Umbagog NWR

This past Wednesday I spent over in New Hampshire at Umbagog NWR. It's a 7 mile long lake, on the border of Maine and New Hampshire and is over 7,000 acres. But just 15 feet deep

Excellent bird habitat, and from the looks of things the fishing should be good.

Water lilies,bladderwort,a couple of eagles, fish, some sharp-shinned hawks, a merlin or two, throw in a few loons and you have a good idea what the refuge is like. Migrants are already streaming through the area. Whirligig beetles were rafted up in the thousands. It's hard to sit and write about someplace like this. A thousand images and experiences are going through my mind, and all I want to do is to go back.

The Refuge is in the process of doing surveys on what inhabits the area. Makes me want to go back over and help out, and I may just go back to see if I can. It's not far.

I know they have at least two Green Frogs (Rana clamitans).

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

After a dinner in Errol, it was time to go home and stop briefly at Cupsuptic River to watch the moon and sunset.

For more information on Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge ,click here.

I'm back!

A series of events at home had conspired to keep me busy and needing focus on other things.

Today is the last program of the year for the Wilhelm Reich museum and hopefully after that I will be able to change focus and get on with some other projects. The market is doing well for me,(I'm an equity trader by day). My mom has Parkinson's and there are times that what she needs is more important than my own time. And one of my aunts was diagnosed with cancer. The outcome for her is looking good.

I have spent some time getting pictures and even had a couple of great days out with a friend. So, here goes!

Summer is ending and the goldenrod has been just incredible this year. Down towards Farmington the fields were a carpet of gold. This is one of my favorite flowers, I just love the color and the variety and abundance of insects that visit goldenrod (Solidago spp) is great. I haven't really had the chance to get some photos this year, but there's always next year.

It's also a bittersweet end to the summer when I see the first blooming of goldenrod. It means cool weather is coming, and I always hate to see summer end.

We had some cool nights last week, it did drop down to 40 and after having 70-80's that was too much of a shock.On the day the front was coming through, I went out to Little Kennebago Lake with a friend. It was overcast and threatened rain, which of course it did. There is something about being in a kayak in the rain that makes it more fun.

So I got to see some of the locals. A cow moose, a few common loons and a common snipe.

In need of a break

Be back maybe in September.

Toad

Part of my slug reduction team.

Longhorn Beetle t

I may release this as a t-shirt. Let me know what you think.

EDIT: I uploaded the final version which includes the drop shadow

Water time

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

One of the nice things about Maine is the water. The lakes and rivers around here provide a diverse range of habitats, which means you can see a lot of different birds.

More of our multi-legged neighbors

Northern Crab Spider (Misumenops asperatus) both photos