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e-mail Frank Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu Vol. 4, no. 3, Tuesday, January 19, 1999
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e-mail Frank Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu
This week's reports
Report format = Day, date, [time]. Location (Maine Atlas Map number) Report text. Initials of correspondent.
Wednesday, January 13-Tuesday, January
19. South Thomaston (Map 8)
Wednesday - Got 6-8 "
of snow yesterday with more during the night, freezing rain this
AM but not much accumulation, so damage is minimal. Temperature
dropped rapidly in the afternoon into the evening.
Thursday, 7:00 AM - Nearby
Rockland is reporting -37 wind chill with the mercury at -8 F.
About a foot of snow on the ground at this point, all from the
previous 2 days.
Friday - Sleet then
torrential rains, ground is almost completely bare by 5:00 PM.
Saturday- Tuesday. The
next four days are springlike; there are a few patches of ice in
low or shady spots. If there is any frost in the ground, it must
be deep, as it's mud season here. The birds seem to be coming to
the feeders in their usual numbers throughout the various weather
patterns. I have not seen nor heard of any unusual wildlife
activity. D.S.
Saturday, January 16. Holden (Map 23) Friday's rainstorm melted down the snow at Maine Audubon's Fields Pond Nature Center, so that the tunnels of meadow voles were visible. Across the fields, there was hardly a square meter without meadow vole tunnels criss-crossing it. The tiny scats of the meadow voles were evident in the tunnels, too. These signs all made evident how abundant the meadow voles are, and why this has been such a fertile hunting-ground for foxes. J.K.M.
Tuesday, January 19. St. Albans (Map 31) We seemed to have melting here rather than icing. I am ashamed to say that I haven't been feeding the birds, but my wife insisted I take some stuff out to a red squirrel that was flitting about in the front yard. H.M.
Tuesday, January 19. Orono (Map 23) Walking to work the past few days I have been puzzled by the sight of a long, nearly rectangular patch of clear, smooth ice about 5 yards wide, extending about halfway across the Stillwater River, making contrast with the snowy rough ice on the rest of the river's surface. It did not seem that if local folks were clearing an ice skating patch that they would have made such an odd shape. Adding to the puzzle was the fact that it is ringed with scattered leaves. Finally this morning I saw the source. One of the brooks that runs into the river has been running full from the present January thaw, and had been flowing OVER the ice! Today it has broken through near shore and is now emptying under the ice, leaving this interesting scar. F.W.