Beautiful Day - Melting Happening!

Today has been very nice, and it's a much appreciated break to have three sunny days in a row with no snow. I have some interesting stuff for you tonight. First, I was at the post office this afternoon and Diane Jeger was telling me about a couple of ice fisherman who had just been in. They told her they needed the whole length of their auger to get through the ice to the water - 36 inches! I KNEW we have been making more ice than melting it. To be fair, though, it depends where you are on the pond when you measure because some places will have thicker ice than others. But these fishermen were in the general vicinity of the Ice-Out flag, in front of Homer's.

That said, Evelyn Richer sent some interesting comparison shots. Here's what she wrote:

Well, I know that you have also been watching the channel for any signs of open water… we awoke this morning to see a small patch that looked only like water on the ice… but by this afternoon the ice is clearly receding … shown here in the photo are some of the patches that are trying to connect… we are definitely very late opening up here at the north end…
These are some photos taken this time in earlier years… as you can see the channel is VERY open… compared to the photo I sent to you this morning… But things can change quickly… just wouldn’t want it to catch up too quickly… The geese have been here, and the red-winged blackbirds have begun to arrive as well. The otter has been popping his head out of the ice feeding on the fish caught in the channel… so I guess spring is definitely here if you look hard enough… my water garden is showing signs of sprouting water lilies… Oh, and my pussy willow is beginning to have a ‘litter’… We’re in for a show as it starts opening up!! FINALLY!!

Canada Goose~~Photo taken April 10, 2005
Pintail duck~~Photo taken April 2, 2006

Thanks, Evelyn, for the info and the pictures. Now we know for sure this is a very unusual year.
It was such a nice afternoon, we decided to take a ride around the pond to see how much the snow has melted. This morning I had taken a couple of pictures of the channel and we could see some water showing. We spotted our first robin of the year on W. Shore Rd. Poor thing looked bewildered and a bit bedraggled, but later we saw another one, so at least it had company in its misery. We stopped at the Fishing Access to see how the flag setup is doing. Not much happening there. The road is pretty soft and muddy, so we turned around in Homer's drive and Fred walked down to take a few pictures. After we stopped at the post office, we took a ride up to the recreation area to see how the snow was there - and how the roads are. We drove a short distance down Old Homestead, but that is pretty soft - we didn't want to get stuck, so we stopped and turned around at Island Drive. We went from there to North Shore Road - not much better, and we parked the car and walked Clubhouse Circle. Sorry about the change of font and colors. The blogger mechanism seems to have a mind of its own tonight. Here are the pictures we took today.
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