MORE SNOW!

As you can see, we are are now in a normal scene for Maine in January. We didn't get as much snow as originally forecast, since it turned to freezing rain. We only had a couple of inches, with a crust. That meant cleats were necessary, but no gaiters! Here is one of my favorite sites. I was down in West Point's Cat Cove looking over to the shores of Hermit Island. The tide was high, so you don't see the small beach on this southern tip of West Point. Notice how still is the water, and birds were floating and feeding off shore. A male Eider seemed to fit the scene with its contrasting black and white plumage. How those animals tolerate the cold water is amazing to me. It was about 23 degrees, and my fingers nearly froze when I took off the gloves to take the picture.

Here is another picture looking southwest out to Mark Island on the horizon. This too was taken in Cat Cove. It also shows tips of the Wood Islands beyond the snowy rocks. I saw no boats going out to sea, but they may have gone out earlier. This was taken at mid morning. It is cloudy, but some blue skies could be seen in the north.

West Point, as some of you know, has historically been a typical Maine fishing village. There are still working wharfs, many piled high with lobster traps and paraphernalia. To provide a little color, I took a picture of some of these metal traps and a pile of buoys. Footprints preceded my steps, so someone had been down to this dock to check on the inventory. I saw several boats at anchor.

I did get over to Small Point yesterday. It was sunny but bitter cold, especially in the shoreline wind. I ducked for cover and headed for the Lily Pond to see if the beaver was active. The pond was frozen over - I was tempted to walk on the ice, but played it safe by walking its circumference. There was an open hole in the ice over near the lodge, and another opening near the shore where that big rodent may have come through for air. On the western side, I followed deer tracks punctuated by their scat at various intervals. It was a protected area, but I didn't see any beds. The crust on the snow's surface made tracking difficult. Many animals might not break through. In fact, I saw only mud prints near the hole under one of the latrines which could have been made by a number of different critters. I did see numerous dining areas, and saw one Red Squirrel dive for cover. They are active on these cold winter days, and are consuming spruce cones by the hundreds leaving piles of scales and the corn cob-like centers. Imagine if you had to survive on the tiny seeds from these cones! I saw these piles of activity repeated over and over again.

As I came back across the road behind Head Beach, I looked ahead and saw two white flashing tails of deer heading away from the campground. No doubt they were looking for shrubs to dine on, and a place to bed down for the night. The days are getting longer, thank heavens. Instead of getting dark at 4PM, we have another half hour, at least, of daylight. Despite the wintry temperatures, that is a reason to celebrate!

More snow is forecast for Friday, so we will see what is in store for Phippsburg. I have a feeling that the temperatures in the single digits will mean the fishermen will be out on Center Pond- if not today, in the very near future. They have been patient, and the fish have had a holiday.

1/18/07 Shivering Ronnie