Tag: Winter
-
More Bobcat Images from Trail Cam
I’m slowly catching up on a backlog of game camera photographs from last winter. Today I’d like to share new bobcat images from January 2017, though I’m not 100% certain when the handsome cat prowled our meadows because I failed to reset the time/date stamp when I installed the camera. (Note that the default date…
-
Coyotes Captured on Camera
This winter Rosslyn’s trail camera silently monitoring a fence opening (along the margin of a woods-fields transition) recorded our second most frequent nocturnal visitor, the Eastern Coyote. The images in this post, captured this past January (2017), might even offer a glimpse at the animal frequently referred to as a “coywolf”. [pullquote]The coyote—or possibly…
-
February Swim in Lake Champlain
February swim, anyone? In Lake Champlain?!?! [pullquote]Griffin “polar bear plunges” in 35° Lake Champlain… mid-winter swimming bliss![/pullquote] Griffin, our now almost nine year old Labrador Retriever, was thrilled with to chase some throw-toys in the chilly lake today despite the fact that it’s February 19 and the water temperature is exactly three days above freezing… 35° of…
-
Bald Eagle Surveying Lake Champlain
While returning to Essex from Elizabethtown this afternoon I spied this handsome bald eagle perched 20 to 30 feet above Whallons Bay. He was surveying the glass-flat, frigid (37° isn’t quite freezing, but it’s not far off) waters of Lake Champlain, head pivoting jerkily. Although he never took flight, never plunged down to grab a lake trout…
-
Waterfront Winterization
There comes a time each autumn when summer has faded and winter is whispering over the waves. Or when work, travel, something eclipses the languid stretch of fall boating and watersports. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later, and as inevitable and bittersweet as fall foliage, waterfront winterization is an annual ritual that braces us practically and emotionally for the North Country’s…
-
Bobcat Sighting
This handsome bobcat (Lynx rufus) was photographed with game camera in one of our meadows on January 2, 2016. Friend and Essex neighbor John Davis mounted the camera about a month ago. In addition to photographs of deer, turkeys, and rabbits he discovered four images (from two separate occasions) of this healthy bobcat. In fact, he thinks it might possibly…
-
Frozen Lake Photos of Essex
I spied Bill Amadon,(billamadon.com) an Essex artist and good friend, walking around on the frozen lake in front of our boathouse a few days ago. The lighting and distance made identification a little dodgy but the dog was hint #1 and a conversation with Bill the day prior (at the Essex Post Office where so…
-
De-Icing the Duck Pond
Let me start by saying that we don’t have a duck pond. We have a lake. Lake Champlain. And although it pains me slightly to say it, we also don’t have any ducks. Not personally, at least. Lake Champlain, on the other hand, has plenty of ducks. And when the lake freezes and the ducks…
-
December 2014
In recent years December has given us our first real blast of winter. A premature blast usually because early December snows have usually melted by Christmas… December 2014 Raptors Early in December 2014 I walked Rosslyn’s woods and meadows to make sure our cross-country ski trails were clear of trees and brush. The good news was…
-
Aftermath: Winter Storm Damage
My enthusiasm for an early season blizzard was rewarded (punished?) severalfold. Be careful what you wish for! Remember the section about potential winter storm damage in my last post? Impacts Travel conditions will remain difficult to hazardous due to snow covered roads and visibilities occasionally dropping below one half mile. In addition the weight of the snow…
-
Alert: Winter Storm Warning
In this age of mobile connectivity we’re never far from up-to-the-moment weather advisories and alerts. This winter storm warning interrupted me this morning. Alert: Winter Storm Warning Winter storm warning now in effect until 11 pm EST this evening. The national weather service in Burlington has extended the winter storm warning for heavy snow and mixed precipitation…
-
Midwinter Gator Service
I mentioned the other day that frosty, persistent midwinter is the perfect time to get Rosslyn’s lawn and field equipment serviced so that it’s ready for prime time once the snow retreats and the dandelions bloom. A few days before the tractor was picked up, the folks at Mountain View Equipment (formerly Giroux Brothers) retrieved the…