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also returning. Gretchen Farnsworth sent this photo of one of our loons that returned within the last day or so. Gretchen said she heard one call yesterday, but didn't see him until today. She said she expects its mate will follow in a few days.
I had a large flock of turkeys go through my back yard yesterday. I hadn't seen any for at least a year and was beginning to wonder if they had forsaken our area. This flock (or rafter) had about 14 or more very large birds traveling together, strolling slowly over the open area of my lawn, past the pond and into the woods towards Jamie and Marie's house, finding bugs and seeds along the way. I knew my neighbor over on Cabot Plains Road was being overrun by turkeys last fall. She was desperate to have them move away from her lawn and gardens; but I hadn't seen any here for quite a while. Perhaps because there was so much going on all summer here. It will be quieter this summer, so perhaps there will be more.
There isn't much change in the ice down on the pond, but with the rain these next few days, it is getting darker and there is open water from the narrows through the middle pond and the first pond. It always takes longer in the big pond, but it won't be long before the flag goes down. In the meantime, Shelly Walker did an interview about the contest with VPR Radio. Scroll down and you will see a photo of the flag being hauled into place. Click on the "Listen" button to here her excellent interview.
Shelly let me know that there will be a memorial service for her dad, Don Walker, at the Berlin Corner Cemetery on May 17th. Anyone is welcome to attend. We will post a reminder when it's closer to the date. Don was one of the founders of our popular Ice-Out Contest, and was a long-time active member of Joe's Pond Association. We are happy that his daughter, is carrying on his work, serving on today's Ice-Out Committee.
Now, just a quick mention of proof that "there's no fool like and old fool." On Monday morning, as I was having my coffee, I stepped out onto my back porch to look out at my pond. It was still about 2/3 covered with ice, but as I stood there enjoying the sunshine I could hear water running. It sounded like the pipe at the pond that Jamie had rigged last summer so it sprayed nicely into the pond instead of just quietly running in. Last fall he stopped the spray and left it under the water's surface, so I no longer heard it running. However when I head that sound Monday morning, I looked at the shoreline where it would be, and sure enough, there appeared to be ripples on the water that would indicate it was again in "spray" mode. I went inside and sent Jamie a text thanking him for turning it back on. We had been waiting for the ground around that end of the pond to dry out a bit before going out there, so I thought he must have gone while I was in Barre Sunday afternoon. I got a quick response, "Not me!"
"Must have been Ben," I responded. So I texted Ben Ackermann who had put the pond in and had monitored it for water level last fall, stopping by several times.
I got a quick response from Ben, too. "Must have been your son - not me."
Ok. So now I was a little worried. Who on earth would come and adjust the water flow in my pond, if not either Jamie or Ben? Creepy. But I decided to go out and see what was going on - if there was a leak in the pipe that was causing it to spray out, or maybe there would be tracks. I tugged my tall boots on (I call them my barn boots), grabbed my walking stick, and carefully made my way across the very wet, swampy area to get to the hose. About half way there, I realized - there was no spray. Everything was just as Jamie had left it last fall. Talk about feeling foolish! There was a lot of water running off the hillside into the pond, and it was obvious that was what I was hearing from my porch. As for the ripples - well, the wind was ruffling the water, and with the sun shining lower on the horizon early in the morning, apparently that was what I was seeing. The total effect was wishful thinking on my part. I've been very anxious to get the hose adjusted to help aerate the pond, and that morning everything had come together to create an illusion, and I bought it!
Since I was already out there, I pulled the hose out of the water and braced it on some rocks so it would cascade into the pond. Might as will have it the way I wanted it, right? When I got back to the house, I sent texts to both Jamie and Ben, confessing my eyes and ears had played tricks on me and everything was ok. No strange occurrences or intruders -- just an old fool with an overactive imagination.
Stay healthy and be happy. Spring is getting here, slowly but surely.
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