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From the annual visit to Contoocook

johngregsite Posted on by

Image Lake Contoocook

Our recent visit to New Hampshire was the usual great time along the shores of Lake Contoocook. The weather was variable, the above sunset was countered by strong winds, gray skies, some rain, on some days. We were busy with visitors and places to go, such as a short walk around the grounds, and beyond, of the Cathedral of the Pines. Like the pond and lakes in Maine, the lake was at the highest level I can remember. This precluded walks along the shore beyond the beach and the usual boggy areas where I would find birds were flooded.

image gull

We had this gull (left) on the beach for hours during the last couple days of our visit. It alternately jumped onto the dock and then strolled along the beach.

Another great sunset is shown below

image sunset

Update from the bog

johngregsite Posted on by
Image beaver bog

We are plugging away and keeping up appearances. Our weather has been very Spring-like and heading for warmer times next week. The winter was also Spring-like, as weird as one can imagine. As previously reported, the month of March saw almost 10 inches of rain; the significant attribute here is “rain” as compared to stuff they call “snow.” In general, our part of Maine averages over the decades about four inches of rain a month. Recording objective data is complicated because in winter, the “rain” is usually snow and not precisely recorded on my gauge. This year, we had more “snow” in the first two weeks of April than all of March (but, again, March had twice as much rain as usual).

Above, the latest view of the Beaver bog/pond. Our algae is proliferating and I have not seen any beavers in a good while. The pond is maximally filled and the dam (not shown, just to the right) is being maintained or is staying strong on its own.