Day 18.081: Here we goes

Tonight was the final rehearsal for the musical. Tomorrow, they do a show during the day for some other students and Thursday through Sunday is the run of five shows. I can’t wait to see it!

Day 18.080: Bangor City Forest

Our second stop on Saturday morning was to walk some of the trails at Bangor City Forest. The trails were extremely well maintained - remarkably so for the time of year - and clearly very popular with the locals.

Trail and some very tall trees

‘Tis the season: meltwater run-off

This tree was swallowing the sign - not that we worked out what these measurements meant even when we could be sure what they said

Some of the pools under the trees were still frozen

Fungus

Day 18.079: Exile #2’s Sunday Column #519

Exile #2 writes...

Somehow, while much of the rest of the state was experiencing snow, sleet, and freezing rain, we struck it lucky with our trip north. While E5N1 went through the audition process, Exile #1 and enjoyed a couple of walks and a nice Thai meal.

Exile #3 sent this photo from home early in the storm - not a blockbuster perhaps, but a lot more than we saw up north

E5N1 got the call on the way home to say that his audition had been successful, which was great but didn’t make the decision for him. So, now he has to choose and I have a feeling it won’t be easy...

Day 18.078: Newman Hill Preserve

While E5N1 was at his audition at the University of Maine in Orono, Exile #2 and I went for two short walks. The first was at a site we first saw called Taylor Bait Farm but actually is now Newman Hill Preserve.

Our walk was a mile loop - out along a closed road to some ponds (devoid of birds as far as we saw, then back through the woods to another pond that we had driven by where we saw some interesting birds and captured an exciting event. Here are my pictures:

The closed part of Taylor Road

The former bait farm ponds - no birds today

The start of the trail back through the woods was snowy, but most of it was clear and easy

Arriving at the roadside pools, our first sighting was this perched bald eagle

Two hooded mergansers

Adult male

He seemed to practicing his display - lifting his body high and displaying his "hood". However, he only seemed to do it when the female was diving under the water - perhaps he's a bit shy at the moment

Two American black ducks

A group of gulls - some (maybe all) seem to be great black-backed gulls

A lone bufflehead was repeatedly surfacing briefly in this spot before diving again 

Then, I noticed the bald eagle make a move - he did a couple of low swoops

Made his final approach

Eyes on the prize

Success

Going to find somewhere to land it

Day 18.077: …Check…and run away

Our bathroom remodel is complete. 

… but only Exile #3 is home to enjoy it tonight. The rest of us have come north to beat another late winter storm that is coming in so that E5N1 can do a second college music-program audition tomorrow. 

Day 18.076: Thursday birding

Our nature group met this morning. These are some of the birds we saw:

(American black) duck, duck, (Canada) goose

Northern pintail

Eastern bluebird

Savannah sparrow

Song sparrow

Northern cardinal

Ring-necked ducks

Eastern bluebird

Common grackles

A flock of over a hundred flew over us and landed in these trees

A small group of brown-headed cowbirds in the same trees

Killdeer

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

We also heard (and some of the group saw) the first eastern phoebe of the year - they will soon be commonplace on these walks I suspect.

Day 18.075: Check, check, …?

A small water leak in the basement has been fixed. 

Yesterday, I installed a new dishwasher:

And…maybe tomorrow…our bathroom will be done and useable again.