Lake Wicwas Nature Journal: July 7, 2019: A Hot Fourth of July

And it sure was a beauty. We even had an official heat wave of three days in a row over 90, with Friday maxing out at 94.1 degrees. The beaches in the area were packed to overflowing and the lakes were busy with boats of all kinds as people hit the water to keep cool. I counted twelve boats lined up at the Meredith ramp waiting to launch on Thursday morning, backed up all the way to Town Dock's ice cream stand.

A busy week in Meredith Bay. Photo by Dustin Powell.

The Bay was packed for the fireworks. Photo by Dustin Powell.

I'll be interested to see what the Lake Host boat inspection count was at the Lake Wicwas ramp this week as there were plenty of boats here on Wicwas all week.

There are a couple of content canines!

Other people headed up to the mountains to escape the heat, including me as I hiked one the most popular hikes in the White Mountains with family on Friday.

Mt. Lafayette (left) and Mt. Lincoln (right) from the Old Bridle Path.

Looking south along the Franconia Range on a hot summer day.

It was a beautiful day to be in the high summits but the humidity limited the views. You could barely make out the Presidential Range just 18 miles away.

That faint shadow in the distance is Mt. Washington and the Presidentials.

Back on the lake the animals were keeping a low profile during the day to avoid the heat. I saw a heron in the early morning and even then it was splashing itself to keep cool.

Everyone needs a way to keep cool.

The loon family with Harley and Davidson were smart to nest early as they are in the cool water during this hot stretch.

The family happily enjoys the cool lake during a hot week.

The other pair is not so fortunate as they've been on the nest all week and their nest, though shaded in the morning, is exposed to the hot sun in the afternoon and evening. A careful observer (thank you ES) reported that the loon left the nest several times over this hot stretch, perhaps just to cool off when its mate didn't return in time for its shift in the heat. Hopefully the eggs haven't overheated - it's past time when we expected they would have hatched, but they took a long time building their nest so we don't really know just when the eggs were laid. We'll keep waiting.

And evidently, the holiday weekend isn't just for human gatherings.

A Sunday morning loon party.

I did get an amazing loon experience this week when I was invited to participate in a loon banding exercise. I got the call about 9:00 at night that John Cooley, Senior Biologist at the Loon Preservation Committee was coming to Wicwas to try to capture the male of the pair with chicks to band him (the female is already banded). I readily accepted, and was allowed to go out on the boat with John, Caroline Hughs (also with the LPC) and Olivia Pea, a third year veterinarian student at Tufts University. They worked as a very efficient team, scanning the lake to search out the loon family, with Caroline expertly identifying the male loon and quickly scooping him up in large net and wrapping him in a towel to calm and protect him. We brought him back to the staging area (thank you D&M) where the bird was measured, and I had the honor of holding it during the exam and banding - including the honor of getting pooped on as I held him in my lap.

Marge Thorpe and I keep dad calm while John measures the oversize leg.

When John measured the bird's right leg he was astonished at its size - it was the largest he had every measured, and there wasn't even a band large enough for it! Fortunately the left leg was a little smaller, so our male loon now has a bit of body art: a white band with a black dot on it. Finally, a small wound on the bird's leg was treated by Oliva (the attending vet), the bird was weighed (at 14 pounds, large for a male but not the largest seen) and released back near the family. By the next morning the reunited family was back in their favorite cove fishing and feeding and the little ones, with dad now having its own jewelry to keep up with mom.

Mom and dad back with the kids.

The bands will provide the ability to know if this pair ever changes mates, as well as determining where each bird spends the winter - and if they spend it together or apart - if someone observes the bands when they are off the lake for the winter. If you ever see a banded loon, please provide the information to the Loon Preservation Committee, or let me know and I will pass it on to them.

Altogether it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I thank all of those that provided me this opportunity. Every time I see that male loon I will think about the time I held him in my lap.