Sundog

We headed to Peters Canyon Regional Park to find bluebirds to hold and pet.

No bluebirds, but we did see Yellowthroats, Red Shouldered Blackbirds, tree swallows

and this...




The picture doesn't do justice - there were many more colors than you can see here. I checked on Sciencedude and sure enough, they'd seen it also. They had this to say:

It’s the work of ice crystals at high altitude, said Rob Balfour, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

If the sky were overcast, we might see a complete ring around the sun, Balfour said. But because it’s only partly cloudy, we only see a portion of the ring.

“Generally speaking, those clouds are between 20,000 and 28,000 feet,” he said. “The freezing level is sitting right at about 15,000 feet, so it’s pretty much all ice crystals up there.”

So amazing!

That's what I love about nature - it's more common that not for something spectacular and unexpected to happen right before your very eyes.