August 31, 2025: Late Summer Flowers

Last week I mentioned late summer wildflowers; they may not be as showy as spring trilliums and lady's slippers, but they are more plentiful, easier to find, and tend to bloom for a longer period.  A favorite of mine, and one that often grows near water, is the Turtlehead.

Turtlehead, a relative of snapdragons

While looking at them this week I thought they resembled snapdragons, and sure enough, both plants are in the Plantaginaceae family.  Snapdragons are native to the Mediterranean and cultivated as annuals in New England, while turtleheads are hardy perennials native to New Hampshire.  Look for them near shorelines and other wetland areas.

Next up are a couple of blue/purple flowers.  From a distance this Purple False-foxglove looked like it might be Purple Loosestrife, but it's not.

Purple False-Foxglove

This native flower is not closely related to the cultivated foxglove which comes from Europe; they share a common name because their flowers are similar in shape.

I found the next flower growing right along a roadside:

Common Bellflower

The Common Bellflower is native to Europe, and though not classified as invasive in New Hampshire, it needs to be managed carefully as it spreads aggressively, often escaping from gardens as the ones I saw beside the road had done.

Queen Anne's Lace must be a drought-resistant plant as it really is having a good year.  

Fresh blooms continue to emerge even with the lack of rain.

Queen Anne's Lace putting out a new flower.

Flowers aren't the only thing catching my eye in late August.  Dragonflies are still buzzing around wildflower fields as well as shorelines.

Clubtail dragonfly

A pair of Slaty Skimmers mating.  

Note how the female (behind) is grasping the male's tail.

But there's no denying that summer is waning fast.  The lake temperature took a tumble this week with cool nights followed by shorter days which provide less energy to warm it back up.  

Fog wells up from the lake on a chilly August morning.

And this sight is hard to ignore:

The first maples start to turn.

But fear not, September will bring plenty of great weather for outdoor activities.  

Happy Labor Day!

August 24, 2025: Pollinator Paradise

Sometimes one single plant can be a huge attraction to whole host of pollinating insects.

Thread-waisted Wasp on a Flat-topped Aster.

Like the Evening Primrose, when these asters started growing in the garden we thought they were weeds.  But curiosity inspired us to let them grow and see what developed.  The result is tall (up to six feet) wildflowers that have dozens of blossoms which attract everything from honeybees to tiny flies. 

I won't even try to identify them all, but here are some of the pollinators I found on a single plant at the same time.  

Aster seeds are also consumed by birds and they provide late-season nectar for migrating Monarch Butterflies.  Native to New England and growing well in hot and dry weather, it's an all-around excellent plant to let grow in your yard or garden - and you'll be helping pollinators which are under great stress these days.  Linda's woodland sunflower patch is another pollinator heaven.

Walking by it there's a loud buzz from the hundreds of insects visiting the blossoms, though they are predominantly bees - the sunflowers don't seem to attract the wide diversity of insects that the asters do.  

On the loon front I'm sorry to report that the survey crews have not been able to locate our younger chick Star, and we believe that he has been killed.  We don't know the cause, but another loon is a distinct possibility considering there has been a constant presence of non-resident loons on the lake.  We also know that the parents had been leaving chicks alone, tucked in against a shoreline while the parents go out to fend off other loons.  Earlier this week I watched our resident north territory male defend his territory from four other loons.

Letting intruders know this territory has been claimed before they get any ideas about next summer.

Escorting them out of the cove.

"And don't come back!"

But we can take solace that the larger chick, Spangle continues to thrive.

Starting to look like a juvenile loon now.

She is not safe yet though as she remains susceptible to attack by other loons, though with only one chick to defend, she will be better protected than ever.  We'll continue to hope for a positive outcome.  

Birds with larger broods than loons have better prospects for some of their chick to survive simply due to the numbers.  

I'll close with a bright greed katydid visiting our house. 

These are perhaps the prettiest of the insects in the bush cricket family, and the one makes the distinctive "katy-did, katy-didn't" sound by rubbing it wings together.  They can be distinguished from grasshoppers by their very long and thin antennae, often longer than their bodies. 

Grasshoppers have shorter and thicker antennae.  Katydids are mostly nocturnal, but this one was out in the morning sun for some reason.

Next week I'll be looking for late summer wildflowers.  Here's a preview of what's to come:

Perley Everlasting - another member of the aster family, but with a much different flower.

It should be a good week to walk through fields and along country roadsides.

August 17, 2025: A Leap of Leopards

A group of leopards is called a leap, which seems appropriate for this species of leopard:

Northern Leopard Frog (I think)

It seems everywhere we go around the yard these days we're seeing streaks of motion deep in the vegetation.  It takes a bit of searching because these small leopards blend in well with diverse backgrounds, but as one gets close they jump again, revealing their hiding spot.

I have a hard time telling the difference between the Northern Leopard Frog and the Pickerel Frog.  I tend not to pick them up to study the inside of their thighs where the difference in color can clearly identify them (the pickerel frog has bright yellow thighs which the leopard frog lacks).  But the poorly-shaped and haphazardly arranged splotches on its back are indicative of the leopard frog; the pickerel frog has better defined spots.  Here's a mature pickerel frog I saw last June:

And a Pickerel Frog (I think!)

All the ones I'm seeing now are small, indicating they are newly emerged this year.  Both of these frog species hatch from eggs laid in the spring in ponds.  They develop through a tadpole phase and if they escape predators, they emerge onto land in mid-summer and start to spread out, which we are seeing now.  The pickerel frog is widespread in New Hampshire and not a species of concern, whereas the northern leopard frog is a Species of Special Concern and listed in the NH Wildlife Action Plan as a Species in Greatest Need of Conservation.  Seeing a lot of leopard frogs is a good sign of a healthy habitat.

As quick as they are, frogs are not safe from predators.  They're one of the favorite foods of the Great Blue Heron which are often seen standing like statues on the shoreline waiting for a frog to come within striking distance of their long neck.  But this week on a morning paddle I found a heron in another common, though surprising venue.

Great Blue Heron perched in a White Pine tree.

Whether in water where it's legs imitate lily pad stalks or up in a pine tree, they are well hidden.

Where's the heron?

Spending more of their life away from water, toads are less likely to be taken by a heron, but of course they will be snatched up if found.  Toads are getting large and plump this time of year after feasting on various insects and grubs all summer.

Toads, though amphibians, are found in drier climates than frogs, even at the top of mountains like this one near the summit of Red Hill.

And it sure is dry out there.  At the White Mountain Ledge in the Hamlin Town Forest the blueberry bushes and maple trees at the exposed ledge are curling up and turning brown.

Shriveling blueberries

and brown maple leaves.

It doesn't help that the soil there on top of the granite ledge is very thin and doesn't hold much moisture.  Some areas of the Lakes Region have had cloudbursts lately, but locally, the Lake Wicwas weather station has recorded only a total of half an inch of rain since July 14th.  It a good thing we have beavers.  Many streams are bone dry, but those downstream from beaver ponds - which store water and leak some continuously through the dam - are still flowing, if slowly.

A slowly-flowing stream below a beaver pond.

And Lake Wicwas, fed by two beaver-dammed ponds (as well as springs) is only down about an inch from full lake level.  

Measured at the Wicwas outlet yesterday.

Nature has a way of taking care of itself, if allowed.

The colors of late summer are starting to fully develop; it's a beautiful time to be in the woods or on the water.  But this entry is long enough, so I'll add just one scene of what's to come next to lure us out into nature in the coming weeks.

The colors of late summer at the lake.

P.S.  Regarding the loons, Star hasn't been seen for a couple of days, so we are concerned - stay tuned.

August 10, 2025: Shelburne, Vermont

We took a trip to northern Vermont this week to explore the Shelburne area along Lake Champlain's eastern shore.  Little did we know we’d be heading right into the worst part of the smoke blowing in from the wildfires in Canada. We didn’t have any big hiking excursions in our plans, so the smoke didn’t impact our activities but it did reduce visibility and paint the sky a dull gray all week. One of the highlights of the trip was a day at the Shelburne Farm, and right there at the first field we entered was an osprey nest.

Osprey on a man-made platform at Shelburne Farms.

There didn’t appear to be any juveniles in the nest, and several times a second osprey tried to land on the nest but the inhabitant refused their approach every time. There wasn’t any physical altercation between them, just a lot of squawking at each other.  Eventually the nest-sitter flew off to harass the intruder. 

Off on the attack.

And then returned to its place as king of the roost.

Returning Home

This made me aware that I haven’t seen or heard as many osprey on Lake Wicwas this summer as in recent years. They must have found some other primary fishing spot.

 
The Shelburne Farm and its opulent house and barns were built by Lila Vanderbilt Webb, the youngest daughter of William Vanderbilt, and her husband William Webb. Her inheritance allowed the couple to purchase 33 farms covering 4000 acres along Lake Champlain in the late 1800’s.

That's just the barn.

The farm is now “an education nonprofit on a mission to inspire and cultivate learning for a sustainable future.” [Ref: Shelburne Farms]  It’s a beautiful property, open to the public with no admission fee.

The Shelburne Inn overlooking Lake Champlain.

With a view across the lake to the Adirondack Mountains in New York.

We also spent a day at the Shelburne Museum which is a huge outdoor museum with more than 40 structures covering everything from farming to the history of the circus in America. 

There’s an up-and-down sawmill like the one that cut timber at the Page Pond mill dam on Meredith Neck.

Up and down Sawmill originally powered by the White River.

This sawmill was built in 1873 and operated in South Royalton Vermont, probably until the mid 1800s when it would have been upgraded to a circular saw which continued to operate into the early 1900s.  I loved the juxtaposition of the 1873 sawmill with a truck load of saw logs heading off to a 2025 sawmill.

There’s also a two-lane covered bridge that was moved to the museum from Cambridge Vermont where it spanned the Lamoille River for over 100 years.

I don’t think I’ve seen a two-lane covered bridge before.


Nestled in between Shelburne Farm and Shelburne Museum is Shelburne Bay Park which extends about a mile along Lake Champlain.  One of the park's trails goes up and over a steep hill – too steep in places for logging to have taken place, and that's where I found quite few very old trees that escaped the sawmills.  Most impressive was this White Oak which I knew was something special when I saw the incredibly thick and deeply furrowed bark.

Other ancient trees there were Shagbark Hickory, Red Pine, and Eastern Cedar.

Cedar

Shagbark Hickory

References I found estimate the oldest trees in the park to be 200 years old, perhaps older. This means they survived the clear cutting of New England during the mid-1800’s Sheep Craze when much of New England was put into pasture land, and again around the turn of the century when, after the forest had regrown for 50-80 years, most of New England was deforested for the second time for lumber, charcoal, and paper.  Lime production was an important Vermont industry and it required a huge amount of wood. A lime kiln operated in South Burlington from 1825 until 1971. [Ref: MyChamplainValley]

While we were away I received multiple reports and pictures that show all is well with our loon family even though there were a number of rogue loons visiting the lake. 

Spangle is molting her baby fluff, revealing bits of her juvenile chevron pattern underneath.

The family is becoming more independent now.    

One loon and one chick.

Thank you all for keeping us updated while we were away!