November 19, 2023: A Farewell to LuLu and Checkers

Before I say goodbye to Lake Wicwas' newest loons, I'll mention another confusing bird moment I had this week.  We took a walk at Little Harbor in Portsmouth, which is also the site of Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion State Park.  

The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion on Little Harbor in Portsmouth.

The setting is gorgeous and peaceful, with beautiful views over a well-protected inner harbor, yet with easy access to the open ocean.  It's plain to see why the first NH governor chose this site for his home.  

Little Harbor

Governor Wentworth didn't see bridges or lobster boats in his view.

The Little Harbor Loop Trail passes along a stretch of shoreline, goes out to a view point on the Piscataqua River, and travels through some mature forests.  It's a nice two mile walk with a lot of variety - there's even a kayak launch for paddlers.  You can find a map here.

Looking out over the bay we watched a flock of white gulls picking fish out of the water, and those are what presented an identification challenge.  The two birds that seemed the most likely candidates - the black-headed gull and the Bonaparte's gull - both have black heads, and these had white heads.  

Mostly white with a dark spot on the side of its head.

It took time with the field guides to find that in winter, both of those birds have white heads, and both have black spots as these birds did.  However, only the Bonaparte's gull has the black tail band, and that's only on a first-year winter bird.  

Black on wing tips, edges, and the end of the tail are clues.

Orange-red feet also pointed towards the Bonaparte's gull.

Orange-red feet are exposed here.

It was Harper & Rows "Complete Field Guide to North American Wildlife" [1981 Eastern Edition, Harper & Row Publishers] that provided sufficient detail for me to conclude they were Bonaparte's Gulls, and even still, I'm not certain I have it right.  As one of my friends said about last week's loon mystery, nature has a lot of idiosyncratic variation;  it doesn't read or comply with the field guides.  (Thanks for the support RB!)

One other observation I've had the past few weeks is actually a non-observation.  I haven't seen any signs of deer along my travels.  November is the time of the rut when deer are most active and I usually see rubs on hemlocks and scrapes on the ground.  But I did observe multiple signs of coyotes.

Very fresh coyote scat.

And another several days old.

The diameter of this scat is over 3/4" which indicates coyote rather than fox, which has scat less than 5/8" in diameter.  At first I thought the scat was full of hair, but closer inspection made we wonder if it's just grass.

Hair or grass - there are no bone fragments which I would expect to see if the coyote was eating rodents.

Could these two observations be related?  Are the coyotes keeping the deer away from this area?  Searching for answers, I explored a particular pinch point that focuses deer travel between two water bodies, and here I did find deer tracks in the mud.  So the deer are present, but perhaps staying off trails where coyotes travel and leave their scent.

Now it's time to close out the 2023 loon season, at least on Wicwas.  (A faithful loon watcher on Lake Winona -  thanks PH! - reports that one juvenile is still present there.)

This summer's loon breeding on Wicwas was one of calmest in memory and we all enjoyed watching this experienced pair raise their young.  

Both parents tending to their chicks.  Bands on the adults are visible.

That doesn't mean it was easy though, as the parents had to regularly fight off attacks from other loons as well as the occasional eagle.  But they had their act together; the female would hide the chicks safely against the shore while the big male went out to protect family and territory.  Even the siblings got along well with each other. Sometimes one chick will pick ruthlessly on the other, but these two got along nicely, often traveling and fishing together right up until the day they left. 

LuLu and Checkers, age 11 weeks.

Here's a short memory of the lives of LuLu and Checkers on Lake Wicwas.  

Thank you for the joy and beauty you gave us - travel safely until we meet again.