Total solar eclipse confuses wildlife and awes humans at Bath Nature Preserve
Confused songbirds quieted in the twilight. Spring peepers began lullabies. An agitated snake coiled up on the pavement and lunged at a passer-by.
Hundreds of sky gazers converged Monday at Bath Nature Preserve as the Summit County Astronomy Club held an eclipse party at the Fairlawn Rotary Observatory.
Every parking space was taken. A carnival atmosphere prevailed as families brought picnic baskets and lawn chairs and waited for the celestial event to begin. Children tossed balls and dogs frolicked in the wet grass.
“Oh, it’s been just wonderful,” said John Shulan, president of the club. “The weather cooperated.”
He had been there since morning to set up equipment, adjust telescopes and make sure everything was ready. The club, a 501(C)(3) organization, received a $3,500 grant from the Bath Community Fund in December to complete capital renovations at the observatory in time for the eclipse.
The money was used to enhance the solar scope mount and buy an astronomy camera, which allowed the observatory to livestream Monday’s event.
Shulan distributed eclipse viewers, answered questions and helped visitors peer through telescopes, including the granddaddy of them all: A 14-inch Celestron EdgeHD.
After the big event, club members planned to return in the evening for an encore to see Jupiter and Orion.
“The universe is just awesome,” Shulan said.
Fairlawn resident Joni Wozniak, a club volunteer, turned 64 on Monday and couldn’t have asked for a better gift.
“Today’s my birthday,” she said. “Everybody’s been teasing me: ‘When there’s a total solar eclipse, let’s make sure Joni’s still here.’”
She’d been setting up at the observatory since morning and was enjoying the show in the sky.
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Wozniak said.
People came from all over to watch the eclipse. Probably traveling the farthest was Theofilos Konstantinou, a native of Paphos, Cyprus, who studies environmental law in Athens, Greece. He’s on a three-week vacation visiting family in Ohio on his first trip to the United States.
He picked a great time to be here.
“It’s something special,” he said. “I have never seen that. It’s exciting.”
Konstantinou especially enjoyed looking through a telescope.
“I like to see the eclipse so clear,” he said. “I took some pictures for me.”
Bryan Bishop, a commercial truck driver from Tampa, Florida, parked his rig at McDonald’s off Interstate 77 in Richfield Township and caught an Uber to the nature preserve.
“I’m bobtailing right now, but I usually haul milk and orange juice,” he said.
He had the afternoon off before hitting the road to Goshen, Indiana.
“It’s weird,” he said as the shadows lengthened. “The sky is darkening even though it’s daylight.”
Friends had told him that he needed to experience an eclipse.
“I’ve heard people say ‘You’ve got to see it to believe it,’” he said. “I’m glad I did.”
Excitement grew throughout the day as people gazed through special glasses at the sky. The crowd uttered exclamations to anyone listening.
“It’s starting!”
“The eclipse has begun!”
“I see it! I see it!”
“That’s pretty amazing.”
“The sun is starting to look like a moon.”
“Everything is starting to look weird.”
“Feel the temperatures drop.”
“Oh, my gosh! Look at that!”
“I have never seen anything like that.”
“It’s so beautiful!”
There was an eerie calm. As totality arrived, the crowd clapped and cheered, relishing the moment.
Then the moon slid past ever so slightly. The sunlight began to stream, and nature gradually returned to normal at the Bath preserve.
The songbirds chirped, the spring peepers hushed and the agitated snake slithered into the grass.
The universe is just awesome.
Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com
More: The dark and the light: A history of solar eclipses in Northeast Ohio
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Total solar eclipse confuses wildlife at Bath Nature Preserve
