January 28, 2022, 59°, calm at first, 6 to 10 knots at return, partial sun. Water temp 61°.
Another beautiful start. Clouds soon rolled in though.Snowy in the wind.Little Blue with a crab for breakfast.This is why they call him a Little BLUE!Yellow Crowned Night Heron hiding in the mangroves.Yellow Crowned Night HeronDetail of Yellow Crowned Night HeronBrown PelicanBrown Pelican – asleep!Brown Pelican, still has the hook and line attached.Brown Pelican Some day the kingfisher will let me come within 500 feet of him! Two of them flying around.Cormorant.Detail of Cormorant.Laughing Gull.Snowy coming in for a landing in the wind.
January 27, 2022, 60° – 6 to 9 knot winds, water 61°, partial sun. “My dog ate my homework”, nope…my computer hard drive has the photographs and will not give them back. I have gleaned a few.
OspreyTurkey VulturePelican preeningYellow Crowned Night HeronMale CormorantLaughing GullSnowy EgretGreat Blue Heron on the wing.Female Anhinga trying to dry her feathers standing on a dock line! It did not work, it was too unbalanced. She finally went to a dock.
Friday, January 21, 2022, 64° to start 74° on return – tee shirt weather! No breeze to start 3 knot on return. Partly sunny.
DawnPelicans flying in tandem.Pelican resting.Brown Pelican preening.Pelican going in for a fish breakfast.Splash.Two Pelican done fishing.Pelicans take full advantage of the “ground effect”, the air cannot push the ground out of the way and thus gives them additional lift.Ducks fly in formation.Yellow Crowned Night Heron at dawn.Yellow Crowned Night HeronGreat Blue Heron.Great Egret fishing.Snowy fishing.Wood Stork digging for a bite.Wood StorkMale Anhinga.Detail of Male Anhinga.Female Anhinga just out of the water.Female in the water fishing.Pair of Ibis.
Thursday, January 20, 2022, 58° to start, 71° on return, 0 breeze to start 3 to 5 knot on return, SUNNY again today!
Sunny day.White Pelican showing the dark feathers on the wings.The White Pelican was in a flock of Mergansers!The White Pelican just reaches down to feed! He grabs fish that way, he does not dive for them.The Brown Pelican preening.Brown PelicanBrown PelicanBrown PelicanYellow Crowned Night HeronLittle Green HeronCormorantMale Cormorant.Detail Cormorant.AnhingaAnhingaAnhinga in mangroves.Heap of Snowy egrets.SnowyJuvenile Little BlueIbisFlock of Merganser DucksMale and female Mottled Ducks.Juvenile MerganserGreat Blue HeronGreat BlueGreat BlueOspreyOsprey
Wednesday January 19, 2022, 58° to start 67° on return, 0 breeze to start 3 to 5 knot on return, SUNNY!
Great Egret coming in for a landing.Great Egret with a Great Blue heron behind.Detail of the great Egret.Great Egret landing.Turkey Vulture on the wing.Osprey in the mangroves.Osprey in flight.Great Blue Heron fishing.Great Blue Heron detail.Snowy on the rail.Two Snowy, one Cormorant, and two Ducks.Snowy Egrets and lots of Gulls.Male Anhinga on the lift.Female Anhinga curious as to what I was.Male AnhingaTwo Cormorants on pilings.Cormorant preening.CormorantCormorant resting.Brown PelicanBrown Pelican coming for a landing.White Pelican, very unusual here!White PelicanYellow Crowned Night Heron.Yellow Crowned Night Heron.Ring Billed Gull.First Winter Laughing Gull.A flock of Willets. A Wood Stork, very rare here!Flock of Wood Storks.Wood Storks.Juvenile Merganser.Flock of Merganser’s.Aquila 44, the One Eye Dog, owned by Larry and April.Captain Larry and the One Eye Dog – Abby. On their way to the Bahamas.Jeff and his sailboat.Jeff and his kayak.Jeff’s dog in the kayak.
Friday January 14, 2022, 67° to start 66° on return, 1 knot breeze. Beautiful day. No clouds, all sun.
Sunrise (actually the sun is not rising, the earth is spinning, so it should be “earth spin”, or “earth rotate” or SBE “sun being exposed” 🙂 :).)Ibis working the near shore.Yellow Crowned Night Heron still asleep.Yellow Crown with reflections of sun on the water on his chest.Osprey launching off of the branch.Osprey on the wing.Snowy all fluffed up with his breeding feathers.Snowy in breeding feathers.Great Blue Heron with stripes from the ripples reflecting sunlight.Great Blue HeronLittle Green Heron showing off those green feathers, hiding in the mangroves.Little Green Heron just landing on Jim’s boat.Detail of Little Green.Brown Pelican at dawn.Brown PelicanDetail of the Brown Pelican.CormorantDetail of the Cormorant.Cormorant – check out the eye and the surround of the eye.Anhinga, the reason they call it a “snake bird”. A flock of Mergansers has arrived, about 20 in all, but they were faster than i could paddle!MerganserRing Billed Gull – he was following the Mergansers until they lost him!Great Heron in his wedding clothes (breeding plumage).Head detail of Great Egret.Great Egret, left normal, right breeding colors (blue-green by his eye has expanded).Great Egret and Snowy (size differential!)Someone in an inflatable kayak.
Thursday, January 13, 2022, 61° to start 64° on return, no wind. I tested negative for Covid-19. This was a dolphin day! A school of dolphin came by and gave us a show!
Dawn.One of a half dozen dolphin came by, up the fairway, then back down, then up into the bay! One was 15 feet from my kayak, and just like the time we were whale watching off the coast of Maine, (a whale came up so close to the boat all I could see was the side of the whale), today I needed a lens smaller than the one I had on the camera…all I could see was a spot of gray when he was that close!Amazing such large dolphin!Dorsal fin.A Little Blue Heron. Female Kingfisher a LONG way off.Male Cormorant.Cormorant detail.Two Ibis on a light pole. SnowySnowy EgretLaughing Gull, non-breeding adult.Yellow Crowned Night Heron Yellow Crowned Night-Heron with neck extended. It is smaller than the one adjacent to it, it may be young, a male, or a female, I do not know which is smaller, the male or female.The photo above is a photo of the Night-Heron on the right. The one on the left is larger.The Merganser with his mouth full. Full of fish! Merganser.Willet.Pelican, he put down his head and came up with fish! That is the way the White Pelican fish, but the first time I have seen a Brown Pelican do it!Pelican fly just above the water to get the “ground effect” which makes flying easier for them. It adds to the lift and they can fly father without flapping their wings.Royal tern fishing.Osprey flying at dawn.Osprey up on the top of a six story building.Osprey with his breakfast of sushi. Yellowtail.Osprey in the mangroves.
Wednesday January 12, 2022, 57° to start 69° on return, wind 4 knots, water 1 inch waves. Don flew off to San Francisco yesterday. His wife is still in the Turks and Caicos due to Covid-19.
Dawn breaking.A rare Greater Scaup! First sighting ever.Female Greater ScaupOsprey…does that say “I am a predator” to you?And off the Osprey goes.Little Green hiding in the mangroves. I saw a Hawk hiding as well, but did not get a photo.Pelican bobbing along, he just caught a load of fish.Off the Pelican goes.The Pelican uses his feet to help him launch.And the Pelican is off to find more fish.Ibis on the rail.Ibis on the oysters.Ibis on the wing showing off the black tips to his wings.Yellow Crowned Night Heron with his feather all fluffed out due to the cold.Yellow Crowned with his neck stretched out!More detail of the Yellow Crowned Night HeronCormorant on a piling.Detail of the Cormorant.CormorantRoyal Tern fishing.Snowy on the mud flats.Snowy.Snowy awaiting his breakfast.GullAnother GullGreat Blue Heron taking off.Great Blue on the wing.Kingfisher dashing along.Kingfisher hovering like a Humming Bird does!Kingfisher a long way away stock still in mid air. The Osprey does similar, but the Kingfisher stays exactly in one spot.
Monday, January 10, 2022, 69° to start 75° on return, no wind. Donald my brother went with me today. He just got back from the Turks and Caicos scuba diving.
Don scuba dive adventure photos.Don wavingDawn this morning.Don inspecting the bait fish that got caught up in the mangroves and dried out.Don had Covid-19 and is isolating…except out kayaking!At dawnSnowy on our kayak trip.Osprey in the mangroves.Male Anhinga on a piling.Yellow Crowned Night Heron (we saw five today!)Yellow Crowned Night Heron.The lone Madagascar Duck by the oyster bed where he hangs out.A pair of Mottled Ducks.Female Mottled Duck.Juvenile male Mottled Duck.Female and male Mottled Ducks.Cormorant – female.Female Cormorant.Male CormorantGreat Egret.Great EgretLittle Green Heron in the mangroves.Little Green Heron on the kayak ramp.Pelican fishing.Pelican on the wing.
Sunday, January 9, 2022. 67° to start, 74° return. 4 knot wind to start 7 to 10 knot gusts on return, Yesterday I helped the theater group move the set to the Hicks Theater, then worked with Bob to program the lights for the upcoming production of Gilligan’s Island..
DawnCormorant preening.Detail CormorantCormorant looking at me!Little Green HeronOnly room for two Ibis!PelicanPelican yawning.Pelican with an itch.Pelican on a post.The Pelican had a hook in his chest.GallinuleGallinuleSnowySnowy checking out a noise.SnowyA pair of Mottled Ducks.Little BlueLittle BlueSanderling (juvenile)Blue Jay with a pine cone.KayFemale AnhingaMale AnhingaOsprey on the wing.Osprey.
Friday January 7, 2022. 69° to start 75° upon return. Wind zero at start 7 knots upon return. Yesterday I had a washer and drier delivery I had to wait for, so no kayaking or photos.
SunrisePelican resting in the mangroves.WilletClose up of WilletKingfisher about to fly.Osprey on top of mast.Little Green in the mangroves.SnowySnowyAdult IbisImmature Ibis.Immature IbisYellow Crowned Night HeronDetail of Yellow Crowned Night HeronYellow Crowned Night HeronYellow Crowned hiding in mangroves.
Wednesday January 5, 2022. 70° at start, 75° when I returned, wind zero at start, 4 knots upon return.Monday was very windy- winds reached 20 knots, I could not go out. Tuesday I manage the gym.
Osprey six floors up.Snowy staring intently at something.SnowySnowy when another gets too close.A behavior I had not observed before, the Ibis would dig into the mud with his long beak, the the Snowy would check out the site! Three pairs of Snowy/Ibis were doing the same thing!Juvenile Ibis.Little GreenJuvenile Little BlueEgretEgret with something for breakfast.Strange object in the beak of the Egret.Cormorant – blue eyes!Yellow Crowned Night HeronNight Heron yawning!Detail Yellow Crowned Night Heron.Female AnhingaMale AnhingaPaddle board -Scott stopped to pick up a boat cushion.A fisherman caught this fish (see float upper middle) then, when the line got caught, he left the fish to die! Sad.
Sunday, 1-2-2022, 72°, wind 4 to 6 knots out of the south, water has a slight ripple.
Little Blue Heron with breakfast.Kingfisher, look at those LONG wings, he can fly very fast, and does, when I get within 50 yards.Kay spotted the Osprey on top of a mast.Marian spotted the Cormorant on the swim platform.Cormorant fishing.It is unusual to see a gull floating around.Male Anhinga on his usual rooftop perch.Snowy in the mangroves.Snowy on the dock waiting for his human to bring food.Pelican
Happy New Year everyone! 1-1-2022, Saturday, 72°, wind 4 to 6 knots out of the south. Water calm.
The lone Merganser was out.And off the Merganser went, running on the water to take off.Yellow Crowned Night Heron over on the island.Osprey on his usual perch on the north end of the island.The motor for a boat lift is just the right size for two Gulls.Cormorant, love the blue eyes!Snowy awaiting his handouts.Anhinga – male.Anhinga female.Pelican showing off his big belly.Pelican fishing.Great Egret fishing.Great Blue Heron coming in fast!
December 30, 2021 This morning it is still dark and cloudy but 30°. It snowed another inch last night. Jen came down to say goodbye.AJ came down to use a four wheeler. Then we went to the new shed to continue “boarding” (adding boards to finish the walls). Then I was off to Bangor for my flight home. Here in Bangor it is 28° and snowing.
Susan made breakfast!!!Sign at the shop.Al, AJ and the window.The finished wall with the window.Michael sent along this photo of the wood processer and the Uni.Look out for the moose (not my photo!!)Mallard Ducks on a river on the way to Bangor,Snow on the drive down to town.My rental in the middle, Al had cleaned all the snow off of it yesterday.‘Al’s favorite wild animal, the Gray Squirrel.
Today the temperature went up to 37°, the snow is just right for a snowball fight, or a snowman, but….after I went out to make a snowman, the sun went behind the clouds and the snow froze up solid. I did build a small snowman though by using snow that fell off of the roof.
Not a snow “man”, a snow “dwarf”.Al and I drove down to get the mail when Al saw this Barred Owl fly across the road! He is sitting on the stub of a branch looking around. Luckily he stayed still long enough for me to get this beautiful photo.Michael brought over this Club Car that he had purchased. We spent the day getting it going. We took apart the fuel pump, changed the oil and filter, straightened the front bumper, and repaired the tailgate of the dump body.The 300cc Kawasaki engine.The electrical switching box.It has a roof – the dump is up in this photo.The sun came out for a few hours today! Mike and one dog walking down to the house for lunch.You can see the mountains to the left of the house.Mountains on the horizon.
Tuesday December 28, 2021, a heat wave 28°! Still snowing off and on, solid clouds, no wind.
A video of the wood processer in action is at the following link: https://youtu.be/Ts9m3kEBzJ4 We spent the day today offloading the wood processor and getting it going. We got a load done and took it over to Michael’s camp.
Eight family and seven dogs, AJ, Jen, Al, Sue, Mike, Becky, Cloe, and Molly.AJ’s two wheel drive Rokon.AJ’s Rokon Trail Breaker.AJ’s four wheel drive Unimog by Mercedes Benz, AJ’s head is 8 feet off the ground when driving it!Mike and AJ reattaching the wood processor to the Toyota Tundra 4 wheel drive.Tractor and Tundra pulling the wood processor up the driveway.The Unimog lifted the wood processor off the trailer and then set it into place.Some of the crew and four of the seven dogs.The Unimog has a very powerful three point lift to pick up the 2 ton wood processor!Al loading the logs onto the trailer.Al moving the logs from the trailer to the wood processor.AJ at the controls, Susan looking on. The wood is to be loaded onto the Kubota dump truck.Connected the PTO of the tractor to the wood processor.The business end of the wood processor.Mike getting ready to process the logs.Al operating the processor, the processor advances the log, cuts a length off, then spits it and conveys the split firewood to the truck.The resultant firewood which started out as a log!
Yesterday AJ and Mike drove to Connecticut to pick up the wood processer. They arrived back home at 10 PM. The girls decided that they would slide down the driveway to meet them! 19° and I could see a few stars through the clouds. [it is, as I write this, snowing like crazy!!]
Molly and Chloe getting on their sleds at the top of the driveway.Ready, and off they went.The driveway.Coming back for a second run.Down at the end of the run, Al waiting. The burn pile is in the upper right. Al piles wood, pallets, anything that burns into a pile here. Then on New Years they have a huge bonfire.Molly filmed their descent, she tried to send it to me but it was too large.The guys arrived with the beast. This is the bed where you place a log.The log goes in on the left, the machine has a circular saw that cuts it to the fireplace length (control levers in the middle), the the splitter makes the firewood, then the conveyor on the right carries the cut and split wood to the truck or pile, ready to stack.The log enters here where the conveyor belt advances it to the saw.Some of the belts. AL and Al in the orange hat.The PTO (power take off) where you attach a tractor to power the machine. AJ, Mike to right.AJ and the conveyor for the split wood.The log advances through the hole, the yellow hexagon is a hydraulic ram that forces the wood through a grid (called the wedge) to split the wood to the sizes you want (6 or 8 sticks) .The girls decided to have the truck pull them up the hill to the house.Off they go.Sue and Al’s sugar shack.Oak tree – the specks are snow – it is starting to snow.
Photos from Jen:
New Years bonfire last year. Note the people on the right for scale.Sue (left), Al, AJ on right boiling down the sap to make maple Syrup.Sue and Al on the sled (towed by the Kubota with tracks on it) they use to get six people out into the woods to collect the maple sap. The Kubota has a 65 gallon tank on the back and they pack down the 22 inches of snow to get to the trees.A family affair building a storage building (driving all wood pegs, no metal).
Monday, December 27, 2021, cloudy, some snow, no wind, 25°.
Susan out cleaning the snow off of the solar panels.No sun, but the snow has slacked off. Time to see if the solar panels can produce anything.Cloe and Molly are putting together the puzzle I had made for them.Blue Jay at the feeder.Blue JayFemale Downy WoodpeckerFemale Downy WoodpeckerFemale Downy WoodpeckerMale Downy WoodpeckerMale Downey Woodpecker.
Sunday December 26, 2021, Cloudy, snowing, no wind, 25°.
I had forgotten to include this photo of the dash as I got here on the 23rd.A Chickadee at the feeder.Beautiful feathers on the Chickadee.A bird’s nest, abandoned for the winter.Snow coming off of the roof, mountains in the distance, and a corner of their solar panels.Solar panels on a gimbal, covered with snow. No sun today, so Sue said we will clear the snow when the sun comes out.Apple trees on the front lawn.Original solar panels, lower set covered with snow. Apple trees.Sue and Al’s maple sugar shack down below the house – they make 25 to 30 gallons of maple syrup every spring!- 1500 gallons of sap has to be boiled down — lots and lots of of cords of firewood! Al cuts trees that are down and trees not good for heating for the wood. Sue and Al work hard in the forest to put the spiles in the 200 maple trees, wash and hang the buckets. Then collect the buckets and transport the sap to the house to boil it down. Then they fill the jugs! Sometimes they boil some down and pour it onto clean snow – it is like taffy! They distribute the syrup to family and friends.An oak tree by the driveway.Me shoveling snow to clear the path to the house, Al plowed the driveways. At 4 PM it is solid dark!
Merry Christmas from Vermont
Saturday December 25, 2921, Cloudy, SNOWING, no wind, CHRISTMAS
Snow overhanging the eves.A gray squirrel in the feeder Al built for them.The equipment needed for solar to house current.$12,000 worth of batteries.Susan making chocolates, she made 35 pounds of chocolates, plus maple sugar candies (70 pounds in all including maple candies).Sue’s son AJ and Jen.Cars as we woke up this morning before it snowed.Just enough firewood for one day to heat their home. Furnace and hot water copper pipes that bring the heat upstairs. They go through 15 cords a year (for Sue, AJ and others) which Al cuts (and manually splits) on the 1 square mile of forest around them.
Friday, December 24, 2021, Sunny (but the sun goes behind the mountain about 2:30 PM so at 4 PM it is mostly dark), about 4°F (it was -5°F last night), no wind, snow crunches underfoot. Christmas Eve!
Country dirt road on the way to Susan and Al’s place.Sue and Al’s solar powered home they have been in for 31 years.Barn, two black labs, and truck with snowplow, sawmill in background.Al’s sawmill where he can saw up a 3 foot log into boards..AJ built this storage shed, he only uses wood pegs and notches where needed to build buildings. Susan in foreground.Built from wood cut on their land, cut up with Al’s sawmill.Susan trimming some fir trees for a decoration.The decoration Susan made.Susan’s other decoration.
10-12-2021 Vermont, 71°, busy last night and this morning getting ready for concrete truck to come to fill tubes for new porch on Mike’s cabin.
Molly driving the tractor (Bucket on right, backhoe on rear).Mike and Chloe Working in the holes for the foundation.Al loading earth into holes with Sono tubes for the concrete.Concrete truck arrives.Placing the concrete mix into the tubes.Molly and Chloe making sure the mix goes into the tube and I am feeding it to them.Mike smoothing the tops and inserting the bolt that the porch will be fastened to.Girls making sure mix goes into the tube and me shoveling it at a rate that it not too fast.Excess concrete mix – I used a bit of it to make a brick to replace the missing brick in the fire pit.Al, Susan, Molly, Chloe, Mike and me (behind the camera), crew making the foundation. AJ worked last night but he had work today.Susan brought us breakfast!Resting after the truck left – around the new fire pit.Sue and Al…the black spot on the top ring is what I made a replacement for out of the excess concrete.
10-11-2021 Up in Vermont at my sister Susan’s, 75° out right now! I was looking at her photos of bears, dear, and other wildlife that come up on their front lawn, when Sue said to look out the living room windows…here is what I saw:
The white square is a bird house – eastern bluebirds came to visit.Down over their lawn.Lower right is a corner of their solar panels, the only have solar, there are NO powerlines out this far, so they rely on solar! Batteries today are 96.8% charged and 26 volts. They have six huge batteries that power the whole house.Looking more out over Stone mountain.Mountain and maple sugar house in the lower right.Stunning view of all the colored leaves.Mountain range in the background.Birch, sugar maple, and maples.Reds are maple trees.Reds and yellows.Another of the sugar camp!!
