View Full Version : Ice is Out!
Jack Moroney (RIP)
04-18-2005, 10:02
Today marks the official "ice out" day. Yesterday the pond was frozen from bank to bank but over night it finally melted. This morning at sun up we were greeted by a cacaphoney of about 100 peepers (some captured in the picture when they surfaced), snow geese heading north, barred owls establishing their territory, and by 1030 their were broad winged hawks making "gun runs" on the peepers. Even the crocuses have emerged. Looks like we are going to have an early spring!
Jack Moroney-wandering the AO with a cane and packing a pistol on the lookout for rabid raccoons and stupid college kids
alphamale
04-18-2005, 11:37
Time to sunbathe by the pond Sir Jack! :)
FrontSight
Bravo1-3
04-18-2005, 11:50
What a great piece of property!
CPTAUSRET
04-18-2005, 12:43
What a great piece of property!
What he said!
Terry
Nice pics Sir! I like the one with the peepers on the pond.
Looks like all of those deer pellets made some nice flowers. :D
Always nice to see not so good stuff making good scenery.
Thanks for sharing sir!
Cincinnatus
04-18-2005, 20:00
I was out for a walk Saturday, and came up on a marshy spot, not quite a pond, and heard the peepers making a racket, sounded almost like a cocktail party from a little distance. The far corner of the marsh, in shadow from trees and hillside, was still under a crust of snow and ice but the other end was warm enough that the frogs were out having a party!
Saw a Pileated Woodpecker, too. I love Vermont in the Spring.
Radar Rider
04-18-2005, 20:29
Sir, that all looks like a beautiful place to live. This is a great time of the year, watching everything spring back to life after the cold times. :)
Jack Moroney (RIP)
04-19-2005, 05:00
I was out for a walk Saturday, and came up on a marshy spot, not quite a pond, and heard the peepers making a racket, sounded almost like a cocktail party from a little distance. The far corner of the marsh, in shadow from trees and hillside, was still under a crust of snow and ice but the other end was warm enough that the frogs were out having a party!
Saw a Pileated Woodpecker, too. I love Vermont in the Spring.
Great time of year. Cool enough to keep the black flies down (but not for long) but warm enough to strip off the winter gear. Know exactly what you mean about the peepers. I estimate we have a couple of hundred of them and it is sort of like having your own early warning system. Can always tell when the hawks, owls,or coons are around, they go dead silent. We also have a resident pair of Pileateds. Funny thing about that. I have a good SF friend, Art Hutchins, who served with me up here doing the ROTC instructor thing in the mid 70s. We used to run a little mountaineering course up in Richmond, VT. We would go out the day before and set up the rope courses and then spend the night. We had a great view of the valley and the Winooski River from a rock outcropping we "hung out on" both literally and figurately. He saw his first Pileated there and remarked that he didn't know that "woody woodpecker" actually was real. Last week this large package arrived from him and in it was a terriffic wood carving of a Pileated. Great soldier and just a good friend.
Jack Moroney-remembering when you life "hangs" in the balance good ropes and great friends work well together
Cincinnatus
04-19-2005, 07:09
As dry as it is the black flies shouldn't be too bad this year. (Fingers crossed.)
Dry? You guys didn't get the snow and rain your neighbors to the north received this winter?
Incidentally, how's the sap running up your way? Will this be a light, amber or dark year?
Jack Moroney (RIP)
04-19-2005, 09:15
Kinda was a down year for maple syrup folks. Got a mix of all but not much of any. Haven't seen the final figures yet, but I am sure Sanders, Leahy and Jeffords will blame the Bush administration for low production due to global warming, poor health of the tree sap suckers because of the high cost of prescription drugs and loss of manpower "sapped" from the National Guard to fight the GWOT.
Jack Moroney-thinking about blueberry pancakes and hot maple syrup.
CPTAUSRET
04-19-2005, 12:18
Jack Moroney-thinking about blueberry pancakes and hot maple syrup.
Jack:
You are just obviously striving to tempt me to pay you a visit, that sounds delicious!
Stay safe.
Terry