Editor's Column
Notes, Announcements & Reflections

Hello!

We finally have snow!  It's only 2" but it's covering the softwood trees and the lawn.  That's good enough for me for now.  A good storm during Christmas vacation would be great for my daughter and her friends.  They'd like to go sliding and snowboarding.  I thought the feeding station would be full of birds this morning but I haven't seen one yet.

Reports have slowed down drastically.  I expected that around the holidays but I didn't expect to miss you and your reports so much!  Please let us know what's going on around you! There's a link at the top of the magazine that opens a new email automatically.  Pictures are always welcome and I'm happy to give you credit for them if you'd like. 

Frank is going to put together the astronomical and meteor shower calendars for 2007 for us.  Thank you, Frank!  We appreciate it!  I use the calendars quite often.

Robin Follette, Editor
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December 5, 2006    Vol. 11, No. 47
Monday, November 27  Scarborough (Map 3)
Yesterday morning I was driving down Route 1 in Scarborough, near Dunstan Corner and the marsh, when I noticed a male pheasant starting to run across the 4-lane highway in front of me.  It reminded me of the video game Frogger.  I barely missed him, and I thought the guy to my right had to have hit him, but I guess not, because there were no feathers flying and the guy smiled at me as he pulled along side and then passed me. How far up Maine are pheasants naturally reproducing , if at all, or was this just a seed pheasant that happened to still survive?  LR

Monday, December 4  Talmadge (Map 35)
I'm having some fun with the gorbies.   You might know them as whiskey jacks.  Or more commonly, gray jays.  They're usually in the woods when I'm tipping (balsam).  They aren't at all shy.  A neighbor has them at her bird feeding station all the time.  When I pull into the yard to pick kids up for school the rest of the birds fly off but the gorbies stay.  They're a pretty bird with a lot of personality.  I swear I see them playing some mornings.

The full moon was beautiful last night.  The combination of snow and a full moon made it easy to see three moose on the side of Route 6 between Springfield and Topsfield last night.

As you cross the bridge between Indian Township and Princeton on Rt 1 there usually are a pair of mature American Bald Eagles sitting in a big hardwood tree.  They've been there for years.  This fall I've seen just one eagle.  Does anyone know if one of them has died?  Or is my timing just off and I'm missing it when they're both there?  RF

Q & A
Saco, Map 4
Wood Island, off the mouth of the Saco River, is a rookery in the spring and early summer.  Wear a hardhat if you venture out the boardwalk to the Light House.  For the last two months or so, I have not seen one gull on this camera.  Any guesses as to where they have all gone? If you have the latest Java Update installed this will open just fine.   JB  http://74.65.153.170:7979/view/index.shtml  

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