April 7, 2019: Otters and Fox Still Trust the Ice

The gaps in the ice at the shoreline have grown into long skinny channels along the edge of Lake Wicwas.  It's now too soft to get out onto the lake;  the last time I was able to go out for a measurement was on April 3rd, at which point there was still 20" of ice, though the top four inches was soft and porous.  Under that was 6" of pretty good white ice, followed by a ten inch layer of hard solid black ice, so it's going to be a while before we see ice out.  I took a run up to the Hamlin Conservation Area trailhead to see the condition of the trails, and there is still a serious layer of ice and snow there.

Hamlin Conservation Area Trailhead

Icicles hang from logs over the stream at the entrance

Be sure to bring some kind of traction devices if you go for a walk - which you should do.  It's beautiful, peaceful and quiet, and on a warm day when the snow is soft, a good time to look for animal tracks.  Speaking of animals, I saw my first red squirrel in many weeks;  perhaps they finally had to vacate the safety of the subnivean world.

The treacherous ice hasn't stopped the animals from taking shortcuts across the lake.  Just yesterday morning I saw a healthy looking red fox trotting calmly across the lake, coming right towards me.

Mr. Fox taking a shortcut across the lake to his favorite breakfast bistro

It would be interesting if he came across that flock of turkeys on the ice.  Of course, this could be Mrs. Fox who at this point would be either very pregnant or out in search of food for her brood of perhaps six kits.  Either way, the nice thick winter coat makes me think this fox found plenty to eat this winter.  You can find a nice write up about red fox (and some great photographs) by Charles H. Willey  published in the NH Fish & Game "Wildlife Journal" on their website here.

Earlier in the week Linda's sharp eye caught a large animal bounding far out on the lake from one shore to the other.

I had just enough time to click a fast shot before it zoomed in behind the tree line, and blowing it up, we could see it was an otter.

A river otter scoots back to the safety of the shoreline

I've seen otter tracks on that line several times this spring but that's the first time I (or Linda rather) saw one in action.  But out in the middle of the lake, he wasn't playing around, he was on a mission to get back under cover.  Would a bald eagle go after something that large?  It wouldn't surprise me.  He might have been travelling back from a fishing trip at the outlet of Lake Wicwas which for the first time this year has started to open up.

Open water starting to appear

On the other side of the dam the stream leading to Lake Winnisquam is swollen with water backed up by beaver dams between the two lakes.

Snow melt making its way to Winnisquam, the Merrimack River, and eventually the Atlantic Ocean

One of the surest signs of the progressing season is the sun setting farther to the north and bright summer-like sunsets glowing across the northern stretch of the lake.

Earlier, with the lake just starting to thaw

Another early spring sighting:  The first pussy willow.

Pussy willow flower buds on April 2nd along a sunny stretch of Chemung Road

All of this means it's time to bring in the bear, ooops, I mean bird feeders.  Bears will be out soon, though I haven't seen any signs of them yet.  Let me know when you see or hear of their appearance from their winter slumbers.  Certainly the pileated woodpeckers are out and finding insects to dine on.

A well probed hemlock tree

This week the Meredith Historical Society started their monthly presentations.  The first presenter was Kevin Gardner who gave a great talk on the construction, history, and significance of New England's quarter-million miles of hand-layed stone walls.  He pointed out that's enough stone wall to reach from the Lakes Region to the moon.  That's a lot of effort put in by our early settlers, and he explained why they did all that back-breaking work.  While he was talking he built a stone wall for us, right there in the room.

These presentations take place the first Tuesday of each month at the Meredith Community Center.  You can find the schedule of presentations here.  By the time the next one occurs, we should for sure be into summer sunset season!