April 24, 2022: Peculiar Pelicans

This week we took a diversion from spring in New Hampshire down to the Low Country of South Carolina and enjoyed experiencing some very different birds, the most peculiar of which has to be the brown pelican.

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus Occidentalis)

We often watch formations of pelicans gliding over the water as they search for fish where they appear to be such graceful birds.

But up close they are really quite ungainly.

One observer aptly describes the pelican as "comically elegant".  Of course their most dramatic feature is their huge bill with attached pouch.  One evening at low tide I watched a pelican catch a rather large fish which might have been a skate - it was certainly something with wide, thin appendages that hung out both sides of the bird's bill.

I really had to study this scene to figureout what I was looking at. The thin point is the top of the beak, with the fish below it, spilling out of the pouch. 

The pelican managed to toss it around enough to capture the fish mostly within its bill.

What's the reason for the strange wing position?

While it was tangling with it, other pelicans crowded in close hoping for a chance to steal the fish with any false move.

A competitor rushes in, hoping for a steal.

After it got things organized I almost wondered if it was going to split its pouch open.

But the bird managed to point its beak to the sky and somehow slide that sea monster down its throat.

Pelicans most often catch fish by plunge diving where they let their bodies fall from high above the water, crashing down with an impact great enough to stun the fish which they scoop up with their bill.  Pelicans are the only birds that use this technique.  They are truly a uniquely evolved creature of earth.

I saw and heard many other birds including some we'll see shortly up in New Hampshire as they follow the insect migration north.

Laughing Gulls will soon come to New Hampshire and Maine coasts to breed.

House Finches range from South Carolina to northern New Hampshire throughout the year.

Great Crested Flycatchers will be in New Hampshire soon.

We might see a Snowy Egret blown inland by a storm along the Laverak Trail in Meredith.  This one was fishing in Shem Creek at low tide.

One last bird we got an excellent look at is a great egret.

This particular bird has become accustomed to humans and hangs out along the Shem Creek pier with the fishermen, begging for handouts of extra bait.  It's not very healthy for it but it's fun to be able to see one so close.

The South Carolina coast was a great place to spend Earth Day 2022.

April 17 2022: Our Banded Loons Return

An encouraging sign for our loons as well as the loon population in general appeared this week:  Our mating pair of loons has returned.  I was able to get a good look at the bands on the legs of both the male and the female, proof they are the same pair that fledged two healthy chicks, last summer, Jimmy and Coco.

The female has lots of jewelry, two bands on each leg.

The male has only a single band on its left leg.

The pair will spend the next month or two fattening up on fresh fish and selecting a nesting site.  I've heard sounds of contests with other loons, so there's likely to be a little territory resolution to be done as well.  Last year the various loons resolved their differences fairly quickly and this pair had nested by the first of June; we can only hope this year goes as well as last.  (I reported this sighting to the LPC, and perhaps you saw that they scooped me and put these pictures in their newsletter!)  

On the subject of mating and territory, one day I was drawn from a long distance by the persistent tapping of a woodpecker declaring his territory.  As I carefully closed in on the sound I was amazed at how much noise a small bird can produce.  The downy woodpecker knows to find good solid, dead but dry branch to hammer on which will resonant loudly throughout the forest.  The farther the sound can carry, the larger territory a male woodpecker can claim.  After a long time circling under the tree I was finally able to spot the percussionist, way up high on a dead oak limb.  The video is poor, but you can clearly understand how his signal carries far across the land (click on the video below):

Our list of summer migrants continues to grow, with this week's arrivals including pine warblers, brown creepers, and great blue herons, one of our larger birds on the lake.  Our highly visible raptor, the osprey - also known as the fish hawk - has returned and immediately made its present known by its loud kip-kip-kip call as it flies off from its perch overhanging the lake where it sits looking for an unsuspecting fish down below.  One evening after a successful fishing expedition it flew into our cove and ate its catch in a secluded spot where an eagle wouldn't steal its dinner.  It was dusk and I didn't want to disturb it, knowing it was hungry after its long flight from Central America, but I was able to get a couple of pictures of meal time.

"This looks like a safe spot."

"No one followed me?"

"Time to eat!"

I'm not sure why osprey fluff all their feathers up like this:

Could it be to help them dry off after their dive into the water to catch the fish?

Another of my favorite birds that visit Lake Wicwas in the spring and fall made a quick appearance this week.

Mr. and Mrs. Bufflehead

This is Mr. Bufflehead, I didn't get a decent shot of Mrs.

These birds still have a long way to travel - their primary breeding ground ranges from western Canada to Alaska.  The Lakes Region may be their first fuel and rest stop as they leave their winter grounds along the Atlantic coast.

Last week it was the wood frogs singing, and this week, on April 11th, it was the spring peepers raising a racket in the newly awakening forest.  And as spring unfurls, lots of green shoots are erupting from the earth and buds are swelling, ready to burst open with the next sunny warm day.  And more spring flowers are blooming too!

Crocuses

The season of renewal is here  -  Happy Easter!

April 10, 2022: Ice-Out and Loons-In

Ice-out was declared on Lake Wicwas on the morning of Wednesday, April 6th, and it didn't take long for the loons to arrive.  (Ice-out on Winnipesaukee was declared two days later on Friday afternoon, wth Meredith Bay the last to clear.)  In fact, I saw my first loon one day before ice out when it was fishing at the edge of the ice line.  But even more exciting was seeing an otter only a hundred yards away from the loon, sitting on top of the ice, munching away on a sunfish.  

It was just lying there on the cold ice, holding that fish in its hands while it crunched it up with its teeth - bones, scales, and all.

I watched it finish it off and then, with a full belly, slide his way along the ice before disappearing down a hole in the ice, off to find something else to do.

This is one of the most vibrant times of the year to be watching nature, as everything is in transition between seasons and starting to come alive.  In the past week I saw a mink on the ice, many beavers swimming across the lake, a bald eagle devouring a fish it caught in the open water, a ringed-neck duck, and a couple of pairs of common mergansers as well as other ducks and geese.

A mink on thin ice that formed over a cold night.  No worries, it dove in at the edge of the ice anyway.  

An immature bald eagle rests between bites of the fish in its claws.

Mr. and Mrs. Merganser, fishing at the edge of the ice.

One of my favorites:  A ringed-neck duck on a rainy Saturday.

Those poor pisces sure have a lot hungry parties interested in them.  At least the mallards and the Canada geese mostly leave the fish alone.

I can't tell if this goose is dropping nesting material or just sticking its tongue out at its mate.

This mallard has terrible table manners.

I've also seen and heard some early spring birds:  phoebes, chipping and song sparrows, robins (though robins are now year-round residents in parts of NH, I don't see them in winter), yellow-bellied sapsuckers, and also dozens of wood frogs.  On Tuesday there were perhaps a hundred of them jumping into the water in a roadside ditch on the opposite side of the road from a vernal pond as I walked along.  By Friday they had made it to the pond and were singing away, sounding like a flock of ducks.  Spring peepers will be next!

On my paddle before ice out I had a chance to see up-close the delineation between the phases of water.  

At the edge of winter and spring.

And of course, the first loon.

I'll wager this is our nesting male, but we'll have to wait until we see a band to know.

But perhaps the most uplifting sight of all is blue water!

Blue water returns.

More spring changes are close at hand.

April 3, 2022: The Mighty Ant

Can a tiny insect take down a towering pine tree?  This week someone sent me an example of the remarkable capabilities of even the smallest animals, often hidden from us, but sometimes revealed by the forces of nature.  What caught the eye of the hiker in the Hamlin Conservation Area (thanks LH!) was the huge pile of wood chips at the base of a tree, and the expertly excavated holes in the remains of what used to be a majestic tree.

Photos by Linda Hammill

The first impression is that the pileated woodpeckers sure did a lot of work on that tree, and that's partially true, but the real work was performed over many years by a much smaller creature:

Black Carpenter Ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus)

It's hard to believe such small animals can carve out these huge cavities, but when you look closely at the business end of black carpenter ant you start to understand.

When thousands of these insects work together, tiny bites add up.  It's important to note that carpenter ants do not eat wood, they only excavate wood to make nests and tunnels to travel between multiple nests and food sources, often leaving tell-tale signs of sawdust behind.  They prefer soft, moist wood which is easier to chew up, and explains why they are partial to houses with wet eaves and damp basements and garages.  

Carpenter ants rarely infest a healthy tree, but if damaged, with the protective bark removed and water penetrating and softening the wood, a tree becomes prime real estate for an ant colony.  Entering through a hidden location under the bark or under a front door step, they can carve out the vast interior of a tree or a 2 x 4 with no visible evidence from the outside.  But they do make noise as they chew and woodpeckers can hear them inside a tree, and sometimes feel their vibrations.  Once they find a vein of ants in a tree a woodpecker will return again and again to consume the ants, larvae, and eggs within.

So what do ants eat?  They are primarily carnivores, and their most important food source is other insects, especially dead ones.  They are great scavengers, cleaning up our forests, searching mostly at night for dead insects and other animal parts that they either consume where they find them or bring them back to the nest to feed to others in the colony.  Ants are pretty much at the bottom of the food chain, in turn feeding many others up the chain, including humans in some societies, even here in America in prior days.  It has been reported that Maine lumbermen considered them delicacies, but also ate them to prevent scurvy.  [Ref:  Nature-Study Part I, Charles Lincoln Edwards, 1924, Hesperian Press, Los Angeles,  pg/ 208]

Earlier in the winter I came across a good example of the inner workings of an ant colony when a tree weakened by its residents met its demise in a winter gale.

It's not evident how the ants found their way in but it's clear they excavated a large fraction of the interior of the tree, weakening it until it split right up the middle in the storm.  The inside shows how they carve out their channels like holes in Swiss cheese.

Those large round holes are where the pileated woodpecker cut access to the ants.
Note daylight visible through the top-most hole.

With warm weather on its way (hopefully) watch for these large ants - not the small "sugar" ants - near or in your house, and especially for the huge winged ants that are looking to create a new colony.

Much more fun to watch for as warm weather approaches are the loons, and they will be here as soon as each lake opens up enough for them to land.  The Loon Preservation Committee is working with a group called Journey North at the University of Wisconsin this year to help gain knowledge of loon migration, and they are looking for citizen scientists to help collect data.  The LPC is hosting a virtual presentation which you can join to learn how to participate in the study.  To learn more, visit the Loon Preservation Committee's YouTube channel (youtube.com/looncenter) at 7 PM on Wednesday, April 6th.

The loons may show up soon on Wicwas, though the weather was cooler this week so the lake made only slow progress towards ice out, and in fact, there was a snowmobile out on the lake on Wednesday, bravely (foolishly?) launching at the boat ramp and skimming across open areas of water.  The northern part of the lake is now open from the outlet quite a ways up towards the inlet at Dolloff Brook.  But the bird feeders have been retired for the year - has anyone seen any bears yet?  

We'll miss seeing our feathered friends up close.  

A white-breasted nuthatch takes its last seed.

But now I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing the multitude of song birds that will soon arrive in the Lakes Region for their summer season.