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No, they are buckets to collect the sap that is used to make maple syrup. Wonderful sweet syrup for pancakes, French Toast, baking... Here's a link to a New Hampshire Maple Producers web site with an explanation of maple sugaring: http://www.nhmapleproducers.com/abc.htm.Quote:
Originally Posted by RoadRaven
--- Denise
The first sign of summer..... the pool guy came to clean the neighborhood pool. It is filled and ready to go in May.
OK... thanks Denise...Quote:
Originally Posted by DeniseGoldberg
I luuuuurve maple syrup... but the maples that grow in NZ don't give the yummy sap, so we have import it...
but now I understand buckets and robins and spring... thanks.
Did somebody say spring. I've been watching snow flurries all day and the temps went from 62 on Monday to 34 today.
I mark spring by when the goldfinches turn yellow and the peepers start peeping and I haven't seen or heard that yet. It was nice to get the weekend rides in though, even if it was just a teaser. As for the salamanders, they have a group around here that actually stand in the road at night to make sure they get across. Now those folks are dedicated.
Man, I miss having salamanders down here in Florida. I _loved_ them in Minnesota! I can remember some spring nights when I would go out in the yard and find 20 or 30 of them! They are the cutest things. I love their smiley little faces, and their little four-finger hands. _So_ easy to keep as pets, too.
Nanci
They actually close the road for the salamander migration here. I get to have a private highway some rainy, spring nights. The director of the Audubon sanctuary I ride through knows me and my commuting habit, and probably that I have been a member of Audubon for over 30 years. She just waves me around the barracade. I walk my bike thru the areas that the salamanders are heaviest. I've only seen one actually crossing the road. I tend not to linger because I suspect that my lights might disturb them.
Now, if it were Davis, we'd just build 'em a tunnel and expect them to be smart enough to use it.:rolleyes:
http://www.daviswiki.org/Toad_Tunnel
Well, maybe they'd use it if the city would put up signs! You gotta tell them where the tunnels are fergoshsakes!:DQuote:
Originally Posted by SadieKate
We have an "Ecopassage" here through Paynes Prairie, a huge marsh with bison, wild cattle and horses, alligators, wading birds, bald eagles, ospreys, etc.
http://tinyurl.com/etsxh
There is also a wildlife barrier that keeps them off the road, but is hidden from sight. Biggest problem now is people stopping to feed friend chicken to the gators. (They get ticketed, highly frowned upon!!)
Nanci
Wow Nanci...
...bison, wild cattle and horses, alligators, wading birds, bald eagles, ospreys...
reminds me that I live two hours from nowhere... I am in awe of some of the creatures that are a part of you gals' every day...
Florida is a weird state. You'd think it would be highly populated, and I guess in the popular coastal areas it is, but you can have a college town, like I live in, complete with bald eagles landing on the side of the road and alligators holding up traffic and ospreys having special towers built for them, which they _like_, right in the middle of the city, and then do a, say, Century ride, right from town, and so fast be out in the middle of nowhere, like you've gone back to the 1800's with a little cabin on blocks here and there, and _nothing else_, and ride like that for hours and hours, it's unbelievable.
I noticed in the paper today that my county had the lowest percent of population growth out of the whole state. Fine with me. Unless any cyclists want to move down.
Nanci
Okay ladies we are on our way. I did a 20 miler this morning and rode by a swamp and had to stop. The peepers were making so much noise I had to find out if that was actually what I was hearing. The goldfinches are also starting to turn yellow. It was a bit breezy but all in all a great ride. Its so nice to be back outside. Bye Bye coach Troy.
Wooohooo Surly!! That so ROCKSSS!!! I had Forgotten about the finches turning yellow in the spring - there are some things I miss since moving to the desert - not Many you understand - but a few. (high yesterday 70, high right now 62) :D :D
The peepers aren't out yet in my neighborhood, and the finches I saw this morning weren't very yellow. But it's 55 degrees now, they better get moving! My favorite sign of spring is peepers in a pond I ride by on my commute from work (it was still frozen a few days ago). As I pass the pond in peeper season at about 16 mph, the doppler effect is unmistakable. It's hard to believe that those little frogs can make such a crescendo of sound, with frequency shift dependent on my speed of course.
I haven't heard any peepers either, but I bet they'll be out here in Concord by the end of the week. I just got back from a 15 mile ride with my husband. I got home at 3 and at 3:05 he called to say "I'm leaving now, wait!"
Things are back to normal...