April 6, 2025: Spring Visitors are Arriving

If there are any bird watchers following the Red Hill Tracking Station, you know it detected its first bird of the year on March 15th:  a Northern Saw-whet Owl. 

Northern Saw-whet Owl  (Photo from Cornell Lab or Ornithology)

I've never seen one of these small owls, and probably never will as they are nocturnal and seldom seen.  But they are resident in New Hampshire year round, and they have a call that sounds like a truck backing up which they give in the evening from January through May, so maybe I'll hear one some evening.  

Like many owls, the female incubates the eggs and cares for the young for the first couple of weeks while the male hunts for the entire family.  But then the female abandons the nest, leaving the remaining care up to the male.  The male does a fine job of providing for the family, but he isn't interested in house-keeping. Though the female keeps a clean nesting site while she is resident, the male does no such thing.  According to the Cornell website "By the time the young owls leave the nest, 10 days to 2 weeks later, the nest cavity has a thick layer of feces, pellets, and rotting prey parts."  

The migration patterns of this owl are not well known, which is why researchers started Project Owlnet to learn more.  The detections from the Red Hill Tracking Station will be very helpful to the research.  You can read more about the Northern saw-whet owl here.  You can also see what other birds have been detected passing near the fire tower on Red Hill here, and there's always a link in the header at the top of this blog.  

A couple of early spring birds I did see this week were a Song Sparrow and a huge flock of Common Grackles making a loud racket in the tops of the trees.

A Song Sparrow gleans spilled seeds under the feeder.

A Common Grackle, May, 2021.

While some birds arrive, and there are growing expanses of open water at the inlet from Dolloff Brook and at the dam, there's still enough ice in the lake that the loons may hold off a bit longer.  Areas of lake that open up on warm days often freeze up again during a cold night.

And as the lake level rises and falls, ice sheets are left hanging in space, fastened to flooded shrubs along the shoreline.

Hermit Thrushes may arrive any time now, and the Broad-winged hawks should be close behind them, so keep your eye out for them.  And if you see a loon, either in the lake or flying overhead, please let me know - it shouldn't be too much longer now even though some days I do question that.

Keep the faith!

March 30, 2025: The Spring Sprung Backwards

Spring sprung back to winter this week.

Oops - winter's back.

Snow fell on the snowdrops, but it was a nice soft snow with a beautiful warm day following that gave us another opportunity to get out on the skis and snowshoes.

Note that long line of animal tracks.

While skiing I followed a set of tracks almost the whole time, tracks that took me a while to decipher.  They were too small for a bobcat, and too undisciplined for a fox.  There wasn't any tail drag which ruled out porcupine, plus they covered far greater territory than a porcupine would travel.  A process of elimination brought me to a member of the weasel family.  Another sign is the 2-2 track pattern characteristic of the weasel family as seen at the bottom of the photo above, though it's not very clear due to the soft snow.  Being too far away from water to be a mink, and too small to be a fisher, I concluded it was either a Long-tailed Weasel or an Ermine, both of which call New Hampshire home.  Rezendes' tracking book reports that the two animals' tracks are similar in size, but the long-tailed weasel is more erratic. 

An erratic, winding trail is characteristic of the Long-tailed Weasel.

Rezendes describes the animal as "distracted by everything in its environment", so my best guess is a long-tailed weasel.  

The snow also provided proof that our otters were out, enjoying the snow as much as I was.

An otter slide on a downhill section of trail.

You can easily determine the direction of travel on land:  they hop uphill and slide downhill.  They'd been on land, on the ice, and they even seem to revel in splashing around in the slush.

It's amazing to me that they can keep warm.

Did I mention bears last week?  Yes, they are out.  A pretty big one has been using a long stretch of the Arbutus Hill (White) Trail up in Hamlin/Eames.  

That's a big bear print.

It found some reason to meander around here a bit.

I also came across coyote tracks and lots of turkey tracks.

A turkey walked long sections of the trail too.

Arbutus Hill Pond is still almost entirely ice-covered.

So, Spring has taken a little set back; even more snow and ice fell yesterday.  But if one can get past the travel difficulties and power outages, we can be grateful for winter's beauty.

And yes, there are signs of spring if you look for them!

Hobblebush Viburnum pushing out new leaves and flower buds.

One late picture taken at 8:00 this morning (Sunday):

March 23, 2025: Now We're Springing Along

Ah yes - Snowdrops are blooming - spring is coming along.  Snowdrops aren't a native plant, but they're always the first to bloom, even before the crocuses.   

Snowdrops in March.

A true native sign of spring is lichen greening up, which in spring, unlike its dry, gray, cardboard-stiff status in summer, is now plump and verdant with moisture provided by winter snow melting off its granite home.

Rock Tripe Lichen.  

It actually looks somewhat edible this time of year.

This week we had more warm, beautiful days as well as some rainy ones, and what are usually small streams, sometimes even dry streambeds in summer, are now gushing with snowmelt.

And as a result, the lakes are flooding.  

A flooded shoreline along Lake Wicwas.

Hiking trails are filled with with huge puddles.

Frost still in the ground keeps low spots from draining.

With all the runoff along the shoreline I decided not to venture out to measure the ice thickness, but I'll bet it's still a good foot thick away from shore.  I may not trust it, but the animals do, so we know it's thick enough to support the weight of a bobcat.

A bobcat makes its way across the lake one morning.

And finds a way to get off the ice without getting its feet wet.

Cold ice on a warm day condenses some interesting fog banks as the moist air spreads across the lake.

We did take in the birdfeeders this week after they were emptied out, but I sprinkled a few seeds on the railing to give the birds a little more food while the rest of the snow melts.  It provided an opportunity to watch the birds in action.  

In this first video, a couple of White-breasted Nuthatches sort through the seeds to find one worthy of eating or taking away to hide somewhere.

In the next video, one bird works away on a hard-shelled safflower seed, then finds a few small seeds to gulp right down while it searches for another large seed worthy of hacking open.  You can see how much effort it takes to extract that little bit of high-energy fat from the shell.

At first I thought they were eating seeds that had fallen into cracks, but I soon realized they are smart enough stuff thier seed down in the crevice to hold it in place while they crack it open.  In this last video it hacks away at a safflower seed, then finds a few smaller ones to gobble up whole, before selecting a couple more safflower seeds to work on, finally taking one more large seed off to hide away in a tree bark crevice to save for later.

Look at those talons:

I guess that's how they can climb straight up and down tree trunks!

I also heard my first Red-winged Blackbird this week.  Snow, ice, flowers, sun, migrating birds - they're all part of spring in New Hampshire!

March 16, 2025: It's Not Spring Yet

We enjoyed some beautiful late-winter weather this week, with sunny days and temperatures into the mid-sixties.  I took a walk on one of those days to see if I could find some early signs of spring - I was not very successful.  The best I could find were the sounds of birds singing their spring songs:  chickadees, titmice, and woodpeckers rapping on dead trees.  It wasn't too surprising, considering there's still a foot on snowpack on the ground and 18 inches of ice in the lake.  It's not looking like an early ice-out this year.  Here was a Tufted Titmouse hidden somewhere in the treetops, singing his "peter-peter-peter" song to secure his territory.

Later in the week I saw my first chipmunk running around on the snow, and soon there were lots of them out and about.  Now that the squirrels have done their thing, it appears it's the chipmunks' turn to be claiming mates and territory, as they chased each other around the forest.

No videos - these guys are a lot faster than the squirrels!

We're winding down the bird feeding season, letting the feeders be emptied out before the bears awaken, hungry and in search of food. 

 Only another week or two of observing them up close and personal.

On a hike up Mt. Liberty in Franconia Notch I was able to compare the trees that try to eke out a living in New Hampshire's harsh environment at the relatively low elevation of 4,000 - 5,000 feet.  Here's what the trees look like at the 4,500 foot summit of Liberty.  

Even below the summit in a protected area they find it hard to survive.

Growing a little taller in a protected swale at 4,300'.

Compare those to the towering Lodgepole Pines we saw last week at 9,000 feet in Rabbits Ears Pass.

Yes, there's still lots of snow and ice in the mountains, as well as here in Meredith.

A small stream crossing the Liberty Springs Trail.

The vernal equinox arrives in just four day, but there are still 18 inches of winter's ice safeguarding Lake Wicwas.

Short of a drastic heatwave, there won't be an early ice-out this year.

March 9, 2025: Tall Timbers at Ten Thousand

The past week was spent at altitude in the beautiful surroundings of Steamboat Springs, Colorado:  7000' in the city, 10,568' at the top of the ski area.  

Looking west over the Yampa Valley from the top of Mr. Werner in Steamboat Springs.

We've been to Steamboat Springs many times, but it's still strange to see such tall trees growing at 10,000 feet elevation.  

Snowshoeing at 9400' elevation in Rabbit Ears Pass we were surrounded by towering Lodgepole Pines.

Trees peter out in New Hampshire around 4000', and by 5000' there's nothing but scrub.  But in the Rocky Mountains trees grow robustly at well over 10,000'.  Part of the difference is due to the lower latitude - even Steamboat Springs, located in northwest Colorado at a latitude of 40.48 degrees, is more than 200 miles south of Meredith at a latitude of 43.66.  But other factors including better soil conditions and less severe winds in Colorado are probably even more of a contributor to the difference.

At the city elevation of just under 7000' many species of trees grow at elevations where no tree can survive in New England.

Aspen (above) and Cottonwood (below) along the Yampa River.

The Yampa River is also the life source for many animals, especially in winter. 

The Yampa River, fed by springs in the Flat Top Mountains and plenty of snowmelt.

There are lots of mammal tracks leading down to the river, as well as various birds gathering along its course to secure food, including osprey, magpies, and ducks.

A pair of Mallards that decided to spend the winter in the Yampa River.

A Black-billed Magpie perched over the river.

We returned home early Saturday morning to a cold and blustery New Hampshire day, but that didn't stop the mink from making its daily rounds.

A mink passes along the Wicwas Shoreline Saturday morning.

Mink live as far west as Colorado, primarily along the rivers, as riparian habitat is their preferred territory.  One's not likely to see them at high elevation though, even if the trees can thrive there.

Clouds form over Storm Peak.

Thanks VP for another great visit to the 'boat!