Hi Everybody!!
Open up Your Heart and let the Sun Shine In!
Isn't it just wonderful what sunlight does for everything! For one, it makes the photos much better! The historical migration photos I am documenting this year also have historic lighting due to particulate matter manipulating the light. We have had clouds almost everyday this year after 3 years of mostly no clouds in the sky. But today's photostudy has tons of sunshine and bright green emerald birds! The third wave of birds arrived via the creek. They sounded like a herd of little horses running in the creek as they buzzed on in. Meeting up with the birds that are already here is like some kind of homecoming party! Refreshments are sugar water and flowers. The sprinkler is on for a shower. All bird baths are full and the creek is bone dry. The temperature is still in the nineties. Some of the birds coming back from Canada have already had cold nights. Here at Kates, it is the endless summer. Enjoy!

This is the Memory Garden. I got Mom a big birdbath fountain like she always wanted! Many birds come here daily for a drink and a snack! Remember to put water out if You are in drought areas!

Blue Blue Sky!

See the Sun light on the fence? This is the Hot Spot for the birds. This is a protected, fenced in feeding station for the birds (and squirrels, NOT cats) I have 6 feeders in this garden. (Kates Cabin and front porch are behind the fence). Rain was predicted today, but it is not here!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight

Sunlight

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, particularly infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above thehorizon. When the direct solar radiation is not blocked by clouds, it is experienced as sunshine, a combination of bright light and radiant heat. When it is blocked by the clouds or reflects off other objects, it is experienced as diffused light. The World Meteorological Organization uses the term "sunshine duration" to mean the cumulative time during which an area receives direct irradiance from the Sun of at least 120 watts per square meter.^[1] Sunlight on the skin is an effective source of vitamin D.

Summary[edit]

Sunlight may be recorded using a sunshine recorder, pyranometer or pyrheliometer. Sunlight takes about 8.3 minutes to reach the Earth. On average, it takes energy between 10,000 and 170,000 years to leave the sun's interior and then be emitted from the surface as light.^[2]

Direct sunlight has a luminous efficacy of about 93 lumens per watt of radiant flux. Bright sunlight provides illuminance of approximately 100,000 lux or lumens per square meter at the Earth's surface. The total amount of energy received at ground level from the sun at the zenith is 1004 watts per square meter, which is composed of 527 watts of infrared radiation, 445 watts ofvisible light, and 32 watts of ultraviolet radiation. At the top of the atmosphere sunlight is about 30% more intense, with more than three times the fraction of ultraviolet (UV), with most of the extra UV consisting of biologically-damaging shortwave ultraviolet.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Sunlight is a key factor in photosynthesis, the process used by plants and other autotrophic organisms to convert light energy, normally from the sun, into chemical energy that can be used to fuel the organisms' activities.

Surface illumination[edit]

The spectrum of surface illumination depends upon solar elevation due to atmospheric effects, with the blue spectral component from atmospheric scatter dominating during twilight before and after sunrise and sunset, respectively, and red dominating during sunrise and sunset. These effects are apparent in natural light photography where the principal source of illumination is sunlight as mediated by the atmosphere.

According to Craig Bohren, "preferential absorption of sunlight by ozone over long horizon paths gives the zenith sky its blueness when the sun is near the horizon".^[21]

See diffuse sky radiation for more details.

Life on Earth[edit]

The existence of nearly all life on Earth is fueled by light from the sun. Most autotrophs, such as plants, use the energy of sunlight, combined with carbon dioxide and water, to produce simple sugars—a process known as photosynthesis. These sugars are then used as building blocks and in other synthetic pathways which allow the organism to grow.

Heterotrophs, such as animals, use light from the sun indirectly by consuming the products of autotrophs, either by consuming autotrophs, by consuming their products or by consuming other heterotrophs. The sugars and other molecular components produced by the autotrophs are then broken down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the heterotroph the energy required for survival. This process is known as cellular respiration.

In prehistory, humans began to further extend this process by putting plant and animal materials to other uses. They used animal skins for warmth, for example, or wooden weapons to hunt. These skills allowed humans to harvest more of the sunlight than was possible through glycolysis alone, and human population began to grow.

During the Neolithic Revolution, the domestication of plants and animals further increased human access to solar energy. Fields devoted to crops were enriched by inedible plant matter, providing sugars and nutrients for future harvests. Animals which had previously only provided humans with meat and tools once they were killed were now used for labour throughout their lives, fueled by grasses inedible to humans.

The more recent discoveries of coal, petroleum and natural gas are modern extensions of this trend. These fossil fuels are the remnants of ancient plant and animal matter, formed using energy from sunlight and then trapped within the earth for millions of years. Because the stored energy in these fossil fuels has accumulated over many millions of years, they have allowed modern humans to massively increase the production and consumption of primary energy. As the amount of fossil fuel is large but finite, this cannot continue indefinitely, and various theories exist as to what will follow this stage of human civilization (e.g. alternative fuels, Malthusian catastrophe, new urbanism, peak oil).

Effects on human health[edit]

Main article: Health effects of sun exposure

The body produces vitamin D from sunlight (specifically from the UVB band of ultraviolet light), and excessive seclusion from the sun can lead to deficiency unless adequate amounts are obtained through diet.

Sunburn can have mild to severe inflammation effects on skin; this can be avoided by using a proper sunscreen cream or lotion or by gradually building up melanocytes with increasing exposure. Another detrimental effect of UV exposure is accelerated skin aging (also called skin photodamage), which produces a difficult to treat cosmetic effect. Some people are concerned that ozone depletion is increasing the incidence of such health hazards. A 10% decrease in ozone could cause a 25% increase in skin cancer.^[28]

A lack of sunlight, on the other hand, is considered one of the primary causes of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a serious form of the "winter blues". SAD occurrence is more prevalent in locations further from the tropics, and most of the treatments (other than prescription drugs) involve light therapy, replicating sunlight via lamps tuned to specific wavelengths of visible light, or full-spectrum bulbs.

A recent study indicates that more exposure to sunshine early in a person’s life relates to less risk from multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life.^[29]

Yes, the bees are still here and eating well. Big surprise for me: With the new birds came several hundred more bees!

*New Feature*
Click on link below to see extended photostudy pics in my G+Photo Albums (with slideshow option)-100 sunny photos today. Enjoy!

Link to PhotoAlbum September 10, 2013:

https://plus.google.com/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5927462128708297905

I am sitting on the back porch at Kates and this is the view. The creek is on the other side of the fence. This area is also a fenced in protected feeding station for the birds with all their favorite trees. The birds sleep here by the creek in the tall pine trees.

...this is brendasue signing off from Rainbow Creek. See You next time. Wishing sunshine filled days! My friends have started Humming!