No Obvious Movement!

The report this morning is more of the same. The clock is still ticking and the the ice is still pretty much intact on most of the big pond where the Ice-Out setup is located. There is open water along shorelines and in coves where brooks come into the pond, but we are far from at the open water stage.

A big part of the reason melting has slowed down is that warm days are scarce, and every night is below freezing. Last night we had a low of 27.3F and this morning the ground was white with a sifting of new snow - again! The sun finally came out a little while ago, but the air is still pretty cool - I have only 38 degrees on my outside thermometer. The snow on the ground went quickly as soon as the sun came out, but thawing ice goes much more slowly, especially with a cold wind fanning it.

Before I leave my "weather report," I want to share a link to site I subscribed to years ago that has a lot of interesting, and often scary, scientific data on weather patterns. It is called Earth Data Discovery, and is produced by NASA. I worry about how possible cuts to their budget will impact this agency, and also NOAA. However, I still make my barely significant reports to CoCoRaHS every morning so for whatever it's worth, I'm contributing to some of these weather studies, and I hope these agencies are left to function as they have in the past - I think it is important information.

I was pleased last evening to look out my window and see three lovely deer browsing on my lawn by the lower end of the pond. There were two very healthy looking does and one that appeared to be a yearling - I say that because it seemed smaller and was very frisky, prancing playfully while the others munched grass. They worked their way to the lower corner of my lawn area and then either crossed the road to go towards Randall's or went into the woods towards Chatot's. I lost track of them as the light dimmed.

Whenever I have deer or other wildlife visit, I'm careful to keep out of sight so I won't frighten them away. Except for when a bear tries to scale the wall of my house in the nighttime! Then I get a little aggressive. Last evening I purposely stayed away from the windows and moved very slowly so I wouldn't scare them when I took this picture. I always hate to interrupt their "meal" - even as my own stomach grumbles and signals it's time for supper. I have not always been so charitable when I've caught them munching away on my hostas!

Stay tuned - I'll keep you posted on the ice situation. Enjoy the day!