April 9, 2011

Not much changed around Lake Wicwas this week.  Even though the temperature was seasonably warm and the snow is melting, we just didn’t make a lot of progress.  The ice did give up a little ground, as it dropped two inches in thickness, but it remains 22 inches deep.  There are still only small openings around the shore line.

Maple Sugar season is comning to an end.  The Chemung Gang Sugar Shack (the Taggett's) are boiling their last batch for the season this weekend.  They said they had a record year, with 22 gallons of syrup made, and just about every drop sold.  They only had a few bottles left when I was there today, so if you want some great, fresh local syrup straight from the trees that drink the same water as Lake Wicwas, you'd better hurry!

Crows

Crow season never ends.  We saw a group of three or four harrassing a hawk who was too close to their nesting site. 

Later, a flock of crows was out on the ice huddling up like a football team as they decided who was going to get the fisherman's leftovers that were uncovered by the melting snow.




In the woods there are bare spots showing up now, and signs of life are reappearing.

Tree Clubmoss

Wintergreen

In the shade however, it's not uncommon to find well over a foot of snow.  Here and there one finds holes in the snow cover where a rock underneath the snow has conducted the warmth from below up to melt the snow from the bottom, sometimes suspending the snow several inches above the ground.

I haven't checked on the progress of the second house construction lately, but the one on the north side of the lake looks complete from the outside, and will certainly have happy occupants this summer!