tree.

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  13. It is a nice series, and so interesting to see where the sun is coming up each day. Great job on this. You can keep that awful cold weather!

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  14. Love it! You're not only a tree follower, you're a sun follower. Beautiful pics.

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  15. I love the progress of the shots...that was a great idea to capture time.

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  16. Great images! What better sun/seasons marker than a tree!

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  17. Superb images. What a lovely Butternut tree!

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  18. I've been noticing how much more quickly the sun seems to traverse as well, lately.

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  19. That's amazing. Not only Treefollowing but Sunwatching too! Found this absolutely fascinating. Now I'm wishing I had such a horizon and such markers on it.

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