October 2007
11 posts
FIRST FREEZE: The morning temperature got down to 31F at 5:15 am today. Up till now, we have only had frost on the roof a week ago. We are finally beginning to see typical autumn temperatures.
Watch Caesar Pond in Late Autumn: I took a short paddle around Caesar Pond on a particularly calm evening. There was a chill in the air as the sun began to set, and the evening light created a golden glow on the eastern shore. All that could be heard was the sound of my paddle dipping into the water and the clicking of the camera shutter as I tried to capture the scenes before me.
Mushrooms ‘N Things: In the midst of Autumn, around the first frost, Mycena glaericulata fungi can be found on trees and sprinkled throughout our yard wherever there is decayed wood. I spent quite some time photographing them as they tend to decay overnight and turn into a slimy mass that disappears quickly. At the same time that the fungi appeared, the crabapples were beginning to rot and...
Watch AUTUMN UPDATE: Since we haven’t posted in 5 days, I thought I’d do an update on the happenings around Maine. The southern portion of Maine has hit peak leaf color which should last another week. Around Caesar Pond, the first leaves to turn brown are those of the mighty oak, followed by choke cherry and what I believe to be alder. The Black locust have mostly lost their leaves, and the...
Watch Popham Beach: Sand, surf, shells and wildlife… I love wandering about Popham Beach, basking in the sun, poking in the tide pools on Fox Island, and watching the antics of the shorebirds. Low tide is the time to visit, for this is the only way to walk out to Fox Island. Thanks to Helen Hess (College of the Atlantic), and David Jones (MyBitOfThePlanet.com) for identification of the...
Watch Nearing Peak Color on Caesar Pond: A quick paddle around Caesar Pond yielded some nice autumn colors.
WatchApple Season in Maine: We visited the Stukas Farm over the Columbus Day weekend and picked a lovely bunch of Cortland apples. Yummm…
WatchSnapping Turtle Hatchlings: The turtle eggs were laid on June 22nd. Thirty babies emerged from the nest 113 days later. These babies took 3 weeks longer to emerge than last year’s clutch, and last year only 13 babies hatched. Upon measuring the hatchlings, I found that their shells averaged 3 cm x 3 cm. They all still had yolk sacs, but at varying degrees of absorption. The...
SNAPPING TURTLE BABIES HAVE HATCHED: 30 beautiful snapping turtle babies hatched out at around 4:30 pm today during the full brunt of a Nor’easter. It was raining quite hard and the wind had picked up to about 15 mph. The turtles were very energetic as they pushed through the sand of the nest hole. The exit hole was filled with water when we found it, and I had to scoop about 5 babies...
LEAF COLOR UPDATE: The trees have reached peak color here in Bowdoin, Maine. Unfortunately, work has kept me busy from morning till night and I have not had the opportunity to photograph the colors. Tomorrow, we are bracing for a nor’easter to blow through. Hopefully, there will still be leaves on the trees for me to photograph this weekend. The colors are eye-poppingly brilliant. COLUMBUS...
WatchQuick Trip: Last Sunday, we made a brief visit to Mackerel Cove on Baily Island. Unfortunately, time didn’t allow for more than a few snapshots. However, we fully intend to revisit the cove and get a wider variety of photos next time.
Turtles, Gardens, Leaf color, and Pond Updates: I am so busy with school that I haven’t had time to do a posting in a week. So…here is an update (photos soon to come)…The snapping turtles have not hatched out yet (I told them that they had to wait until my Colorado friend, Jane, arrived for the holiday weekend. We have had so little rain that our gardens are bone dry, and I may...