Caesar Pond Ice

I went over to Caesar Pond to check out the ice this afternoon. I had seen three juvenile bald eagles out there early this morning, and wanted to see what the attraction was. I never did find anything unusual on the ice surface, but maybe there was a fish near the surface that they were trying to capture.

The ice has thinned over the last week of warm weather leaving some open water in places.

We have had rain on several different days this week and now there is a layer of freshly frozen water on top of the previous ice.

This has left lots of air bubbles in the very thin ice. Unfortunately, with the state of my new knee, I cannot get to the very edge of the pond to photograph the tiny bubbles, but here is a zoom photo of it.

Papermill Trail

I wanted to push myself further on today's walk, so we went from the parking lot of Papermill Trail to where the train tracks cross the trail near Lisbon High School. This gave me a 2.26 mile roundtrip walk. It taxed me to the max, was painful and frustrating. I did the walk in 86 minutes which was 8 minutes slower per mile than the last time I walked the trail. I have a low tolerance for my lack of progress and where the walk should have been relaxing, I continually berated myself. Not a good thing to do when getting some quality outdoor time.

At least I stopped to take a photo of Toby and Drew. They are my favorite life forms on Earth!

Frozen Caesar Pond

Whoo Hooo! Caesar Pond has a very thin layer of ice on its surface! It iced over on Wednesday after the wind and freezing rain we had all day Tuesday. The nighttime temps. were in the teens, while the daytime temps. did not get above freezing for several days. Drew went out this morning, to snap a few photos, as it is too slick for me to get over there with my new knee at the moment.

The wind whipped the water to a frenzy, and crystals formed into slushy, rotating disks creating pancake ice.  

I find it interesting that there are "pancakes" under the top layer of ice as well.

Then, there are the icicles on tree branches that overhang the pond.

Icicles on logs embedded in the ice.

And, icicles surrounding the base of trees in the water. I love our icy world!

Winter Mittens and Thinsulate to keep warm

I am having a tough time finding the right mitten to keep my mitts warm on super cold winter days. I found this interesting article on Thinsulate levels from Superiorglove.com. Ooohh... they also featured a blog post titled, "How to Stay Warm Like a Canadian: The Definitive Guide to Winter Gloves."

Drew has Outdoor Research Alti Mitt mittens for arctic conditions, but those are too much for me to handle. Check out Cool Antarctica.com for these types of mittens. 

Scott USA Women's Ultimate Pro Mitten - medium

So many stores do not tell you the Primaloft/Thinsulate value of the gloves. The more material, the bulkier the mitten. And, winter mittens do cost a pretty penny, but it is worth it if you are outside in frigid conditions. I need to be able to haul around camera equipment (tripod) with ease, and still keep my hands warm. Moosejaw.com has lots of mittens to choose from. I finally chose the Scott USA Women's Ultimate Pro Mitten (medium.) It is all synthetic with a fill of 340g / 220b Fiberfill. Amazon had it for a few dollars less. That should keep me warm!

SNOW DAY # 1

Well, we got our first snow/ice of this new winter season. UGH! We are starting in the same pattern as the last several years with sleet, followed by snow, followed by freezing rain, followed by freezing mist, followed by snow...leaving us with a treacherous mess. I am not stepping foot out there until I have to go to work tomorrow. I am petrified of falling... By the way, we got around 1/4" of precip.

Walk on Papermill Trail

Well, I was able to walk 1.84 miles on the Papermill Trail today. That is the longest distance to date as my knee rehab goes. Drew said that my gait and speed had improved since the last time I walked this paved trail. It still took an hour (including time sitting on a bench at the farthest point of the walk and near where we crossed over the railroad track on the way back.) And, I was able to walk and talk at the same time, and even look at scenery without analyzing where to put each each footstep. I did use my walking poles periodically. I am psyched at my progress!

Fishers and their vocalizations

“About Fishers.” Massachusetts Audubon Society, 10 Nov. 2019, https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/mammals/fishers/about.

Drew was walking down Starbird Corner Rd. early this morning (around 4:45am) and heard the scream of a fisher. One must be in the right place, at the right time, to hear these vocalizations as fishers are generally nocturnal. I have done a lot of research and nobody has photographed a fisher actually screaming with that higher pitch. I have just read of anecdotal evidence.

Here is a an interesting video from a Cape Cod rehabilitation center about their fisher rehab. 

Fisher tracks in snow on the ice of No Name beaver bog back in our woods in February 2010 - mixed forest

All I have been able to capture are photographs of the footprints of a fisher in the snow while walking on the ice of a beaver bog back in the woods behind our house. Did you know that fishers are members of the weasel family? Well, they are. Weasels are all ferocious omnivores for their size. In fact, they are one of the few predators that can take down porcupines! Here is a link to a great article on fishers by the Northern Woodlands magazine. They also eat berries and fruit besides small mammals and amphibians.

Compare it to a red fox barking vocalization. This vocalization is recorded from the MacCaulay Library within the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Red fox vocalizations are a bit shorter/choppier than those of fishers.

Mercury Transit of the Sun - Nov 11, 2019

Get our your Solar Filters and Solar Glasses! Mercury will transit the Sun today! And, since we have the day off for Veteran's Day, we can relax and celebrate our veterans while photographing the Sun! Let's head to the beach for the day to get an unobstructed view! (By the way, sunrise is at 6:28am)

Mercury will transit the Sun partially beginning at 7:36am. Maximum (full) transit begins at 10:20am and ends at 1:02pm. Mercury will complete it's visible transit at 1:04pm, for a transit duration of 5 hours and 28 minutes. See Time and Date.com for your location information.

Do note that the transit beginning time refers to first contact. Mercury first appears to touch the Sun's edge at 7:36 a.m. The entire planet will be visible
against the Sun about 1 - 2 minutes later. Mercury will appear as a small black dot moving along a path that nearly brings it across the Sun's center.

As Mercury is so small and will be  63 million miles from Earth on November
11th,  this transit is only observable through a  telescope or binoculars.
One MUST either use a protective filter covering the end of the optical
tube** or must project the Sun onto an opposing surface to allow for safe
viewing. THE DAILY ASTRONOMER: THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
UPDATE: WE HAD A THOROUGHLY CLOUDY DAY THAT OBSCURED THE SUN.

First Snowfall Forecast!

We are ready! New snow tires are getting installed today! It will be nice to have aggressive treads to battle the slippery roads.
UPDATE: NO SNOW FOR US.