Marching into Spring with the Super Moon!

Hey everyone!  I am so thrilled to be able to say that I have a new camera!  It feels so good to have a decent camera glued to my neck again! 

I went to the city forest for the first time with my camera (and dog) today to see what I could find to photograph.  On the walk in I saw LOTS of woodpeckers in one tree!  On the walk out (these walks are on the road walking to the city forest) I saw and heard lots of Redwing Black Birds and Lots of Robins were out and about worming.  According to my photos, there were a few Starlings out as well. I saw a woodpecker, but again no one really wanted to cooperate with a photo op today.  I got photos of a sparrow in a tree at Walmart.  As usual, my dog got photographed a lot.  Can't help it!  She's so pretty right now with her fluffy coat!

Even though none of my bird pictures were really worth posting, I am posting some only because these are my first few pictures with my new camera.

The best photographs taken today were of the Super Moon!  I got a late start of it, but I did get to it (having to walk all the way down to the waterfront- it was a long day so it felt like a long journey) I got in a clear area and was able to get some amazing moon photos!

With out further fuss, here is what I have from today's venture:

Here are some photos of one of the woodpeckers.  As you can see, I couldn't really get a good angle and the bird didn't want to cooperate with the photo shoot at meal time.

We were excited that the snow had melted enough for us to walk through the field and down the hill to the city forest instead of walking all the way down to the parking lot.

This is Rosie's swimming hole (when it is warm enough).  There is still about 90% ice on the pond so swimming isn't even possible yet even if she were a polar bear.  I was shocked (and kind of pleased) to see that the pond washed out the road in that spot.  The pond has been overflowing there for quite a while and everyone was blaming it on those "damn" beavers (ruining our road through their home!)  Well, the cause was nature, but it "weren't no beaver"! 

I took Rosie's picture by this sign because we love this trail.  Last summer this was the trail we usually started on.  It is on the right just after you enter the woods by the stone wall onto the West trail.  The trail is off the beaten (or groomed) path, but there are no leash restrictions in place for any of the natural trails.

Rosie really thought she was going to play with this tree... I mean stick.




I took a picture of her clean fluffy coat expecting it to be all muddy and dirty by day's end.  It actually didn't get too bad at all.



"Go find the bench!"  West Trail, this stone bench was made last year.  It is the only one I've seen out here that has a carved out seat. Very nice!.

The Red-wing Blackbird didn't want to cooperate for a photo either.  He was too busy singing to pose for me.

The Robins didn't mind a few photos while they digged for worms and other tasty tidbits in the wet soil.

There was a tree full of Starlings

...and finally, the SUPER MOON!  The moon was at its closest point to the earth this evening.  At sunset we were to look at the horizon to the east for the oversized moon to rise.  It was pretty dark when I finally got to a place to take a photo of it, but these pictures really turned out super.

Great day, I just wish we had more time to walk in the woods, but I have been so exhausted lately I just couldn't leave early like we did last summer.  Bumped into a friend at the Walmart bus stop so this evening I was treated to Authentic Indian food!  He cooked it!  He gave me a bag to go with beans, peas and rice and pita bread (more like American flour tortillas but a tad thicker).  I don't know if he was being nice, but it really wasn't as spicey as I expected it might.

And this little swallow was in one of the small pines that were planted next to Walmart.  Looks like the same one that screamed at us from the Lupine around the corner where we cut across to get to Kitteridge road.

2010 Update

Brewer, Maine from the Bangor Waterfront

Well, last week my external disk drive died.  I am really  hoping that it is something that can be fixed.  My husband heard that it might be very expensive, but I think getting back over half a computer's worth of photos from the past year it is worth it.  Fortunately I still had some photos on some of my memory cards.  I need to reprocess them and burn them to disk before something happens to the memory cards.  There are so many photos that may be lost forever it really saddens me.

This deer was a real thrill... He looks like an awkward teenager who hasn't quite grown into his body.

In April, Rosie and I began taking the bus way out on Stillwater where we would walk the mile and a half to the beginning of the City Forest in Bangor.  Then we'd walk out and take the bus back into town.  When we go, we leave late in the morning or very early in the afternoon and hike around (and I take photos along the way)  for a few hours or so.  Many times we would get out in time to take one of the last three busses back to town, the latest one at 6:15 pm I believe?  We did this on a regular basis.  It did seem like the more we walked around town, even that far out, the more dogs would charge us.  Rosie and I started to startle quite easily and I began to bring my pepper spray along in a quicker to access area on my body.  After one attack at Saxl Park (the dog actually had contact) we stopped going to the woods on a regular basis.  My dog who is also my service dog was so traumatized that she will no longer alert in an appropriate way.  I realized that I really can't protect either one of us. 

Bobolink in Saxl Park

Anyway, we would head into the forest and begin on the West trail.  Upon entering the woods I could hear one Robin who had his own way of arranging his music, and it was getting easy to recognise from the Robins downtown. 

My little trail runner giving me a speedy recall

This past spring and summer brought about some beautiful flowers, but the rain was sparse and rare so that everything (including grass) dried out and died early in the season.  Actually I have never seen it this dry before.  There are regular vernal pools that have at least a little water left where as right now there is not even mud in the water holes.  My dog will go to where the water is supposed to be and I can see she is frustrated.  She likes to lay down to cool off in the water (or muck depending on the water hole), and also enjoys a small game of fetch as well.  Some people started off really well, got to start haying early, some twice.  I am unsure how the lack of rain affected the haying season later on.  I would guess not much happened as summer progressed in a hot and dry manner.

Very large and handsome Grackle.

Along with hiking solo with my dog I have been trying to prepare to move cross country to live in Oregon.  When I do relocate I suppose I will have to change some of the information on the page of my blog.  My husband has been living in Oakridge since November.  Don't even get me started with that one.

Rosie and I spent one hot day walking up Kenduskeag Stream.  She enjoys "cliff" diving for her water Wubba.

This year brought about some nice photographs, both of my dog and of nature or whatever tickled my fancy.  All though I hate to leave Maine because it is my birthplace and my family is here, I look forward to finally joining my husband again.  I am also looking forward to checking out the wildlife on the other coastline.

Sunset in the City Forest

Sparrow on Lupine seed pods.  Not ready to harvest yet!

Update:  In Winter (January) of 2012, my husband finally came back to the East coast, and home to Bangor, Maine.  Things in Oregon didn't pan out.  Though I am extremely happy he is home with me again, I know that his 2 years there was extremely difficult on him.  I hope he can find some peace here again and that we can get back into the swing of things again with out the anxiety of a major move on our minds all the time.  I am so happy I am able to stay here in Maine where I truly belong... with my family near, things familiar, and everything I love around me.  I would cry when I was out watching a sunset or something as it was going to be one of a few more I would experience from that spot.  I never wanted to go.  I was only going to go for my husband.