Nature & Outdoors

Here’s a fun one for you. This past Friday, I spent the entire day shoveling sand from a pile up near our driveway into my handy ATV trailer and then emptying that trailer all the way back in the woods. My goal was to make a short road through a wet area so we wouldn’t […]

I would have to say yes. I’ve been eating handfuls of grapes right off the vine for two days. I began yesterday when I was mowing the lawn in the rain. I’ve had my eye on one of our vines for weeks and every time I’ve tried one of the grapes that seemed like it […]

I’ve done a lot of trail cutting in the past year. I’ll be taking some video of our entire trail complex to post here as soon as I buy a camera stabilizer, but for now, I’ll have to settle for showing you a couple of pictures and some shaky video. The problem is, they’re not […]

We joined in for a very casual adventure this morning. Today was the day the Annual Warbler Walk took place along the Whistle Stop Trail in West Farmington, Maine. A group of approximately 20 birding enthusiasts gathered together to very slowly walk the rail trail, all the while, stopping and listening for various bird songs. […]

It’s super nice today up here in Maine. It seems like for everyone else in the U.S., snow is the thing of the past. We Mainers still have over two feet in certain areas. I just took a nice walk through our property and fell through the more stable top layer in certain places. I […]

It was surprisingly warm today. The last time I checked, the temperature was at 49 degrees. Not bad for January 11th. I think tomorrow is supposed to be fairly warm as well. The forecast is telling me it’s going to be around 42. Of course, it’s supposed to drop back down to -3 on Friday, […]

Just a few moments ago, I was in the back yard walking around. I had to run back inside to grab my camera. The beauty of the day insisted upon it. Boy, it sure is nice out there. Not many days like this per year, so we better enjoy them while they’re here. The leaves […]

I just went outside to check my buckets and found five more gallons of sap. It’s been flowing pretty well these past few days. When I first tapped the trees in early March, I was lucky to get a gallon every few days, but since I moved part of my operation up to the Rock […]

We’ve had a very welcomed cold snap for the past few days up here in Maine. For a while there, I was getting nervous. We had a fairly warm November, then a cold week somewhere between then and now, followed by a fairly warm December. Our lake isn’t even frozen yet. Compared to last year, […]

Well, I’ll tell you that it’s about 70 degrees out there right now. For some strange reason, things warmed up and are fairly humid. I’m not complaining because there are no bugs. Summer with no bugs is a wonderful thing, as long as it doesn’t get any warmer. I complain when it gets too warm. […]

Just so you know, the bug season in Maine starts around July 1 and continues until August 1. Before July 1, things are still fairly cool outside and you can do what you want. When July rolls around, you have to go hide inside. The bugs, coupled with the humidity will make you want to […]

You’re in for a real treat with this post. If this doesn’t make you smile, I’m not sure what will. Since this spring rolled around and plants and flowers began growing, we’ve been splendidly surprised at what’s been left behind for us to marvel at. If you’re curious as to what I’m referring, take a […]

There was a month or so during the summer when we had to save between 5 and 10 grasshoppers per day from drowning in the pool. I’m not sure why we chose the grasshopper as a more valuable creature over the japanese beetle (we find these in the pool as well), but we did. Perhaps […]

Now that the cooler weather has arrived, I’ve been getting outside much more to take care of some projects I’ve been thinking about all summer long. Cutting trails in the woods is one of those projects. Actually, I’ve been thinking about cutting trails a lot longer than just this summer. I’ve been thinking about it […]

They’ve been released. Laura’s pictures, that is. If you remember back to my post of the freshly named, “Jay’s Falls,” you’ll remember all the pictures I showed you. Actually, most of that one was pictures. There’s only so much you can write about a stream and some mini-waterfalls. Today I present to you the other […]

What I think we’ve got here is a Banded Garden Spider, or otherwise known as the Argiope trifasciata. I am not 100% sure of this, but as far as I can tell, the Banded Garden Spider resembles what is living in the garage. It’s definitely not the Black and Yellow Garden Spider like I wrote […]

Starting in the second half of summer, I began noticing some rather large spider webs belonging to some rather large spiders hanging around the property. The webs vary in location, but the majority of what I’ve found is spun in the garage door openings. We also have a nice big female Black and Yellow Garden […]

Laura’s been busy taking pictures of this and that and everything in between. Since I’m mostly a bystander during her camera outings, I often wonder what she’s taking photos of. Sometimes she shows me what she’s been up to by dangling the camera viewfinder in front of my nose. It’s a small viewfinder, so I […]

A few weeks ago, Steve and I took our trucks up into the hills. These are the same hills that I’ve been writing about since we moved to Maine. I first drove up there with Laura and her parents and then once again with Steve. While the adventure with Laura was wonderful, the adventure with […]

I think we may have won a battle up here in Maine. Which is a good thing too, because I’ve become somewhat accustomed to losing them. First it was the Maple syrup that never happened. All I could come up for that one was, “Jay’s Sweet Water.” Not so good. Then, there was the Fiddlehead […]

Sometimes I wonder where that girl goes. I usually hunt around the house for a while and when I can’t find her, I immediately look toward the pond. That’s usually where she is, all dressed up in her “outback” outfit. Big rubber boots for the high grass, outdoors hat for the sun, long sleeves for […]

Last week, or the week before, Laura and I noticed some sort of bird-like creature flying around outside the bedroom window. This was during the evening some time. The creature landed on the screen, stayed there for a while and then flew off. The next morning, after walking out the front door, we discovered what […]

I figured you’d click on a title like that. Unfortunately, I don’t have any video of me pulling the bush out with my truck, but I will tell you this – it’s fun as hell doing things like this. Listen, I had the most pure thoughts of living in the country before we arrived here. […]

I want you to click through to one of my previous posts before you look at the pictures I’m going to show you below. Go ahead – click here and take a look at what we were doing just a few months ago. Just be sure to click the “back” button after you’re done. Okay, […]

Ever since Spring rolled around, we’ve learned that Maine has got a stunningly superb bird population. We’ve seen everything from the Indigo Bunting to the Scarlet Tanager to the Baltimore Oriole. Since we’ve got a lot of color and activity outside because of all Laura’s bird feeders, I decided to add a new category on […]

In the past two days, we’ve had three toads fall in the pool. Yesterday, we found a really huge one down at the bottom. Laura spotted him early in the morning and alerted me to him about an hour after she saw him. She thought he was a frog. By the time I got outside […]

Well, it’s been pretty active out there. We’ve had some abundant sunshine for the past few days, which is making our appreciation level for the entire area rise exponentially. Not to say that we didn’t appreciate things before. I’m just saying that all the surprises bestowed upon us have been better than we imagined. The […]

Call them what you will. The tadpole or the pollywog. You can even call them “pre-frogs.” They’re all the same thing. Little black round things that swim around in marshes and ponds that eventually turn into frogs. Frogs that eat insects, such as black flies. It’s very important to have frogs. While they won’t cure […]

I told you in my last post that I was going to head outside to take pictures of the various types of moss we have on the property. That threat hasn’t gone unanswered because I just did what I said I was going to do. I took a whole great many shots. Some made it […]

Don’t let the title of this post fool you. To me, Salamander hunting is really Salamander “finding.” I don’t really hunt them. I hunt for them, find them, look at them and then move on. I would never hurt a Salamander. I love Salamanders. Okay, now that I have that out of the way, I’ve […]

I called my father in North Carolina last night. His first questions was, “Do you still have snow up there?” I think he was kidding, but when I told him we did, I’m not sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry. I’ve heard this one dubbed, “The endless Winter.” That’s not entirely accurate, but […]

I was outside walking around the garage last night. I was getting a few bags of pellets to bring inside. I grabbed two bags, threw them over my shoulder and walked them into the house. Since we go through pellets kind of fast, I figured I better head back out to the garage to grab […]

I was just sitting here when I noticed that Laura’s camera was right next to me. It was already plugged into my USB port, so all I had to do was turn it on to see what she’s been taking pictures of. Interesting what she’s been up to. I went through some of what I […]

Hey – quick question. Remember that time I told you about the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake we saw in the side yard of our house? You do? Good, because it came back. Actually, I have a strong suspicion that the snake I saw this past Tuesday and the one I saw a few months ago are […]

Perhaps that title isn’t as accurate as it possibly could be. Maybe is should have read, “Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake in Our Back Yard!” I swear, if I hear, “Hey Bob, c’mere quick!!! COME HERE!!!” one more time, I’m going to flip my lid. First it was an anole, then a bird, then a rabbit, then […]

Okay, this is pretty exciting. Not for me, but for beetle lovers. I was outside this afternoon walking around. I looked down and there was this huge black beetle trying to make it’s way through the grass. I have no idea what it was doing there, but it didn’t look like it belonged. I decided […]

I thought this was interesting, so I decided to share it with you. A few days ago, we were out for our almost daily stroll. While looking in to the woods, I saw an oddly level (flat topped) hill that I had never noticed before. Since it wasn’t very far from the road, I went […]

For a few years now, we’ve been feeding a neighborhood stray cat. We’ve yet to find where he’s come from, and no one has claimed him, so we consider him a half-way adopted step-child. If we can ever hold on to him long enough, we’ll get him fixed, his shots and whatever comes with that. […]

The following photos were taken in late Summer and early Autumn. That’s actually just a guess, but I’m pretty sure it’s accurate, seeing we have about a zillion more photos to go through and the timeline starts way back. In the next few posts, I am going to be putting up some nice insect shots, […]

Today we have some remarkably good photographs of two different types of Butterfly. One is the “American Lady Butterfly” (my favorite) and the other is the “Viceroy Butterfly.” You’re probably more familiar with the Viceroy Butterfly because I think it’s more common to see them flying around the area. But if you look closely at […]

This is awesome. I was getting the mail today and on my way back down the driveway, I spotted none other than a huge Broad Necked Root Borer hanging off a Lily leaf (if that’s what you call them). I ran back down to the house and grabbed my camera with Sigma 70-300mm lens attached. […]

I think it’s a Garter Snake and I think it’s a Mountain Laurel. I know the bush is some sort of hybrid (I think). Anyway, as we were sitting on the front steps this morning, drinking our coffee, watching the Chipmunk run around to gather the bird seed, we noticed something odd. The Chipmunk, who […]

I was walking around the lawn this evening, inspecting all the lush foliage this Spring has produced. It’s quite the jungle out there. As I was walking, I had a Deer Fly or two buzzing around my head. I’m sure you know how annoying Deer Flies can be. If you don’t, trust me when I […]

Last night, I was presented with a dragonfly that seemed to be asleep. The person who presented me with the insect knew I was into photographing macro style, so they were eager to see what I could do. I was eager too, but reality seemed to have had its way with me, which caused a […]

Yesterday was quite sunny, so I thought I’d walk around the house to take some photos of what was in bloom (and some other stuff). I also wanted to again try out my new Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens. I got some decent shots. I may have repeated a few from my previous post, but […]

You are going to love this. It’s a video of a huge black beetle we found while walking down the sidewalk yesterday. I wrote about the same type of beetle last year and even got some pictures, (which I’ll post here too). The good thing about this year is that I got some video. People […]

Here’s a little story for you. Okay, we went for a walk last evening over at the Connecticut Airline State Park Rail Trail (more to come on that later) and had a nice time. We walked about two miles. I don’t even want to get into it because I am going to write an entire […]

I’ll be the first to admit that it’s difficult deleting photos that look good. Usually, I suffer through it, but I get rid of most duplicates and only post what’s generally unique. This time I am throwing caution to the wind and posting some pictures that look like some others. If you look closely though, […]