May 26, 2024: Nests on Land, Sea, and Air

 Nesting season is now in full swing; I'll start with land.

Hermit Thrush nest built into a depression in the ground.

I never would have seen this Hermit Thrush nest if the bird sitting on the nest hadn't flown out right in front of me as I walked past it.  The nest is right beside what must be a lightly used trail or it wouldn't have selected that spot.  But otherwise it's perfect, beautifully hidden under a hemlock branch and some small plants.

The undisturbed appearance of the nest.

I held the hemlock aside to take a picture and then went quickly on my way.  The Hermit Thrush is one of several birds that make their nest on the forest floor, from the Oven Bird - named after the dome-shaped nest it builds -  up to the much larger turkey.  In the case of Hermit Thrushes, it's the male that constructs the nest, though the female may help with the interior decorating, lining it with soft finishing touches.  Field guides say she usually lays three to six eggs, so maybe there's more to come.  

Mallards also make nests on the ground, usually hidden under a shrub or other small plant.  Our Mallard family has already hatched their eggs and mom has been out on the lake with her six little ducklings.

One of our Mallard families.

Next up is a nest in the air.  Visiting an area of young forests I heard the call of the Chestnut-sided Warbler and stopped to peer into the dense jungle of trees.  I never found the warbler, but I did find what has all the characteristics of a Chestnut-sided Warbler nest:  a tightly built nest of grasses and other plant material woven around multiple stems of a young sapling five to ten feet above the ground in a young successional forest.

I didn't climb in to see if there were eggs in this nest.

Finally, on the water, there is this exciting nest:

The northern loon pair has nested.

The northern loon pair has selected a site, built a nest, and is assumed to be sitting on an egg or two.  With a telephoto lens I was able to take a picture far enough away to not disturb the loon as shown by its head-up position.  When feeling threatened a loon on a nest will put its head low down against the ground to hide and to be in a position to quickly leave the nest for the safety of the lake.  Eagle-eye Amy W. spotted it on May 23rd, just a couple of days after there were territorial battles being waged between the pair and an intruding loon, possibly the Paugus Bay loon we saw two weeks ago.  

Our pair made it quite clear what the intruder would be dealing with if it sticks around.

Lots of chasing and wing-rowing.

I guess they decided it was time to send him packing before they nested.  

Trees are mating now also - in their own way - as shown by the quantity of pollen covering everything, including the lake on a calm morning.

The Black Cherries are doing their thing too.

They're always a beautiful sight, and will continue to be so right through the summer as their deep red fruit matures.

The state flower, the lilac, seems to be having a good year too with lots of blooms all around town.

These lilacs are along Chemung Rd.

Finally, everyone's favorite, the Pink Lady's Slipper:

I'm seeing a lot of them this year - hopefully you will too!

May 19, 2024: Eastern Kingbird

A pair of Eastern Kingbirds appears to have taken over the local hunting grounds from the Phoebes.

Eastern Kingbird

The Phoebes are still around as proven by their loud raspy calls every morning, but the larger and more aggressive Kingbirds have achieved air superiority over the prime airspace near the edge of the lake.  Kingbirds are known to harass much larger birds like crows, and even hawks, that dare invade their territory, so the little Phoebes had no choice but to move over.  Being flycatchers, Kingbirds perch on trees near the water, darting out to catch insects, sometimes rather large ones like bees and dragonflies.  They like to assume a position at the very top of a small tree where they have a 360 degree view of their world.

So it was unusual to see one fly down to terra firma and land on a rock.  

It then flew over and landed near the edge of the woods.

But when it turned around, the reason was clear.

"This looks like a good floor joist for our nest."

It was pleased with its selection and quickly flew off to wherever they are making their nest.

A Kingbird nest is formed with sturdy sticks to be strong enough to withstand the wind at the edge of a lake. The female kingbird does most of the nest building but the male will assist with bringing in sticks, so this is possibly the male.   The nest is finished with a lining of soft material to protect the chicks and keep them warm.  It's hard to believe it was eight years ago (June 26, 2018) that I was invited by good friends to observe a kingbird nest in a pine tree that had fallen into the lake near their home.  

A nest well isolated from predators, but that must be sturdy enough to withstand the weather.

That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch a family of Eastern Kingbirds in action that I'll never forget! 

I'm keeping watch to see if I find where this pair's nest is, but so far, they're keeping it a secret.

 🐦

I was dismayed to receive an alert from the NH DES this week that there are already two cyanobacteria blooms on New Hampshire lakes, including one far north in Littleton with a bacteria level more than twice the safe limit.  The same day the warning was posted in Littleton, I drove by Lake Kanasatka and noticed all the activity at the boat launch on Rt 25 - they have started chemical treatment of the lake.

This $500,000 project involves putting aluminum sulfate into the lake to address their phosphorus and cyanobacteria problems. 

I assume these tanks contain aluminum sulfate which is transferred to the small tanks on the boat.

The equipment used to inject the chemicals into the lake.

The Aluminum sulfate will bind to phosphorus in the lake to form aluminum hydroxide which then sinks to the bottom of the lake.  This forms a barrier that reduces the amount of phosphorus released into the water, providing less nutrients to feed the cyanobacteria.  You can read a detailed description of aluminum sulfate treatment in lakes here.  Refer to last August for a reminder of the cyanobacteria bloom that shut down Lake Kanasatka for a good portion of last summer.  

The state has now recognized the magnitude of this problem and appropriated $1M through HB2 for cyanobacteria mitigation in our water bodies.  Here at Wicwas we are working proactively on steps to address the causes of high phosphorus levels in the lake before they get bad enough to close our lake or to put chemicals into it.  There will be more to say on this topic in the coming weeks as well as at the annual lake association meeting in August.

Let's move on to cheerier subjects:  spring wildflowers - the season is here!  The Painted Trilliums have joined the Purple Trilliums in adding joy to the forest floor.

Painted Trillium

Other flowers to keep a watch for on your journeys are the Starflower, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Fringed Polygala, and violets (the violet ones).

Starflower

Fringed Polygala

Soon the Lady Slippers will join the party, so grab your bug spray and go smell the flowers!

May 12, 2024: Iron Mines

There's an old iron mine on the western flank of Gunstock Mountain which I'd never been to, but the Town of Gilford and the Lakes Region Conservation Trust recently improved the trail to the mines so I decided I would check it out.  It's a short, half-mile hike up the the site, and along the way there is a very nice viewpoint looking out over Gilford.

Viewpoint on the Iron Mines Trail

The mines themselves - there are two sites - are small and not very impressive to look at, but the story is interesting.  

One of two sites where iron ore was mined from the Belknap Mountains

The mines contained very-high quality iron ore, so high in fact that some was used directly without being smelted.  But the deposits were small, and the mine didn't last long.  There's a short history posted on the kiosk at the trailhead.

What I find most interesting is that someone discovered the iron deposit in the first place, just two small veins located on a large mountain range.  Were there specific topological or geological aspects that attracted their attention?   Did the magnetite in the rock make their compass act erratically? Something led them to discover the deposit, and if known, that would be a interesting part of the story.

The Iron Mines Trail connects to the large trail network in the Belknap Range that runs all the way to Mt. Major in Alton.  I continued on, completing a loop over Gunstock and Belknap, taking advantage of the nice late-spring day with no bugs and clear sightlines through empty branches.

There is still snow in the White Mountains.

Snow on Mt. Washington, seen from the summit of Gunstock.

And on the ski trails.

Flintlock Trail at Gunstock.  This is the trail one can see from Clough Park in Meredith Village

The waters of Winnipesaukee were shining blue from the ledges on Belknap. 

Of course, I had to climb the fire tower.

Back on Lake Wicwas, the wakening forest is entering the mellow-yellow, lemon-lime phase.

Blue water on Wicwas too.

Paddling on that blue water this week I had an exciting moment when I came across a single loon that was banded - with a color scheme I'd never seen before!

Orange with black dot over yellow with black stripe.

I sent the information off to the Loon Preservation Committee, but they were only able to narrow it down to three loons based just left leg bands.  The next day the same loon was here again and I waited patiently hoping to get a right foot wag, but the bird wasn't cooperating.  I did get one fuzzy photo of its right leg under water, but that was enough for the LPC biologists to determine its identity:  It's a loon that was rescued on January 18th of this year on Paugus Bay in Winnipesaukee.  The warm weather this winter had let it stay so long that it had molted its flight feathers and couldn't leave when the bay finally froze over.  The team at LPC are thrilled to know their rescue effort was successful.  Now we'll watch to see if this loon sticks around at Wicwas, and if so, what kind or turmoil develops during nesting season.  You can read the Loon Preservation Committee's report on the rescue here.

While the loons may not have even selected a nesting site yet, the geese have already hatched goslings as seen in this picture from Jim DeMott.

Six little goslings.  Photo by Jim DeMott.

If all the geese on the lake this year have this many chicks, it's going to be a big year for geese.

Paddling down near the outlet I saw this creature swimming across the lake straight towards a beaver lodge, so I thought is was a beaver - though strange to be out in the middle of the day.  But it turned out to be a muskrat.  

A muskrat - note the thin rat-like tail.

It's always fun to see something different on the lake.  

I'll end by noting that the Serviceberry (aka Shadbush) are blooming, and it's about time to look for native cherry trees in bloom.  Here's one more picture from my hike in the Belknaps - a pretty Roundleaf Yellow Violet.

Roundleaf  Yellow Violet (Viola rotundifolia)

Now there's a nice Oxymoron.

May 5, 2024: Boats and Birds are back on the Lake

Docks are going in and boats are appearing on the lake - sure signs that summer is approaching.  The April showers have come and gone and the lake is down to its proper summer level - just in time as both pairs of our nesting loons have returned and started scouting for nesting sites.  I got on the lake a couple of times, and on one of my kayak trips I watched a hawk fly over the lake right towards me and land high on an island I was paddling beside.    

Broad-winged Hawk.  (Buteo platypterus)

The broad-winged Hawks have returned.  These are hawks I often see and hear soaring over the lakes and trees in summer.  Their strongly banded tail is visible as they fly, and their high-pitched whistle is easily heard piercing the summer sky. 

Photo credit:  David Brown

New Hampshire's broad-winged hawks migrate 4000 miles twice a year, back and forth from Central America, and these birds are survivors.  Fossil records show they have been on the planet for 400,000 years.  [Ref:  Cornell Lab of Ornithology]  Cornell also states they usually nest "far from areas of human disturbance," another indicator that the conserved areas around Wicwas are supportive of wildlife species that need large unfragmented lands.

Later on the paddle I saw motion far across the lake in a marsh.  I couldn't see what it was but took a picture to blow up later, and saw that it was a Great Blue Heron.  And it had some huge object in its beak.

Is that a fish?  It doesn't look like a snake.  The photo is too poor to tell.

The herons have been back for a while now but many warblers arrived just this week.  I saw or heard Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, and Blackburnian warblers as well as Oven Birds.  

Lots of animals are taking advantage of the trees that got blown into the lake, not just the beavers.  I've seen painted turtles sun bathing on them as well as this heron which was using one felled tree as a fishing platform.

Amy and Russ found the Harris Cove loons preening one afternoon and were able to identify both of them by their bands.  This provided the confirmation that both nesting pairs are back.

The Harris Cove male.  Photo by Amy Wilson.

The two pairs seem to be sharing the lake well so it looks like we're set for another successful breeding season.  Between these two pairs, Lake Wicwas has fledged nine new loons over the past five years.

I also caught a glimpse of two deer strolling the woods.

I think they might have been yearlings still traveling together as both appeared rather small.  White-tailed deer are curious animals and they watched me for a while, eventually deciding I wasn't a threat, but they walked slowly up into thicker woods just to be safe.

The spring flora is also starting to rev up now.  This week I saw my first Trillium, a purple one.

Purple Trillium (Trillium erectum) in Hamlin.

Fiddleheads are poking up in and around wetlands.

Also Violets, the Sweet White and Common Blue, as well as Trailing Arbutus, are in bloom.

Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)

There's a lot going on around the lake in spring, and there's only a short time left to enjoy it all without dealing with the bugs.  All those Phoebes and warblers fliting through the bare branches show that bugs are back on the lake too.