August 28, 2022: Quiet Time at the Lake

It's the time of year when things are pretty quiet around the lakes.  Most of the animals are done with searching for and attracting mates and are now carefully raising their young, doing their best to keep them hidden from predators.  Food is plentiful so animals don't need to prowl widely in search of sustenance and so are able to keep to remote areas away from human activity.  Hot, humid days also  keep many animals deep in the forest with most of their activity taking place in early morning, late evening, or after dark when it's cooler, though I do see a doe and her fawn on occasion in the hour after sunrise.  And I know other animals are out there because I find evidence of their travels and successful hunting trips dotting the trails.

Fox scat strategically deposited upon a stone wall.

Yet there's still lots of activity to be found if one sets their sights on smaller, less visible life forms.  This large American toad was squatting at the edge of a trail where there must be a plentiful supply of food.

A fat American Toad waits patiently for a spider or slug to amble by.

Spiders are abundant now and some are large enough to be a hearty meal.

A good size dock spider.

While I was watching this spider I witnessed it catch a meal.  It suddenly sprang off the rock onto the surface of the water and just as quickly leaped right back up on the rock.  In one flash of continuous motion it had picked off some tiny insect.  Spiders are close to the bottom of the food chain, consuming very small life forms, and in turn are eaten by toads, frogs, and snakes, which then are gobbled up by herons and various other birds and mammals.

A great blue heron watching for the motion of a frog, toad, or fish.

I also saw this young painted turtle soaking in the warmth of the afternoon sun.

It's shell was only about 3 inches long.

I may not see much activity in the forest in late August but it is a time when I start to notice changes in the trees themselves.  It's very subtle, yet the differences are noticeable in the colors around the lake.  The green on the trees seems just a little darker as photosynthesis and chlorophyll move into the latter stages of the season.  Likewise the blue in the sky and and contrast of cumulus clouds in the mid day sun have a discernable change as the sun impinges at a slightly lower level.  The days are now two hours shorter than they were back on the solstice and the sun sets across the lake noticeably farther south on Sheep Island.  I do my best to ignore the stray branch on a red maple tree that has turned red and the poplar across the lake that show tinges of yellow - I tell myself those are weak or sick trees and not really a sign of a waning summer.  

There are other signs that are harder to ignore.  This week I heard the first pin ball game being played by the red squirrels as they gnawed cones off the top of the white pines which bounce off the branches as they fall to earth with a thunk that says "game over".  Most of these seeds won't get to become mighty pines as they'll be collected and squirreled away in the harvester's winter stores.  Someone passed on their observation that there aren't a lot of white pine cones in the trees this year, and I agree.  In contrast, the spruce trees do seem to be over achievers this year.

Laden with cones on the east shore of Mark Island, I think this is a Red Spruce.

Our little loon chick isn't quite so little any more, and in fact is now molting the last of her baby feathers and starting to reveal juvenile plumage, as captured by Debby Crowley this week.

At six weeks Maddie is starting to lose her downy baby feathers.  Photos by Debby Crowely.

And her appetite has grown as well.  She's now willing to tackle fish that a couple of weeks ago she would refuse.

Mom or dad brings in a big one.

And somehow she swallows it down.  (Thank you Debby for sharing these fabulouse pictures with us!)

If she keeps eating like that there's no doubt she'll be ready for autumn when it arrives.

August 21, 2022: Maine Matrimony

A late post this week because the past four days were spent in downeast Maine, and for once, nature watching wasn't the main attraction - it was the wedding weekend! 

Hydrangeas glow at sunrise on the big day. 

Could there be a more beautiful spot for a wedding than Penobscot Bay?

There was no time to go exploring for local wildlife but I was content with watching the cormorants, loons, and osprey fishing in the Penobscot River.  The water off French's Point in Stockton Springs was warm enough to swim comfortably and we did get to watch rock crabs, hermit crabs, and tiny shrimp nibbling our toes in the water.

We were treated to beautiful midsummer weather in New Hampshire as well, and early in the week on a bike ride through the back roads in the Chemung area I stopped to take a picture looking out over the fields high above lake Winnisquam.

Krebs Farm on Upper Bay Road overlooking Lake Winnisquam.

As I was enjoying the beautiful view from the hill I heard a bird call that I haven't heard in many years.  It was the unmistakable call of a northern bobwhite.  There is a farm here with large fields of blueberries and many other shrubs and small trees, exactly the habitat described for these birds.  Being field birds I didn't have any expectation I would be able to see one of these, and I didn't, but here's a picture of a bobwhite from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.

Northern Bobwhite in Florida.  Photo by Tom Mast.

I haven't heard a Bobwhite since I was a kid and our family took vacations on Cape Cod.  According to field guide maps the bobwhite doesn't exist farther north than Rhode Island and the very Southeastern portion of Massachusetts.  According to the Cornell Lab of ornithology, Northern Bobwhites live in open pine forests, overgrown fields, shrubby areas, and grasslands which is exactly the habitat where I was standing, and its song is so distinct that I had little doubt that's what it was.  Here's my recording of the calls I heard at the field.

Just to be sure, I contacted Iain MacLeod at the Squam Lakes Science Center and he confirmed that is a bobwhite.  He also said bobwhites are rare but have been heard on occasion in the Lakes Region and that some have been brought into the area and released.  So I don't know if this bird was introduced here artificially or if it's another example of animals moving north as a result of warming climate.  At any rate, it's a fun bird to hear!  

All the loon drama on the lake this summer reminded me of an article I read in the past about the two longest-living recorded loons and I was able to find the article.  It was published by the Audubon Society and you can read the full article here.  

The two oldest known loons breed in a lake in the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan and were 34 and 35 years old last year!  The focus of the article is what these two birds have gone through over the years to keep their territory and their mate.  The two birds have been mates for 26 years now, assuming they are back on their lake this summer.  But the report about fighting over territory and mates provides yet more insight into the battles that took place on Wicwas this summer.  But still, our two brave adults are keeping Maddie on the path towards adulthood.  

Maddie and Mom.  Photo by Debby Crowley.

And who knows, maybe in four or five years Maddie will return to Lake Wicwas or a lake close by for her own wedding vows.  My how fast our young ones grow up.

August 14, 2022: Lobster at the Lake

With a little rain falling this week the mushrooms have been, well, mushrooming.  Fungi have this interesting trait in that when the organism forms mushrooms early in the season they create all the cells needed in their fruit.  (The fruit is what we see pushing up above the ground to spread their spores.)  But the fruit cells are tiny and the mushroom isn't noticeable.  When the rain comes, the organism takes that water and quickly pumps it into all those tiny cells, expanding them so the mushroom balloons, making it appear the mushroom grew incredibly fast.  This past Tuesday morning following a good rain we found some unusual-looking mushrooms along the trail to Crockett's Ledge.

Lobster mushrooms on the Yellow Trail to Crockett's Ledge.

I've seen orange chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms before, but never anything quite this color and shape.  It didn't take a lot of digging to learn that these are called Lobster Mushrooms, though in fact, that isn't really a biological species of mushroom.  There are a couple of varieties of mushrooms, usually white species of Russula or Lactarius mushrooms on which a parasitic fungus will grow.  The fungus covers the outside of the mushroom and over time can contort it into these strange shapes that have the appearance of cooked lobster.  [Ref:  Mushroom Expert]  

One author [Forager Chef] says the fungus improves the taste of these otherwise bland mushrooms, but I'm not about to eat fungus of any kind that I find in the forest!  I expect to see many more varieties of mushroom popping up everywhere over the next few weeks.

While we're looking at strange organisms, how about this creepy crawler?

A Common Gray caterpillar measures the world.

This is the larva of a geometer moth known as the Common Gray.  I think the name comes from the adult moth which is a rather bland gray color though the caterpillar has some subtle but pretty pink. orange, and green hues.  It also has some mean looking mouth parts which is what it uses to chew up all those leaves on our ash and aspen trees. 

A nice set of chompers.

Geometer species are commonly known as inch worms.  They have legs only on their front and hind sections, so they loop themselves up and then stretch out to travel.  The name geometer comes from "geo" meaning earth, and "metron" mean measure - they measure the earth as they inch along!  [Ref:  Thought Company]

If you receive emails from the Loon Preservation Committee you probably saw the video they posted about a brutal loon fight recorded by one of their loon-cams.  After two loon deaths on Lake Wicwas this summer, one definitely killed by another loon and the second probably the loser in a hard-fought battle, this video gave me a much better understanding as to how these deaths occur.  As the LPC noted, this may be distressing to watch.

A violent battle between two loons.

What appears to be a majestic, peaceful bird can become an incredibly violent animal when it comes to defending its territory, its mate, or its offspring.  Happily, our nesting pair is protecting Maddie well, as just yesterday there was a group of seven loons cruising the lake, during which time Maddie was nowhere to be seen, probably hidden away with one parent in some remote cove on the lake.  The most recent picture I have of the chick is from this past Monday.

Maddie at just over three weeks old.

There was a small but enthusiastic group of paddlers out for the Wicwas Annual Regatta yesterday and we toured a couple of the more secluded coves around the lake.  If you're out paddling near marshes in any of the local lakes over the next couple of weeks, look carefully for patches of delicate lavender flowers growing among the lily pads.  

Purple Bladderwort (Utricularia purpurea) is a rootless, floating plant.

If you don't want to paddle, you can find a huge area of purple bladderwort growing in Page Pond at the Page Pond Town Forest.  Take the Multi-use (White) Trail (see map here) to the southern view point on Page Pond and you'll see them - while they last!

August 7, 2022: More About Bobcats

The Lake Wicwas Association held its annual meeting yesterday at the Wicwas Grange in Meredith Center; it was well attended with lots of catching up with friends over coffee and treats before the meeting began.  The featured speaker this year was Patrick Tate, wildlife biologist at the New Hampshire Fish and Game department who provided a presentation on the life and habits of New Hampshire's bobcats.

NH Fish and Game wildlife biologist Patrick Tate speaks about bobcats in New Hampshire.
Photo by Shayne Duggan.

One of the new things I learned is that bobcats have a very "plastic" diet, which means they readily change their diet based on the availability of prey.  In some years white-tail deer are their primary food source and in other years it's small animals such as squirrels.  But they are true carnivores, completely dependent on catching other animals for their sustenance - no veggies for them.  Tate also explained that bobcats were considered primarily southern animals but have moved north and now occupy all of New Hampshire except for the white mountains.  Unlike other far-northern species such as the snowshoe hare and the lynx, bobcat do not have large paws to let them hunt efficiently on deep, dry snow, so they aren't found at high elevations in the mountains.  Tate also described how to identify their tracks - round footprints with round toes prints absent claws - as well as their preferred habitat which includes the edges of wetlands and the margins of farms.

A bobcat print seen near the shores of Lake Wicwas.

We'll all know a bit more about these wild felines when we see them around the lake in the future.  Many thanks to all who attended and helped organize the meeting and asked Mr. Tate such great questions about bobcats.

We also had a very successful silent auction, raising over $2000 for the Lake Host program.  Another big thank you to all who donated items for the auction!

A sunfish donated by the Larsens and prepped by Dean Cascadden was the headliner for the auction.

The loons have captured most of the attention around the lake for the past few weeks and there's still a lot going on with them, but they're not the only birds that are active this time of year.  The songs on my morning walks have changed noticeably, as the spring calls of warblers have been replaced by the sweet summer song of the Hermit Thrush and the tireless singing of the red-eyed vireo which can sing non-stop for an hour at a time even on the hottest summer day.  Both of these birds are difficult to find as they sing from thick brush or in high tree tops, but I know they're in there.  Here's a good look I got of a vireo on a mid-summer day a few years ago.  

Red-eyed vireo singing from its perch in a hemlock.

Both the belted kingfisher and the eastern kingbird are very visible and active, darting around as they catch insects on the wing.  I watched a nice acrobatic air show put on by the kingbirds one morning on the kayak.

It's also high butterfly season.  Monarchs are in the fields at the Page Pond Town Forest where milkweed is starting to appear.  The great-spangled fritillaries are sipping nectar from clover, and the pearl crescent butterfly is doing the same on bright orange hawkweed.

Pearl crescent on hawkweed.

Great-spangled fritillary on a clover blossom.

Sipping nectar through its long hollow proboscis.

On these hot August days the mammals are much less active, but I do see momma deer and her fawn regularly out browsing early on cool mornings before the heat arrives.  (Still no pictures though.)

In the July 24 post I mentioned an injured loon that was observed on the lake.  Since then multiple sightings were received and it looked weak enough that the LPC biologist came and searched the lake to assess it but the loon couldn't be located.  Finally, last week, the bird had beached itself and a couple of intrepid volunteers were able to capture and safely contain it - the loon was very weak and didn't provide any resistance.  The biologist was alerted and came immediately to pick it up and bring it to a rehabilitator in Concord.  Unfortunately, the veterinarian decided the loon was too badly injured, and it had to be euthanized.  

I don't know if we'll get any further information, but from descriptions of its condition it seems it had been involved in a lot of fighting with another loon.  But there is happy loon-news on the lake:  I don't have a recent photo of her, but Maddie was reported on Saturday to be healthy and growing by leaps and bounds.  

Now that the fighting on the lake has passed, is there a better life than that of a loon, spending these hot august days floating on the lake and savoring those steamy, crimson summer sunsets? 

A waxing gibbous moon watches over scarlet clouds after Saturday's storms passed.

Hopefully I'll have a picture of Maddie for the next journal entry.