April Monthly Weather Update

The month of April was around 2.2F below average. I am looking forward to a bit of warmth during the month of May!

Pond Prowling on Caesar Pond

Looking north on Caesar Pond

Yahoo! I finally had enough time to get out onto Caesar Pond. What a fabulous afternoon it was! I brought along two camera bodies (one with a 17-40 lens and one with a 70-200 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter.)

Note: If the kayak looks familiar, it is. We sold it to Shannon when my knees refused to cooperate anymore.

And, I convinced neighbor Shannon to accompany me. I was in my pond prowler while she paddled her beloved kayak!

We sure do wish the pond would support a pair of loons, but we usually only have one.

Within a few minutes of leaving the dock, we spotted a loon.

I've been hearing one on the pond over the last week and we were so fortunate to see it twice during our short outing. It was too far away for me to get a good photo of, so this is the best I could do.

Shannon chillaxes in the north cove

After the loon sighting, we headed for the north cove. Shannon got there way before I did as the wind was picking up and there were little white caps on the water's surface. I didn't want to use up my battery too soon, so I took it slow as I headed into the wind. With my recent release from a wrist cast, I don't have the strength to paddle yet, so I had to rely solely on my electric motor.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Shannon parked under a tree and was watching a group of Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting about. 

There were at least a dozen birds, and they rarely perched for more than a few seconds. 

I snapped photos as fast as I could, trying to get different views of the birds for I.D. purposes.

The birds were moving so fast that I couldn't get a good view of them to I.D. them on the pond, although I did know that they were warblers. The lighting was so harsh that my naked eye view of them was that of black and white shapes whizzing past.

I don't know what insects they were chowing down on, but they were very entertaining. Shannon said that the blackflies have arrived already!

And, they squabbled a bit as well.

Soon, we decided to skeedaddle over to the western side of the pond. As we entered the open water again, we spied a Canada Goose tucked into the boggy area. This is where some of them tend to nest each year.

Overhead an osprey was berating us for being interlopers into its territory. It then flew back to the cove and perched on a tall pine tree.

We finally arrived at the beaver lodge. And, what a monstrous lodge it is! The beavers must be working feverishly on it as it has increased in size since winter.

Northern Flicker in our front yard

I saw a Northern Flicker in our front yard, munching on worms, I think. I wasn't able to get a photo of it before it flew away.

Crocuses are blooming!

The stump garden is lined with giant crocuses. 

They are the first bulbs to bloom in our yard in mid springtime. 

They come in a variety of colors and are so welcomed after the whiteness of winter.

Loon calling on Caesar Pond

I heard a loon calling on Caesar Pond this afternoon.

First Peepers heard on Caesar Pond

The first spring peepers were heard at Caesar Pond, this evening.

World's Largest Ice Carousel, Long Lake, Sinclair, Maine

What do you do when you live in the northern-most reaches of Maine? Well...you try for the world record of the largest ice carousel! Check out this video of the carousel being turned by 4 outboard engines! AWESOME;-)

Here is a video of the creation of the carousel. Lots of math goes into creating the perfect circle and the turning of the circle of ice.

Here is the Bangor Daily News article from April 7th.

Ice Out on Caesar Pond

Ice Out occurred this evening on Caesar Pond, just in time for me to get home from vacationing in Florida.

Looking north from the dock.

Looking south from the dock.

Thin ice on Caesar Pond

Looking north from our deeded access.

I am getting so excited! The ice is thinning at a rapid rate, and I think the ice will be out by the time I return from my trip to Florida;-)

Looking south from our deeded access.

The open water edge of the shoreline is increasing.

North end of Caesar Pond (complete with 5 Canada geese!)

My neighbor told me that the north end of the pond was clear, so we headed down the road to the public access to check it out!

Trash next to shore of public access (and some trash in water)

While down at the public access, we saw that someone seemed to have emptied their truck bed of trash next to the shore. We promptly headed home to don gloves and get a huge trash bag. We then proceeded to clean up the boat launch and both sides of the road for about 0.3 mile. 

Our hauling route!

That trash bag was so big and full that we had to switch off hauling it down the road. I think we get the "Good Doobie" award for the day;-) Now all the trash that was covered by snow all winter long is cleaned up, and we are hoping that people will think twice about dumping trash (although I doubt it.) I wish that the Dept. of Fish and Game would put up a sign asking people to haul out what they bring in...

Stump garden covered by gravel

Yay, the snow is finally melting from around our house. Just a bit more to go!

I was bummed when looking closely at the stump garden, as this is the first sight I saw. Gravel everywhere! This is from the snow thrower and the plow.