Ice and Snow

The ice storm ice lasted for almost a week, and there was damage to the trees, especially the ones standing by themselves in people's yards. Trees in the woods survived fairly well. A clump of big somethings on the riverbank, Norway maple I think, toppled over into the river. Looking at the bottom of the torn up patch of bank I see almost no roots!


There haven't been that many birds, the pair of swans and the mallards remain and Monday there was a flock of geese for a few hours. Last week there was a group of male goldeneye passing through, diving and swimming fast.

The last few days I've only seen one male goldeneye, a grebe, and the eternal mallards. Oh! and a kingfisher! He was sitting on a piece of wood sticking up several feet out of the water, just above the dam.

This morning there was a pretty good fall of snow, several inches. The mallards were doing their dabbling below the dam, I haven't seen that before. They usually prefer the calm water of the pond.

After the snow stopped, a small flock of goldeneye, three males and three females, were feeding above the dam. The males remind me of the penguins we saw in Milford Sound, with their rapid dives and flashes of white.

They're back!

The skunk cabbage buds are coming up through the icy water.

Ice storm! Every branch and twig and blade of grass is encased in ice. I see that ice wraps around the tree-trunks, too. Many big branches down, especially on the big elms that are not doing so well anyway. A little snow fell, and now the woods have taken on an eerie look.

January 1, 2007

A grey morning; nothing stirring out on the pond. The temperature has been bobbing around fifty degrees all week, so no snow. Last night, rain.

About 1:00 five male goldeneyes showed up, diving frantically above Boys Dam for about fifteen minutes. They spent most of the time underwater, surfacing for a few seconds then diving again. Gradually they made their way up-river and out of sight.

At the same time the mallards emerged from wherever they had been hiding, and about an hour later the pair of swans showed up. The sun came out briefly, making the white of the swans even more brilliant against the grey water.