I’ll start at the end of today’s wild goose chase. I went bridge hopping along the Grasse River and had a very sucessful wild geese shoot. On the way home a couple other birds got shot along the way. So before I post the geese photos I want to get these turkeys out of the way.

There must have been over a hundred turkeys out looking for treats where a farmer had spread manure. Winter is no time to get fussy about the source of your corn. The turkeys were well over 500 feet from the road but it wasn’t near enough distance between us to stop them from taking off as soon as I stopped.

I was lucky to catch a couple of the wild butterballs defying gravity. They were gone before I really had a chance to shoot.

Something about the higher ones makes me think of bats.

So now you know. Turkeys can fly when they need to. They’re limited in range but had no problem clearing the trees at the far side of the field.

A Cooper’s Hawk was the last thing I photographed today. I was just down the road from the house when I spotted the hawk’s silhouette. I expected it too would take off before I had a chance to capture it’s likeness. They usually do. This was the first time one didn’t get it’s feathers ruffled over me this year.

The sun wasn’t doing me any favors. I was on the wrong side of the tree and facing toward the sun. I really expected these to be silhouettes.

That’s better. The Cooper’s Hawk never took an eye off me but it at least it was no turkey about getting photographed.

Accipiter cooperii

I’ll leave the sleeping goose lie for now.

Tomorrow is soon enought to report on the wild goose chase.

During the winter I’ve always felt kind of sorry for those that live south of me. Drive 2 hours from my place and you’ll end up in the heart of the Adirondack Park surrounded by the high peaks. ‘Down’ there you better be ready for a Donner Party.

Maybe it’s not just the 1,200 foot difference in elevation that moderates my climate. Lake Ontario is only a little over an hour to the west. The lake definitely effects the immediate area around it. Lake effect snow often closes Interstate 81 between Syracuse and Watertown. By the time the weather gets here most of the snow has already been dumped and often times never does make it this far. But I do think the warming effect of the lake moderates the temps if only just a little bit.

After the last couple winters my sympathies are going a lot farther south. It almost seems like the country has been turned upside down. My winters are getting milder as the cold and snow follows the snowbirds ever farther south each year. We’ve missed most of the big winter storms that have hammered the country the last couple of years. This time we caught some of it. Only a foot of snow fell but it’s enough added to what was already on the ground to snow bound the dog and I. Our daily hikes are limited to the road now. Pook refuses to walk through snow that’s up to her chin.

The wind swept some of the precipitation away from my snow gauge so it’s reading a little low. There’s about 2 feet of snow keeping us out of the woods.

I did manage to plow my way through the snow to an old apple tree in the backyard.

How do ya like dem apples?

The deer would, if only they could reach that high.

A chickadee picking at some sumac was the only wildlife I saw today.

So, we’re not exactly snow bound and I was still able to get the last couple of photos from the road. But if I want to go to the woods I’ll either have to go alone or teach the dog how to use snowshoes. She has more sense than me so it should be easy.

The Oswegatchie River in the village of Rensselaer Falls – Jan. 29, 2011. Please bare with me. Today’s post contains 16 photos so it may be slow loading.

Looking up river from Fireball Hartman’s ‘mill’. The old dam looks like a perfectly level snow drift across the river. At the far left is the discharge from the old canal that runs up to the Upper and Lower Lakes Wildlife Refuge.

The mill’s stone walls have stood the test of time. Water once flowed under the arch, these days it just seeps when not fozen.

The old canal seen from the bridge over the Oswegatchie River.

Looking towards the end of the long ‘island’.

Guess how the Village of Rensselear Falls got the falls in it’s name.

The Oswegatchie River like others in St. Lawrence County, northern NY flows out of the Adirondack Mountains on their way to the St. Lawrence River. Small falls like this one is a common sight around here.

Looking downriver from the falls you can just make out the old dam in the photo. On the right of the dam is an old stone structure. And no, I have no idea what is was.

A closer look at a rock outcrop entending into the river.

Zooming in on the tip of the ice shelf reveals the icicles hanging from it.

One great thing about winter cold is the way it adds character to a simple little waterfall.

I wasn’t the only one to walk on the ice shelf that ran along the river bank. I normally don’t walk on river ice because you can never tell where the current creates thin ice. But I know the river here is only a couple inches deep and the only thing I risked was getting a hot foot. A slightly better view of the stone structure at the end of the dam can also be seen in this photo.

Farther down the river I came across a hole in the ice.

River icicles hung hidden beneath the ice.

A number of ice sheets clung on rocks in the river. This is one of many I photographed today.

Finally, I was able to sneak close enough to something to get a decent photo or two. Sorry Pook, I didn’t miss your barging ahead and scaring the wildlife.

There was a gaggle of Canadian Geese hanging out at the mill. Once I reached the end of the island I crossed the canal and climbed the steep bank to get these goose pics.

Ouch, I got spotted. Goodbye geese.