Back from the Land of Ice & Snow: Sky Watch Friday

Crap, it's 2010. When did that happen?

We must have missed that on our marathon holiday trip that started on Christmas Eve. Drive to Akron, stay with parents & brother, Fly to Maine through Detroit, stay with parents, siblings, & grandparents (12 people in all!) fly back to Akron via Detroit, stay with parents and brother. Drive back home. Finally, yes, I am back home, and it feels wonderful. Happy New Year.

Tom

And since I just realized it's Friday, and It's been months since I participated in the ultimate nature blog meme for everyone, "Sky Watch", and this picture works for that, happy Sky Watch!

Evening Light at Little Pond

Evening Light at LIttle Pond, originally uploaded by Tom Arbour.

We're enjoying the clean, cool, air here in Maine. It's wonderful to get away from everything once in a while.

Maine Thanksgiving Weekend Part 2

Where were we? Friday afternoon, I had just walked back up the from the pond. I was hoping to get several good bird shots while we were in Maine, but that just didn't pan out. Ultimately, I didn't have the patience or cold weather gear to hold out to get great shots of several different species. Although, this black capped chickadee did oblige. Where Megan and I live in Ohio, we have Carolina chickadees, so it is nice to see the black caps. To me, they are a little bigger and more handsome, but this is perhaps because our city birds are "dirty" from rolling around in dust and grime piles! Glen had five feeders out, and they were being visited by downy woodpeckers, white breasted and red breasted nuthatch, and a bevy of red squirrels.

Being almost dinner time, I headed up to the house to see what was going on. Sure enough, someone had began to defrost shrimp in the sink. I wanted to take a picture of the shrimp for microstock, and it was quite dark in the kitchen, so I got out my Vivitar 285hv flash to illuminate the scene. I took the picture, and looked at the camera, and my jaw dropped. I no idea that I would be able to stop the stream of water raining down on the shrimp with my flash. It was very cool, and I had to try it again, taking a picture of just the water. If you have an SLR camera but don't have an off camera flash, you are missing out on some fantastic creative opportunities. I used to think I never would need flash, but now that I've had one for about six months, it really comes in handy and I take in wherever I go.





After the shrimp and water photography, I noticed a bag of live creatures on the porch. I took one out, let it crawl around the floor, and was fascinated by its colors and shapes.





When looking at the lobster's claws close up, it appears that they have very different uses. The left claw, full of tiny barbs and hooks, looks like it is designed to hold onto prey items.


However, the left claw, which is lined with bumps that remind me of our own molars, looks like it is designed to crush prey.


Photographing the lobster was fascinating. I'll leave it up to the imagination as to what happened next.

A full belly, it wasn't much longer before Megan and I headed to bed, ready for our last day (Saturday) at little pond.



I was up early the next morning. The temperatures in Maine weren't all that cold when we were there, and it was very humid. Overnight, everything froze and there we some amazing frosts. Ice crystals coated everything in the bog, like this black spruce branch,


This tamarack needle, one of only a dozen or so still holding on to the tree,


and these alder catkins.


There was quite a bit of bird life, and I was able to see a brown tree creeper, and squawking above, these three ravens.



Ravens are common at Little Pond, but here in Ohio, we just had our first confirmed modern nesting of Ravens this year. I always enjoy the ravens, but they stay far away from the house at little pond.



The house is a log home, nested at the top of little pond on a peninsula between the pond and a marsh. The house itself faces away from the road. The original owners had the house face that way so its large sliding glass doors would look out towards the pond rather than back at the woods. Since the front of the house is so close to the woods, it is quite hard to get a shot of the real front facade.

I was poking up around the woods just below the house when the sun rose up above the hills, providing dramatic lighting to the ice and snow covered forest.


A snow covered branch of balsam fir, the conifer so revered for its fragance at this time of year. It seems as if every church in Maine sells native balsam fir wreaths for fundraisers at this time of year.

Another tree that caught my eye in the sun was this American beech, still holding on to its leaves.



And finally, as I walked up towards the house, ready to go in, as I was pretty cold by this time, the sun was simply spectacular as it shot through the trees. Part of the photography challenge I have at little pond is to continually capture unique and interesting images. We visit here often, and although the property is only 40 acres or so, things are pretty similar. I saw this shot and just new I had something interesting and different from anything that I had ever captured at little pond. The small white pine, coupled with the right-arching deciduous branches provides an interesting contrast and balance to the image. Although shooting into the sunlight is typically a "no-no" in nature photography, I think this shot works. I had to shade the lens by holding out my hat above and in front of the camera.



Megan and I packed and later we headed to Portland to catch our flight back to Columbus. On the way, we stopped with the family at Dimillo's a floating seafood restaurant in Maine. Satisfied with my bounty of seafood for the weekend (lobster, PEI mussels, shrimp) I was ready to head back to Columbus. I hope you enjoyed our trip to Maine.

Tom

The Bog of Little Pond

Yesterday's scene of the bog lit only by the light of the moon was interesting, but you really couldn't make out any of the plant species that dwell in this interesting community. Here in Ohio, we have bogs- we used to have more, but they have been drained and mined, so the very few that we have left are mostly state nature preserves. But in Maine, bogs are a dime a dozen. What is most interesting to me is see how plants that are very rare here in Ohio are dirt common in Maine.

Here you can see two of Ohio's potentially threatened species that are really common up where Megan's parents live. Can you guess these pick out these two plant species? I'll give you a hint: they are on Ohio's rare plant list. If you've been to Triangle Lake Bog or Kent Bog in northeast Ohio, you have surely seen these species.

Finally, anybody have an idea what that red stuff is?

Answers and more plants tomorrow.

Tom

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.

Maine, Day #2

Day two in Maine was a snow day. Dark clouds, all day, and plenty of snow. By evening, we had 8 more inches, making about twenty or so inches on the ground. It was a day to stay inside and enjoy the fire. I did take this shot out the window across to the other side of the pond.


All that snow has to come from somewhere, right?


Day three will be tomorrow, with plenty of pine grosbeak photos!

Tom

Winter in Maine- Day 1

Megan's parents live in rural western Maine. The towns near them are quite tiny and fairly provincial, and they live five miles or so outside of the town center. When the original owner built the house in which they now live in the early 1990's, the house wasn't even on the electric grid! It was powered by a generator and heated and lit with propane. Now, the Woods' house on little pond is on the grid, but the place has kept its rural charm.

One of the greatest things that has happened to Megan and I is Skybus Airlines. We can fly to Portsmouth New Hampshire for literally dollars, rent a car, and drive just under two hours to get to Little Pond.



Little did we know that below these clouds would be a winter wonderland.



Once on the ground at New Hampshire, we picked up the rental car and drove to Maine. New fallen snow coated everything, and our drive was nice and sunny. When you start seeing snow plows and logging trucks, you know you are in rural Maine.



Little Pond sits just to the left of this road which is Maine State Route 117. We turned into the driveway, and what a sight it was! The snow was piled up everywhere.



Once we arrived, I immediately started taking pictures. I grabbed the telephoto lens and shot from the deck out across the 26 acre frozen and snow covered pond. The small pine trees in the foreground are black spruce growing in the sphagnum bog, while the taller trees are mostly white pine.



A quick trip out to the bird feeding station revealed what I was expecting. Dozens of black-capped chickadees and several red-breasted nuthatches.



Later on in the day, a male hairy woodpecker visited the feeding station.



Later on in the day, this tree ornament caught my eye.



What a great first day in Maine. Smooth travel, wonderful scenery, and it was great to see Megan's parents and brother. And what better way to end a day than with a wonderful meal grilled on the stove top by Megan's brother Mike?



Be sure to stop back for days two, three, and four.

Happy New Year,

Tom

Visit Cranberry Island Before it is too Late

On Saturday June 21, the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves will hold an open house at Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve. If you haven't been to any nature preserve, this is your opportunity. Cranberry Bog is not your average nature preserve. In fact, it is probably the only island nature preserve in Ohio. Fortunately, almost every year in June, the division opens the preserve for visitors. Come see pitcher plants, orchids, cranberries, and sundews at the bog. I'll be there giving tours. If you didn't sign up for a reservation, this year we are even taking walk-ins. For more about the site, visit the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves. So what happens if you don't go? This island bog is slowly eroding away. You see, most of Buckeye Lake was formerly a bog and swamp forest, but when it was flooded to provide water for Ohio's canal system, most of the excellent natural area was drowned. Cranberry island broke free and is now surrounded by lake water. Each year, small pieces break off, and in some years, hundreds of square feet go floating across Buckeye Lake. So, get out there while it is still there!


Here is the tiny carnivorous plant, Drosera rotundifolia. The small red glands help the plant capture insects.


The beautiful state threatened Calopogon tuberous, also known as the grass-pink. One of my favorite Ohio native plants, this flower is quite rare. The Division lists it as State Threatened.