A Walk in the New England Spring

In and around Windsor, Vermont are many, many jewels.  The history and natural beauty are remarkable, and one place where those two are combined is in the amazing village of Woodstock.  Once owned almost exclusively by the Rockefeller family, it has been carefully preserved and cultivated to retain a quintessential New England spirit.  One of the many gems of Woodstock is the Marsh - Billings - Rockefeller Farm National Historic Park.  It was there that we decided to do a Saturday hike with Chelle, Brig, Anders, Maddie and Eddie this last April.  The snow was just then melting, and The Pogue, a lake up in the hills above the farmstead was not yet clear of ice.  It was muddy, exhilarating and really fun .  With Chelle on the map, we had no worries!  Brig had the "bazooka"



On the way up the mountain we heard and finally saw several Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers pounding away.





When we got to the lake we had a picnic while Eddie looked for and found all of the puddles.



All around the sunny edges of the "Pogue" were the most beautiful Painted Turtles.






I did get a shot of the crew before we left the lake, but Maddie was too busy chewing snow to smile!





On the way down the hill we heard another woodpecker pounding away and thought we would see our Sapsucker friends.  Instead we saw this nice little Downy male working the trees for bugs just starting to hatch in the bark.




A far off Hermit Thrush was singing it's Vermont birdsong.  We managed to get a look at it and got a couple of shots.



And down a bit lower we had the chance to watch this White Breasted Nuthatch busy building it's nest.






One thing I can really say for sure is that Eddie loves his Grandma Paula.



As we came down back into Woodstock, we saw an amazing sight.  I think I will make this the mystery critter for this post.  Remember this was seen in April in Vermont!!!!!







One last little story.  My last post had some birds from behind WalMart in Lebanon, New Hampshire.  After our hike we went to get some grub at the Burger King across from WalMart. But we thought we would cruise the back parking lot quickly before we ate.  A few days before this we had been over at the "Blow Me Down" pond at St Gauden's, and seen a dead beaver which had appeared from under a snow bank.  The kids named him "Dave the Dead ", and we talked about him for days.  Behind WalMart we saw his cousin Barry, who was still alive, and he really didn't care that we were there!



Another great memory with a great family.