February 23, 2020: Catching up around the Lake

With all the recent winter events in the Lakes Region there are a few things to catch up on back here at Lake Wicwas, the first of which is that the lake level has gone down quite a bit since the ice formed back in December.  It can be observed near shore where ice that fastened to land was fractured from the main ice sheet as the lake dropped, and was left hanging in space.

A glimpse of land under the ice.

Other evidence can be found where rocks that had been just below the surface have now been exposed.

I haven't checked the ice thickness in a couple of weeks but we've had enough cold temperatures that I expect it's approaching two feet thick.  The ice fishermen have certainly determined that it's pretty strong.

Cars started appearing on the lake in the first week of February

Authorities are still warning people to be careful on the larger lakes as the up-and-down temperatures have made the ice unreliable.  The weather has also prevented the ice runway on Alton Bay from opening this year, and it's too late at this point for it to be certified regardless of what the weather does next.  The runway is usually a popular attraction for aviators as it's the only the only registered ice runway in the continental United States. 

I haven't seen the ice motorcycles on Lake Wicwas yet this winter, but a few weeks ago someone did plow a fun skating circuit on the south end of the lake in front of the boat launch.

 They found the ideal moment to get perfect ice conditions.

I didn't get down there to skate, but other people had!

We've finally been getting regular snowstorms, and various critters have left their tracks in the fresh snow, including this fisher cat that walked along a stone wall looking for unsuspecting rodents that use all those nooks and crannies between the stones for hiding places.

Fisher tracks on top a stone wall.

It's hard to make them out, but I found enough evidence to be certain that's what was here.

Fishers are extremely good hunters which feed primarily on rodents, but will eat just about anything they come across, including the prickly porcupine.  Fishers are smart enough to track down squirrels living in hollow trees, and are strong enough to rip the tree apart to dispatch the residents inside.  It's tough enough to always be a target when out gathering food, but those poor rodents aren't even safe at night inside their own home.  And speaking of rodents, I wish they'd stopping gnawing on the trail blazes.

Most likely a red squirrel chewed this, but it could have been a porcupine.

I followed the fisher's tracks long enough to be certain it was a fisher but didn't see any signs of it finding a meal before I lost the track when it went up a tree.

There were other tracks on the lake that I wasn't able to identify.

Smaller tracks running from shore to marsh and back again.

The size, pattern, and obvious interest in a hole near land hint that it may be a small predator of some sort.

I heard two reports of bears this week, one a set of tracks, and one an actual sighting.  Both were small, probably first-year males, restless and with lots of energy and curiosity.  These were in Sandwich; I haven't seen any signs of bears around Wicwas so we're leaving the feeders up, but I'm keeping a careful eye out, especially with the warm weather forecast for next week.  I'm still hoping to see some of the visitors that have been absent this winter, such as the bobcat, the barred owl, and the ermine.  I wonder where they're all hiding out this year....


Winter has been giving us a regular dose of snow lately which has made for nice skiing and snowshoeing all around the Lakes Region.  Linda and I had a gorgeous trip up to the ledges west of Lake Wicwas, as well as a nice snowshoe in Page Pond Community Forest.

Looking north from the aptly named White Mountain Ledge

There are some  big trees in the Hamlin Conservation Area -
I could only get half of this beech in the picture!

The Mill Dam at Page Pond on Friday.

If you're in the area, perhaps you've been out enjoying the winter beauty as well - it doesn't get any better than this, and the timing is perfect for school vacation week.