January 2, 2022: Happy New Year!

2022 entered the same way 2021 departed:  with a warm, foggy day.  It's been a mild winter so far but at least there have been regular snow falls to keep the ground white through this stretch of warm weather.  I've had several nice ski trips in the woods and on the lake but at this point the lake is mushy and I question the integrity of the ice near shore so I'll wait for a few cold nights before venturing out again.  

The soft snow has been good for both animal and human activity.  On a ski trip in the Red Hill Conservation Area in Moultonborough I saw countless deer tracks in the snow all along the trail and heading off into the woods.  One trail that I followed led me to an area where the deer had been foraging for acorns under the soft snow.

Deer were busy here gathering that high-energy food source.

The deer trail leading to the forage area.

All the animals will happily take advantage of the warm weather and thin snow cover to add to their winter reserves, whether in their body fat or in their food stashes.  I'm seeing lots of signs of red squirrels collecting seeds and nuts including blankets of shredded hemlock-cones all over the snow.

Hundreds of tiny hemlock cone scales stripped away to access the seeds hidden inside.

It must take a lot of patience to pull apart that many hemlock cones for such a tiny seed.

But then, what else does a squirrel have to do all winter?

The gray squirrels have found the bird feeders and are now chasing each other around, trying to defend different areas to protect a food source they want to call their own.  We're able to (mostly) keep them off the bird feeders by giving them a couple of their own feeding stations with squirrel-preferred food.  With so many squirrels and the myriad bobcat tracks around the house, maybe we'll witness some bobcat-squirrel interactions this winter.

It's great to have bird feeders out again to watch the variety of birds and their behavior, while hoping the warm weather doesn't bring the bears back out.  So far we've seen most of the common winter birds:  chick-a-dees, nuthatches, titmice, goldfinches, juncos, mourning doves, downy woodpeckers, and the now-becoming-common red-bellied woodpecker.  Not yet making an appearance are the hairy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, house finch, and purple finch.  After not having many goldfinches last year, this winter we are inundated, especially on warm, damp days when they commandeer the feeder.

Goldfinches storm the feeder.

And they are pretty aggressive towards each other and other birds in defending their food.

"Stay off my feeder!"

Unlike a chick-a-dee which will take a seed and fly off to eat it, goldfinches like to hang out on the feeder and eat.  With their unique beaks they can park themselves at a feeding perch and open and eat seed after seed.  But a bold chick-a-dee or nuthatch will eventually barge in to displace a finch from its perch and grab a seed for itself.

From these pictures you're probably thinking we had nothing but snowy, overcast skies, but there were moments of bright winter weather as well.

A bright sunny end to a ski day on the lake.

Now it's time for 2022 to bring in some real winter weather.

Happy New Year from Lake Wicwas!