Visiting the Kennebec river in March

johngregsite Posted on by
image gulls on ice
image gulls on dock

I went over to Gardiner (Maine) boat landing in mid-March to catch the end of winter on the river. Ice in small to large chunks were drifting downstream. Parts of the river still had ice sheets. Among the riverside visitors was an impressive number of gulls.

As you can see, they were on the railings of the pedestrian walkway along the river as well as on the ice itself. While no one was feeding them directly or leaving food around, they seemed to be anticipating that possibility.

Since then, we have been trying to get images of the Spring influx of ducks on our nearby ponds and streams. We have had some success but many of these critters are excessively skittish. They fly off well before I can get anywhere near close enough for photos. Even when I have tried to sit and wait for them to return, after an hour or so, they still are absent.

I do have some photos of mallards and mergansers that I will be posting.

The beaver bog gets wet

johngregsite Posted on by
Image beaver bog 2021

The bog now has a significant amount of water content. After twenty to twenty-five years of being mostly dry, this Spring has seen the effects of increased beaver damming over the Fall and Winter. The beavers have re-established the old dam at the start of the outlet stream (where bridge Charlie is and shown in a previous post). They have also enhanced the dams on the primary feeder stream (near bridge Echo), shown here.

It is interesting to see the higher water levels in the bog despite the damming of the feeder stream. In contrast, down at Woodbury Pond, where the bog outlet stream empties into, the water level is much lower than usual. I suspect they have opened the dam that controls the pond’s level for some reason.