With temperatures climbing above freezing and a rare sunny day, Naomi and I went to Pemaquid Point this weekend. While the weather was mild, the ocean swells were dynamic. Monhegan Island can be seen on the horizon. Click on the image for a larger view.
Category Archives: Maine Coast
Changing Seasons, Part 2
The salt marshes and dunes at Bates Morse Mountain Conservation Area are always in flux. While we like to think of the season as four monolithic blocks clearly delineating their character to the landscape, the year passes over the land with infinitely variability. No two moments are the same. Click on the image for a larger view.
Changing Seasons, Part 1
Spring just does not simply arrive in Maine; snow and ice don’t simply vanish. Spring comes like a gentle kiss on the land, slowly melting away winter.
This pond in the salt marshes of Bates Morse Mountain Conservation Area is just opening up. In a month or two, fish fry will populate the water. This pool is isolated from the rivers and streams that cut through the marsh, yet the fish population is stable. Amazingly, the salinity of the water is higher than the ocean that feeds the marsh.
Winter Salt Marsh
Salt marshes are amazing places. Some of the toughest environments exist right between the land and the sea. Places where extreme changes in salinity, temperatures, and water level can be a daily event. This marsh is on the eastern edge of the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area along the Morse River. Click on the image for a larger view.
Rock and Tides
The tides flowing into the marsh at Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area coat the bottom of the rocks with ice. Click on the image for a larger view.
Sky, Sea, and Land, Part 2
Sky, Sea, and Land, Part 1
Naomi and I went out to Pemaquid Point on late on Sunday to watch the storm swells. While the place is always the same—the land sliding into the water which stretches out until it meets the sky at the horizon—it is always hypnotic.
Deep Winter
A snow cover salt marsh in Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area in Phippsburg, Maine. Click on the image for a larger view.
The Belt of Venus
Driving up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park last weekend, we were offered a beautiful display of the Belt of Venus. The belt is an atmospheric phenomenon and fairly common. It is caused by the shadow of the Earth creating a dark blue band below the warm light from the setting or rising sun. The belt is seen on the opposite horizon from the sun. Click on the image for a larger version.
Acadia in Late Fall
The visitors to Acadia National Park leave with the foliage. The roads and trails are populated with the occasional traveller. A stillness falls over the area. But the beauty does not abandon the park with the people.
Click on the image for a larger view.
