Saying Goodbye to the Canada Geese

I have a lot of catching up to do!

It is finally spring, though we really didn't have much of a winter.  Not much snow at all which will cause some issues this summer unless it starts pouring.  Lately we are seeing a lot of Canada Geese coming home.  Here are some photographs from some of our more reccent trips to the beach.

Canada Geese Heading South in October of 2011:

Here are the Canada Geese Visiting Sandy Point on Their Way Back to Central Maine:

These 5 geese flew over to a pond behind us.  We then proceeded to walk to the pond and watched them for a bit.  They were all the way across the pond, but when they saw us, the began swimming swiftly towards us.  I think my dog may have kept them at bay, though she was really oblivious of any other creatures.  I had her at a down-stay as I watched and photographed the birds during their rest stop at this pond.  This pond was located in Stockton Springs, Maine.



These geese were visiting a  pond near Sandy Point State Park,
in Stockton Springs, Maine

Amazing Nature!

Sunset at the Bangor Municipal Golf Course

Sunset on our way out of the City Forest, Kittridge Road

An amazing Sunset, Saxl Park, Bangor, Maine

Blueberry flowers

Asters

Some small mushrooms

Pyxie Cups

Some tiny red mushrooms

Unknown to me Mushrooms

Porcupine!

A killdeer faning a broken wing.

A Killdeer

A wild turkey hen crosses the road.  Right after, a flock of her large babies fly across.

Wild turkey- Bangor City Forest

Great Blue Heron in the Kenduskeag Stream- Bangor, Maine

Great Blue Heron flies down stream

Sandy Point State Park, Osprey and Cormorant nesting

An Osprey guarding the nest.

An Osprey

A Raven in the Bangor City Forest- They nest right near the Orono Boardwalk entrance.

The parents were teaching there young how to fly better.

Or they were just out on a family outing and decided to show the young ones what dogs are.

Bald Eagle over Pushaw Lake, Glenburn Beach side

Again, another Bald Eagle in Glenburn, Maine

A Loon in Pushaw Lake

Sandy Point State Park, a little lopsided, but a beautiful day with fog  present

Autumn at the pond at the Bangor City Forest

Lover's Leap on the Kenduskeag Stream, Bangor, Maine

A Great Blue Heron flying over us at Sandy Point.

Lightening Strikes!

Look at the damage done to this tree by lightening

It came right down the side of this tree

Chris stands next to a large splinter that we found stuck in the ground!  The lightening threw large splinters like this all over the area.

You can see how the lightening just peeled down the middle of the tree.

And left a deep crack that went all the way to the bottom of this tall tree.

  Here are some more large splinters

Another huge splinter thrown off this tree.

Below is Rosie standing next to the splinter that shot into the ground.

There were a few powerful storms that went through the area this past summer, bringing with them not so much thunder and lightening, but also powerful winds.  We would go to the forest a day after and see all this large and small trees that had just toppled over, roots and all.  We had a very wet year, and the stream in the City Forest actually overflowed, rushing water OVER the bridge and down the other side to make its way down to the bog.  The bridge, reinforced with large granite rectangular stones were moved slightly, but the earth on either side of the stones had an eroded path from the water flowing down the side.

My friend and I, faithful dog walkers at these woods, were caught in a couple of terrential down pours and the water that accumulated and puddled on the road turned into a virtual river (though not a very deep one.)

Here is one such down pour with the water gathering on the dirt road.  It was quite deep.