January 19, 2020: Winter's Back

Typical volatile New England weather: The January thaw ended with our coldest temperatures of the season, but we still haven't hit negative numbers per my thermometer.  Heavy, dense snow fell on Wednesday which stuck to the trees and returned us to winter scenery.

Hamlin Conservation Area

That was followed immediately by a cold blast from the northwest which ushered in the cold air as well as a bright, sunny, blue-sky day.

A perfect New England Scene.

Skiing on that bluebird day brought me across another set of otter tracks running far across the lake.

The unmistakable 2-2 track of the weasel family, to which the River Otter belongs.

This otter wasn't heading in my chosen direction, and I was on my way home so I didn't follow them along, but I will comment on the tracks I followed last week along the shoreline.

Some long otter slides on the lake.

When I saw this pair of tracks I surmised it was two otters traveling together rather than one on an out-and-back trip.  Based on the track pattern of slide and hop, as well as how close the two tracks followed each other, I decided that it was in fact a pair travelling together.  I ultimately lost the track when it went up on land, but picked up what appeared to be a single track farther along my trip.

Perhaps looking for a water entrance.

This track led to a couple of holes along the shoreline, and eventually terminated at a hole under the roots of a tree on the shore.

At least it looked to me as though there was only one set of tracks going into the hole.  I imagine the otter taking this secret passage down under the ice, knowing a nearby hole where it can emerge again before it's lung capacity is depleted.

It's always interesting to follow to these fun-loving creatures as they enjoy their winter escapades - and being reminded they're out doing this all summer too, but they rarely leave any evidence for me to see.

Who would have thought this would be the time to be thinking about bees, or rather, hornets.

I saw this hornet nest by accident while following the otter tracks.

There were a lot of hornet nests to be seen this past summer;  it must have been a great year for them, and most of their nests, like that one, are holding up well so far this winter.  But on a ski over to Lake Winnisquam yesterday, I found one that wasn't so lucky.

The innards of a hornet nest.

I can only wonder if this was brought down by the strong northwest winds of Friday, or whether an animal had a hand in its demise....

On a more humorous bee note, I found this sign on the hiking trail on the Mt. Welch-Dickey loop:

I know it's been warm, but really?

That was before Wednesday's snow; there was very little snow on the ground below 2000' elevation, but higher up there was a nice base, though it was rather icy on the trail.

Approaching the summit of Dickey Mountain in Campton.

The dusting of snow that fell on the ice the night before revealed the presence of snowshoe hares among the spruce at 2700 feet above sea level.

More good news:  writing now on Saturday night, it's snowing again.  Maybe we'll get one more good dump to confirm winter has returned.