Waiting Out The Weather

A nor'easter has been blowing through. It's been blowing and blowing and blowing and we're ready for it to blow out so we can keep going south. We've been tucked into Richmond Island harbor for 3 days now and so yesterday we took advantage of a dry spell went exploring on shore. The island is privately owned, but they let hikers walk around the perimeter trails. There are about a dozen big fuzzy sheep, who let us get this close, then ran away. The Tree Swallows congregate here in huge numbers, eating the bayberries that grow all over the island. According to the guide, they also enjoy playing with feathers, dropping and catching them in the air. We didn't see any of this, probably because the wind is trying to blow the feathers off the birds themselves. It also says "they circle in big eddies like leaves caught in a whirlwind". Which we have seen a lot of. It's quite amazing how they can dive in a flock of thousands, all turning at exactly the same time and not run into each other. One of the mysteries of nature.

We also found one of the hidden lobster buoy forests. I'd heard about them, but never expected to see one. As you can see, this years harvest is almost complete. The lobster buoy is Maine's official state bird/tree/fish/shell/animal/flower/rock/younameit, and the locations of the forests are a closely guarded secret.