Maine, Day #3

The great thing about Maine, and I'm sure most parts of the country are like this too, is that when it snows there, it really snows hard and heavy. But usually the next day the clouds leave and the skies open up and reveal a beautiful day. Here in Ohio, it is mostly gray all winter, so having bright, sunny, and snowy days in Maine was special.

So for day three in Maine, I woke up about 8:30 and peered out the window. The moon was still in the sky, but everything looked good for a wonderful day.



Megan had a cold, so I decided to head out on snowshoes to see what I could see at Little Pond.



Down the driveway and down into the balsam fir forest I went. American beech trees still cling to their leaves.



Snow shoeing was great fun, and it is quite a work out. It also helps you traverse through the 20 or so inches of snow on the ground fairly efficiently. I made my way through the forest, out to little pond road on the northwest end of the property. I followed the abandoned little pond road (it is still in the delorme atlas!) down to the bog of little pond. The typical hummocky micro-topgraphy really stood out well in the snow.



It was here where I had the please to watch and photograph a mature male pine grosbeak for about thirty minutes. It was feasting on the fruits of the shrubs in the bog.





Getting fairly tired and cold by this point, I decided to take a shortcut back to the house--through the bog and fen. It was tough, but as I made it out up onto solid ground, I was only a few minutes from the house. A nice paper birch caught my eye. This is one deciduous tree that is not native to Ohio, but at little pond, it is common.



On my way back to the house, I had to pass the feeding station. Why not try to get a few more shots of birds? I noticed a white pine branch above me. The light was magnificent, and every few minutes, a black-capped chickadee would land there before dropping down to the feeder. I metered carefully, used my ski pole for a monopod, and got lucky to get this shot.