I love weather vanes.I never finished showing you everything we saw on our New England trip! Here are some pictures from around beautiful Bethel, Maine:
The mountains there are so much taller than those around me here in PA, which is why Bethel is a big skier's destination. AB grew up there.We saw a flock of these birds as we walked around town--UPDATE!--female Purple Finches!
This was a bit of a mystery, but only because I always overdo it on the fieldguide analysis. Thanks to Laurent from Michigan for the help!Here's a sweet little Dark-eyed Junco from AB's grandma's back porch:
Kinda pale, no? A juvenile or a female?We went canoeing on Songo Pond with an old teacher of AB's; I didn't have to row, sitting in the middle and just taking pictures:
We had to stay out of the wind by sticking to the leeward side of the pond, and we didn't see many birds at all.We drove the Kankamagus Highway into New Hampshire:
The line of cars to climb Mount Washington was waaaaaay too long, so we didn't do that. But we saw the Presidentials:
More breath-taking scenery:
The Swift River, in a not-so-swift area
Rock faces near the Lower Falls of the Swift River
Beaver PondWe spent a little time in Northampton, which was nice -- an interesting contrast to the college-town atmosphere of State College. It was much more funky and had more (and more interesting) shops and restaurants, much more like what I expect a college town to be like.
Well, it's late and I'm tired, so I'll leave you with another nice photo:
11 comments:
Beautiful shots.
very nice shot. I want to go there one of these days
Did you consider female purple finch for your mistery birds?
Laurent from Michigan
Thanks for the tour.
Charlotte McLeod wrote funny mysterys set in New England and your Weather Vane photo reminds me of one called "Vane Pursuit" ... Helen Shandy, a librarian in Balaclava County, Mass., and wife of Peter, a professor of agriculture at the local college, is busy roaming the countryside photographing antique weather vanes created by Praxiteles Lumpkin for a pamphlet to be issued by the area's historical society. She discovers, however, that many of the treasures are being stolen by a gang of thieves. After the culprits burn down the local soap factory, which was once topped by a Lumpkin vane, Helen decides to travel to Sasquamahoc, Maine, the site of another priceless Praxiteles, ...
Really great photos! It's so stunningly gorgeous up there. Everything seems so pure and clean. I visited Maine for the first time this summer and was blown away. Your photos make me want to explore New Hampshire more, too.
Wow! So beautiful! I've heard that Maine looks like Washington, and this confirms it for me. I'd mistake almost any of these scenes for somewhere around here. (Except we're not that colorful this fall. Drat.)
Dr. Monkey--thanks!
Laurent--that's it! Female Purple Finch! Nice. Thank you, and thanks for stopping by!
Rabbits' Guy--that sounds interesting! I'll look at the library next time.
Birds Fly--thanks for stopping by! Yes, it was so crisp and clean and gorgeous up there. I want to move!
Earl--everyone kept saying, "yeah, we're not getting good color this year." It sure looked better than anything I'd seen!
You know, I've been thinking about these Purple Finches--just what were they doing in a neighborhood? I wouldn't have expected them there. But actually AB told me that I said, "they look like female Purple Finches" at the time we saw them; I don't remember that! -- but I would've shrugged that off, thinking that they were more boreal than to be hanging around a neighborhood, no matter how tree-filled. But hey--the "heavily striped brown sparrow-like bird with a broad, whitish line over eye" (Peterson) is is there, as is the brown moustachial stripe (just learned that term from my new NatGeo Birding Essentials book!). Purple Finch, baby, right there in a Bethel neighborhood.
If you check the range map here, it looks like Purple Finch is present in Maine (as well as the Appalachians) year-round.
Thanks, John--I was just surprised to see it in town, though.
Hello,
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Best,
Jessica
Awesome place, isn't it -- the northeast!
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