A brief flash of springtime in winter

It was a pretty morning with the temperature at nearly 60F. There was lots of evaporation happening at the snow surface which made for patchy ground fog. Drew dropped me off at the dentist office and headed out to walk his favorite hidden gem of a trail in Topsham. It runs along a creek which adds to the mystique.

He said that it was so gorgeous this time of morning and he photographed it from a few different angles as the light changed each time he passed the creek.

The shafts of light were stunning as they beamed down through the trees.

In contrast to this beauty, was our walk on the Hix Small Cemetery Road yesterday afternoon. Talk about MUD! I am so glad we don't have to drive on this road during mud season!

As we were not wearing YakTrax, we decided to give the forested road to the cemetery a miss as it was rather icy. We sure have enjoyed these past couple of warm days before going into the deep freeze of the weekend.

Mother Nature's Cubism

I was walking down our path to Caesar Pond when I came upon slick ice that was blocking my way.

As I looked down upon it, I saw that it had a somewhat fractured appearance all over its surface.

So, being me, I stepped on it and the surface bent under my foot, but didn't break. So, I stepped off it and kicked it to see what would happen. Lots of cubes of ice! Sooo cool!

Here is one cube that broke off from an edge area.

And, here is Mother's Nature cubism artwork, with a little help from yours truly, as the sun was setting!

Birds, birds, and more birds!

Blue Jay in a snowstorm

We love our birds! The feeder has been busy dispensing food to a huge flock of goldfinches, bluebirds, blue jays, as well as the resident mourning doves, chickadees, brown creeper, titmice, red-bellied, downy, and hairy woodpeckers. 

The bluebirds are still flocking with a smaller subset of the large flock of goldfinches. They are not appreciating the cold weather that we have and only come in to feed on the warmer winter days.

Lately, we have been seeing our resident brown creeper on the bird feeder tree. He sometimes flies to the feeder and gathers seed from the ground.

When the sun comes out, the temperatures plummet. This gorgeous blue jay was enjoying the sunflower seeds.

And, then was puffed up to ward off the cold.

Weather

 As of this point in winter we have only had 39" of snow. And, look at the week to come. We are now oscillating between winter and springtime weather. This translates to rainy snowstorms, followed by super cold temps, followed by melting, which translates to layers of ice buildup. UGH. And, we still have the rest of February and March to go. Here is what this next week will bring us. Crazy!

Blizzard Warning!

Jan. 30 UPDATE: The snow was difficult to measure due to all the wind and super tiny flakes, but we think we received about 10 inches.

We might just get some snow! Feel-like temps will be in the negative digits. Stay tuned!

Ha Ha! And, this is the weather for next week! Out with the snow and in with the rain. Ridiculous weather for the beginning of February in Maine! So, get outside and play in the snow ASAP because you'll only have 3 days to do so before everything ices up again!

4pm UPDATE: It is difficult to measure how much snow has fallen  as there is so much wind. But, we are lucky to not have much accumulation. Only 6 more hours of the blizzard.

Snow total thus far

21.5" of snow has fallen upon us in Bowdoin, thus far this winter season. The only other winter where we had so little snow, by Jan. 25th, was the 2015-2016 season where we had a total of 50" of snow. This looks to be a low snow total year as well. Let's hope the weather gods change their minds soon as we need the snowpack moisture to get us through spring and summer!

We've had some cold days!

 And, today is no different. Our high will be 17F. Drew is going out for a snow shoe to enjoy the crispness of the morning! Toby and I will chill inside and have hot cocoa and dog biscuits! 

Snow followed by heavy rain and wind

We got 5.5 inches of heavy, wet snow before it started raining!

This is what our winter weather has come to. We get a warm day (up to 43F today) with snow in the morning and rain following. 

Then, we go into a deep freeze with very cold temperatures with ice covering all the surfaces. Rain will start in about 45 minutes!

Finally real winter temperatures

Whooo! Baby, it's cold outside!

New Year Resolutions / Adventure 2022

Here we go again! Another new year and I still haven't accomplished much on my Adventure list from the last few years. Aughhh...As usual, there are a few resolutions and tons of adventures to consider. Here are a few old ones that I never got around to last year, as well as a few new ones:

1. Try new photographic techniques: 
a) Use a neutral density filter when taking moving water and cloud photos (longer exposures like a minute long.)
b) Learn and practice stacking photos.
c) Use the Apeman Underwater camera at the beach.
d) Go to Popham Beach and photograph the tide pools, seaweeds on the rocks at Fox Island, Piping Plovers (bring long lens)
e) Play around with the lensball with photos.

f) Get together regularly with Greyhound friends for photo fun sessions.

2. Maine Mineral & Gem Museum - Bethel, Maine - AND some rock hounding and rock and mineral shows YAHOO! My buddy Veronica got me a membership to the Mineral Society of Maine!

3. Plant Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), male and female plants, for berries for birds during the winter months. The Maine Cooperative Extension link has more information. Planting guide for Winterberry. Buy from Gammon's Garden Center in Auburn, ME  (207) 783-6986. (1 mile past Lake Auburn toward Turner.)

4. Photograph Piping Plover chicks on Popham Beach (by July 4th many of the chicks have hatched and they are flightless for 25-30 days). So, go to Popham Beach any time during the month of July to photograph the chicks.

5. Center Point Preserve in Bowdoinham- If possible, bring tripod and long lens in springtime to try to photograph migratory birds.  

6. Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center - Rent a canoe for an hour or two to photograph the marsh along the Dunstan River. Opens 9:30am. Glossy Ibis migrates in during April.

7. Maine Coast Heritage Trust's Woodward Point Preserve is nice and flat with lots of variety in Brunswick. AS WELL AS  Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust Trails: such as Maquoit Bay Conservation Land - over a 1 mile trail.  Potts Point Reserve, AND Stover's Point Preserve - South Harpswell - Short walk.

8. Visit Saco Heath Preserve (Nature Conservancy) to do some photography and butterfly watching during late May to early June when the heathland plants bloom AND when the Hessel's Hairstreak Butterfly is feeding off the heath flowers.

9. Vaughan Woods, and Historic Homestead - Kennebec Land Trust, Hallowell - Short walk.

10. Woodbury Sanctuary - Stanton Bird Club -Litchfield/Monmouth. 3 miles of trails. AND Purinton Homestead Conservation Area - West Road, Bowdoin. Part of the Androscoggin Land Trust. 1 mile of walking trails

11. Ovens Mouth Preserve - Edgecomb - Boothbay Region Land Trust - 4 mile walk

12. Orono Bog Boardwalk - One mile boardwalk loop trail through part of the 600 acre bog that is part of the Caribou Bog Complex.

13, Visit Sunflower Farm Creamery in Cumberland - to see the mama goats and baby goats.

14. River Run Tours around Bath, Arrowsic, Georgetown (through July 28th)

15. Maine Maritime Museum Lighthouse and Nature Cruises (through Oct. 29th.)  YAY! My buddy, Shannon, has gifted me a 4 hour lighthouse boat tour for 2021 (due to COVID it is now for 2022!)

16. Whale Watching - 
a) Odyssey Whale Watching Tour - Portland.  
b) Quoddy Link Marine - Whale Watch out of St. Andrews New Brunswick. - Humpback Whales and Finback Whales in August. Ha! This means that we would have to stay in Campobello for a few nights...Awesome!

17. Monhegan Island - Monhegan Boat Line out of Port Clyde AND Hardy Boat Cruises out of New Harbor. Go in May for the migration of Warblers and other birds.

18. Casco Bay Lines - Cruises and tours.

19. Mt. Washington Cog Railway (New Hampshire)

20. Machias Seal Island Puffin Tours - Bold Coast Charter - out of Cutler. Late July to early August is when seas might be calmer. This is for younger and healthier people than me. My knees will not be able to handle the boat to dingy transfer, nor the dingy to shore transfer, nor the rough path to the bird blinds.

This is the 900th post on Maine Nature Diary, on Blogger!