Thursday, January 10, 2008

January Thaw On The Missisquoi River

In my mind, I can hear the redwing black birds. In four or five months they will return with their wonderful raucous calls, and perch on these cattails.
The Missisquoi River ice jam, caused by the January thaw, happened early before dawn on Wednesday. It wasn't a big thing and I missed the photos. But the jams caused the river to flood the meadows along the banks. The very high winds and the colder air whipped the flood water and froze it, causing these spectacular ice formations in the fields. UPDATE: this is hoarfrost. Click here for more information.

It was as if the meadows were full of diamonds standing on end, glittering in today's cold sun. The photo above is a blown-up section of the photo below. Please take the time to click and view it full size in a new window.

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7 comments:

  1. I've been interested in rivers route where they start and end.
    I notice on your tag you use the term Troy There is a Troy Idaho about a four hour drive from here and a Troy Montana which is hop a skip and two stone throws from here.

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  2. This January thaw is quite enjoyable. Very nice photos of the crystals on the field ice formations. Ice jams can be an impressive force, however beautiful they may be.

    I just about live on The Missisquoi River and am thinking that I should probably take a walk.

    Hope all is well.

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  3. Oh, a diamond necklace made by nature. Isn't it beautiful? Thank you for those unusual photos, Andree. What does Missisquoi mean? Do you know?

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  4. I loved that post.
    The pictures are beautiful.
    Our river had an early thaw too and now it is freezing again.
    The ice crystals it makes is a work of art.

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  5. I have never, ever seen anything like that frozen water. It sure is pretty!

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  6. Gorgeous pictures, Andree! I love ice crystals on rivers like this (which we would never get in my area) or on trees or grass (which we have gotten) but I don't like being outside in that kind of weather. I just had enough of a hairy experience walking on salted ice from my plane to the terminal in Salt Lake last Sunday evening! My camera was packed so there are no pictures (and I took my old film-using Pentax because my SLR was way too huge to take with me!). I have decided I'd rather live in the Pacific Northwest with our occasional windstorms than where people get a lot of ice and snow. Your pictures are the extent of what I want to experience of that. ;-)

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  7. We still have bits of wetlands, if you know where to look, in New York City. Looking at that photo, I can hear the same calls. I used to search for spots like that one, far from people, open a book, and let the redwings be my white noise as I read. Thanks for reminding me.

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