I needed to attend a meeting in Millinocket on Wednesday. The usual plan for me at these sorts of things is to drive up, attend the meeting and return home in the same day. One of our group had the good idea that we stay overnight and spend the next day on a snowmobile trip. I have not ridden a snowmobile very much and then only to accomplish some task like checking a cross country ski trail. So this was a new adventure for me. We spent the night at Twin Pines Camps in an excellent new cabin.
For the first time in several years we have Pine Siskins at the bird feeder this winter. They arrive as a flock and dominate the feeder. They keep the goldfinches and chickadees at bay until they leave and have eaten most of the sunflower seeds. So far this winter we have not had any unusual visitors.
Right before Christmas we were on our way to the grocery store in Rockland and drove past Chickawaukie Pond. Being close to the coast it is one of the last ponds in the area to get a winter coat of ice. This morning it was partly skimmed with ice with several open holes along route 17. The other unusual thing about Chickie is that for some reason a flock of American coots gathers there in the late fall each year. Coots are not unusual in most of the country but that is the only place I have ever seen them in our area.
