July 26, 2020: Laverack Nature Trail at Hawkins Brook

Have you walked the Laverack Nature Trail yet?  It's a short, 0.6 mile (one way) trail that runs right through downtown Meredith along Hawkins Brook. 

Even people who have lived in Meredith all their lives don't know about this wetland, for two reasons:  One, it's hidden behind the businesses along Routes 3 and 25, and two, its flow into Meredith Bay runs under the road and is largely invisible.  But due to the tireless work of the Meredith Pathways Committee, a trail that includes a boardwalk along the wetlands and connects to a gravel path leading to Prescott Park is now complete and open to the everyone.  And I do mean everyone, as the entire path is wheelchair accessible, accommodating those with limited mobility.

You can access it from either Prescott Park or the entrance behind the Meredith Village Savings Bank.  It's worth investigating, and you have a good chance of seeing the Great Blue Heron that calls the brook home.  I'll share a link to a trail map and description as soon as it's published.

When I walked the trail last week I noticed this pretty aquatic flower:

Broadleaf arrowhead or Indian Potato (

Description

Sagittaria latifolia)

This is a broadleaf arrowhead which has a large, edible tuber; it is also known as Indian potato.  But if you see one, don't take it home for dinner!  Leave it for others to enjoy!  This plant is indigenous to North America, and was reportedly a staple of native Americans in this region.

Last Saturday the Loon Preservation Committee coordinated the annual loon census.  It will be several weeks before the results are compiled, but Lake Wicwas recorded a total of twelve loons between 8:00 and 9:00 am:  Seven on the water and five flying overhead.  We are certain four of the loons are the nesting pair and their chicks, and are confident two more are the banded pair, and one is our rogue.  Here are a few pictures from the census.

Our rogue loon.

A pair of loons flies north over Lake Wicwas

Flying and yodeling.

A few days later on a morning paddle I came across Harold and Betty who were left alone far down the lake while both parents appeared to be keeping the other loons far away.  At first the two chicks were huddled closely together.

Our little chicks are growing up.

And stretching their tiny wings.

But when they noticed me they quickly dove, surfacing some distance away.  They then were very attentive to my presence.  This gives me confidence they are now aware of their surroundings, and if they see an airborne predator on the approach they are certainly capable of diving long enough to protect themselves.  These parents seem to be raising a couple of street-smart kids!

Finally, did you get a chance to see the comet?

Comet Neowise streaks over Lake Wicwas. 

On Monday the skies cleared enough to get a good look to the northwest and we were able to see comet neowise and its long tail lit up as the heat of the sun burns gas and dust off its surface.  It was a neat sight, one that won't be seen again until the year 9020.  You might still be able to see it, but as it fades, and as the moon waxes, it's getting difficult to see, and will be essentially gone by Monday.  Use binoculars, and look just below the big dipper.

Comet Neowise won't return to Earth for 7000 years. 

July 19, 2020: Who Lives on a Primrose?

This spring an interesting weed sprouted right by the house, growing fast and interesting enough that it was tolerated by the resident gardener in order to see what developed.  As it grew taller and taller with no sign of being anything other than a weed, there were numerous temptations to yank it, but still, we waited.  Then one morning, a small yellow flower appeared.  The next morning, a couple more, and after a few days, there were numerous bright flowers, enough to be able to identify this now three and a half-foot tall weed towering over the black-eyed susans.

Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)

It is an Evening Primrose, so named because it blooms in the evening, greeting the owner with a bright good morning welcome.  The flowers are supposed to close up by noon, but ours seems to want to enjoy much of the afternoon as well.  

This primrose is biennal, meaning it has a two year cycle, producing flowers only in the second year, which is interesting because although we remember seeing a plant like this last year, it seems unlikely it would have survived the summer appearing to be only a weed.  But perhaps we watched it long enough to mature sufficiently, and only cut if off rather than pulling it up.  Anyway, it's a pretty plant, and being biennial, I'm saddened it won't come back next year.  But if any of its seeds take root, we'll know to let them grow for a couple of years.

Looking closely at the plant to identify it, I noticed it was home to several different forms of life.  Did you notice the little green bug sneaking over the blossom in the the previous pictures?

A katydid?

I think it's a katydid.  It doesn't have wings, but the nymphs hatch without wings;  thier wings appear only after their final molt.  

There was also a small brown beetle crawling around on the stem.

An unknown beetle

But the best find was this pretty primrose moth.

Primrose moth (genus Schinia)

At first I thought it was a rosy maple moth, but learned otherwise after looking closely at the color pattern.  It's another new species for me, and its name certainly makes sense considering the plant it was calling home.

It's always fun to find cool insects and spiders hanging out in Linda's flowers!

I did some boundary monitoring on the Harris Conservation Easements with Leah from the Lakes Region Conservation Trust this week which included monitoring from both land and sea.  In shallow water along the protected shorelines we found these pretty yellow flowers blooming (I guess yellow is the color of the week):

Floating Bladderwort (Utricularia radiata)

This is the flower of the Floating Bladderwort, I think.  I'll repeat that I'm not an expert on these matters.

Bladderworts don't have a root, they just float along in the water with a stem that drags down on the bottom of the lake.  The coolest aspect of bladderworts is that they are carnivorous.  Their underwater bladders are their "mouths".  The plant creates a vacuum in its bladders by pumping water out of them.  When the hairs on a bladder detect its prey, the plant opens the bladder, sucking in water, and its victim along with it.  Here's a description of the process from The Native Plant Trust: 

"Like other bladderworts, greater bladderwort is carnivorous, trapping small organisms in its tiny bladders. The trap door operates at speeds that rank among the fastest plant  movements known. Triggered by protruding hairs on the door, trap bladders open in about 0.5 milliseconds, sucking the animal in, and closing in about 2.5 milliseconds. This comes to about three thousand feet per second, almost three times the speed of sound."

And yes, bladderworts eat mosquito larvae, so they are our friends!  Easement monitoring can be quite educational - thanks for the trip Leah, and for this picture:

Monitoring Conservation Easements is a highly strenuous job.

Speaking of the Harris Conservation Easement, that's where our successful loon nest was this year, and both of their chicks are fine, being well attended to by their parents, and learning to fish by watching them.  Here's a link to a video Ron Naso captured of the chicks and the parents fishing.  Look carefully - the best part is when you can see one of parents flashing by under the water chasing a fish - it happens at 43 seconds into the video.  It's amazing how fast they can swim under water.  

There has been a lot of loon drama in Marion Cove this week, with three loons in regular confrontation - lots of circle dancing and lots of wing-rowing and vocalizing as they chase each other around.

"Get out of my cove!"

It may be the rogue loon we've had the past several years ("Solo") claiming ownership of the cove, while the long-resident (banded) pair still feels they have fishing rights to the waters.  At any rate, it seems to be keeping them all occupied and staying away from the new family, which is a good thing.

I'll end this entry with a great storm cloud building up before one of the late afternoon showers this week.

Just another beautiful moment on New Hampshire's lakes.

July 12, 2020: Hot Summer Evenings

We are into the heat of summer now.  Even before tropical storm Fay arrived yesterday we were experiencing southern humidity levels with dew points into the low 70s.  But the heavy air gave us - in between thunderstorms - a lot of very still and quiet hours, perfect for a peaceful paddle around the lake.  One evening I did a weed-watch tour, and following the shoreline studying aquatic plants was also fruitful in finding plants that are blooming in or near the lake.  One delicate bloom that always pops up in the first week of July is the rose pagonia.  

Rose Pagonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides)

This tiny, delicate member of the orchid family grows in wet habitats and can be found in many protected marshes, fens, and bogs in the Lakes Region.  In Lake Wicwas, look for them in any of the shallow shorelines that are protected from wind and waves; they are often growing among the grasses so the flowers may not be visible until you are quite close.

Another, much larger flower but with almost the same coloring is the Swamp milkweed.

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

This particular plant was growing quite far out from shore on its own tiny hummock island.  

Being a milkweed it's not surprising that it has a milky substance in its stalks and is frequented by butterflies.  The monarch in particular likes to lay its eggs on this and other milkweeds.  Here's something interesting about it:  according to the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, "The genus [asclepius] was named in honor of Aesculapius, Greek god of medicine, undoubtedly because some species have long been used to treat a variety of ailments."  [Ref:  Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center]

As a bonus, I discovered a new flower on this weed-watch tour, Swamp Candles:

Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris)

I first thought this was whorled loosestrife because it has similar flowers, but they grow out of the stalk in a different way so I looked it up, and found that I was close, as it is in the loosestrife family.  Whereas whorled loosefstrife grows on dry ground, swamp candles grow in, well, swamps.

Almost everywhere along the shoreline you will find pickerel weed blooming.

Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata)

But don't be surprised if all the arrow-head shaped leaves have been plucked off - the geese love to eat them.

You might find some birds out on calm evenings too, such as this family of ducks, all in a row.

Or this family dabbling for dinner.

The ducklings are so big now you can hardly tell them from their mother.

And here's one more thing you don't see often in the Lakes Region:  A fresh water shark.

Just kidding - it's got to be a fish, but I don't know which one.  This guy spent a fair amount of time just cruising along the surface, probably finding insects to gulp down.  There's always something new to see on the lake, even in the hazy heat of summer.

And yes, Harold and Betty are doing fine; growing, apparently getting along with each other, and travelling much farther from their nesting site.  So far so good.

This morning at 6:40am.
That bulge on the parents head means it's concerned, so I moved on quickly.

July 4, 2020: Introducing Harold and Betty

Happy fourth of July!  (I'm posting early this week so people will be on the lookout for little loon chicks if they are on the lake this weekend.)

It was an up and down week for the loons.  The down moment occurred some time overnight on June 29th when several people heard a terrible racket of distressed loon calls late at night.  The next morning observers saw that the Bryant Island loon nest had been abandoned and both loons were well away from the nest.  Inspection of the nest revealed no sign of eggs nor egg fragments -  and this was the nest that had a visual sighting of two eggs earlier in the month.  The question is, what predated the nest?  Being a nocturnal predator; my first guess would be a raccoon - they are known egg robbers - but just this week Amy Wilson spotted a black bear swimming in the lake travelling among the islands in the area of the nest.

Black bear cruising the waters of Lake Wicwas.  Photo by Amy Wilson.

So that's a likely candidate for the loss of the nest; a couple of loons would be no match for a bear attack.

This pair  successfully fledged Harley and Davidson last year, so the loss of the nest is a disappointment.  It's early enough that they could have tried a second nesting - we've had nests started as late as July 8th in the past, but there is no sign of that happening.  Rather than re-nesting, they may be spending their time harassing the other new parents on the lake.

And that is the good news!  The Harris Cove nest hatched two chicks, most likely on June 30th and July 1st.  The chicks were first spotted by Russ Brummer and shortly thereafter by Craig Smith.  Russ and Craig agreed to name our two new chicks Harold and Betty - that story is told below.  The first photograph of the new little fluff balls was taken by Amy Wilson, from afar so as not to bother them

Lake Wicwas' newest members.  Photo by Amy Wilson.

A couple days later I found one of the chicks riding along on mother's back but no sign of the other.  I was only slightly concerned, knowing the other chick was likely snuggling under mom's wing.

I say it was mom, not knowing for sure of course, because farther along in my paddle I came across a group of five loons off the mouth of Harris Cove.

Three of the four intruders being kept at bay.  (No pun intended.)

The group was behaving in an aggressive manner, doing their circle dance with lots of head bobbing and occasional diving.

Who's watching whom?

My guess is that dad was one of the five, keeping the intruders out of the cove and a safe distance from mom and the chicks.  Perhaps two of the others were the Bryant Island pair, though I saw no bands.  One of the loons ran off (literally) at one point, but came back again shortly. 

It takes a long runway to get a loon airborne.

Farther along still in my trip I saw two of the five loons take off, fly high above the lake, circle around once completely, and then fly off together over the trees. 

Intruders successfully repelled.    Check out those webbed feet!

The Harris Cove pair, assuming its the same pair that's been here since 2016, has yet to fledge a chick.  They did hatch one chick in 2017 (that was the August 8th nest) which being so late was named Tardy.  However we believe poor Tardy met his fate at the talons of a hawk.  Let's hope they can protect Betty and Harold this year - it's not easy raising a family in today's world.

Now about their names.  Craig and Eric Smith have been coming to Lake Wicwas since they were kids.  Craig relates this history: 

"The six members of the Smith family have been friends to Evelyn and Rodger Harris's family in Lincoln for as long as we can remember. We rented the [Blue Heron Lodge] lodge in the late 70s to early 80s and then the farmhouse after that. The Smith family literally grew up on the shores of Lake Wicwas.  

"Our parents, Harold and Betty, are two people that enjoyed the lake together for more than 50 years. They loved nature and in particular the loons. Our mother Betty enjoyed watching the loons from the water and our father Harold (who passed in 2019) trying to talk to them by mimicking their calls. It is our joy to be able to name these two newest Wicwas residents in their honor."

Eric added:

"Both Harold and Betty loved/love going up to the lake.   [They] took us many times when we were kids (so ... 45'ish years ago) and now we kids are continuing that with going up as adults (and bringing them!)  Wicwas is a magical place, I wish I could spend more time up there."

Eric sent this photo of his parents, Harold and Betty, sitting on the deck of the Blue Heron Lodge.

Harold and Betty Smith, Lake Wicwas, July 3, 2007

Thank you Craig and Eric for sharing your story.  Clearly, Lake Wicwas touches everyone who spends time here.

As a final touch, Russ Brummer adds that Betty is his mother's name, and Harold is Amy's grandfather's name.  When you're on the lake this summer, please be watchful, and give Betty and Harold a wide berth.

Photo by Amy Wilson.  Thank you for sharing your wonderful photography.

Have a great Independence Day!

July 1, 2020: We have chicks!

Two loon chicks hatched yesterday - lots more loon news this weekend!