Flashflood puts our town on the map

For several days up until July 3, we had record amounts of rain in the Western part of Nh and several towns, including ours, were declared disaster areas due to the flood damage.
Water from the beaver pond started to run across the driveway during the wee hours of July 3rd and we awoke to two streams, one larger than the other, going across the lower driveway from the beaver pond into Beatitude Pond. In an hour it had widened and deepened so we were unable to cross. We were stranded for the day.
Towards the end of the day our plowman, also a  town road road crew person, came to assess the situation.
Today it has a fix for now, but not sure how it will hold up in the the next extreme weather event.
I noticed the beaver had tried to dam the new river last night before it was fixed.
Today there is a new culvert and new sand and gravel. Meantime much sand has been washed into Beatitude Pond...not great for the wildlife!  Hoping to find better solutions for flood mitigation and the funding for it.
Wildlife sightings: Lindley saw a turkey with 14 littles ones on the front lawn today.
Another turtle wandering on the driveway, but this time up by the house! We canoed out back and enjoyed watching and listening to the birds while Lindley fished.

Here is a photo of the river that formed across our driveway before repairs...about 3 feet deep.

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone..."

Wow! I thought we had a lot of rain earlier in the month, but yesterday took the cake. I was working from home and one minute it would lighten up and be peaceful and the very next the skies would darken and dump tropical rains on flora and fauna...so thick I could not see beyond the front lawn.
I was concerned about the ponds over topping the culverts. This would under mind our crossing and potentially cause serious problems.

The beginning of the week temperatures had soared in the mid 90's, leaving us all feeling faint and irritable when in non-air conditioned places. Here at Beatitude Pond we rely on Mother Nature to cool us down. Fire flies have been illuminating the nights, rain or shine. Meanwhile states in the West continue to experience record high temperatures. Everyone there is suffering.

Recent wildlife sightings:

Another turtle (painted turtle) attempting to lay eggs in a nest she dug on the crossing....she dug several holes.
A hawk drying her feathers off after a rainstorm high up in a tree.
A bullfrog, awaiting prey, perfectly still on a log, except for its breathing (on close inspection).
A wood duck.
Blue admiral butterflies taking their turns eating salt on the driveway.

June Monsoons

The first part of June we had quite a bit of rain...not warm rain, but cold rain, which didn't do much for some of the vegetables we are trying to grow (like squash, pumpkins and cucumbers). Carrots, lettuce, peas and onions are doing pretty well, though.

The Western states have been in drought.

Wild life continues to abound by the ponds:

today...spotted a mangy looking coyote on the path down to the waterfall...Lindley saw him
last week Lindley say a snapping turtle covering her nest on the crossing. We are keeping an eye on her nest.
I saw the mallard duck with three offspring walking across the crossing. We have since seen her swimming with them on the lower and beaver ponds.
We saw Northern Strikes trying to mate.

• Lots of ant hills everywhere - lawn and driveway.
• Swallows
• Cedar waxwings
• A lone turkey hen wandering in the front yard for a couple of days.
• A big garter snake moving slowly across the driveway in the sun.
• The beaver crawling up a  large boulder by the driveway (an amusing sight)

Now it's the first day of summer and feeling quite summer like. It's been dry now for the last few days. Squash finally beginning to perk up.

Recap of May

Wow! I didn't post all May. The first half of May was mostly dry and sunny I worried about the peas that I had put in the garden as only a few came up. Hand watering didn't help too much. Everything was dry and dusty and we all suffered from allergies.
End of May we had a lot of rain and pow...all the leaves came bursting out. Violets are quite plentiful this year. I saw some by our brook and they are very long stemmed.

Wildlife sightings:

wood duck pair frequently
hooded Merganser couples
bobcat scat on Beatitude Pond dam
beaver - and beaver baby and mom! 

This past week the dragonflies have finally begun to be more plentiful...we were were worried
the Canada goose couple came for a visit this week

Plants -

lichen in general seems to be growing at a faster pace.

The Frog Voices have returned - April 17th

Today it was ice out on Beatitude Pond. The frogs have returned in full voice. The sound is delightfully deafening. Welcome back!

Welcoming back the beavers

The male beaver is now out and about much more. The last couple of evenings we have gone down to the ponds after dinner and called him. He comes right over and gives us a quick look with his poor eyesight...and lingers for a minute...as if to wait for a fresh branch. We have greeted each other like old friends.

Other creatures who have made a return:

two wood ducks
male mallard duck
assorted phoebes

Easter weekend 2013

Traveled up to the White Mountains for the weekend. About as much snow left as here in Western NH. The pond is full of thaw and open spots. Can spot some beaver activity here and there. I saw the beaver out chipping away and something off in the distance.