Papermill Trail in Autumn

Each year we walk on the Papermill Trail, along the Androscoggin River, to take in the brilliant colors of autumn. Part of the trail runs parallel to a discontinued railroad track. Here you see the track crossing the Sabattus River where it enters into the Androscoggin River.  

There are so many colorful trees along the trail, and the leaves were incredible on this sunshiny day.

As we walked along, I found a small stand of horsetail plants. These are ancient, spore-bearing plants from over 350 million years ago where they were as tall as trees back then!

The scenery across the river is what we really came for, and it was quite the sight! There was no wind and the surface of the water was as reflective as glass.

There is an island up river that always attracts my eye. It has some gorgeous trees around its perimeter.

Drew also took a panorama that included me in the photo. Fun! He does a great job with this technique and cell phones make it so easy to do! Go to this link to see photos of Toby on the Androscoggin River. He is such a photogenic pup!

September Rain thus far

Even though we still have 10 days to go in the month of September, I am excited to update our rain total.

Sept. 5-6 = 1.62"  + Sept. 18 = 0.44"  + Sept. 20 = 1.87"  for a total of  3.93".  

The historical average monthly precipitation for September is 4.20". That means that we still need 0.27" more rain to meet the historical average. Now, the hope is that we can exceed that average so that we can make up for the huge loss that we have had through the winter, spring, and summer.

More Rain...Yay!!!

Today, we received 0.78" of rain. That gives us a grand total of 3" of rain. 

On August 26th, we received  0.43"  of rain.

Note: The August monthly average is 3.27", so we were just shy of about a 1/4 of an inch. If only we could get several inches more than needed to make up for our drought...one can only wish...

Loon Chick on Caesar Pond - 10th Week of Life

Here is a short video showing the loon chick and cormorants who are also frequenting the pond.

Here we are at Day 69 in the 10th week of the Loon Chick's life. The chick now has all of its juvenile feathers and looks pretty spiffy, if I do say so...I love the brown coloring and the feather patterns. 

It still hangs around with one parent and will beg for food. It should be capturing between 90-100% of its own food by now.

Such a handsome chick...

Here it is preening. Gotta keep those gorgeous feathers waterproofed!

Rain: Just a bit to dampen the soil

 Last night we got 0.22" of rain to just moisten the soil surface. So far we have gotten the following rain this month:

August 7th = 0.21" + August 9th = 0.41" + August 17th = 0.85" + August 18th = 0.1"  + August 23 = 0.22"

Total by Aug. 23 = 1.79" of rain  (We have 8 more days to add 1.48" to hit the monthly average.) We have the potential for more rain tonight and next Tuesday and Wednesday. I am crossing my fingers and toes for more rain! 

Loon Chick on Caesar Pond - 9th Week of Life

Day 59 of the loon chick's life isn't too exciting. But the parents are starting to get the itch to migrate out to sea. They are exploring the fish population of other lakes and ponds nearby, while one always keeps an eye on the chick who cannot fly yet. Enjoy this little snippet of Week 9!

Loon Chick on Caesar Pond - 8th Week of Life

Whooo Hoooo! The loon chick is really feeling its oats on day 55 of life. He is bathing and I think engaging in some pre-flight training. Enjoy this little snapshot into his invigorating antics on Caesar Pond! Be prepared to chuckle.

Loon Chick on Caesar Pond - 7th Week of Life

Week 7, Day 46 of the loon chick's life: shows us a chick who has replaced most of its downy feathers with wicked beautiful juvenile contour feathers. He is so sleek looking! I am thinking that this is a male due to how big he is and is still growing...

Sunfinity Sunflowers

Oh my goodness, I do love sunflowers. I've never been successful in growing any in the flower gardens as they do require a lot of light and space, which is something our backyard does not have. So, this year we purchased a large planter with a Sunfinity Sunflower and put it on the deck so that the deer wouldn't eat it.

It was love at first sight! The plant has lots of flower buds just waiting to open, all season long!

I enjoy seeing the buds gradually open. It is kind of like Christmas in a flower every time! The petals are such a deep and vibrant yellow and unfurl a few at a time over several days.

As the flower matures, the tiny disk flowers attract bees who love to sup on the nectar. I love the symmetry and patterns of flowers. They bring me such incredible joy.

In researching these particular sunflowers, I found that they do not produce sunflower seeds like those that we eat. I found a few flowers that some birds decided to dismantle looking for seeds, but never did seem to find anything to their liking. I left all the mature flower heads on the stems, just in case some bird wanted to eat them, but I think I'll cut them off to allow the plant to produce more flowers! 

By the way...this post is dedicated to my sweet niece of a pup, Cherise, who brings me a bit of sunshine when I see her each day. She is in surgery right now having work done on her tail. Poor girl. I hope her spirits will lift soon, although she will have to wear the dratted cone for awhile!

So Much Heat!

Here we go again. Yesterday, the feel-like temp got up to 98 F. Today will be the same or higher! At 1pm, we currently have a feel-like temperature of 100F. NOTE: We did get 0.21" of rain in a cloud burst of a light thunderstorm today. It cooled the air just a bit.