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!