February 28, 2021: Beede Falls Ice Cave

This week I witnessed one of the most amazing natural phenomena I've ever seen, and it's all due to friend and outdoor enthusiast Shayne Duggan, who told me about this unique experience.

Inside the Beede Falls Ice Cave

Just this past autumn I had stopped by Beede Falls in Sandwich Notch on my way up Mt. Israel from Sandwich Notch Road - the first time I had seen this waterfall.  This is what that beautiful waterfall looked like in November.

Beede Falls after a good rain last November.

But Shayne shared some incredible winter pictures from the falls, and I had to see it for myself.  With Sandwich Notch Road closed for the winter, Linda and I hiked along the Bearcamp River Trail from Mead Base to the upper falls.  Arriving at the falls there was absolutely no running water visible in the river.  

The same waterfall in winter.

But there were openings at either side of the now-frozen waterfall.

An intrepid hiker peers behind the curtain.

Poking my head in one of those doors opened up a whole new world hidden behind that wall of frozen water.

Looking in behind the wall of ice.

The swirling water over the centuries has gouged out the rock where the water crashes down so the pool undercuts the bottom of the cliff that forms the face of the falls.  When the pool freezes over you can crawl along the surface of the ice, passing behind the water flooding down, which over the course of the winter has frozen into a crystal ice curtain.  

Behind the falls.

Linda enters the cave, walking on the frozen pool.

Linda took this next picture from that spot, looking along toward the other opening.

There was enough light shining through the ice that the cave was reasonably well lit on the inside.

Drops of that perfectly clear mountain water coming off the rock has formed beautiful, lustrous ice formations inside the cave.

The rush of water pouring down into the pool makes a fair racket resonating inside the cavity, though you can barely find the moving water in between  the stalactites and the frozen wall.  Here are a couple of videos of what it looks and sounds like from behind that wall of ice.

I imagine the ice wall builds up from the bottom as water crashing into the frozen pool freezes higher and higher until it reaches the top of the ledge, but that's just speculation.  

Talk about mother nature giving us a spectacular treat to enjoy in winter!  Perhaps this was the inspiration behind the ice castles that have become a popular attraction up in North Woodstock.  

Nature's own ice castles.  (Looking back to where I came from.)

We were there in the afternoon when the falls were in the shade; I'd like to go back in the morning and see what it's like with the sun shining directly on the ice.

We made the trip a loop by continuing past the falls up to Sandwich Notch Road which is closed in the winter, then followed that back to Diamond Ledge Road and returned up to Mead Base.  Sandwich Notch Road is a dead-end snowmobile trail in winter; we didn't encounter a single snowmobile on a nice Friday afternoon.

It may be deep winter up in Sandwich Notch, but back at the lakes some early signs of spring are just becoming perceptible, such as the stronger sun melting snow on south facing slopes and the first tinge of yellow appearing on the goldfinches.  

We're about to start that transition period of March where chick-a-dees are singing one morning, and the morning next there's a blizzard.

More snow just yesterday.

March can be our snowiest month of the year!

February 25, 2018 - Avian Concussion Protocol

We are less than four weeks from the vernal equinox and it felt like it could be tomorrow with the record warm temperatures throughout New England last week - it was in the 60's in the Lakes Region, and it hit 80 in northern Massachusetts.  The birds certainly thought spring was coming as a flock of titmice were up in tops of the trees singing their spring arias, and the chick-a-dees were sharing their gentle "dee-dee" song of springtime.  I also saw my first purple finch of the year.

Another finch, however, had an unfortunate altercation with a window.  I heard the bang on the window, knew what happened and went out to assess the damage.  What I thought was a poor little goldfinch was sitting on the snow, stunned and motionless.

A stunned finch

I could see it was going through the NFL concussion protocol before getting back into the game.  I checked on her several times over the next 15 minutes and was getting concerned she might not recover.  But on the last check she reacted to my presence and flew off to join her flock with no obvious impairment.  But while she was stationary on the ground I was able to get a good look at it and see it was not a goldfinch, but rather a female red crossbill - the bill was the obvious factor.

Female Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)

The fine elements of its feathers show how it can insulate itself in the winter with tiny pockets of trapped air, and the cross-beak facilitates the extraction of seeds from pine, spruce, and hemlock cones.

I hadn't seen a red crossbill before, so it's a new one for my list.  And I had to look it up, passing by the red crossbill at first, not expecting a yellow bird to fit this name.  But only the male is red;  the female is yellow.  An interesting aspect of this bird is that it will breed at any time of year, even in the middle of winter, if there is a good food supply.  And this winter is certainly a good cone year as indicated by all the white pine cones in the trees last summer, and all the cone shreds seen all winter long on the snow.

White pine cone shreds

Hemlock too

There are scenes like this wherever coniferous trees are present

Still a few whole cones lined up for the next meal

Even with warm weather there's still a good amount of snow around except for open areas with southerly exposure, and fresh snow early in the week and again today helped freshen things up.

Fresh snow shines brightly in the morning sun earlier in the week

And more snow today

Just a couple of days ago things were looking grim and this weekend both the dog sled races and the LRCT ski event at the Castle in the Clouds were cancelled;  today's snow was just a little to late for them.  Let's hope next weekend's Lake Wicwas Association snowshoe tour doesn't also fall victim to the weather (everyone is invited - let me know if you're interested).  If it does, at least we'll enjoy the signs of spring in advance of the coming equinox.

Photo by Linda Powell

December 10, 2017 - First Snow

The first real snow of the season fell yesterday, and it immediately transformed the world into a winter wonder land.

It's nice to have winter arrive, but why does the snow always seem to come just as the ice is almost ready for skating?  The calm weather this week had allowed the lake to spread a perfect layer of smooth ice just before the snow fell.

The Full Cold Moon reflects off newly formed ice on December fourth

Ice working its way slowly across Lake Wicwas under the setting moon

But we'll take the snow (is there a choice?) and it sure does make everything look pristine.

Hemlocks are still holding onto their cones

Snow-covered pines on Sheep Island

A tunnel of snow

With the snow the bird feeders came out, both because the birds can use it with much of their food supply covered up, and because we'll be able to see if the bear is still active.  It didn't take long....

A goldfinch scratches its chin

A Tufted Titmouse waits its turn on a snowy branch

I can't wait to get out after the first snow to see what's been out and about in the world, and sure enough, even coming home from the concert last night there was already the trail of a fox trotting down the road in the still-falling snow.  This morning there were mouse prints in the snow by the stone wall where it has its nest.

Mouse prints, with the tail imprint barely visible

And right next to them, the landing mark of an ermine where it dropped down looking for a meal, but there was no sign of a capture, at least at that location.

Ermine landing mark above the mouse trail - about 4 inches long

I found the track of a coyote as well.

Coyote tracks this morning

And saw where it ventured to a small stream for a drink.

So, we may have missed the skating window again this year, but I'm looking forward to the season of observing animal tracks, and at least we should be able to get out on the skis soon!

Some trails will be ski-able with one more good storm

April 16, 2017

Happy Easter!

Easter Morning at Lake Wicwas

Yes, with warm weather this week, real signs of spring are visible around the lake.  The ice on Wicwas still has a ways to go, but it is opening up good size gaps around the shore now and the surface is getting that translucent blue appearance indicating the end is near.

Saturday at the boat ramp

That's what a couple of days in the 80s will do for us - in addition to a good attitude adjustment!

When that warm humid air descended on the frozen lake it formed wisps of fog that blew across the ice.

Then as the wind shifted to the north in the late afternoon, blowing in colder air to attack the moist air from both sides, the fog turned dense.

By evening the fog was dissipating just enough to provide an eerie sky and an orange sunset.

Mysterious Evening.  Photo credit: Sue DeMund Mangers

We lost a good foot of snow pack in two days, revealing the first signs of color in a long time.

Partridge Berries revealed in time for Easter

Though there is still snow to be found in cool, shaded areas.

Plenty of snow around on Saturday

On any walk now the air is filled with the song of birds praising the spring warmth - and attracting mates.  The pretty call of the Song Sparrow can be heard everywhere;  you can listen to it here.

They aren't as well camouflaged when they sit on the snow.

We also had the first beaver sighting of the year.  We saw ripples in the skinny channel of open water far away along the shore, and were pretty sure what was making them, as the time was about quarter-past-beaver in the evening.  It took a while, but eventually it made its way along the shore to our vantage point, at which point it hopped up out of the water and onto the ice.

It snuffled around in the water where we had cut some branches on the ice this past winter.

It somehow detected there was food there and found a few scraps left behind to nibble on.

It turned to wave goodbye to us before slipping back into the ice cold water to go on its way.

What's one of the best, brightest, and surest signs that spring is here?  Male goldfinches shedding their drab winter feathers for their spring, get-a-girl plumage.

Still a few gray feathers left, but almost dressed and ready to go out for a date

It is spring, and love is in the air.

Late breaking update:  The Thorpes saw a pair of Bald Eagles on the lake, and Sue Mangers just reported the first loon has arrived!

More animals waiting for the ice to melt!  Photo by Dave Thorpe

Photo by Dave Thorpe

The first loons!  Photo by Anne Crane