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.