Solar Scientists are accustomed to seeing spots on the sun – irregular islands of magnetism that sometimes erupt, producing strong solar flares.

On May 9, 2016, they will see a spot of a very different kind – a dark circle moving across the solar disk.

This spot is no ordinary sunspot. It's the planet Mercury, making a rare transit of the sun.

Mercury passes directly between the sun and Earth about 13 times every century. The last time it happened was 10 years ago in 2006, and the next time will be Nov. 11, 2019.

This year’s transit will be widely visible from most of Earth, including the Americas, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Europe, Africa and much of Asia.

In the USA it begins on the morning of Monday, May 9, around 4:15 a.m. Pacific Time. This means it begins before sunrise on the West Coast, but that’s no problem.

The transit lasts for more than seven hours, so Mercury will still be gliding across the solar disk when the sun comes up over places like California and Alaska. Everyone in the USA can experience the event.

Caution: Take care when viewing the transit. Mercury's tiny disk – jet black and perfectly round – covers only a tiny fraction of the sun’s blinding surface. Looking at the sun with unprotected eyes on May 9 is as dangerous as ever.

With a proper filter, however, viewing the transit of Mercury can be a marvelous experience. A telescope with a safe solar filter will be required to see the tiny disk of Mercury crawling across the face of the sun. Mercury is too small to be seen without magnification.

You may wish to call your local astronomy club and ask if they have a solar telescope. Amateur astronomers love to show off the heavens. The event will provide volunteers the opportunity to bring their 'scopes to classrooms for the transit.

If you can't find access to a good telescope, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory will also witness the entire transit and make it available in real time on its website.

NASA scientist Rosemary Killen and colleagues plan to use the transit to study Mercury’s ultra-thin atmosphere or exosphere.

The atoms in Mercury’s exosphere come from the surface of Mercury itself. They are blasted into space by solar radiation, solar wind bombardment and meteoroids. This gives Mercury a comet-like tail stretched out as long as 1.2 million miles. You cannot see this tail during the transit, however.

Killen said, “When Mercury is in front of the sun, we can study the exosphere close to the planet. Sodium in the exosphere absorbs and re-emits a yellow-orange color from sunlight, and by measuring that absorption we can learn about the density of gas there.”

She added, “We will be observing the transit from the National Solar Observatory, or NSO, in Sunspot, New Mexico.”

Killen, Carl Schmidt of LATMOS at the French National Research Agency and Kevin Reardon of the NSO will be on site making observations.

The Transit of Mercury offers something to professional astronomers and backyard sky watchers alike—from scientific discovery to simple wonder. Mark your calendar for May 9 and enjoy the show.

For more news about rare events in the heavens, stay tuned to http://science.nasa.gov .

See more coverage of the 2016 transit of Mercury at http://mercurytransit.gsfc.nasa.gov .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Acorn woodpeckers are often referred to as “the clowns of the forest” for their raucous calls, bright faces and tree-top antics, but they’re actually quite complex little birds that dictate how some aspects of the environment grows up around them.

You’ve no doubt seen these guys. Their black, white and red coloring, and bright yellow-white eyes make them unmistakable.

The males and females are patterned similarly, but you can tell the difference by looking at the head. On the males, the red cap starts right after the white forehead; on the female, the red cap is pushed back a little bit and there’s a black band between the white forehead and the red cap.

These birds form social groups that are something akin to blended families consisting of a minimum of three males and two females that all breed cooperatively.

Although females will sometimes pillage other female’s eggs early on in the breeding season, once all of the females in a group start laying, the pillaging stops, and they all share the same nest and take part in the incubation duties.

Acorn woodpeckers nest in cavities in trees that they drill out for themselves and often reuse from season to season.

Inside the cavity, the wood shavings left over from the drilling process act as the woodpecker’s only form of nesting material; the birds don’t gather grasses or twigs for their nests. If the nest is an old one, the woodpeckers will scrape the walls inside of the cavity to build up more, fresher wood chips for the babies.

Young acorn woodpeckers are waited on by all of the adults in the group, both males and females, until they fledge. Fledglings will often stay with their family group for several years before heading off to form new groups or joining an existing group that is short of members.

Groups of acorn woodpeckers are highly territorial, often commanding about 15 acres of the landscape around their nesting and “granaries” –dead tree limbs perforated with thousands of holes.

The woodpeckers drill holes of varying sizes into the wood and then fill them with acorns, other nuts and sometimes even insects. I saw one acorn woodpecker cram the chrysalis of a pipevine swallowtail butterfly into one of the holes of his granary tree.

The birds usually only drill new holes in the trees in the winter, and they only drill in limbs that are already dead or dying, so they do no harm to the living parts of the tree.

If useful trees aren’t available, these woodpeckers will use whatever is locally available to them including wooden fence posts and derelict vehicles.

There was a report from Arizona that documented a large family of acorn woodpeckers filling up a wooden water tank with acorns over a period of several years until the contents weighed almost 500 pounds!

The granary trees and their food caches – which are staunchly protected by the family group from interlopers like starlings, scrub jays, and squirrels – sustain the woodpeckers during the winter when their favorite food, flying insects, is in short supply.

Acorn woodpeckers also like to eat sap, the catkins and pollen from oak trees, and even lizards on occasion.

It’s their granaries that makes acorn woodpeckers a “focal species” as described by the U.S. Forest Service. Focal species are those that are “chosen for special attention ... to be used to guide components of conservation planning such as selection and design of habitat reserves, habitat restoration and management, and population monitoring.”

These woodpeckers are also considered a “keystone species” in the oak woodlands they inhabit because other crevice-nesting birds like tree swallows and house wrens who can’t excavate their own nesting holes depend on the woodpeckers to do that for them.

So, you see: Acorn woodpeckers aren’t just the “clowns” of the forest, they’re also the social and focal species of the forest that helps to define their environment.

Tuleyome is a501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization based in Woodland, Calif. For more information, visit www.tuleyome.org . Mary K. Hanson is a Certified California Naturalist and author of the “Cool Stuff Along the American River” series of nature guides available at www.lulu.com .

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Refinancing of school district bonds completed last month is expected to give a break to the taxpayers in the Konocti Unified School District.

The district reported that it refinanced $5.675 million in general obligation bonds in April, an action which will save district property owners more than $970,000 in taxes.

District officials said they took advantage of very low interest rates to refinance its election of 2004 Series B and Series C Bonds.

The Series B Bonds were originally sold in December 2006 in the amount of $4.5 million and the Series C Bonds were sold in September 2007 for $3.4 million.

The Series B and Series C Bonds were authorized by more than 71 percent of Konocti Unified School District voters at an election held on Nov. 2, 2004, and were used to build new libraries, replace and repair classrooms and other school buildings, and build a new gym. 

Interest rates on the refinanced bonds ranged between 4 percent and 4.20 percent. The borrowing cost for the new bonds is 2.40 percent, a difference that will save property taxpayers approximately $970,052.59 for the refinancing, the district reported.

“With interest rates near historic lows, we felt it was the right thing to do to save our community money,” said Superintendent Donna Becnel.

Laurie Desimone, chief business official, added, “Part of my job as CBO is to keep an eye on our bonded debt obligations and seek opportunities to reduce property taxes.”

The refinancing of the bonds was unanimously approved by the district board of trustees on March 16. 

“We know that our community supports our schools, and as stewards of taxpayer dollars, we felt this bond refinancing was the right thing to do,” said Board President Sue Burton.

Property owners in the district will see a reduced property tax rate on future tax bills.

Konocti Unified's successful refinancing of its bonds follows similar efforts by other local educational districts, as Lake County News has reported.

In 2015, the Yuba Community College District restructured its Measure J bonds for a total savings of $14.2 million for taxpayers.

Measure J, passed in 2006, authorized up to $190 million in bond sales to fund improvements across the district's campuses and facilities. The bond sales funded numerous improvements, including new buildings, at the campus in Clearlake.

In late 2013 the Lakeport Unified School District refinanced bonds for a total savings of more than $52,000. In November 2001 Lakeport Unified approved a bond measure for up to $7.5 million in bond sales to fund improvements to classrooms as well as the construction of the Marge Alakszay Center multipurpose building.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Thunderstorms and showers were reported around Northern California on Thursday, with Lake County getting a share of thunder, lightning, heavy rain and hail.

The National Weather Service reported that the sudden and scattered thunderstorms were occurring around the region, as the storm system moved over Northern California.

In Lake County, separate thunderstorms with rain and hail were reported in the late morning and early afternoon.

In Lakeport, at around 11 a.m. heavy rain – accompanied by thunder and lightning – was reported. It was captured in a video, shown above, by Rebekah Dolby of the Lakeport Police Department.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said he hadn't heard such loud thunder in the county in years.

Lt. Jason Ferguson said the loud thunder actually broke a window in the police department's records office and shook the entire building.

In addition, he said lightning struck the antenna on the department's roof, knocking out computers for much of the day.

Rasmussen said they received a number of calls regarding alarms had been triggered, but received no reports of other damage.

In the afternoon, another thunderstorm passed over the Northshore area, with flashes of lightning over the hills and loud claps of thunder.

In another part of the county there was a report of an oak tree getting split in half by a lightning strike.

Around the county there also were reports of hail. Jon Gilbertson shared pictures of a covering of dime-sized hail on the deck of his home near Loch Lomond.

The National Weather Service reported modest 24-hour rainfall totals through 3 a.m. Friday. Totals included the following, in inches: Indian Valley Reservoir, 0.34; Kelseyville, 0.28; Middletown, 0.10; and Upper Lake, 0.20.

There could be more storms to look forward to during this weekend.

The National Weather Service is forecasting showers and thunderstorms on Friday, with chances of precipitation estimated at 60 percent during the day and 50 percent at night.

On Saturday, forecasters estimated a 50-percent chance of rain and thunderstorms during the day and 30-percent on Saturday night; and a 20-percent chance of precipitation on Sunday, with conditions then clearing into the middle of next week.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Legislation to help businesses financially recover from disasters unanimously passed the Assembly Floor this week.

The bill, authored by Assemblyman Bill Dodd (D-Napa) and Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), will provide tax relief by allowing impacted businesses to defer tax payments without additional costs.

The idea for the bill was brought forward by Board of Equalization Chairwoman Fiona Ma in the aftermath of the Valley fire in Lake County.

“When residents and businesses are impacted by disasters, the state needs to step up to help them recover. Giving these businesses additional time and flexibility in their tax deadlines, without fear of additional fees or penalties, is a common sense approach that can help ease the recovery process,” said Dodd. “I’m proud to help lead these efforts with Sen. Mike McGuire and Chairwoman Fiona Ma, who are equally dedicated to supporting victims of natural disasters.”

“The Valley fire was devastating to Lake County, and small businesses continue to struggle in its aftermath. We’re grateful to partner with Assemblymember Dodd and Member Ma to ensure local business owners have some peace of mind and needed tax relief during this ongoing recovery period,” McGuire said.

The 2015 wildfire season was one of the most devastating in California’s history. Assemblymember Dodd’s Fourth Assembly District was particularly impacted by the wildfires of 2015, containing nearly 58 percent of the total extinguished acreage by Cal Fire across the entire state.

In Lake County alone, the Valley fire destroyed nearly two thousand structures over a 23-day period, ultimately becoming the third-most destructive fire in California history.

“The 2015 fire season was a devastating tragedy for so many communities, especially those affected by the Butte and Valley fires, and AB 1559 by Assemblymember Dodd will help us to rebuild by providing relief for businesses affected by these disasters,” said State Board of Equalization Member Fiona Ma, CPA. “I am eager to work with Assemblymember Dodd on passing this legislation and helping these communities rebuild and recover.”

If passed into law, the bill, AB 1559, will take immediate effect statewide.

Under this legislation, future natural and economic disasters would be eligible for filing extensions three times greater than what is allowable under current law.

Sen. McGuire and Assemblyman Dodd also are working with Gov. Jerry Brown’s office to provide additional relief for Valley fire victims through the state budget and administrative action.

Last year Gov. Brown signed legislation co-authored by Dodd to provide income tax relief to other taxpayers impacted by natural disasters.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Meet “Blue,” a friendly dog who has been waiting a lot time for a home of his own.

He's a male Australian Cattle Dog (blue heeler) and Australian Shepherd mix at Clearlake Animal Control, where staff reported that he is running short on time and needs a home very soon.

When animal control staff picked him up, he had been hanging out at a Clearlake elementary school.

Blue in inquisitive and personable. Staff said he loved being with the children at the school and he also gets along with other dogs.

In addition to being a friendly guy, Blue is a lot of fun. Shelter staff said he has a talent – he can dance in place on his back two legs.

Blue's adoption fee is only $40, as he already is neutered and vaccinated.

To meet Blue, contact Marcia Taylor, the animal control outreach technician, at 707-994-8201, Extension 103, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, or contact Animal Control Officer Jenna Tuller at Extension 115 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. those same days.

Also follow Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook for the latest updates.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.