Well, we survived the coldest stretch of weather I’ve ever seen and now we’re in the midst of a January thaw, but I didn’t think I’d ever thaw out after going out on January 7 th to take many of these photos. It was a brisk 14°F but the sun was shining and I didn’t think it would be too bad, but it still felt frigid because of a breeze. Anyhow, anyone who lives here would know how cold it must have been just by seeing this photo of the Ashuelot River in Swanzey frozen from bank to bank. I think this is the first time in two or three years that this has happened.
Downstream from the previous photo ice shelves were forming but the river was open.
You could see how much ice had formed since the last snow. But the last snow was just 3 days before this photo was taken.
Close to a foot of snow fell and plowing it made mountain ranges.
After the snow storm dragged down more arctic air it got even colder; too cold to be outside for more than just a few minutes.
On New Hampshire’s tallest peak Mount Washington, a tie score for the second coldest place on the planet was recently recorded. At -36 ° F. with a wind chill of -94 °F. it was just two degrees warmer than Yakutsk Russia. What an honor.
Birches bent under the weight of the snow, which fell on top of the ice from the December ice storm. It has been so cold that the ice from that storm weeks ago has never melted.
The birches were giving up their seeds to the wind and to the birds too, probably.
Birds are definitely eating the seeds from eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) cones. Chickadees, pine siskins and other small birds eat them, and several species of warblers nest in the dense foliage. Larger birds like turkeys, owls, and grouse will often roost in the branches, possibly because hemlocks are excellent at shedding water. You can stand under large hemlocks in a pouring rain and barely feel a drop. Deer will eat the foliage.
By September the small cones and seeds of eastern hemlock are ripe but are still green, wet and oily. Once the cones begin to turn brown the seeds will be dry and birds can get at them as soon as the cone opens like the one pictured. Hemlock seeds are often lacking in viability, with less than 20% of them viable. Hemlock trees can live to 800 years old and reach a height of 175 feet. Native Americans used the inner bark, roots, and needles of hemlocks medicinally. They contain antiseptic properties and were used to treat wounds and in sweat lodges to treat colds and rheumatism. When food supplies were low the inner bark was often eaten.
Bird tracks under the hemlocks reveal their value to wildlife.
The birds have eaten all the coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) seeds. Since these coneflowers were mostly planted by the birds the seeds belong to them and I don’t cut them or other plants back until spring. The more seeds they eat and spread around the yard, the more plants I’ll / we’ll have.
A motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) stem poked up from the snow and I thought it was interesting how I could see where all the little tufts of tiny flowers had been much easier without its leaves in the way. Of course the flowers are now seed pods. Though I’ve searched to find out which birds eat the seeds of motherwort I didn’t have any luck at all. It could be because the plant isn’t native, coming originally from Asia. It was brought here because of its long history of medicinal use in Europe and Asia. It is said to be useful as a heart medicine, hence the cardiaca part of its scientific name. It has a sedative effect and is also said to be useful to treat anxiety and muscle spasms.
The ice on most lakes and ponds is safe now, probably thicker than it’s been in years, and fishermen have begun setting up their bob houses. Some of these small, garden shed size buildings are quite elaborate, with all the comforts of home included. This fisherman built his out of clear corrugated plastic, probably hoping for some solar gain. I’d have to want to catch a fish pretty badly to stand on the ice all day, even if it was in a bob house.
When you approach a frozen over pond with snow covered ice you often can’t tell where the land ends and the water begins, so I look for cattails (Typha latifolia.) They always tell me right where the water starts.
Japanese knotweed stems (Fallopia japonica) looked red in the bright sunshine. It’s too bad this plant is so invasive, because it is pretty through much of its life cycle.
Milk white toothed polypores are resupinate fungi, which means they look like they grow upside down, and that’s what many crust fungi seem to do. This is a common winter fungus with “teeth” that are actually ragged bits of spore producing tissue which start life as pores or tubes and break apart and turn brown as they age. This fungus can be found on the undersides of hardwood tree branches. They don’t seem to mind the bitter cold temperatures we’ve had.
When I was in high school I had an art teacher who knew how to paint winter scenes. She taught me how to paint snow on tree branches and have it look realistic, and how to paint snowy landscapes. She was a professional artist as well as a teacher so she knew her way around an easel, but I still questioned her when she said that my gray winter shadows should be blue. I told her I painted them as I saw them, and I saw gray. I don’t know if it was colorblindness or some other reason that I saw gray but whatever it was has corrected itself and now I see blue winter shadows, just as Miss Safford said they should be. What makes them blue? The ice crystals that make up the snow reflect the ambient blue light from the sky. The color of a shadow is determined by the amount of light reaching the area that is in shade and light from the blue sky will even illuminate shaded areas. If the sky is gray, the shadows will appear gray.
It was so cold on this day that even the window frost seemed contracted, like each crystal had been held back by an icy grip, so instead of large, elaborate and beautiful frost feathers what formed were blocky, clunky crystals.
Here is an extreme close up of some window frost crystals. They didn’t have the beauty of frost feathers but this example reminded me of Aztec and Inca carvings I’ve seen photos of. It looks like a figure with a headdress, a long nose or beak, and wings. Or maybe it just looks like ice. I’ll let you decide.
Nearness to nature keeps the spirit sensitive to impressions not commonly felt, and in touch with the unseen powers. ~Charles Eastman
Thanks for stopping in.
Memories of New England in winter! Thank you for the tour!
How are the hemlocks doing in your area? I remember that wooley adelgid being a problem in Connecticut.
You’re welcome Lavinia, and thank you. I’ve seen wooley adelgid on hemlocks but they don’t seem to be a huge problem in this part of the state. The southeast and lakes region are said to have small infestations. I don’t know how they handle cold but I would think two weeks of below zero weather would thin their ranks some.
Another wonderful post, Allen. I do miss the “real” winter, cold and all; the snow is so beautiful.
Thank you Scott. I can’t imagine a winter with more cold than we’ve had this year. I’m hoping for a warmer February.
You’re welcome, Allen…I’m sure we’ll have a warm February here, and I’d be happy to send you some if it, if you could figure out how to send me some of your cold. 🙂
I wish I could!
What strange weather you are getting! I cannot imagine being that cold! Your photographs are so beautiful! I liked seeing all the seedpods and cones and to know that the birds and animals have had something to eat. How they will suffer if the freezing cold returns and there is no food left! Your shots of the ice crystals, the frozen river and the snow are lovely – all is so much more attractive to look at than our grey skies and muddy countryside. My comfort is we are able to get out every day and the animals don’t seem to be suffering too much. Take care of yourself, Allen.
Thank you Clare. Yes we are getting some very strange weather and it’s hard to keep up with the changes. I’ve had to start hauling a wardrobe of clothing to work with me because it’s hard to know what to even dress for anymore. If you work outside most of the time like I do you had better be dressed for it!
I worry about how the birds and animals are getting on but we did have a good year for their foods. I’ve never seen so many cones and acorns as we had this year and berries and grapes were abundant too, so most should do well. Even so the cold will take some of them, I’m sure.
You’re lucky you can get out every day, even with the clouds and mud. The worst part of the bitter cold for me was not being able to get outside. Sitting around inside is not me, and I thought I’d go stir crazy!
Yes, I can see how that must have been very hard for you!
Love that ice crystal close up. We had a January thaw also, but it was only a couple of days. Now we are back in the deep freeze.
Thank you. Your weather is our weather and we had exactly the same.
An awesome post, Allen. The recent intense cold was hard to take but the warmth of Friday helped to make up for it. We were hiking without coats! I have seen goldfinches eating the seeds of my motherwort. The pointy and pokey seed pods probably discourage birds from eating the seeds.Thank you for explaining blue winter shadows. The window frost crystals are amazing, as well as the quote!
Thank you Paula. Yes, Thursday and Friday were both a nice change, like a spring tonic!
Thanks for the info. about gold finches eating the motherwort seeds. I have motherwort plants here but I never see any birds on them.
That last picture is a stunning work of art. As I read your post, I think about how much healing there is in the earth and what grows on it. Pity many of us have lost that knowledge and connection. I wish I knew more.
Thank you Cynthia. I agree, the earth does have a way of healing itself but I don’t think it is unlimited. We could destroy it if we really wanted to, and those who have lost the connection seem to want to more and more.
I also wish I knew more, and always have.
You have really had the cold this winter! We have had cold spells too, but not nearly as cold as yours. Sure does make a day above freezing feel warm though!
Thanks Montucky! Yes, 30 degrees can feel like spring time!
We had cold weather in NC too (low of 5 degree F one night), so I knew it was really brutally cold up north. -94 – wow. The coldest weather I’ve ever experienced was -22 one night in Pennsylvania, -45 with the wind chill factored in.
Thank you, Yes it can get dangerously cold here. I’ve seen -35 twice not including a wind chill and that was plenty cold enough for me. Both times I had to deal with frozen pipes.
I hope that your low temperatures really have gone for good. I enjoyed your snowy, icy tour though.
Thank you. The long range forecast isn’t showing any severe cold so I think we’re out of the woods.
If you miss the cold, and I know that you don’t, never fear, it’s already returned here after the all too brief January thaw that we had.
I found your photos of the snow formations quite beautiful, probably because I didn’t have to freeze to see them. I also the segments of your post on what birds and other critters find to eat in the winter. Deer will forage on hemlock, but it provides them with very little nutrition, it’s the same with cedar. Where deer yard in very large herds, they will eat all the foliage that they can reach, even standing on their hind legs, but some die of starvation even though their stomachs are quite full. But, they’re drawn to stands of hemlock and cheddar because those trees offer them protection from the elements.
The images of the ice crystals were fantastic, I loved them!
Thanks Jerry! No, after this winter I don’t think I’ll ever miss the cold. We had a tiny, two day thaw too, and that’s all it took to raise rivers to bank full and cause ice jams, so it might be a good thing that it didn’t last longer.
It’s too bad that a deer or any animal has to die with a full stomach. Now that a lot of the snow has melted hopefully the deer will be able to find some of the acorns that fell. We had a banner year for acorns and pine cones, so the squirrels should be happy too.
Oh, it has been cold, and now it looks miserable March in central Maine. Argh! You were right to get frozen pictures before the rain. That close-up of the crystal is gorgeous. It would make a lovely card.
Thank you Laurie. We saw 59 degrees yesterday and it’s snowing now, so I don’t know if I’m coming or going when it comes to weather.
I can’t wait for spring to get here, that I do know!
I know. What a crazy winter it has been, not just for northern New England, but for the rest of the country as well. I actually like the cold beauty of winter, and I am longing for more snow. Not a blizzard, mind you. Just a nice little snowstorm. We always want things to be just right, don’t we?
Yes, we do. I went out today and it was one of those perfect winter days. Not too cold, sun shining, and the sky that blue that only happens in winter.
But wow, was the snow frozen solid! And too full rivers and ice everywhere.
The Kennebec flooded in Hallowell and Augusta. Hope to get some good pictures tomorrow.
Good luck!
Reblogged this on Poltrack Pix and commented:
All my snow is gone just days after it being 7 degrees. Weird New Hampshire.
Thank you John. Weird is right!
Thank you for braving the cold for us! I’m glad I get to read your blog even in the middle of winter.
You’re welcome and thank you Lynn. I’ve always kept it going year round but this year the weather seems determined to stop that. Not if I can help it!
It is difficult to imagine how the animals can survive such cold, even the plants, but I’m sure you’ll have plenty of photographs to surprise when the spring comes. Amelia
Thank you Amelia. Some of the animals and birds don’t make it through such cold weather, but most do.
I think our native plants are able to easily withstand the cold but many imports do die because of it.
Thank you for going out in such low temperatures to take these striking pictures, the close ups of the frost crystals are amazing.
Thank you Susan, I’m glad you liked them.