Poland Spring Campground

Cookie and I took a walk to the point today. Poor thing, she’s been cooped up for a little over two weeks, what with Ben and I both so sick for so long. When I used the word “walk”, I swear she jumped and wiggled in mid-air!

I’m sorry to report, only the TOPS of the picnic tables can be seen as I walk through the campground. There’s still three to four feet of snow in most places, although I did see some bare ground too. I wore my snowshoes to make the trip easier.

When Cookie and I reached the lake’s edge, I was so glad I remembered the camera! Here’s proof, our eagles are nesting;

What do you mean, you don’t see anything? Right in the middle . . . there . . . don’t you see a white bump? That’s the top of her head. Hmmmm - how about this image?

The second eagle had flown in to feed the first. I’m not sure which is which, female or male. I’ve read that incubation duties are shared, but the female primarily does this job. So, it’s probably her on the nest.

I stayed to watch them for a bit. Getting a few more shots like this

before I heard splashing water. Heart in my throat, I scanned the ice. Sure enough, Cookie had fallen into a 3 foot wide hole, about 5 feet off shore. She was in over her head and although her front paws were on the ice, she couldn’t get her back legs up and out.

I ran around the point, trying to find something, anything, to lay across the ice and get to her. The docks were all too heavy or frozen to the ground. For twenty minutes I coaxed, demanded, pleaded, and begged. But it wasn’t until I tearfully called to her, “Cookie! I have to go home. I have to get David! I’ll be back!”

At the word “home” she started to cry and whine. She scrambled and dug at the ice until finally, she broke free! I fell to my knees and hugged her sopping wet neck.

She looked at me, like, “What? What’d I do?”

I now smell like wet dog. And wet dog has never smelled so good.

Another question I get asked a lot by potential campers:

How’s the fishin’?

I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves, most were taken within the last 3 years

If those aren’t enough to convince you to book a campsite with us, how about this:

brown trout have been released off our point for the last three years!

The truck backs up

Opens the tanks one by one

And lets them go!

Yep. The fishin’s good.

If you don’t believe me . . .

ask the eagle family.

Here are some pics I took today from the trees on the point

They were here a long time, just the two of them, surveying their kingdom.

It appears the eagles aren’t sitting on eggs yet, because they both left the nest a little while later when an ice fisherman drilled a hole about 150 to 200 feet from the island.

I believe they’re only sprucing up their nest at this point. Once or twice, one of the pair tried to come back with a stick, as you’ll see here, but she never landed. I think she was leery of that fisherman, even though he was sitting quietly.

It was so much fun to see them so active. Once the eggs are laid, I’ll be lucky to snap a picture of the top of her head. She sits so low in that nest, you wouldn’t know she was there.

So, I’m talking on the campground phone, taking a reservation for July, when all of a sudden I hear my son yell,

“What? Whoa! MOOOOOOOOM!”

I hurry my call (sorry!) and rush to the living room. Ben points to the maple tree on our front lawn and I see this

How cool is that?

These aren’t the greatest photos, but they are proof I’m not fibbing about seeing those eagles!

I saw this guy from the Route 26 side of a jut of land.

When I crossed over to the backside and looked back I saw this:

I wanted to get closer . . . I didn’t have the extra long lens with me. But those darn eagles were hanging out above the open water, probably hoping to catch some lunch.

I also lots of evidence like this that show the beavers are adding to their hut again . . .

Every Fall, after we’ve said goodbye to our campers and the grounds are quiet, a few visitors of a different variety show up.

This little guy was seen behind our house by Ben. In all our years here, this is the first time we’ve actually seen a fox:

The loon adults hung around until the beginning of November. Without the people coming and going, they’d come quite close to shore:

Squirrels foraged for food:

And bedding:

It was such a beautiful fall,

I watched the gray heron . . .

and the geese and ducks until mid November!

Once upon a time, we had a pair of ospreys. Their nest was at the tip top of a tree, on a little island just off our point. I had campers who returned year after year to watch those osprey raise their young and send them off into the world.

Then one spring, five years ago we found eagles in the nest! They’d chased off our osprey, which is common I hear. Ready made nest . . . a quiet lake full of fish . . . who could blame them really?

We were sad for a bit, until we realized what a rare treat we had! With good binoculars, we watched as first one little eaglet head, and then another, poked up out of the nest. We watched Mom and Dad bring them fish. Watched as the eaglets first perched nest-side and unfolded their wings to practice catching the breezes. Some of us were lucky to see them fly for the first time.

We’ve all been converted to eagle lovers! And we watch for them eagerly year after year.

My first eagle sighting for 2008 was this past Sunday! Driving home from Portland, we crossed the causeway between our lake and Middle Range. There he was . . . sitting high in a dead tree.

I took this photo this past Fall, after we’d closed the camp. He was sitting on our point looking over the swimming area, where the game wardens had just released a truckload of brown trout.

photo by Tamra Wight ‘07

You’ll find more photos on our website.

I’ll keep you all posted on future eagle sightings!