August 29, 2021: Beech Nuts

This may be a good year for animals that consume beech nuts, such as black bears, red squirrels, deer, chipmunks and many others.  I started seeing beech nuts and their husks on the forest floor over a week ago and now they are appearing in large numbers.  One quiet morning as I approached a huge old beech tree it sounded like it was raining; I stopped to take in the scene and parts of beech nuts were falling all around me, even bounding off my head:  The squirrels were up in the tree feasting on these nutritious nuts.  I picked up a handful and brought them home, having heard recently they actually taste pretty good.

Beech nuts are smaller than an acorn and their outer husks are strong and covered with sharp spikes that make opening them a challenge for human hands.

The outer husk of a beech nut.

Left on a tree the fruit will split in half, revealing two or three triangular-shaped inner nuts.

The nuts inside the husks, many of which had been eaten. 

The nut meat, which is quite small, is further hidden inside that inner seed and that's what the animals are ultimately after.

A seed from which the meat has been consumed.

I felt only a touch guilty taking some of the squirrel's harvest but when I inspected my collection I realized the animals are smarter than I am.  Most of the husks were empty, and most of them that did have nuts still in them also had worms in them - not presently, but earlier in the season - and thus the nuts were not desirable.  Here's an example of one with a worm hole in it that the squirrels passed up.

And another where it appears a squirrel had chewed into it.

And ate the nut meat by extracting it from the open point.

The same nut pried open.

The squirrels must be eating the best nuts up in the tree and leaving the others to fall to the ground along with the shreds of what they had opened or partially eaten.  So I ended up with just a few nuts that appear to be edible.  

They need to dry for a week or two, and then I'll let you know if I find them palatable.  

Beech are patient trees, growing slowly over a long period of time in the lower story of the forest, waiting for their day in the sun.  When they finally get their chance - due to a neighboring tree falling down, a forest fire, or logging for example - the exposure to sun results in a burst of growth.  But even without any direct sunlight beech trees can inch their way up slowly to become giants of the forest.  When the colonists first arrived in North America beech were some of largest trees in the old growth forests along with hemlock and white pine.

Today they are disliked by foresters because beech has little market value.  But if logging is done poorly without careful attention to the species in the logged area, after other trees are are removed and the sun let in, beech can easily take over large areas of forest.  But being such an important food source for so many of New Hampshire's forest animals, especially after the demise of the American Chestnut due to the asian chestnut blight, it's important to keep them in the forest inventory.  And it's always good to see squirrels and deer enjoying their produce; I just hope I don't come across a bear some morning when I'm walking among the beech trees.

I was away most of this past week so I don't have much status on the loons, but I did get one good look at them early in the week, and they continue their rapid progress toward becoming adults.

Coco and Jimmy, age 60 days.

A white chest and flight feathers are signs of a maturing loon.

But neither they or their parents better let their guard down because there are still hungry eagles visiting Lake Wicwas on a regular basis.

Photo by Debby Crowley.

Debby Crowley saw this bald eagle on Wednesday;  the bit of something hanging from its beak is curious.  

Let's hope Coco and Jimmy's parents continue their careful safeguarding of their chicks.

Photo by Debby Crowley.

August 22, 2021: Curious Bambi

This week provided two entertaining wildlife interactions for me, both on Friday morning.  First, on my morning walk, a deer dashed out of a thicket and ran down the trail right in front of me - it was gone in a flash.  Seconds later a second deer leaped out, and this time I was ready.

Deer number two.

Then, right behind that came a third deer - a little guy!

Bambi needs to eat more - look at the rib cage!

I had seen the fawn earlier this summer when it was small and spotted, and I'm sure this is the same one.  But this Bambi was curious.  Rather than following mom down the trail, Bambi stopped to see what was causing the disruption in the family's breakfast.

Deer are inherently inquisitive, and as I stood motionless, the deer just couldn't resist investigating the situation.  It turned to face me.

It stomped its hoof a few times trying to elicit a reaction from the intruder.

I stood my ground, so it gave a loud snort and bounded off to join the rest of the family.  

I always enjoy watching the young animals grow and learn about the world around them, and I was about to get another opportunity.

A few hours later during a paddle on the lake around lunch time I found our loon family out having a picnic on a beautiful summer day.  It had been so long since I'd seen the father that I thought maybe he had already left for the year, but there he was.  I don't know who brought up the first fish, but it went to Coco.  

It was lively one,

and Coco lost it,

but it was quickly caught again, and this time it was devoured.

The next fish was brought up by dad (I could tell by the bands), and back to his usual tricks, it was a good size sunfish.

It was presented to Coco a couple of times, 

but each time she passed on it.  So dad gave up, passed the fish off to mom and went to dive for more.

Jimmy, in the background, ignores the whole scene.

That's a big fish.

 

After tiring it out for over two minutes (determined from time stamps on the photos) mom brought it over it to Jimmy.  

Jimmy wasn't hesitant - he assessed it for just a moment, then decided he could manage it.

And somehow stretched out his neck enough to get it down.  

Or least get it stuck in his neck.

That ought to hold him over until dinner time.

With a healthy, high protein seafood diet they sure are growing up fast.

I'll end this lengthy post with a gorgeous green dragon fly called a pondhawk.  

Eastern Pondhawk  (Erythemis simplicicollis)

There's a story here too, but that's for another day.

August 15: The Dog Days of Summer

Two weeks ago I mentioned the fruit of the black cherry trees was starting to ripen and they would turn from red to black if the birds and the bears didn't eat them all first.  Well, they better get busy because the chipmunks are after them too.

A chipmunk's cheeks stuffed full with black cherries.

A chipmunk's cheeks stuffed full with black cherries.

I was a bit surprised to see a chipmunk climbing around in the branches a good 15 feet above the ground, but evidently it has nothing to worry about because at one point when I startled it, it just let go and dropped to the ground bouncing gently off a couple of branches on the way down.  Their acrobatics in the cherry tree rival those of the gray squirrels on their winter feeder.

Representing Team Chipmunk in the Wildlife Olympics

I wonder if they eat the flesh of the fruit now and store the pits away in their dens for winter consumption.  And they're not just after the cherries but are harvesting blueberries as well; my brother took this picture of a chippy in the blueberry bushes in Canterbury.

Collecting blueberries in Canterbury.  Photo by Glen Powell.

I haven't seen the chipmunks in the hobblebushes, but something is eating that fruit as there are very few making it to the fully ripe black stage.

A few black hobblebush viburnum berries have survived long enough to turn black.

Another week of fishing and growing has seen our loon chicks molt all but a few remnants of their prior feathers.  With these new, denser feathers they're now able to compress the air out of them, allowing deeper and faster dives.  They almost look like small, pale versions of an adult at this point.

Jimmy has a just few tufts of baby feathers left on his tail.

After plentiful rain in July the weather has turned to classic New England summer:  hot, hazy, and humid.  This week was the pick of the summer so far for vacationing.  It's the kind of weather where you can spend all day in the lake and when you get out you're not cold even without drying off.  But all that moisture in the atmosphere makes for some hazy skies.  We went for a hike in Franconia Notch on Friday and with visibility only about 20 miles, the mountain ranges were looking like the Blueridge Mountains.

Hazy skies from the summit of South Kinsman.

On our way down from the Kinsmans we went by Lonesome Lake where lots of people were cooling off in the high altitude pond with Mount Lafayette in the background.

Lonesome Lake with the Franconia Range looming in the background.

Sunsets are like snowflakes - no two are ever the same - and with all that water in the atmosphere great sunsets keep coming.  

Even on a hot day of hiking, there are plenty of smiles in New Hampshire.

Summit of South Kinsman

The top of a mountain must have been the coolest spot in all of New England this week.

August 8, 2021: Arrows in the Lake

All the lake levels sure are high right now, up at levels more typical of April than August with recent readings in Lake Wicwas a good foot above full lake level.   This high level in midsummer can pose a problem with erosion from boat waves, so be aware of your wake when boating; many docks around the lake are just about under water.

On the other hand, the high water allows kayak access to parts of the lake that aren't usually accessible in mid summer.   If you explore any of the shallow marshy areas in the next week or two look for a pretty white flower with large arrow-shaped leaves near the water's edge.

Broadleaf Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)

This is called broadleaf arrowhead due to the shape of its leaves, but is also known as Indian potato as it has edible tubers that can grow over three feet long.   These long roots enable the plant to survive in areas of widely variable water levels.  In addition to the native Americans digging up and consuming the tubers, the entire plants are eaten by beavers and muskrats.  

Large arrow-shaped leaves give this aquatic plant its common name.

Right now the arrowheads - as well as every other other plant in the Lakes Region - doesn't need deep roots to find water.  Due to the robust flow in the rivers I went looking for a waterfall hike on Tuesday and chose the Brook Trail along Shannon Brook at Castle in the Clouds, as this one mile trail passes by seven cascades of various shapes and sizes.  

The last of the seven cascades on the Brook Trail.

The water was flowing like the spring freshets.

Shannon Brook in spring-like glory.

The Lake Wicwas Association held their annual meeting yesterday at the Wicwas Grange and it was well attended after missing last year's in-person meeting.  Social time with coffee and snacks was held outdoors under sunny skies after which we enjoyed an informative presentation by Emma Erler from the UNH Extension Service about waterfront landscaping and how it can benefit water quality in our lakes.  Good water flow management is especially important for heavy rain events such as we've had this summer and which are expected to become ever more frequent.  I'll share a link to the presentation when it's available.  

We're fortunate the heavy rains came after loon nesting season.  Our two loon chicks began an important development step this week, starting to molt their light brown feathers for some adolescent attire.

Coco and Jimmy are starting their second molt.

One chick - I expect it's Coco - is further along in this process than the other.  At first I thought Jimmy was holding a wing up in the air, but later decided it was just a clump of feathers in the process of being shed.

The chicks are also displaying bright white chest feathers, especially when they reach up out of the water to stretch their wings.  

They're such a handsome family.  

Next time we see them the chicks may be wearing their complete teenager outfits.  Until then, Jimmy waves good bye.

That foot's almost as big as Jimmy's body!

I'll finish the week with a couple of the many summer sunsets we experienced this week. 

A summer evening on the lake.

 It was great to see so many of you yesterday!