November 13: 2022: Frost on the Fountain

We're finally starting to get some colder weather around here.  I walked past the fountain on Main Street in Meredith one cool, bright morning this week and got a clear message that it's about time to put away the hoses and turn off the outside spigots.

Frost on the Fountain.

Still, many of our hardy plants are hanging in there even though it was cold enough that night to put a sheet of ice on even the moving water in the fountain.

Perhaps it's due to the mild weather, but we haven't seen a lot of migrating ducks this fall - just a few wood ducks, and then this week, a couple of hooded mergansers paddled by.

I say a couple rather than a pair because these are two males.

I love the way their tail feathers fan out on the surface of the water.

One of our loon observers responded to my question last week about the presence of our loons.  They reported that until about November 4th they had seen the chick and an adult most every day, but after that, nothing. So it's possible our young Maddie has now left her childhood home and flown off to the ocean where she'll spend the next four or five years.   I'll wait another week to be sure, but we may have seen the last of her.  Most of our summer visitors have also left by now, but there are plenty of brave birds that will tough out the New Hampshire winter with us.  One of these, the stealthy barred owl, flew out from its perch as I was on a run and landed on a tree almost right above me.  I only had my phone so I didn't get a great picture.

It's a little unusual to see an owl in bright sunlight.

When it looked right at me its eyes looked like huge black saucers.

Were you able to see the eclipse of the full beaver moon this week?  I wasn't, as there was a layer of clouds at the horizon at the time of the eclipse.

The morning of the full lunar eclipse.

From the red color on the clouds I could tell it would have lived up to the name of a "blood moon".  Of course, the next morning was perfectly clear.  

Earlier that night, the beaver moon shone through the trees.

So let's honor the namesake of this month's moon to close out the week:

A beaver cruises Lake Wicwas in search of winter food.

It's a busy month for beavers as they stock up for the coming New Hampshire winter - which might actually make an appearance next week!