West Shore View
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A VIEW FROM THE LOG CABIN, WEST SHORE OF TRIPP LAKE 

by Harriet Doolittle 

 

The view today shows a bright blue sky and lake with ripples caused by a northwest wind. The trees are turning and should be brilliant soon. The ducks are flying by at an accelerated rate. The summer that wasn’t is gone. Autumn is definitely here. The prediction for tonight is widespread frost and a hard freeze possible.

 Let me introduce myself; my name is Harriet Doolittle and I come to Maine each year from Pine Hill, NJ.  I am a retired veterinarian/college educator.  In 1970 I purchased this piece of land from Bill and Althea King of West Poland. There was a small cabin on the land, which served as a day camp.  Starting in 1976, I had my deck and log cabin built by Irving W. Groves of Poland Mining Camps; the project was completed in 1984. I have spent 12 weeks of the summer here since 1972 and, after retiring in 2000, I have been able to stay for 5 ½ months, mid-May until the end of October.

 This summer I responded to the notice in the TLIA newsletter for a bird-a-thon. I have always fed the seed-eating birds, planted lots of flowers in containers for the hummingbirds and kept a careful watch of the trees and lake for the other birds.  My parents always had bird feeders in our back yard so I grew up with feeding and identifying birds as a routine activity.

 This area on the west side of Tripp Lake is especially rich in bird life.  There are four different habitats from the hay fields at the top of Fernald road down through the conifer and hardwood forest to the wetlands surrounding this point of land to the lake itself. Watching, identifying and jotting down the names of the birds, as they appeared this summer from May 16 to Aug. 10 produced a list of 30 species. Checking lists from other summers I found I was missing about six species; three of these have appeared since Aug. 10 but the others don’t seem to be around this year.

 Imagine my surprise and pleasure when Judy King appeared at my door one afternoon with the news that I had recorded the most species of birds.  And she brought me a prize of a lovely new bird feeder!!  Mrs. King and I had a nice chat and agreed that having a cabin/cottage on Tripp Lake was indeed a ” little piece of heaven.” Mrs. King’s exuberant enthusiasm renewed my joy in having this special place that has been my spot for physical, emotional and spiritual re-creation, rejuvenation and renewal. Thank you, Mrs. King; keep on with your good work.

 I feel that the rich bird life is an important barometer showing how we are doing as environmental conservators, especially the water and fishing birds. As long as the ducks, geese, mergansers, loons, herons, bald eagles and ospreys are around, we are probably doing our job.  Over the last three years I have noticed a steady decrease in the number of frogs calling around my camp. This is a problem observed in wetlands and lakes all over the Northeast. The biologists have yet to pinpoint the exact cause of this but it must have something to do with air and water pollution. Frogs would be more sensitive to these pollutants since they absorb oxygen both through their lungs from the air and through their skin from the water. The photo of the Great Blue Heron catching chipmunks around the stone wall that was in the TLIA newsletter last fall was interesting. Is this usual behavior or is it a response to the decrease in the number of frogs as their usual prey?  Has anybody heard or read any theories about this?

 So, we all have our work cut out for us. We are the temporary stewards of these little pieces of heaven nestled around the shores of Tripp Lake. The TLIA has long worked hard to preserve the quality of life in and around the lake. We have dedicated and devoted leaders in our officers and board members. We should support and help them in any way that we can.

 Thank you for the bird-a-thon, my new feeder and a chance to contribute to the newsletter.

Harriet A Doolittle, VMD Oct. 6, 2004. Hadvmd@aol.com