It was weeks ago before the ice came that we saw this on Woodbury Pond. Now, the ice is here, the Republican stormtroopers have assaulted the US Capitol, and the nation has lost over 350,000 people in nine months of pandemic. Make America Great Again has new meaning.
Our winter started last week with heavy wet snow followed by consistently freezing temperatures. The icing of the waterways has begun. The drought conditions are history. The beavers are into winter hiding and the birds are getting ready for the cold.
A female mallard checks out the rest of her crowd before venturing into the water in an inlet on Woodbury Pond.
From earlier this fall during our canoe ride up the Madagascal stream near Burlington, Maine. The beavers selected this wide spot to construct their largest dam. There are several narrower sections within a mile or so. It remains a mystery to us why this spot was selected.
A typical late fall site on the Kennebec River in Augusta, Maine. The gulls congregate here where the tidal affects from the Gulf Of Maine terminate and water levels are more stable.
The pace of life proceeds in the back woods. Despite an unusually dry summer, the no-name pond managed to retain water levels that were not unusual.
During a recent autumn afternoon, a young deer wandered through the back woods.
The loons have become a daily presence on Woodbury Pond since the majority of boaters and shore line wanderers have departed.
A tree of many branches lost its balance in the Jamies Pond Wildlife Management area near Manchester, Maine.
From the dock on the Madagascal Stream looking east last weekend.
