April 25, 2021: Swallow Acrobatics

It has been so windy this week there hasn't been much time on the water, but early in the week I had a nice paddle around the northern parts of Lake Wicwas including a trip up Blake Brook to the beaver dam.  On my way across the center of the lake I was treated to an exciting acrobatic show being put on by a flock of tree swallows.  These aerodynamic wonders are so quick and agile as they swoop overhead in pursuit of flying insects that it's hard to keep an eye on them, let alone take a picture.  

The aerodynamic tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

But I floated for a long while in the middle of the lake on a beautiful spring day, content to just watch the show and click away almost randomly, hoping I'd catch something to share.  I didn't count, but with probably close to a hundred pictures I managed a few that had a not-too-blurry bird in them.  

Much of the time they spent swooping the surface of the water,

A perfect setting for DL for this tree swallow.

but they would also soar high in the sky on occasion.

I wonder if they went up there to scout for bugs or just to enjoy the view.

Tree swallows are the first of the swallows to arrive each spring, both because they eat fruit in addition to the insects they collect, and also because they winter farther north than other swallows.  They are not picky eaters, going after just about any insect they can find, and sometimes eating mollusks and worms. [Ref:  Cornell Lab of Ornithology]  During the breeding season they will also search out egg shells (goose, loon, egg shells from your compost pile - whatever they can find) for the calcium needed to produce their own eggs.  [ibid]  

I believe their Latin name of bicolor comes from their varying iridescent green and blue colors depending on how the sun hits their feathers.  Their common name comes from the fact that they nest in trees, usually in cavities that other animals such as woodpeckers have created (yet another reason to let dead trees stand in the forest).  To create a comfortable nest for their young both parents will collect cast-off feathers from other birds to line the inside of the tree cavity.   

Something else I learned from the Cornell Lab is their unusual bathing method:  tree swallows will skim low over water, dipping their bodies into the water, then fly up, shaking off the water and any dirt it attracted from their feathers.  Now that's something to watch for next time I see their air show over the lake!

Here's another example of artistry in nature - look at the perfect shape and symmetry of this bird's wing feathers.

I always think of one of Lake Wicwas' ardent nature-lovers when I see swallows hurtling through the sky ever since I learned that he loves these birds and watches for their return each summer!

Eventually I went on my way, continuing across the water, paddling up Blake Brook, a much easier task in early spring before the lily pads clog the way.  As I neared the dam I thought someone was mowing with a tractor on the other side of the beaver pond as I heard the slow chug of diesel motor.  I honestly looked across the lake trying to figure out where the machinery was, without success, until I realized it was within the dam itself.  Water glugging through the dam was making the tractor sound!  You can hear it chugging among the spring peepers and the scolding chick-a-dees that weren't happy with my presence here:

It reminded me of how Steamboat Springs, Colorado was named after a hot spring that made a thumping sound like a steamboat.  How does "Tractor Brook" sound?

I couldn't see over the top of the dam but held up my camera and would guess that the beaver pond is one to two feet higher than the lake level.

That's a lot of impounded water to help get us through a dry summer, and perhaps a big factor in Wicwas maintaining its level during last summer's drought.

I neglected to mention last week that I saw my first trailing arbutus flower on April 17th, though I had a report of a sighting a couple of weeks earlier in a warm spot on the Sherman easement at the Page Pond Town Forest.  (Thank you for the report JS!)

Trailing arbutus (epigaea repens), also known as mayflower - April 17

I'll end with this altered picture I took a couple of weeks ago, just hours before ice-out  - see if you can detect how I modified it.

It looks a little strange doesn't it?  It's upside down.  Here it is in its proper orientation:

This was taken at 7am on April 8th, the day of ice out, that beautiful calm day of my first paddle of the season.  

The time of many calm lake paddles is here.

April 18, 2021: Warblers, Another Sign of Spring

As the weather warms more and more summer birds are arriving.  This week I heard my first pine warbler, one of the earliest warblers to appear each year, and checking my notes, this was three weeks earlier than last year.  Pine warblers spend their time high up in the tree branches so I wasn't able to see any, but there are many.  As I walked along I would hear one loud and close, and then far away in the distance, another would respond, sending its report right back after the first one finished its message.  As I got close to the second one, I could hear a third off in the distance responding to the second.  I believe what's going on is that each bird has staked out its nesting territory and is proclaiming its domain with its song.  If it hears another pine warbler far away, all is well.  But if another gets too close, there will be an altercation.  I imagine a checkerboard pattern of pine warbler nesting sites throughout the forest.  

What's interesting is that within this range there may be a dozen other bird species doing the same thing, and they are perfectly comfortable with sharing their territory with different species of birds, just not with those of the same species.  

Here's a picture I took of a pine warbler back in 2013 when a male perched on a dead branch with no leaves to hide behind.

Pine warblers are unique among warblers in that seeds make up a large part of their diet, especially, perhaps as expected, pine seeds.  If you keep bird feeders out at this time of year and want to try to attract a pine warbler, try hanging your bird feeder high up, maybe 30 or 40 feet above the ground (that will also discourage the bears).  Having a diet of seeds lets pine warblers arrive earlier in the spring than birds that rely on insects, and pine warblers will starting breeding soon - thus the claiming of territory at this point in the year.

I mentioned seeing ring-necked ducks last week; on one kayak trip I came upon an interesting combination of three ring-necked ducks and a lone female merganser.

Earlier the same day I watched what was likely the same three ring-necked ducks, two males apparently courting a single female early in the morning.

A curious beaver on patrol seemed to be heading in that direction to see if there was going to be a show to watch as they fought over her attention.

I often struggle to differentiate between beaver and muskrat, but I'm pretty sure I saw a couple of muskrats this week.  At morning or night it's a pretty good bet a swimming rodent is a beaver, especially if it's on a high speed mission; muskrats are more likely to be active during the day and often are a little more erratic in their swimming patterns.  Muskrats are also smaller, but the sure way to tell is by the tail, as the muskrat has a thin rat-like tail versus the wide, flat paddle of the beaver tail.  I think this medium size rodent, swimming along the shore at 2:00 in the afternoon, was a muskrat:

A muskrat enjoys a warm spring afternoon.

In addition to the ring-necked ducks, we were visited by several groups of buffleheads this week.  

Mrs. Bufflehead.

And Mr. Bufflehead.

I always enjoy seeing these pretty birds and watching their dives - they are so quick as they upend themselves and plunk straight down into the water.  

One other neat observation was made by Tom Crane back on March 29th, before ice-out:  a pair of common goldeneyes visiting Wicwas, diving within a small channel that had opened up along the northern edge of the lake.

A pair of common goldeneyes fish between the ice sheets.

Tom noted "The male's head really gleamed a beautiful green when the sun hit it. We have also had a pair of Wood Ducks hanging around the cove longer than usual. We have also had a few of what look like Buffleheads around lately, as well as passing Mergansers. An interesting time of year."

Hopefully we'll get an improvement from the recent chilly, wet weather so we can get out and see more of the migrating birds.  It won't be long before the birds heading for Canada will have departed the Lakes Region.

A bufflehead takes off for places unknown.

But they'll be back again next year.

April 11, 2021: The Loons Arrive

It's one of those times in the year when so much is happening it's hard to keep up with it all.  Ice-out on Lake Wicwas was declared on Wednesday, April 8th, a bit earlier than the average date for the past 20 years which is April 12th.  Almost all the other lakes are also open including Winnipesauke, Winnisquam, and Newfound.  And even before ice-out one of our star loon spotters saw the first loons on April 6th (thank you Annie Crane!).  I heard loons but didn't see any until my first kayak on the 8th when I found four different loons around the lake, all single birds, though the April 6th observation was a pair.  Also on the 8th I saw a loon preening and thought I saw a bit of red under the water, and knowing our long-time female has a leg band with red on it, I watched carefully.  Eventually, as the bird got to cleaning and oiling it's belly feathers it rolled enough to lift a leg out of the water; first one leg, then the other, and sure enough, there were bands!

The right leg has green over silver bands.

The left leg has yellow with black stripe over red bands.

But it's not our bird!  I sent those pictures off to the Loon Preservation Committee, knowing they'd have records that would identify where this bird was banded, and within a couple of hours I had the answer and a brief history.  Caroline Hughes, LPC biologist reported that this loon was banded in 2018 on Lake Pemigewasset.  The next summer she was "kicked off" Pemigewasset and was replaced by an un-banded loon.  That summer she was observed by Henry Stevens (whom we know well from his internship with the LPC that summer) on Opechee Bay.  There were no sightings in 2020.  Caroline asked us to be on watch to see if she stays on Wicwas this summer or moves on, so when you see a loon preening, watch (with binoculars from a far distance of course) to see if you can detect any bands, and let us know.

The beavers have been very active this spring, even before ice-out, making not only their morning and evening trips but also afternoon trips.  It's not often I get to see one out in the sunshine.

A rare sunlight-lit beaver on patrol.

One morning, a beaver aggravated by my presence circled back and forth along the edge of the ice as I stood and watched; he gave me several good tail slaps.

The beaver is swimming from right to left.

This went on long enough that I decided to try to get an action shot, and was able to catch two slaps on video - you can see them here (the second slap is clearer than the first).  It you watch carefully it is actually a two-step process where the tail slaps down and then flips up again as it dives, throwing more water into the air.  (Youtube lets you play video in slow motion:  under settings, set the play back speed at 0.25 for the relevant parts.)  Beaver alerts are loud enough that I'm still startled by the crash if I don't see it coming.

For the record, here are some other spring sightings along with the dates first observed:

Song sparrow, Eastern Phoebe, March 28  (Russ Brummer)

Wood frogs, April 4

Spring peepers, Great blue heron, April 6

Common loon, April 6  (Annie Crane)

Ring-necked Ducks, April 8

Hermit thrush, Tree Swallow, April 10

Every year ice out is a little different.  On Lake Wicwas, Marion Cove is usually one of the last places to be ice free, but this spring it was essentially clear a day before the lake's west shore and the boat ramp were open.  Just six days before ice-out the lake had a full cover of snow and ice.

April 2nd:  A solid covering of ice.

By noon on April 8th only the coves along Wicwood Shores Rd and the boat ramp were still inaccessible.

Ice in the west cove on Wicwas.

The boat ramp on Chemung Rd at noon.

But by 6:00pm they were open and ice-out was called - let summer begin!

Blue Water is back!

I hope you enjoyed the early summer preview these past few days wherever you were!

April 8, 2021: Ice Out!

Ice out was declared today at 6:00pm when the last remnants of winter cleared out from the boat ramp.

11:46 am: still ice at the ramp.

Hello summer!

April 4, 2021: March Madness

So much for "Out like a Lamb".  March ended with a vengeance, hitting us with some of the strongest winds we see around the lakes.  And it came at a time when the frost is leaving the ground and the soil is wet and soft, allowing for toppling trees over by the roots.   Fortunately we were far enough north that shaded forests still had a decent frost base and most of the trees I saw blown over were snapped off above the ground at a weak point in the trunk.  This particular tree was inconsiderate enough to fall right along a trail, which makes a lot more clean up work than if it fell straight across the path.  

A white pine snapped off by wind.

A much more thoughtful tree was kind enough to fall away from the house by which it stood for the past 80 or so years, and then, in an extreme case of good fortune, it lined itself up precisely between two other pines that were narrowly spaced and joined forces to grab hold of it right before it completely demolished all of the boats so carefully lined up between them.

Sometimes all the stars just line up right!

Another boat on the land wasn't quite as fortunate.  This aluminum rowboat was picked up by that northwest wind and blown, Dorothy-style, over the land and into the lake.

I didn't see it happen so it's possible it landed on the ice and then was blown into this stretch of open water where it got trapped.  After the storm I was able to secure it on land and later paddle it back to its home when after the wind died down.  So here we are, days before ice-out and the first boat has already been launched.  

The animals are taking advantage of bits of open water as well, as I heard my first beaver-tail crash onto the water when I walked along the lake just after sunset.  We also have a pair of mallards that appear to have made this small stretch of open water their new home.

"How does this spot look dear?"

Sailing among the icebergs.

They spend all day cruising in these tiny areas, paddling back and forth in the narrow channels, sometimes walking over the icebergs, sometimes using them for a napping spot.  

"Ouch that's cold."

Goose and duck down is still the best insulation.

Whenever another pair of mallards shows up these guys waste no time in shooing them away.  I didn't realize mallards were that territorial; we've had fun watching them all week.  They've also found a good source of food under our bird feeders and are doing a great  job of cleaning up all the mess the birds created all winter.

Nature's vacuum cleaner

Those open spots have been freezing over at night so I'm not sure where they go - probably onto land or down to the outlet by the dam which remains open all night.

Cold nights are slowing the ice-out process.

Sadly, with the arrival of April in bear-country, it's the end of bird feeders.  We've had a few new appearances this week including the first robin, the first song sparrows, the return of the redpolls, and even a few juncos which we haven't seen all winter.

A common redpoll cracks one of the last seeds from the feeder.

Birds have tremendous memories when it comes to remembering where they've stored individual seeds as well as where they've found food sources.  I wonder if these are the same redpolls that were at our feeder in February, coming back to where they previously found a meal on their way south.  Redpolls are now migrating all the way up to Greenland and the farthest northern parts of Canada for their breeding season.

As far as the ice goes, Meredith Bay is clear of ice as are many other parts of the big lake.  But that wind blew a lot of ice into Wolfeboro, the Weirs and other southern bays so Winnipesaukee hasn't declared ice-out as of today - maybe it will happen early next week.   Lake Waukewan shows a lot of blue water with all its ice blown onto the shore of the town beach.

Lots of blue water on Waukewan with all the ice blown down toward the town beach.

But Wicwas still has a ways to go.

A few more warm sunny days will get us blue water too!

I'll end with one last bird feeder moment for the year.

A downy woodpecker and a red-breasted nuthatch help empty the feeder for the last time.

I'm glad there are plenty of natural food sources available for them now.  And look - the crocuses bloomed for Easter!

Happy Easter!