The Sun shining through the Moon’s valleys moments before and after the central phase of a solar eclipse result in broken points of light, a phenomenon known as Baily’s beads.
Crowds gathered near and far cheered.
The trees cast dappled sunshine of a strange sort.
Texas live oak (Quercus fusiformis)
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Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) emerging to feed on insects at Old Tunnel State Park just north of San Antonio, Texas is a wondrous sight. In addition to having intrinsic value, bats are of enormous economic importance to us: “Recent studies estimate that bats eat enough pests to save more than $1 billion per year in crop damage and pesticide costs in the United States corn industry alone.”