spring

I’ve made two scouting trips on the Saint Gorge this week and can report an amazing number of eagles, cormorants by the thousands and a few ospreys. The ravens are still in the rookery at the head of the tide and calling to each other steadily. But not one striper to the boat, I did have one half hearted bite yesterday morning but no luck on setting the hook. Water temperatures are almost warm enough (59 up river and 52 in the lower river) and should improve over these next few days with a mid day low tide and sunny skies to warm the flats.

Like the leaves turning color and falling marks the change of seasons at the end of summer. Their arrival marks the beginning of the summer as well. Gradually the hillsides turn a pale red with the maple buds and then the poplar leaves arrive as a bright green splash. Followed by the beech trees adding their leaves. The young beeches are most noticeable near the house because they limit the distance that you can see into the woods. They seem to arrive in only a day or two and before you know it the woods are green. The woodland wildflowers have been marking the season as well.

I am still trying out the new Lund Alaskan and making sure that everything works as it should before my season really gets underway. To do that I thought that I would take advantage of the warm afternoon that we were having today. I launched the boat in Seven Tree pond and after an initial mishap (left the plug out when I launched, really good news the bilge pump works like a charm) I spent an hour or so bass fishing.

This morning Argy and I got up early and drove to Bar Harbor to have breakfast with our son and his girlfriend before heading back to Ellsworth to pick up my new Lund at Branch Pond Marine. We got the paperwork filled out and wrote the big check before getting the walk through on how to make everything work. After going over all of the details we drove back to Union. After a short break at my desk I began fitting the boat out with the required safety equipment and handy items that I like to have on board.

This week has been marked by a rapid transition to spring in all of it’s glory. Warm days with little wind and clear blue skies. Our crocuses and daffodils came into bloom this week and the grass is looking green. The birds have gone into full spring mode as rapidly. This week I noted the first bluebird song, turkeys gobbling every morning and the grouse in the woodlot drumming.

This afternoon was warm and sunny with a milky blue sky. I knew that once the afternoon sea breeze started the air would chill quickly. So I did the best thing I could think of, I loaded a canoe and headed down to the Saint George River for an hour or two. The ice is out of Seven Tree Pond enough so that I could launch and paddle up into the river. The water level is very high, those of you that have been on this trip will remember the rock up river that is at least six feet above the water level in the summer was nearly covered with water.

I’ve been getting each dog out for a half an hour every afternoon. It is good for all of us to run around (in my case amble around) in the woods a little each day. The pointers are finding a few woodcock but not as many as we hear on our walk in the mornings.  Each day the snow goes a little more, on Sunday it was well over my knee boots in the woods and this afternoon there are patches of no snow and it is not over the tops of my boots anywhere.

Slowly the snow is starting to recede, first the edges of the fields show through and then gradually I can see the areas of brown grow. Hopefully this slow melting trend continues with all of the snow here and further north the last thing we need is a rapid melt, the resulting flooding would be a big problem. The days are moderating and a sunny day is a real treat. The cold has really lost its bite even though many mornings are still below freezing.

Cold and raining this morning one of those early spring days that would almost be better as a snowstorm. Luckily the wind is not blowing at the moment but the forecast calls for a strong wind tonight and tomorrow as the storm pulls away. I have a meeting in Bangor tonight so rain is preferable to snow just this once, I have driven home from Bangor in the dark during a snowstorm and can report that it is not any fun at all.

One sign of spring that we don't like to talk about is the frost heaves.  Now for those of you from warmer parts of the world let me explain.  During the winter and ground freezes deeply, as it starts to thaw in the early spring it thaws from the surface down.  It also thaws unevenly some places, for instance over top of a culvert thaw quickly whereas the surrounding area thaws more slowly.  This difference creates unevenness in the road surface.