June 7: Asperatus and raptor

When I came out of my office to go to class after lunch, the sky made me gasp. The clouds were writhing, swooping, cleaving apart in in eye-shaped holes in a few places to the blue sky and puffy clouds above. There's no way the photos I took with my phone camera can show how astonishing this sky was. The strangest thing was that no one else around was stopped and staring open-mouthed like me.



Halfway across the courtyard, it occurred to me that these might be a newly-named phenomenon I read about a couple of years ago, Asperatus. After looking at the photos, I think it really might be. Exciting day for a cloud spotter! By the time I came out of class, the clouds had broken up and cleared away without incident.

As if that weren't enough, late in the evening, a small raptor flew over my balcony at home, soared across the road, and lighted on the top of a tall lamp post. It stayed there for at least 20 minutes, tearing apart and eating an animal it had carried up there with it. I watched with my binoculars. The rufous-colored underparts combined with what looked like a solid grey back and wings, and dark stripes on the tail, are giving me trouble with identification. Still, interesting sight!