August 2, 2026: Lake Wicwas Annual Meeting - The Making of a Gem

When I was asked to be the speaker for the Lake Wicwas Association annual meeting, my first thought was how about many people have told me this lake is "a gem".  That got me wondering just why it's such a gem - what makes this particular lake so special.  So I spent the week looking at the many aspects of how Lake Wicwas became the gem it is today, and I decided that's what I would present:  how this gem came to be.  The presentation was recorded, and I'll post it on the journal when it's available.  But for now, here's a link to the charts and a short summary of the discussion.

Formation of a Gem - A Natural Tour of Lake Wicwas

I began with a story of how the lake was formed during and immediately following the most recent ice age in North America. 

I then introduced the most important factor in changing the barren landscape that was left behind:  the beaver. 

Before the beavers came and did their work, Wicwas may have just been a muddy swamp with a stream running along the present northern bank. 

But as beavers dammed the stream up, a lake began to take shape.  It likely remained smaller than today for the 12,000 years the Native Americans lived here before the Europeans arrived and started building mills on beaver dams to power gristmills.  As the need for larger and more powerful mills arose, they raised and reinforced these dams for greater water storage.  The first mills in all of Meredith were right next door to where we were sitting in Meredith Center; the original stone mill foundations, and even a newer water turbine, can still be seen in the Mill Brook where it crosses under Meredith Center Road. 

The dam at the outlet of Wicwas was raised to store more water so it could be released all year long to power mills throughout the year.  As the need for better roads arose, the dam was built up again to keep the road over the dam from flooding, though Meredith Center Road does still flood during major rain events.  This final improvement brought the lake to its current size and depth, though beavers continue to provide critical benefits including water filtering, erosion control, water storage, and flood control.

A gem has many facets.  The remainder of the presentation showed some of the many perspectives of the lake - there are so many different ways people appreciate our gem:  peaceful reflection, recreation,  social connections, and family heritage spanning generations.

And then there are the non-human ways in which the lake is seen as not only beautiful, but absolutely essential to life for so many animals, large and small, that depend on the lake for their very existence.  

Seeing, understanding, and marveling at their existence circles right back as a huge factor in why we human inhabitants see Lake Wicwas as a true gem indeed.

In what special ways do our lakes shine for you?

July 26, 2026: Vinylhaven Island, Maine

Penobscot Bay in Downeast Maine was our home base this past week; our explorations went south to Rockland, north to Belfast and Fort Point just below where the Penobscot River enters the bay under the Penobscot Narrow Bridge, and east to Vinalhaven.  The highlight was the trip out to Vinalhaven Island, about 10 miles off shore.

Entering the channel to Caver's Harbor on Vinylhaven.

I was watching for mammals on the way out and back from Vinylhaven - a seal or maybe a dolphin - but alas, it wasn't to be.  But there were birds.  On the open water of the bay, seagulls were swarming the lobster boats, fighting over fish scraps thrown overboard. 

Plus one lone gull that circled high above all the others for some reason unknown.

A common Herring Gull circling over Penobscot Bay.

There are over 4,600 thousand islands off the coast of Maine, most of which are quite small.  

One of the 4000 islands in the Gulf of Maine.

Many of these islands used to provide critical nesting sites for shore birds because there were no mammals to predate the birds or their eggs.  Today, the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refugee is working to protect these sites to help endangered species such Puffins and Artic Terns which have lost much of their habitat to human activity.  We didn't see either of these birds as we made our way through some of these islands on the approach to Vinallhaven, but we did see a few common species, one of which we see regularly in the Lakes' Region. 

A single Great Blue Heron hanging out with the gulls.

We also saw cormorants, which are seen up and down the coast of Maine. 

Double-crested Cormorants

Cormorants are also present on the larger bodies of water in the Lakes Region, and occasional visitors to Lake Wicwas.  Here are couple of cormorants perched in a pine tree on Wicwas.

In a small inlet to the Lanes Island Wildlife Preserve on Vinalhaven, there were several Common Eiders diving, and one resting on one of the many seaweed-draped ledges. 

Common Eiders, females and/or juveniles.  (Males are black and white.)

Common Eiders are the largest of our ducks, behaving more like seabirds than most of our lake ducks.  They can dive down 60 feet and their primary food source is the Blue Mussel.  They tear mussels off the rocks, swallow them whole, and let their strong gizzards grind up the shells to digest the good stuff inside.  [Cornell Lab of Ornithology]

We also explored a little human history on the bay, including Fort Point, where a fort was built in 1759 to protect the north country from attack by sea.

Today there are only remnants of the block house foundation and some of the berms built around the fort.

Securing the land for the military however, has resulted in protecting 120 acres and one mile of beautiful Maine coast for public access. 

In a 2020 post I mentioned the lime kilns in Rockport (September 27, 2020).  This week, walking along the Goose River in Rockport, we saw this huge bank of what looked like lime.  The immediate assumption proved correct:  this is a giant mound of lime tailings discarded after burning the limestone to create the calcium oxide (quicklime) that was shipped to New York and Boston to make mortar and plaster.  

A mountain of waste produce from turning limestone (calcium carbonate) into quicklime (calcium oxide) by heating it to 2000 degrees F in giant kilns

The rusty scrap metal in the piles are the bands that held lime casks together for shipping. 

Rusty old bands from lime casks

Quicklime needed to be packaged and handled carefully because if it got wet onboard the ship, the resulting chemical reaction would create enough heat to spontaneously catch fire. 

While we away from the lakes, our reliable loon watchers kept a good eye on not-so-little Pip.  

Photos by Debby Crowley

Look - wings!  With tiny primary feathers!

There was a moment of concern when a bald eagle swooped down, but Pip evaded the attack!

I'd be remiss not to mention the excellent blueberry crop this year.  It's still not too late to pick a batch, but I recommend finding shaded bushes, as the fruit in the sunniest spots is getting overripe now.

Still loads of berries yesterday.

I'll end back in Maine, with a postcard-perfect picture from Penobscot Bay,

Memories like this bring us back to the coast of Maine every year.

July 19, 2026: Annual Loon Census

The Loon Preservation Committee's Annual Loon Census took place yesterday.  Each year, LPC hosts an annual Loon Census, when from 8:00 to 9:00am on a Saturday in July, volunteers count loons to collect data that helps the LPC monitor New Hampshire’s loons and their progress on lakes throughout the state.  This year, Lake Wicwas was well represented, showcasing a total of seven loons in the census.  The star of course, was little Pip.

Pip and a parent.

Pip was spotted with both parents at 8:16am in the far northwest corner of the northern pair's territory.

The northern territory family.

A big fish being prepared for Pip.

Pip's parents continue to provide generous meals, though Pip spends a lot of time with its head submerged studying the experts to learn how to fish for itself.  

At the same moment this was being observed, Team-Thorpe was observing three loons in the south territory, two of which are assumed to be the banded south pair.  The third was likely a rogue, looking for nesting territory for itself.  Then around 8:50am, those three were joined by a fourth loon, right at the boundary between the two nesting territories.  

Four loons on the boundary line.

I wonder if the two resident pairs are both pushing the rogues towards the other pairs territory, pinning them at the boundary.  I was able to confirm from the female's leg bands that the south pair (at a minimum the female) was part of this asylum.

Not a great look, but good enough to see the blue and green bands.

So, Lake Wicwas contributed a total of seven loons to the census.  The overall results will be reported by the LPC later in the year.  For more information on our loons, be sure to attend the Lake Wicwas Annual Meeting on August 1st at the Wicwas Grange.

This week I made my first visit to the Red Hill River Conservation Area with a long-time hiking partner.  It's a beautiful, quiet area in Sandwich with a well-flowing stream, an interesting network of gentle trails, and some large, mature trees.  

Red Hill River in Sandwich.

One of many good size White Pines and Hemlocks on the property.

We hiked a 2.5 mile loop along part of the river and over a small hill, and there are other route options as well.  We even discovered an old cellar hole along the route.

A cellar hole with remnants of a stove and brick chimney.

This area is definitely worth a visit; you can find trail information and driving directions here.

There were plenty of  interesting sights back around Lake Wicwas as well.  On one walk I came across a large pile of feathers beside a fallen tree.

It wasn't hard to identify who these feathers belonged to - can you guess the owner?

The bright blue and white colors indicate a Blue Jay met its demise here.  Determining the identity of the predator took a little more digging.  The conditions of the feathers gives an important clue:  note how the feathers are intact, clean, and undamaged. Mammals - bobcat, fox, etc. - tear into their food, ripping, shredding and damaging feathers in the process.  But these feathers have been cleanly plucked right out of the bird; a trademark raptor food-prep method.  Also, raptors frequently sit on a log or a branch to prepare their food, then, after the excess, non-consumable weight is removed, they'll take it away to be consumed elsewhere by themselves or their mate and young.

So, this is likely a raptor kill site.  I first wondered if it might be the Broad-winged Hawk I saw last week, but broad-winged hawks are too large and insufficiently agile to catch a bird in flight; they primarily feed on rodents and amphibians, though they will pluck a baby bird from a nest if they find one.  Broad-winged hawks are buteos which are generally considered ambush predators.

The raptor that caught this blue jay was most likely an accipiter, which in New Hampshire includes Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper Hawks.  These birds are smaller, with short wings and long tails that allow them fly fast and maneuver deftly though tight trees in pursuit of prey.  One source I found said blue jays are a "classic meal" for a Cooper's Hawk, so maybe that was it.

A highlight of the week was a quick visit from the three brothers.

Three River Otters play in the lake.

Otters have round tails, unlike the flat tail of beavers.

These are most certainly the three otters I tracked all winter (I don't know that they're brothers) taking a playful cruise far out in the cove one morning on their way down to the dam and Mill Brook, possibly heading over to Lake Winnisquam.  

I'll close with another cheery face, this one sent to me by a friend and fellow musician that lives in Moultonborough (thank you BB!).  This little guy was checking out some good smell that attracted its attention.

It's better to have a woodchuck staring in your window than a black bear!