Happy Superb Owl Sunday!

 Isn't it great to have a day dedicated to owls! We love them so much.

I wish that we could see more of them in our woods, but at least we hear the barred owls almost nightly, especially in January-April, as they are thinking about mating and nesting.

I would love to see and hear a Great Horned Owl in Maine, but have yet to have this experience. I will have to settle with having seen this one in Florida while visiting with my mother years ago.

Vegetable Growing Chart for 2023

Yes, it is early, but I am already planning on the vegetables that I am going to plant this summer. I am going to attempt to grow my plants from seed in the basement. But, first I have to have my chart of which veggies to grow and their requirements.

Barred Owl call

A pair of barred owls were hooting and hollering in the trees that border our property. I was able to capture some audio of their calls. You are probably most used to hearing the "Who Cooks For You, Who Cooks For You All" call. They have many calls in their repertoire and the one that I captured this evening is one of the most common.

Click on this link to hear the more traditional "Who Cooks for You" call that I captured in 2020.

Milkweed Seeds

I love milkweed, plain and simple.  It has gorgeous flowers that when fertilized yield dried seed pods containing a multitude of brown seeds.

The seeds are arranged in layers, all neat and orderly, and each seed is attached to a bundle of delicate strands of silky, yellowish white fibers.

The fiber bundles act like parachutes and carry the seeds as they get picked up by the wind.

The seeds eventually fall to the ground and if the soil conditions are just right, they take root to grow new milkweed plants.

January Weather Update

The historical monthly average high temperature for January is 30F, while the historical monthly average low temperature is 12F. This month our averages were higher in both regards. The average high temp was 35.6F, while the average low temp was a whopping 20.6F.  So we were 5.6F and 8.6F above normal for the high and low temperatures, respectively. CRAZY!

As far as precipitation goes, the average precipitation should be around 3.46". Luckily, we had a lot of rain along with a few good snowstorms for a total of 8.55" of precipitation in all forms. I wish I could say that this would cure the drought, but we are still way below normal.

Snowy day with piles of snow!

Wowee, what a series of storms. Between Jan. 20 and 23 we had 19.5" of snow! It just keeps piling up! Luckily, my birding bench is strong!

As I was looking at the feeder area, I saw an Evening Grosbeak hanging out on a limb. He did not look amused!

In the mounds of snow below the seed feeder, I saw a series of tunnel openings from which an adorable red squirrel popped out! They keep me chuckling at their antics.

New Year Resolutions/Adventures 2023

 Here we go again! Another new year, and I did accomplish quite a bit from last year's Adventure list. As usual, there are a few resolutions and tons of adventures to consider. I have grouped the adventures by the season to make sure I go at the appropriate times:

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.

Some local Land Trusts and Preserves with lots of trails to explore:

1. Harpswell Heritage Land Trust

2. Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust

3. Maine Coast Heritage Trust

4. Kennebec Estuary Land Trust

SPRINGTIME

1. 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. 

2. 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.

3. 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. - Cliff Trail or Cathedral Woods Trail.

4. go to Damariscotta Mills to view the Alewives migration at the fish ladder. Peak migration is mid-May from around May 13-May 30. Use Apeman underwater camera.

5. Horseshoe Crabs at Thomas Point Beach (mudflats-mating around May 20-June 30) Peak spawning occurs at the new moon and full moon in late May. Directions: Cooks Corner, Left on Bath Rd., 1st right after Cumberland gas station. Go 1.1 miles and bear right at the T. Follow sign to Thomas Point Beach then follow beach road to the end at the mudflats/marsh)

6. Visit Sunflower Farm Creamery in Cumberland - to see the mama goats and baby goats and Goat Yoga.

SUMMERTIME

1. 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.

2. 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 Potts Point Reserve  (Tidepools) (Rt. 123 for 13.9 miles to the end of Rt. 123. Park on the side of the road) AND Stover's Point Preserve - South Harpswell - Short walk.

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

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

5. 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!

6. Casco Bay Lines - Cruises and tours.

7. Seawalker Excursions - 207-671-4448 - Corey Walker's 2.5 hour Casco Bay Excursion after school is out (Gift Certificate.) 295 to Freeport Exit 20 / Left onto Desert Rd. / Desert Rd. to Rt. 1 / Right onto Rt. 1 / Left onto Pine St. (FIRST LEFT off Rt. 1 / Follow Pine St. (turns into Main St.) to South Freeport Harbor. Park on side of street.

AUTUMN

1. Woodbury Sanctuary - Stanton Bird Club -Litchfield/Monmouth. 3 miles of trails.

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

3. Thorne Head Preserve - Bath (at the end of High Street) - Fabulous trail along the Kennebec River and over next to Whiskeag Creek. Tidal estuary, fresh water marsh, vernal pools, etc.

4. Mount Apatite in Auburn - Rock Hounding is allowed down to a depth of 2 feet with hand tools. The Pulsifer Quarry had purple apatite, green tourmaline, beryl, and garnet. The Greenlaw Quarry may have bits of purple lepidolite, garnet, green tourmaline, graphic granite, muscovite mica. Mt. Apatite Map. Note: the mine was mostly for feldspar and the tourmaline and apatite were left. Dig down below the topsoil to find the minerals.

5. Deer Hill Amethyst Locality - Amethyst, beryl, etc. print map. Bring hand trowel, sifting screen. Collect within the blue painted boundary requires a free permit at the trailhead. Owned by the Forest Service.

6. Cathance River Nature Preserve - Topsham - at the Highlands - No Dogs Allowed.

7. Ship Harbor Trail in Acadia National Park

8. Sandy Stream Pond Trail in Baxter State Park. Stay at Mt. Chase Lodge.(re: Pat Maloney) - Also go to Shin Brook Falls (gorgeous waterfall)

WINTER
1. Maine Mineral & Gem Museum - Bethel, Maine

2. Farnsworth Art Museum (closed Mon & Tue) and Rockland breakwater (go at low tide)

3. Stover's Point Preserve - Long-tailed ducks -South Harpswell - Short walk just north of the beach OR Reid State Park (can be close to shore along the rocks.)

4. Giant's Stairs Trail- Harpswell -From Cook's Corner go down Rt. 24 for 14.5 miles (cross the crib stone bridge) Turn LEFT on Washington Ave. Park at the Episcopal Chapel parking lot except for Sundays. Walk to the end of Ocean St.

5. Plum Island in Ipswich, Mass. (around a 2.5 hour drive) - The sand on the far south of the island has a purple coloration to it due to many minerals in the sand. - pink garnet, opaque black ilmenite, magnetite, dark augite, quartz, feldspar, green epidote, and possibly blue Kyanite (or sapphire). Photo from International Sand Collector's Society on Facebook.

The stonework remnants of the old Grover Grist Mill on Little Gillespie Brook

On our walk up Wagg Road we happened upon a woodsy trail just past Little Gillespie Brook. On a whim, we decided to see where it led to as there weren't any No Trespassing signs nearby. The trail was quite short. As I was doing a bit of trail clearing, Drew and Toby were far ahead. I heard Drew exclaim that he found the fantastic stonework of an old mill that was at least as awesome as Tarr's Mill, if not more so, as this mill's stonework is much more complete.

And, I have to agree that this was indeed a phenomenal find. This was my first view of the stonework across the top of the dam through Little Gillespie Brook.

I walked along the trail a bit further to see the side of the dam downstream. It is massive! There is one opening to let water through and you can see it in the lower right portion of the photo. There is a slot at the upper left of the photo with an unknown function to us. I couldn't get down the slope, so Drew did the exploring (lucky duck!)

Drew walked down to the brook level and shot this panorama. We were in awe!

Then, he walked up to the dam to get a closer look at the vertical water flow slot.

Here he is at water level looking into the vertical water flow slot.

And, here is the inside of the stonework as water flows through it. These dams are a marvel to us as they are so incredibly solid and have lasted for at least 140 years or more. We are assuming that there must have been a much higher water flow rate back when the mill was in use.

Lastly, here is a panorama that Drew took while facing downstream away from the dam. Check out the stonework on either side of the brook. Amazing! We had a chat with the woman who owns the land. Her house sits on the original homestead of the Grover family and she owns the land and the mill.

The millstone was stolen from the mill several years ago, but was found and placed in front of our town's historical society building for safe-keeping.

It is so cool looking with the radiating grooves and all the lichen from so many years of sitting unused.

Here is a side view to show the thickness of the stone.

And, the lichens are gorgeous on this chunk of granite. Here you see what I think is a type of Rock Shield Lichen.

Bluebirds of Happiness visited briefly

A flock of bluebirds, along with a few goldfinches, did a quick fly-through of our yard! It is always such a pleasure when they visit.

First Snow of the season!

We got a bit of snow overnight into this morning. About 1.5" of fluffiness fell from the sky. Cool shot of a snowflake speeding by. You can actually see part of its crystalline shape and of course a rainbow of color!

I need to figure out where to put my snow table (a white plastic cutting board) for measurement as our deck now has a roof over it. I am thinking that...ugh...I will have to put the snow table on the well and shovel a path to it for each measurement.