Vol. 2, no. 12 Tuesday, March 25, 1997
Quick jumps: | This week's reports |Downeast Birdline -- discontinuation announcement | Meeting of new group: Greater Portland Naturalists Forum | Publication announcement: Biological Diversity in Maine: An Assessment of Status and Trends in the Terrestrial and Freshwater Landscape |
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Please 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
Sunday, March 23. Orono (Map 23) Observed the partial lunar eclipse, starting at 9 pm. The Earth's shadow covered almost half of the Moon's face by 10 pm. I assumed that was the maximum. No coloring was noticed in the shadow area. F.W.
Sunday, March 23. Garland (Map 32) No significant maple sap running yet his season. Reports from others indicate that this was not a very good day for Maine Maple Sunday! M.J.
Sunday, March 23. E. Orland (Map 23) Toddy Pond near the dam: This is another cold night. No open water is apparent (though it was a few weeks ago, and puddles appear around North shore rocks during midday). The ice still cracks loudly with twice daily temperature reversals. Cracks and swirled snow make designs over ice that glistens with bright moonlight dimming in the earth's shadow. The dry, clear, cool atmosphere reflects little city light and highlights the comet distinctly. Daybreak will bring a low temperature of ten degrees and the usual ten species of birds finding their way to our feeders--this week this included both the white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches. W.D.
Sunday, March 23. Orono (Map 23) Red fox tracks were followed from a sparsely forested wetland, across a meadow bisected by a quiet country road, and approaching a forest edge where the critter's prints suddenly change direction a bit to access a gap in the trees. One could almost see the fox thinking about the least-energy way to get into the cover of the forest. F.W.
Sunday, March 23. T3 Indian Purchase (Map 43) Elbow Lake area. Snow depth is now 36" to 40" at lower altitudes in the Mount Katahdin/Baxter State Park region. F.W.
Monday, March 24. Orono (Map 23) We saw Comet Hale-Bopp, prominent in the Northwest about an hour after sunset and in the Northeast before dawn. Not since Comet Shomaker-Levy have we seen a comet both evening and morning of the same day. With its extensive, well-defined tail, bright appearance, and location well above the horizon Hale-Bopp is the best naked-eye comet I've seen since Comet Ikeya-Seki in 1967. F.W.
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