December 30, 2012

It's nice to have it looking like winter at Lake Wicwas.  A couple more storms brought light fluffy snow to the area, enough to allow some skiing on the more gentle and smooth terrain, but the snow was so light it was barely sufficient.  After the first storm we had a sunny and calm morning.

First Ski of the Year - December 28, 2012

After last night's storm, today was quite cold and windy.  And it looks like tonight will be the coldest day of the year so far, and the wind is still howling at 20 to 30 mph, bringing wind chills down to ten below zero.  But the forecast looks good enough for the travelers to escape before the weather gets bad again.  Have a great winter in the warm south!

Our neighbors were fortunate enough to see a weasel, probably an Ermine, snow white with a black-tipped tail, before they left.  It was bounding across their property with a mouse in it's teeth.  When it saw a human it dropped its kill, and dashed off to hide, but after waiting and watching quietly, it returned to collect it's dinner and dash off with it.  A pretty neat sight one is only likely to see in the winter.

The next day I found these weasel tracks in the fresh snow - the distinct double track of a weasel, and based on the size of the track it is likely an Ermine or a Long-tailed weasel.

Long-Tailed Weasel or Ermine Tracks

On Wednesday I saw an interesting flying creature - actually, I heard it first.  This extremely noisy apparatus came flying over the lake in the early afternoon.

An ultra-light must a great way to see the area, but it sure doesn't look all that secure hanging in the air barely above the tree tops.  And it certainly isn't a peaceful ride.

I was rather surprised to see see the lake still not completely frozen as recently as Friday.  The entire wide portion of the lake, from Loon Point, down along Sheep Island, and over to the Rawson Wood Islands was still open.  The picture below was taken from the Hamlin area, looking east towards Corliss Hill.  The cold weather tonight after the snow should finally freeze it up, but probably  not safely.  I measured four inches of ice about 20 feet out from shore in our cove a few days ago.

December 28, 2012