April 30, 2023: Dolphins Don't Fish in Wicwas

We spent the past week a thousand miles south of the Lakes Region, getting an early peek at summer, and it sure was nice.  We saw spring unfold before our eyes as we drove the scenic route to South Carolina through the Shenandoah Valley, watching bare branches turn to flowering trees, then budding leaves, and finally to blooming magnolias as we arrived in Charleston and Mount Pleasant.  Our favorite Low-County tour guide had plenty of activities lined up for our entertainment, and one of the first was a visit to "Breach Inlet", a break in the barrier islands that separates Sullivan's Island from the Isle of Palms.  We walked the Atlantic shore along Isle of Palms and when we reached The Breach we found a dolphin fishing right in the breach as the tide rushed out.

A bottlenosed dolphin.

The breach is narrow so the current is swift as the water drains from the inland waterway when the tide goes out.  There are docks and boats close by on either side, but the dolphin didn't seem to mind.

Looking for fish in the riptide.

It swam against the strong current yet it remained stationary, diving down and coming up in the same spot, probably catching fish after fish coming out with the tide.  

Swimming against the tide.

It was one of the highlights of the trip.  

Another wildlife spectacle was found at the edge of a small lake which contained an egret rookery.

These beautiful birds don't seem to mind sharing nesting territory as there are over a dozen nests in the same small area.  And these birds are stunning when they show off all their plumage.

They have such an interesting shade of green on their face.

They also seem to be magnanimous, allowing interlopers to share the neighborhood.

A male anhinga preens while his mate feeds the young in the nest.

Mom with the hungry chicks.

Like many herons and storks, anhingas partially digest food and then regurgitate it for their young to eat right out of their throats.

Feeding time at the anhinga home.

They must really trust their parents

The anhinga pair was ahead of the egrets in the nesting cycle as they already had four good-size chicks in the nest while there was no evidence of egret chicks.

Did I mention the large, smiling alligator hiding in the foliage on the edge of the pond, just waiting for one of those plump birds to make a mistake?

"Never smile at a crocodile"  (I know, it's a 'gator - sorry Peter Pan)

At another site, a marshy bay beside the Pitt Street Bridge in Charleston Harbor, we saw a wide range of birds, including sandpipers, brown thrashers, marsh wrens, grackles, and more egrets.  I was able to watch one egret picking out its lunch from the marsh - probably small fish or shrimp.

Of course there were pelicans all around the South Carolina shore.

It's good to see pelicans making a comeback after their population was decimated by poisoning from pesticides.

We saw many animals that also live in New England, including ospreys.

Osprey over Isle of Palms

Other northern birds we saw included cardinals, mockingbirds, bluebirds, sandpipers, wood ducks (already with chicks hatched) and of course, Carolina wrens.  Yes, the Carolina wren has worked its way north even to New Hampshire as things have warmed up over the years.  

All along the drive both down and back there was a nearly constant circling of vultures taking advantage of thermals over the highway to search for road kill.  From a distance I can't tell the difference between turkey vultures, which migrate to New England in summer, and black vultures, which don't come as far north as New England.  But up close the black face (versus red on the turkey vulture) is evident.  The South Carolina vultures are more much more tame than they are here in New Hampshire.  

A Black Vulture perches on a roof top and watches the world pass by.  

I even saw a vulture driving a bunch of crows away from a dumpster that the vulture had claimed for itself - this is one bird that's learned how to adapt to modern civilization.

Alas, we did eventually have to return home.  As we drove back to New England we watched the season retreat, eventually regressing all the way back to brown leaves and bare branches here in New Hampshire.  But I was happy to see the see that the Trailing Arbutus are still blooming.

So we didn't miss much, and now we get to experience spring twice in the same year.  Thanks for a great visit LG!

April 23, 2023: Ducks in a Tree

They're called "Wood Ducks" for a reason.  A large bird flying high through the forest caught my eye on my morning walk.  It was about the size of crow and landed on a branch high in a tree.  I knew it wasn't a crow, but what else is that size?  When it started calling I recognized the call as that of a wood duck, and soon a second started returning the call.  Tracking the sound, I was able to find both ducks through the leafless branches.

Mrs. (above) and Mr. (below) Wood Duck in search of a nesting site.

I never think of ducks in trees.  But wood ducks make their nests in holes in trees, as high as 50 feet above the ground and up to a mile away from water; this pair was about a tenth of a mile from the lake.  

I saw them early in the morning which is the time that wood ducks search for nesting sites.  They can't make their own holes, so they search through mature forests looking for existing suitable holes to use.  They occasionally will use an old woodpecker cavity, but usually they find a natural hole left where a branch broke off and the wood around the wound rotted away.  

I was tempted to try to get closer, but decided not to disturb them from their search and went on my way.  Maybe we'll have baby wood ducks on the lake this summer - incubation time is four to five weeks so watch for them in late May.

On this early morning walk with no leaves out yet I was also able to see two beaver lodges that have been improved this spring with fresh mud and new sticks.  

The second lodge is hard to see - it's on the left, just in front of large rock on the shore.

This is the time of year when two year old beavers are kicked out the lodge to build their own home.  Unfortunately, this results in beavers crossing roads in search of new territory, and one was killed on Meredith Center Road right by the dam where it was probably crossing between the lake and the marsh below the dam.

Last week's warm weather convinced the red maples that it was time to bloom and out popped their small red flowers.

Red Maple flowers on Tuesday, April 18th.

Red maple are the first of the large deciduous trees to put out buds, and soon, leaves.

Finally, the first woodland flowers are blooming - the Trailing Arbutus - which are always the first I see to bloom.

Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens) bloomed on Monday, April 17th.

It's a sign that many plants will soon be showing their spring colors.

Late breaking news, just before this went to press:  We have confirmation from Amy Wilson that our "northern" pair of resident loons is back on the lake.  If you look carefully you can see the white band with black dot on the male loon, and a green band on the female loon.  

Male with White band with black dot.  Photo by Amy Wilson.

Female with green and silver band.  Photo by Amy Wilson.

Amy reports several other loons have been on the lake, but no observations of bands that would confirm the "Harris Cove" pair is back.  Stay tuned....

April 16, 2023: Ice out and Spring In

Everything happened so quickly this week that there's way too much to discuss, so this entry will pretty much be a recording of events for the journal followed by a few notes about the mergansers which have been so plentiful and entertaining.  

Many of the spring birds arrived - here's what I observed for the first time this year:

• Northern Flicker
• Pine Warbler
• Blue-headed Vireo
• Swamp Sparrow
• Hermit Thrush
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Wood Duck
• Common Loon
• American Robin

Robins of course are here year 'round, living off fruit in the winter, but I rarely see them in the cold months.  Now that it's spring, they're here and hopping all over the ground listening for insects and worms in the soft soil.

Tuning in on lunch down underground.

The Pine Warblers are usually the first of warbler family to arrive and they have a loud distinctive call so you know when they're here.  Much more subtle and absolutely beautiful - perhaps the most eloquent of all the bird songs - is the Hermit Thrush.  Their song in the early morning is one of the most satisfying sounds of summer.  Another distinctive song is that of the wood frog which I heard for the first time this week, dozens of male wood frogs singing their hearts out looking for a mate.  Scientists say males congregate in a single vernal pool so they have a better chance of attracting females to their pool due to the loud sound.  Then each frog has to perform solo to gain the favor of an arriving female.  [Ref:  Discover Magazine]

The first report of a loon on Wicwas was on April 9th, and the following day a pair was observed.  I went for a paddle on Thursday but I wasn't able to find them.  So far there have only been reports of one pair on the lake.

There were also eagles on the lake this week;  I went looking for what was causing a traumatic call from the loons, and there was the eagle soaring overhead.

This was an immature bald eagle.  I also saw a mature eagle which landed in one of the pine trees where eagles roosted over the deer kill this winter.

Could it be looking for a nesting site?  

The loons' arrival on Sunday preceded ice-out on Wicwas by three days; ice-out was called on Wednesday April 12, right in line with the average ice-out day.  Ice-out came quickly with the warm and windy weather.  (We hit 86 degrees this week.)  

On Tuesday there was still a lot of ice in the lake.

Intrepid fisher people on Tuesday, April 11.

By Wednesday it was essentially gone, with only remnants blown onto the boat ramp by the strong northwest wind.

Ice-out was declared on Wednesday, April 12

Even with an average ice-out date, the late ice-in date of December 25th meant a lower than usual ice-coverage period of 108 days, quite a bit short of the 123 day average.

Now a few comments on the mergansers.  There have been multiple groups of them on the lake, numbering perhaps two dozen in total.  

Common mergansers socializing.

They've been interacting quite actively, though their intent isn't always clear.  When there are three or four males and one female I assume the drakes (males) are vying for the affection of the hen. 

Four drakes, one hen.

Other times a male is chasing away another male which also makes sense.  But sometimes a female is chasing away another female - does that mean she has selected a mate and doesn't want another girl to move in on her chosen one? 

When they've had enough action they'll climb up on the ice to preen and rest.  

The Lakes Region is right on the edge of common mergansers' breeding zone, so most of these are migrants on their way to their primary breeding area in Canada.  Too bad, because they are such pretty birds.

And it's fun to watch them dive, as they put their heads down and flip up their tails.

When one group of them was close I captured a bit of their antics, which you can watch here:

80 degrees with flowers blooming and warblers singing doesn't mean that winter sports are over.  There's still skiing to be had on Mount Washington!

The scene in Mount Washington's Tuckerman Ravine on Friday, April 14th.

It's the time of many seasons all-at-once here in New Hampshire.

 

April 9, 2023: Spring Overture

Happy Easter!  

And with Easter came the early sounds of spring.  It's just the opening overture before the full spring musical arrives, but the early spring songbirds are here and they are singing the opening of the first act as the spring migrants are arriving now in droves.  This week I saw an eastern phoebe, a brown creeper, a song sparrow, a few great blue herons, several robins collecting nest material, a flock of over two dozen American black ducks, and the first pair of mergansers. 

A pair of common mergansers fishes in a sliver of blue water.

Most exciting to see was the brown creeper, a small bird that mostly keeps hidden in dense forest as it creeps up and down tree trunks looking for insects. 

A song Sparrow and a brown creeper glean seeds as the snow recedes.

Brown creepers are resident year round but I only hear them in the summer, and only once or twice have I been able to follow the song to actually see the bird.  But here in spring, there was a single bird collecting leftover seeds below where the feeder had been.

Brown creepers have a long, down-curled beak that helps them probe into bark crevices in search of insects.

The birds are relegated to finding leftovers now that the feeders have been removed for the summer as bears are up and on the prowl, very hungry, and bird feeders are a strong attractant to unnatural habitats.  

The first heron that I saw came flying in low over the still frozen lake and plopped itself down on the shoreline in front of a gap of five feet of open water.  

Just moments before this we thought we saw a duck sitting on the ice near this stretch of open shoreline, but when we looked closely we realized it wasn't a duck, but in fact was a mink.  The mink tramped around on the ice a little bit before sliding off the ice into the water and swimming along the shore out of sight.  But when the heron flew in, that obviously caught its eye because the mink swam right back up that sliver of water and stopped at the edge of the shoreline right in front of the heron.

You can just barely make out the mink to left of the tree reflection in the water.

Upon reaching the shore, the two of them had a stare-down.  

I'm pretty sure a heron wouldn't go after a mink, but less sure that a mink wouldn't attempt to grab a heron, though I think once it encountered that pointy four-inch beak it would regret that decision.   But we won't know because that heron decided there were other places to fish and it flew off to a less crowded fishing spot.

Strong April sun and a brisk northwest wind on Friday started to break up the ice with large cracks forming miniature icebergs.  A few more warm days next week and we may be getting close to ice-out.  Ice-out on Winnipesauke was called on Friday, April 7th.

The ice started to break up on Friday.

Yes, it's the dichotomy of spring.  Remnants of a frozen winter,

A snow-covered trail on Arbutus Hill.

slowly melting away into a liquid spring,

Spring snow melt cascades down a stream in the Hamlin Town Forest.

which the trees soak up to resurrect their eternal life.

Red maple buds getting ready to burst on the next warm day.

I also had a report of spring peepers being heard just south of the Lakes Region.  (Thanks GP!)  That always adds a fine soprano voice to the spring orchestra!