Maharashtran Tiger Ambles Through Ajanta Caves 200th Anniversary Year

Summary: A Maharashtran tiger achieved the world's longest known amble by any tiger during the Ajanta Caves 200th anniversary year in western India.

Maharashtran tiger C1's radio collar reveals his seemingly non-linear trek across seven districts in two North Indian states: All Things Telangana™ @AllThingsTelang, via Facebook Dec. 2, 2019

A Maharashtran tiger accomplished the world's longest known recorded amble in a five-month span, between June and November 2019, in western India during the Ajanta Caves 200th anniversary year in Mahahrashtra state.

A radio collar borne since February 2019 beamed every bend in the two-state, seven-district, 807.78-mile- (1,300-kilometer-) long beat of the Maharashtran tiger bearing the name C1. Dr. Habib Bilal, senior biologist with Wildlife Institute of India, considers that, concerning convoluted circuits, "The tiger is possibly looking for territory, food and a mate." Maharashtran tiger C1's radio collar divulges hourly details, through Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite, of 5,000-plus locations through which he drifted during the last nine months.

Dr. Bilal explained Maharashtran tiger C1 exploring Maharashtra and Telangana as, "Most of the potential tiger territories are full and new tigers have to explore more."

Govikar Ravikiran, Pench Tiger Reserve field director, fitted Maharashtran tiger C1 with a radio collar for a dispersal pattern study about tiger sub-adults finding fresh territory.

Dr. Bilal gauged C1 going through farms, forests, hundreds of villagers and roads as "People don't even know that this tiger is traveling in the backyard." The 2.5- to 3-year-old Maharashtran tiger C1, one of three male cubs gestated by Tipeshwar wildlife sanctuary tigress T1 in 2016, headed from Adilabad to Hingali. C1 defensively injured one of the human intruders who interrupted his daytime rest under a thicket and otherwise interacted with night-hunted wild cattle and pig prey.

Agroindustrialism, breeding prey under 500 animals per tiger and trophy hunters jeopardize Maharashtran tiger C1 in Maharashtra's Dnyanganga wildlife sanctuary during Ajanta Caves 200th anniversary year.

Maharashtran tiger C1 perhaps keeps deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from co-parental, maternal or paternal bloodlines that know as ancestors Mahahrashtran tigers around 1,300- to 2,300-year-old Ajanta Caves.

A Maharashtran tiger led John K. Smith, 27th Cavalry Captain, April 28, 1819, to Ajanta Cave 10's 2,100- to 2,300-year-old Ajanta cave wall paintings and sculptures. Itinerant artisans and priests made the 1,968.5-foot- (600-meter-) long, 30-cavern Ajanta Caves between the third and first centuries B.C.E. and the fifth and eighth centuries B.C.E. The Ajanta Caves (from Sanskrit अजित, "invincible" [for Maitreya Buddha, from Sanskrit मैत्रेय, "benevolent" and बुद्ध, "awakened," of 4,500 C.E.) netted Mahrashtran tigers for 2,100-plus years.

Robert Gill (Sept. 26, 1804-April 10, 1879) offered photographed and reproduced Ajanta cave wall paintings and sculptures still around in Ajanta Caves 200th anniversary year.

At least 250 of Ajanta's Maharashtran tigers perished through Major Gill's decade-long personal pursuit, which prompted periled populations throughout the Sahyadri Hills (from Sanskrit सह्याद्रि, "benevolent").

Maharashtran tigers qualify as spiritual and states icons through queuing up among Gautama Buddha's (from Sanskrit गोतम, "light [dispels] darkness"; 624?-544 B.C.E.) reincarnations and Ajanta artwork. Maharashtran tiger C1, representative of 70 percent of tigers worldwide that reside in India, relayed relocation information that ran down radio collar power by 80 percent. Dnyanganga Wildlife Sanctuary supplies sufficient mates, prey and space even though online sources suggest sending Maharashtran tiger C1 to a nearby forest when monsoon rains stop.

Mate-, offspring- and prey-filled territories without the trophy-hunting killers of Avni, four-day starved mother of two starving cubs, thank Maharashtran tiger C1's transmitting trustworthy trek tallies.

British cavalry officer John K. Smith's pursuit of a Maharashtran tiger led him to discover the state's Ajanta Caves; drawings of the caves' artistry by 19th-century British Army Major Robert Gill are available in his two published books, an article in the Illustrated London News and in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Library: Rare Book Society of India, via Facebook May 18, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Maharashtran tiger C1's radio collar reveals his seemingly non-linear trek across seven districts in two North Indian states: All Things Telangana™ @AllThingsTelang, via Facebook Dec. 2, 2019, @ https://twitter.com/AllThingsTelang/status/1201503693289525248

John K. Smith's pursuit of a Maharashtran tiger led him to discover the state's Ajanta Caves; drawings of the caves' artistry by 19th-century British Army Major Robert Gill are available in his two published books, an article in the Illustrated London News and in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Library: Rare Book Society of India, via Facebook May 18, 2015, @ https://www.facebook.com/196174216674/photos/a.212955701674.174468.196174216674/10153254662301675/

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All Things Telangana™ ‏@AllThingsTelang. 2 December 2019. "#Hyderabad :This radio-collared #Tiger, called C1, traveled through 7 districts in #Maharashtra & #Telangana. This is the longest walk ever recorded in #India 1,300 KM in 5 months. India is now estimated to have 70% of world's tigers. #Mumbai @TofTigersIndia @ConserveWildCat https://twitter.com/W4W_Global/status/1201482560712237056 …" Twitter.
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Northern Latitudes Have Least Amount of Daylight Near December Solstice

Summary: Earth’s northern latitudes have the least amount of daylight near the December solstice, which opens the Northern Hemisphere’s astronomical winter.

On Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, seven days after the Dec. 21, 2012, winter solstice, Anchorage, Alaska, experienced 5 hours 33 minutes of daylight and 18 hours 27 minutes of darkness; Anchorage, at sunset, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, 15:48 (3:48 p.m.) Alaska Standard Time: Ed Schipul (eschipul), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Earth’s northern latitudes have the least amount of daylight near the December solstice, the end-of-year phenomenon that signals astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

The 2019 December solstice takes place Sunday, Dec. 22, at 04:19 Coordinated Universal Time. The world’s time zones convert Coordinated Universal Time, the world’s primary time standard, into local time. The 2019 December solstice takes place Saturday, Dec. 21, or Sunday, Dec. 22, according to local time zones.

The U.S. Naval Observatory’s (USNO) Astronomical Applications Department notes that the sun’s lowest arc traversal across the sky occurs in late December for northern latitudes. The sun’s daily path appears lower, more southerly and, from horizon to horizon, shorter in winter than in summer at northern latitudes. The sun rises after the start, and sets before the end, of daily routines.

The Astronomical Applications Department explains: “The changing times of sunrise and sunset are probably more noticeable in the winter months, because sunrise and sunset occur when we are more likely to be paying attention -- when we’re starting our day and during the evening rush hour.”

At the instant of December’s solstice, the tilt of Earth’s rotational axis favors the Southern Hemisphere. The south polar terminus of Earth’s axis tilts toward the sun while the north polar terminus tilts away from the sun.

The December solstice annually pairs with the June solstice as openers of summer and winter. The June solstice initiates astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere and astronomical winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Six months later, December’s solstice balances June’s astronomical seasons by occurring as a winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and as a summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.

At the instant of June’s solstice, the tilt of Earth’s rotational axis favors the Northern Hemisphere. The north polar terminus of Earth’s axis tilts toward the sun while the south polar terminus tilts away from the sun.

The U.S. Naval Observatory’s Astronomical Applications Department website tabulates the duration of daylight or darkness over one year for any year between 1700 and 2100. Durations are available for the United States as well as for any location worldwide.

Washington, D.C., experiences the Northern Hemisphere’s 2019 winter solstice Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019, at 11:19 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The USNO Astronomical Application’s daylight duration calculator identifies Saturday, Dec. 21, and Sunday, Dec. 22, as the two days with the least amount of daylight in 2019 for Washington, D.C. Each of the two dates has only 9 hours 26 minutes of daylight. The duration of darkness totals 14 hours 34 minutes for each of the two dates.

Alaska’s largest city, Anchorages, places the instant of the 2019 December solstice at 7:19 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 21, according to Alaska Standard Time (AKST). The December 2019 and the next day, Sunday, Dec. 22, claim Anchorage's lowest amount of daylight hours, with a duration of 5 hours 27 minutes.

Duration of daylight dwindles to zero in Utqiagvik (previously known as Barrow), Alaska’s northernmost city. Utqiagvik experiences 24 hours of darkness from Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, through Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020.

Location north of the Arctic Circle qualifies Utqiagvik for the phenomenon of polar night. Polar night and its opposite, midnight sun, only occur within the polar circles. Alaska is the only part of the United States that undergoes polar nights. The phenomenon also happens in parts of Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia (Finland, Norway, Sweden) and Russia.

The takeaway for northern latitudes having the least amount of daylight near the December solstice is that the sun’s apparently lower, shorter, more southerly track across Northern Hemisphere skies around December’s solstice symptomizes the north polar tilt away from the sun during Earth’s orbital period.

Northern Hemisphere viewpoint of the sun’s apparent tracks in summer and in winter: Public Domain, via U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

On Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, seven days after the Dec. 21, 2012, winter solstice, Anchorage, Alaska, experienced 5 hours 33 minutes of daylight and 18 hours 27 minutes of darkness; Anchorage, at sunset, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, 15:48 (3:48 p.m.), Alaska Standard Time: Ed Schipul (eschipul), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/8336815657/

Northern Hemisphere viewpoint of the sun’s apparent tracks in summer and in winter: Public Domain, via U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/rs_solstices.php

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Solstices and Equinoxes: 2001 to 2100 Greenwich Mean Time.” AstroPixels > Ephemeris.
Available @ http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/soleq2001.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2019 September Equinox Happens Sunday, Sept. 22, 0r Monday, Sept. 23.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/09/2019-september-equinox-happens-sunday.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “American Samoa Has Autumn Equinox While United States Has Spring Equinox.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 1, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/american-samoa-has-autumn-equinox-while.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “March Signals Autumn Equinox for American Samoa and Jarvis Island.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 20, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/03/march-signals-autumn-equinox-for.html

Time And Date. “What Is Polar Night?” Time And Date > Sun & Moon.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/polar-night.html

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Anchorage, Alaska: Duration of Darkness for 2012.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Data Services > Rise/Set/Transit/Twilight Data.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_durtablew.pl?form=1&year=2012&task=1&state=AK&place=anchorage

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Anchorage, Alaska: Duration of Daylight for 2012.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Data Services > Rise/Set/Transit/Twilight Data.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_durtablew.pl?form=1&year=2012&task=-1&state=AK&place=anchorage

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Anchorage, Alaska: Duration of Darkness for 2019.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Data Services > Rise/Set/Transit/Twilight Data.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_durtablew.pl?form=1&year=2019&task=1&state=AK&place=anchorage

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Anchorage, Alaska: Duration of Daylight for 2019.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Data Services > Rise/Set/Transit/Twilight Data.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_durtablew.pl?form=1&year=2019&task=-1&state=AK&place=anchorage

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Anchorage, Alaska: Rise and Set for the Sun for 2012." U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Data Services > Rise/Set/Transit/Twilight Data > Sun or Moon Rise/Set Table for One Year.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_rstablew.pl?ID=AA&year=2012&task=0&state=AK&place=anchorage

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Barrow, Alaska: Duration of Darkness for 2019.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Data Services > Rise/Set/Transit/Twilight Data > Table of Sunrise/Sunset, Moonrise/Moonset, or Twilight Times for an Entire Year.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_durtablew.pl?form=1&year=2019&task=1&state=AK&place=barrow

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Barrow, Alaska: Duration of Darkness for 2020.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Data Services > Rise/Set/Transit/Twilight Data.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_durtablew.pl?form=1&year=2020&task=1&state=AK&place=barrow

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Comparative Lengths of Days and Nights.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Astronomical Information Center > Lengths of Longest and Shortest Days.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/longest_day.php

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Juneau, Alaska: Duration of Daylight for 2020.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Data Services > Rise/Set/Transit/Twilight Data.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_durtablew.pl?form=1&year=2020&task=-1&state=AK&place=juneau

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Sunrise and Sunset Times Near the Solstices.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Astronomical Information Center > Phenomena of the Sun and Moon.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/rs_solstices.php

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Washington, District of Columbia: Duration of Daylight for 2019.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Data Services > Rise/Set/Transit/Twilight Data.
Available @ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_durtablew.pl?form=1&year=2019&task=-1&state=DC&place=

Akhnaten Opens 2019-2020 Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcasts Dec. 7

Summary: Philip Glass’ Akhnaten opens the 2019-2020 Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcasts Dec. 7 as the first of the season’s 23 scheduled broadcast matinees.

Phelim McDermott’s staging of Akhnaten marks the English stage director’s second directorship of a Philip Glass opera’s Metropolitan Opera premiere: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 11, 2018

Philip Glass’ Akhnaten opens the 2019-2010 Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcasts Dec. 7, at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), as the first of 23 radio matinee broadcasts scheduled weekly through Saturday, May 9, 2020.

American composer Philip Glass (born Jan. 31, 1937) set his musical score for Akhnaten to an original libretto that he created in association with Hebrew and Biblical Studies scholar Shalom Goldman, designer Robert Israel, Duke University Secretary and theater lighting and set designer Richard Riddell and American theatrical director and producer Jerome Robbins (Oct. 11, 1918-July 29, 1998). The mixed-language libretto combines Akkadian, ancient Egyptian and Biblical Hebrew texts with narration in English or another modern language.

Glass composed his third opera to fulfill a commission by Württembergische Staatstheater in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg state, southwestern Germany. Akhnaten also numbers as third in Glass’ trilogy of biographical operas. His first opera, Einstein on the Beach, opened the trilogy with its premiere July 25, 1976, at southeastern France’s Avignon Festival (Festival d’Avignon). His second opera, Satyagraha, premiered Sept. 5, 1980, at Stadsschouwburg (Municipal Theatre) western Netherlands, as the second installment of Glass’ portrait trilogy.

Akhnaten’s world premiere took place March 24, 1984, at southwestern Germany’s Staatstheater Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Theatre). The world premiere was staged under the German title of Echnaton.

Houston Grand Opera hosted the American premiere of Akhnaten on Oct. 12, 1984. The opera’s Metropolitan Opera premiere occurred Friday, Nov. 8, during the 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s seventh week.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season offers eight performances of Akhnaten. In addition to opening night, five performances were also offered in November. The month’s performances took place Friday, Nov. 8, at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST); Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 15, at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 23, at 1 p.m.; and Saturday, Nov. 30, at 8 p.m.

The 2019-2020 season’s last two performances are staged in December. The month’s first performance, Wednesday, Dec. 4, opens at 7:30 p.m. The Saturday matinee performance Dec. 7, which begins at 1 p.m., closes the opera’s run for the 2019-2020 Met Opera season.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s Akhnaten has an estimated run time of 3 hours 21 minutes. Act I spans 49 minutes. An intermission of 30 minutes follows. Act II is estimated at 50 minutes. An intermission of 30 minutes precedes Act III, which is estimated at 42 minutes.

Karen Kamensek conducts all performances of Akhnaten. The American opera and orchestral conductor made her Metropolitan Opera debut during the 2019-2020 season’s Nov. 8 premiere of Akhnaten.

Dísella Lárusdóttir appears in all performances as Queen Tye, Akhnaten’s mother. The Icelandic soprano’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened March 4, 2013, as Garsenda in the opera house’s 38th performance Francesca da Rimini by Italian composer Riccardo Zandonai (May 28, 1883-June 5, 1944).

J’Nai Bridges appears in all performances as Nefertiti, Akhnaten’s wife. The American mezzo-soprano’s Metropolitan Opera debut took place during the 2019-2020 season’s Nov. 8 premiere of Akhnaten.

Anthony Roth Costanzo appears in all performances as Akhnaten, the 18th Dynasty ancient Egyptian pharaoh who sought to replace traditional Egyptian polytheism with sun disc-centered Atenism, also known as the Amarna heresy. The American countertenor’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Dec. 7, 2011, as Unulfo in the opera house’s 21st performance of Rodelinda by German, later British, Baroque composer George Handel (Feb. 23, 1685-April 14, 1759).

Aaron Blake appears in all performances as the High Priest of the major deity in ancient Egyptian polytheism, Amon. The American tenor’s Metropolitan Opera debut took place March 29, 2017, as Gastone in the opera house’s 1,006th performance of La Traviata by 19th century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Will Liverman appears in all performances as Horemhab, ancient Egypt’s last 18th Dynasty pharaoh. The American operatic baritone’s Metropolitan Opera debut occurred Oct. 19, 2018, as Malcom Fleet in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Marnie by American contemporary classical music composer Nico Asher Muhly (born Aug. 26, 1981). During the 2019-2020 Met Opera season, Will Liverman also appears as Papageno in The Magic Flute by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Richard Bernstein appears in all performances as Aye, father of Queen Nefertiti and ultimately ancient Egypt’s penultimate 18th Dynasty pharaoh. The American bass made his Metropolitan Opera debut Oct. 7, 1995, as Zuniga in the opera house’s 828th performance of Carmen by French Romantic Era composer Alexandre César Léopold Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875), known as Georges Bizet. During the 2019-2020 Met Opera season, Richard Bernstein also appears as the Murderer in Verdi’s Macbeth; as the Second Guide in Mozart’s The Magic Flute; as the First Apprentice in Wozzeck by Austrian composer Alban Berg (Feb. 9, 1885-Dec. 24, 1935); as Pietro in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra; and as the Captain in Manon Lescaut by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Zachary James appears in all performances as Amenhotep III. The American operatic bass made his Metropolitan Opera debut during the 2019-2020 season’s Nov. 8 premiere of Akhnaten.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s performances of Akhnaten launch Phelim McDermott’s new production at the opera house. The English stage director’s production team comprises Tom Pye, set designer; Kevin Pollard, costume designer; Bruno Poet, lighting designer; and Sean Gandini, choreographer.

Phelim McDermott made his Metropolitan Opera debut April 11, 2008, in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Glass’ Satyagraha. In the 2019-2020 Met Opera season, Phelim McDermott also directs Mozart’s Così fan tutte.

The takeaway for Akhnaten’s opening the 2019-2020 Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcasts Dec. 7 is that the third installment in American composer Philip Glass’ portrait trilogy numbers as the first in the season’s schedule of 23 radio matinee broadcasts that air weekly through Saturday, May 9, 2020.

Phelim McDermott's staging of Philip Glass's Akhnaten features sets designed by Tom Pye: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 8, 2019

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Phelim McDermott’s staging of Akhnaten marks the English stage director’s second directorship of a Philip Glass opera’s Metropolitan Opera premiere: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 11, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10162303445990533/

Phelim McDermott's staging of Philip Glass's Akhnaten features sets designed by Tom Pye: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 8, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10162303445795533

For further information:

“Debut: Anthony Roth Costanzo.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 354199 Rodelinda {21} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/07/2011.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=354199

“Debuts: Dísella Làrusdóttir, Caitlin Lynch, Dustin Lucas.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 354888 > Francesca da Rimini {38} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/4/2013.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=354888

“Debuts: Phelim McDermott, Julian Crouch, Kevin Pollard . . .” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352481 Satyagraha {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/11/2008.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352481

“Debuts: Robert Spano . . . Will Liverman.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357028 Marnie {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/19/2018.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357038

Marriner, Derdriu. “2019-2020 Met Opera Season’s 10th Week Has Glass, Mozart, Puccini, Tchaikovsky.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 18, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/11/2019-2020-met-opera-seasons-10th-week.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2019-2020 Met Opera Season’s 11th Week Has Glass, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/11/2019-2020-met-opera-seasons-11th-week.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2019-2020 Met Opera Season’s Eighth Week Has Glass, Gluck, Mozart, Puccini.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 4, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/11/2019-2020-met-opera-seasons-eighth-week.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2019-2020 Met Opera Season’s Ninth Week Has Glass, Mozart and Puccini.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 11, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/11/2019-2020-met-opera-seasons-ninth-week.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2019-2020 Met Opera Season’s Seventh Week Has Glass, Gluck and Puccini.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Oct. 28, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/10/2019-2020-met-opera-seasons-seventh.html

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Technical rehearsals for Phelim McDermott’s arresting new production of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten began this week. Take a first look at the innovative director’s breathtaking vision of ancient Egypt. Photo by Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera.” Facebook. Aug. 11, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10162303445990533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Met Premiere of Glass’s ‘Satyagraha’ April 11, 2008. Philip Glass’s ‘Satyagraha’ has its Met premiere in a new production by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch.” Facebook. April 11, 2008.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/20807115532/posts/10151394369655533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Technical rehearsals for Phelim McDermott’s arresting new production of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten began this week. Take a first look at the innovative director’s breathtaking vision of ancient Egypt. Photo by Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera." Facebook. Aug. 8, 2019.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10162303445795533

Ustundag, Ezgi. “From Allen Building to the Opera House.” Duke Today. March 30, 2016.
Available @ https://today.duke.edu/2016/03/akhnaten

Snowy Owls Are Overwintering in Ohio, Beyond Canadian Border Ranges

Summary: Snowy owls in Canada are minus a snowy owl arriving Nov. 24, 2019, in northeast Ohio, not in winter ranges in international border provinces and states.

Ohio's first snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) of winter 2019-2020 was photographed Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019, by Mimi Linda Hoffmaster at Mosquito Creek Lake in Mosquito Lake State Park, near Mecca, Trumbull County, northeastern Ohio: Cleveland Metroparks @Cleveland Metroparks, via Facebook Nov. 25, 2019

One of North America's snowy owls arrived in northeastern Ohio Nov. 24, 2019, even though snowy owl winter ranges are in provinces and states along the Canadian border with the United States.

One of four migrant flyways from Canada, through the United States, into Mexico and vice versa brought the snowy owl to Mecca Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. The Pacific flyway conducts migratory birds from Alaska, through Yukon and British Columbia, into 11 westernmost United States' and six westernmost Mexican states and vice versa. The Central flyway directs them from Northwest Territories, through Edmonton and Saskatchewan, into 10 United States' states, throughout Mexico, apart the extreme northwest, and vice versa.

Mississippi versus Atlantic flyways entail Nunavut, Manitoba, Ontario, 14 states from Minnesota through Michigan, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi versus five easternmost provinces, New York eastward and southward.

The months from mid-May through early September furnish the nine-year life cycles of snowy owls with breeding seasons in northern Eurasian and North American tundra habitats.

Physically and sexually mature female snowy owls gestate one three- or four- to 10- or 12- or even 15-egg clutch, not necessarily in every breeding season. They have short elliptical or subelliptical smooth, somewhat glossy, white, 2.24- by 1.77-inch (57- by 45-millimeter) eggs in hollow scrapes on boulders, crag ledges or hummocks. Fell- (from Old Norse fjall, "mountain [above tree lines"), island- or tundra- (from Kildin Sami тӯнтар, "[treeless] uplands") installed nests, sometimes feather-lined, sometimes moss-lined, incubate broods.

Physically and sexually mature male snowy owls journey back and forth with 4- to 5-inch- (10.16- to 12.7-centimeter) long lemmings (Diocrostonyx, Lemmus) for their brooding mates.

Snowy owls, known scientifically as Bubo scandiacus (from Latin būbō, "owl" and scandiacus, "Scandinavian"), keep their eggs incubated for 32 to 37 dates before staggered hatching.

Snowy owl egg-hatching stages last 3 or 6 to 15 or 30 days for 3 to 15 eggs, with one- to two-day intervals between each egg. Altricially (from Latin altrīx, "nourisher") helpless snowy owl hatchlings manifest short, soft, thick white down everywhere, even to the claws, apart each leg joint's bare-patched back. Black-gray-billed six- to 10-day-olds, three- to four-week-olds and eight- to nine-week-olds respectively manifest brown-gray, down-like, loose feathering; move from birth nests; and master slow, steady flight. They nestle into nearby niches where they navigate with deep, strong beats, flaps and glides but need daily parent-hunted, parent-presented small bird, fish and mammal prey.

Snowy owls, observed by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), offer round-headed, yellow-eyed, white-faced, dark-billed, white-breasted, white-legged, dark-clawed juveniles with dusky-barred undersides and brown-gray-flecked uppersides.

Mature snowy owls present 3.53- to 6.39-pound (1.6- to 2.9-kilogram), 20.08- to 26.77-inch (51- to 68-centimeter) head-body lengths and 4.26- to 5.25-foot (1.3- to 1.6-meter) wingspans.

Snowy owls queue up variable barring, apart some all-white males, on underpart and wing feathers and, for vocalizations, double hoots, hisses, rattles, serialized hoots and whistles. They range year-round on arctic coastal Alaska through Nunavut; summers on arctic islands; and winters on coastal Alaska and Canada and international border provinces and states. The International Union for Conservation of Nature vulnerability status suggests climate change, habitat loss, prey shortage and wintering southward into Ohio and coastally through New Jersey.

Northernmost stresses take the Strigidae (from Greek στρίξ, "owl" and -ειδής, "-like") owl family member on transient treks through coastal airfields, dunes and marshes and Ohio.

Ohio's first snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) of winter 2019-2020 was spotted at Mosquito Creek Lake, formerly known as Mosquito Creek Reservoir, near Mecca, Trumbull County, northeastern Ohio; Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1991, upstream view to the north of Mosquito Creek Lake, with Ohio State Route 88 bridge in far distance (upper center); Mecca is at bridge's east end: Margaret Luzier, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Ohio's first snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) of winter 2019-2020 was photographed Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019, by Mimi Linda Hoffmaster at Mosquito Creek Lake in Mosquito Lake State Park, near Mecca, Trumbull County, northeastern Ohio: Cleveland Metroparks @Cleveland Metroparks, via Facebook Nov. 25, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/ClevelandMetroparks/posts/a.55216058602/10156785061003603/

Ohio's first snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) of winter 2019-2020 was spotted at Mosquito Creek Lake, formerly known as Mosquito Creek Reservoir, near Mecca, Trumbull County, northeastern Ohio; Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1991, upstream view to the north of Mosquito Creek Lake, with Ohio State Route 88 bridge in far distance (upper center); Mecca is at bridge's east end: Margaret Luzier, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosquito_Creek_Reservoir_Ohio_northward.jpg

For further information:

Backhouse, Frances. Owls of North America. Buffalo NY: Firefly Books (U.S.) Inc.; Richmond Hill, Canada: Firefly Books Ltd., 2008.

Baicich, Paul J.; and Colin J.O. Harrison. 2005. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Second edition. Princeton Field Guides Book 35. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.

Cleveland Metroparks @Cleveland Metroparks. 25 November 2019. "Raptors are out in force right now, from bald eagles staging along the Cuyahoga River near CanalWay Visitor Center to barred owls in Rocky River Reservation, peregrine falcons hunting the shoreline at Edgewater Park, to great horned owls in North Chagrin Reservation. Now is the time to seek owls, hawks, eagles and falcons as they patrol the lakefront, fields and forests of Cleveland Metroparks Reservations. This snowy owl, found yesterday at Mosquito Lake in Mecca, is the first 'snowy' to be found this winter in Ohio. We're on high alert for Cleveland's first snowy owl of Winter 2019/2020 and will update this page if one (or more) are found! Photo by Mimi Linda Hoffmaster." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/ClevelandMetroparks/photos/a.55216058602/10156785061003603/

"Flyways." U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service > Migratory Bird Program > Management.
Available @ https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/flyways.php

GrrlScientist. 18 January 2012. "Mystery Bird: Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus." The Guardian > News > Science.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2012/jan/18/6

Hauber, Mark E. 2014. The Book of Eggs: A Life-Size Guide to the Eggs of Six Hundred of the World's Bird Species. Editors John Bates & Barbara Becker. Photography John Weinstein. East Sussex UK: Ivy Press Limited.

Kirschbaum, Kari; and Rebecca Atkinson. 2002. "Nyctea scandiaca Snowy Owl" (On-line). Animal Diversity Web. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
Available @ https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nyctea_scandiaca/

Lewis, Deane. 3 December 2017. "Snowy Owl ~ Bubo scandiacus (Nyctea scandiaca)." The Owl Pages > Owl Species > Genus: Bubo.
Available @ https://www.owlpages.com/owls/species.php?s=1210

Linnaei, Caroli (Carl Linnaeus). 1758. "Bubo scandiaca 2." Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis, Tomus I, Editio Decima, Reformata: 92. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/764490

Michigan State University Wildlife Society and Zoology Club. 13 January. "Snowy Owl - Bubo scandiacus." Facts about Animals > Animals by Region > Arctic.
Available @ https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/snowy_owl

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Available @ https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/snowy_owl

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