September 29, 2019: Gorgeous Gorges

We've been away for a couple of weeks exploring rivers and gorges in western New York and Vermont.  We saw more human related sights than natural ones, including some where the touch of man is not immediately obvious, like at Niagara Falls.  The total flow over the falls is an impressive 100,000 cubic feet of water per second (that's 748,000 gallons every second).

Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side

But that's just half of what the flow was before water was diverted for electricity;  imagine what the falls looked like when the flow was 202,000 cubic feet per second.  And the current 100,000 cubic feet over the falls is only during the day when they increase the flow for the tourists.  A dam was installed to regulate the flow, so at night the river flow is reduced to just 50,000 cubic feet per second - which raises the river behind the dam by five feet over night.  Before the tourists arrive in the morning they open up the dam for their viewing pleasure.  Doing the math reveals the average flow is just over a third of what it was naturally, but remember that most of the diverted water is returned to the Niagara River below the falls after generating a great deal of clean energy.

The American Falls with the Observation Tower, the Rainbow Bridge to Canada, and the Niagara River beyond.

The other massive man-made river project we saw was the Erie Canal system.

The Erie Canal approaching Lockport, NY.

The entrance to the Lockport Locks; the original set of five locks is on the right, with the new two-lock set on the left.

This 339 mile long canal (a total of 524 miles including the feeder canals) was completed in 1825, well before the railroad arrived.  The canal system allowed efficient transportation to the interior of the United States, enabling greatly increased commerce and development west of the coastal cities.  Today the canals are used primarily for pleasure boating.

A tour boat enters the first lock.

We also visited an impressive gorge in Letchworth State Park, carved out by the Genesee River.

The gorge has been called the "Grand Canyon of the East".

An entrepreneur tried to turn this river into a transportation canal as well but was stymied by the steep incline and hard stone, so today it is mostly in its natural state.

Then on our return back through Vermont we made a stop at Quechee Gorge near Woodstock, a mix of man and nature.  Although a dam was built above the gorge as part of the country's reaction to the destructive floods of the 1930's, the gorge itself is relatively untouched.

The Quechee Gorge carved by the Ottauquechee River, seen from the Route 4 bridge.

Looking back up at the bridge from the river below.

When you're in the Woodstock Vermont area I recommend a visit to the Marsh-Billings National Park.

The Marsh-Billings farm.

A 2-3 month old calf.

There is a beautiful working farm you can visit, as well as 20 miles of hiking trails through rolling hills and old farm land.

Looking east toward home:  The White Mountains viewed from Mt. Tom in the Marsh-Billings National Park.

Upon arriving back in Meredith I was happy to find we haven't missed the local foliage season as it's just getting started.

The leaves are just starting to turn color here in Meredith.

And of course it was good to see that our loon chicks and parents are still here, with the parents still providing food for them.

Although I haven't seen the two chicks together so I can't say that both Harley and Davidson are still on the lake - can anyone confirm they're both still here?

I'm looking forward to watching both the seasons and the loons evolve throughout the magnificent fall season.

September 22, 2019: Fall Fungi Fest

It's time for the annual mushroom festival.  The predictions way back in June were for a good mushroom crop due to the wet spring with abundant rain, and it appears to have been accurate.  Some fungi started appearing earlier in the summer, but they really started to kick in around late August.  All the samples below sprouted since August 23rd, with the earliest being the chicken mushroom I posted on September first.

Chicken mushroom, or sulphur shelf

My respect for mushrooms grew a lot when I came to understand that essentially no tree in the forest would exist without fungi to provide essential nutrients to the tree's roots.  And it increased further when I learned that the visible mushroom is just the fruit of a giant organism growing underground.  I'ts like a giant underground apple tree which just sticks it fruit up above ground to let its seeds (in this case, spores) be distributed.  I'll include my best idea as to the identity of any mushrooms I'm willing to take a guess at.

I always marvel at the variety of these interesting and important organisms.

Tiny ones

Purple ones (viscid violet webcap)

Small families

And large families

I love how they can push up through the ground and leaf litter.

Fly amanita

They're often consumed by various animals.

Usually I see little nibbles taken with lots of crumbs left on the ground.  But this looks like some large animal took a couple of big bites.  But who?

Some mushrooms can grow quite rapidly.  Here's a series of pictures of the same fruits I took over the course of several day.

September 9th

September 11th

September 12th

September 15th

And finally, to close out fungi fest 2019, a cute little family of mushrooms that could star in a performance of Fantasia.

September 15, 2019: A Late Summer Paddle

A warm, calm day in September is a beautiful time in the Lakes Region. 

I took a leisurely paddle around Lake Wicwas to absorb the late summer sun and see what's happening this time of the year, but even before I got onto the water this pretty little caterpillar caught my eye.

Banded Tussock Moth (Halysidota tessellaris)

Descriptio

This is one of several species of tussock moth around the lakes, and is one of the culprits behind the droppings left on surfaces underneath oak and maple trees.

Once on the water I noticed that the morning rain, though evaporated from all the leaves on the trees, was still beaded up on the lily pads.

The soft colors of fall are already appearing, especially in the afternoon when the sun is getting low in the sky.

At one point a small flock of geese came straight towards me, clearly aiming for splash down until they realized I was in the middle of their landing strip, at which point they circled away and landed father down the lake where there were no obstacles to avoid.

Six geese fly with a little fall color showing in the trees behind.

The geese will soon be forming large Vs in the sky as they start their venture southward.

During my paddle I came across both Harley and Davidson - in different locations - and they're both looking strong and independent, making long dives for fish.

But they still enjoy the company of their parents, and the occasional hand out from mom or dad, as caught by artist and photographer Amy Wilson.

Hanging with the parents, and almost a large.

Thanks mom.

Thanks for sharing Amy!

The only other animal I came across was a painted turtle sunning itself.

I did encounter one new plant, a colorful shrub on the shore of Sheep Island, which is highly appropriate since one of its common names is "sheepberry".

Nannyberry viburnum (Viburnam leganto)

In addition to being spectacular in color, the berries are reportedly edible and quite sweet.  The plant provides food and cover for a range of birds and small mammals and I think I've seen signs of nannyberry fruit in the scat of fox and coyote.

It was an enjoyable afternoon on the lake.

That same day, before my lake excursion and during the morning showers, we were visited by a large flock of robins.

American robin (Turdus migratorius)

The flock included immature robins of various ages, as robins have multiple broods during the summer. 

This bird is probably from an early brood.

While the spotting on this one's chest indicates it's younger,

Robins have some interesting social behavior, particularly the males.  Even during mating season the males will often roost overnight together in a common spot, leaving the females alone on the nest.  (Kind of like guys night, every night.)  But in the fall, many family units will group together in flocks of up to 100 birds, staying together through the winter until they start dividing up territory in the spring for nesting.  The flock I saw was over 30 birds, but it was impossible to count them as they hopped around everywhere finding tiny morsels on the ground.

Scratch and peck.

So don't put away those boats yet, as there's still plenty of great fall weather to be enjoyed out on the water, and we haven't even started with the foliage yet!

Well, maybe just a hint.

September 8, 2019: Bumble Bee Season

Bumble bees are certainly around all summer, but this time of year they seem to be particularly noticeable.

A bumble bee searches for pollen on lantana flowers.

These large members of the bee family are important pollinators and are presently found swarming over the tiny blossoms of plants like goldenrod and Linda's Coleuses.

Golden rod is a favorite provider this time of year.

These non-aggressive bees are covered with thick hair which keeps them warm and explains why they are the first bee to become active in the spring as well as why they can hang around into fall even after the other bees have disappeared.

A nice warm fur coat.

Similar to other pollen collecting bees, the worker bee's mission is to collect enough food for the queen to lay eggs and fatten up to survive the winter.  In late summer only worker bees and queen bees are born, and all of them will leave the nest.  The worker bees feed the queen, and every bee in the colony will die when winter finally arrives except for the queen; only the queen will hibernate and live through the winter.  In the spring the queen will find a nest location, lay her eggs, and sit on them for two weeks to keep them warm, just like a bird does.  When they hatch, the new season begins.  [Ref:  Alina Bradford, LiveScience, 2017]

Large pollen sacs to bring home for the queen.

Several species of bumble bee have seen dramatic reductions in population in New Hampshire, and NH Fish & Game has listed four species as species of Greatest Conservation Need.  (Who knew Fish & Game studies bees?)  [Ref:  Sandra Rehan, NH Wildlife Journal, May/June 2016]  Rehan and other researchers at the University of New Hampshire are studying the cause of population decline which appears to be due to multiple factors including habitat loss, insecticides, climate change, and pesticides.  [Ref:  NH Wildlife Action Plan, Appendix A]

It's good to know Linda is doing her part to help these important insects survive.

Coming in for a landing on Linda's lupines.

The town of Meredith recently completed a habit logging project on the Eames property up behind the Hamlin easement.  The goal was to improve the quality of the forest and create greater habitat diversity for a range of birds and mammals.  I went for a short walk through the logged area (there are no trails in the area logged) and I saw that the project already appears to be bearing fruit.

This moose print in the soft soil is larger than my boot.

That's the track of a good size moose that was using the logging trail for ease of movement, and was probably enjoying the new browse area.  If you are hiking along the magenta trail - which is in the process of being re-blazed with white trail markers - and you see a large clear cut along the trail, know that this is NOT on town land.  That clear cut was done by a private land owner adjacent to the Eames property.

Clear cut along the border of the Eames Conservation Easement

If allowed to grow back to forest, this cut will provide excellent browse for moose and deer for many years, as well as a young successional forest habitat for ground birds and small animals.

I don't have any new pictures of the loon chicks this week, but I did see another very promising event.  One of the chicks came through the cove by itself and spent a long time fishing all along the cove.  And I saw it come with a fish on two of its dives.  So at least one of the chicks is providing for itself - good news especially as fall arrives and the parents will be going on their way in the coming weeks.  And fall is coming, as seen by misting mornings becoming more common.

A misty morning on the day I walked the logged area in Eames.