August 25, 2024: Double-Dammed Pond

We're getting towards the best time of the year to be outside:  The bugs are mostly gone, the air is cooler and drier, and once the smoke from wildfires moves out the sky will be blue.  With so many great hiking options right close by there's no need to travel far to get your nature fix.  Right here beside Lake Wicwas is the 700 acre Hamlin-Eames-Smyth Town Forest with almost 20 miles of trails.  One of my favorite loops is the Blue Trail that goes out to Double-dammed Pond.  

Double-dammed Pond

This pretty beaver pond got its name from the fact it has dams at both ends of its elongated pond.  On my way out there I stopped to peruse numerous fungi with a range of sizes, colors, and shapes.

Indian Pipe

Amanita

Yellow Slime Mold

I think this is a Yellow Slime Mold (with a second fungus growing with it) - something worth studying further - it's really interesting.

Those are just a few of many you'll see if you take a walk in the woods this week.  I'll include more of the mushrooms I've seen this summer when I do the annual fungus post.  

🍄

Most of the woodland flowers are done blooming now but if you look along the shores of any pond or stream where more sun reaches the ground you're likely so see aquatic or wetland flowers blooming.  A perennial late-summer favorite of mine is the turtlehead.

Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)

It was on a walk to a different beaver pond quite a bit farther north that I came upon a fabulous raptor perched proudly on a drowned tree in the pond.  

It was a small a raptor and I knew it was something special, though I wasn't prepared to declare it was a Merlin until I returned home and checked the field guides, and finally sent the picture to a friend who's a true avian expert (thanks RB!) and he confirmed it was a Merlin.  

That's a first for me.  I've seen small, fast raptors speeding through the yard on occasion and wondered if was a Merlin but never got a good enough look to know.  To see one perched, waiting for an unsuspecting bird to fly near was a real treat.  Merlins are small falcons and are very fast and powerful birds.  Other birds are their primary food source; they catch them on the wing, chasing them down, or forcing them to fly higher until they tire out and are overtaken.  Merlins breed in Canada so this one was probably on its way to the southern US or Central America for the winter.

Beaver Pond in Twin Mountain

Back on Wicwas I came upon what I thought was a new sculpture someone had placed in their yard.

It looked so real, but was so stationary that I didn't think it was real; it never moved as I paddled right by it.  But looking back over my shoulder I detected a slight twitch in its head, and decided it was in fact the real thing.  Last week someone shared with me that they watched a heron eat a turtle - whole.  He said it was quite a sight to see.  I'd never heard of that, and looking into it, I learned that herons have two stomachs, which together, allow them to digest turtles.  The first has a potent stomach acid that softens bones and shells.  The second stomach grinds everything up with the help of stones the heron eats for this purpose, much like loons do.  That begs the question of whether herons, like loons, suffer from lead poisoning from consuming lead fishing sinkers.  Maybe herons take different size stones, or maybe they collect them from areas where fishing tackle might not be lost.  

The forest has been quiet here in late summer, but I have seen this deer a couple of times recently. 

Yesterday morning we had a lengthy stare-off where the deer took a long time to decide if I was a threat.  It eventually concluded "yes" and was off.

Is that where the term "high-tail" it out of here comes from?

August 18, 2024: Summer's Creepy-Crawlers

Mid-summer is prime time for all kinds of creepy-crawlers.  They've been feeding on plants and other smaller insects for a while, growing larger, and many being quite colorful, they can be easy to spot.  This orb-weaver, a Yellow Garden Spider, is a good example. 

There are several theories about why they make the zig-zag pattern in the web.

This spider, along with dozens more, was in an open field of wildflowers which is their usual habitat, though I have seen them and their webs right  on the eaves of our house.  Both males and females weave webs but the males' webs are smaller. 

There's a huge variety of caterpillars munching on our plants here in August and they're large enough now to be quite visible.  One or more of them is doing quite a job on the oak trees.  

The ground in places is covered with shredded oak leaves.

On a quiet day it sounds like rain as leaves and caterpillar droppings fall to the ground.  One afternoon I counted 25 of this variety of caterpillar on the ground in an area no larger than 10 square feet.

An unknown moth caterpillar.

They must have all just dropped down to go find a place to form their pupae, and I'm guessing these are the ones feeding on the oaks. There are several kinds of moths that have similar larvae and I don't know what these are.

Several colorful and hairy caterpillars are munching on plants too, some on trees, others on smaller plants such as this Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar on, yes, a milkweed plant.

Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar on a milkweed pod.

Just like the Monarch Butterfly caterpillar, the Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar consumes milkweed almost exclusively.  

Next up is a Banded Tussock Moth caterpillar. 

This tussock caterpillar isn't a picky eater and will consume a wide variety of trees and shrubs including oak, ash, birch, and blueberry.  This one was crawling along the ground, looking for a safe place in the leaf litter to make its cocoon in which it will spend the winter.

Next I saw a Wooly Bear caterpillar.

One of the best known of the caterpillars.

Unlike the tussock caterpillars which should not be touched, the Wooly Bear won't cause skin irritation if it's handled.  This larvae will pupate and overwinter under the leaf litter and turn into an Isabella Tiger Moth next summer.  This species consumes an even wider variety of herbaceous plants:  flowers, shrubs, and trees - most anything but grass.  

Grasshoppers on the other hand, will eat grass, and I've seen lots of flying grasshoppers in dry sunny areas lately; at least that's what we called them as kids.  I don't know what the problem was with this one I saw on a gravel driveway, but it was just buzzing along the ground, making more noise than motion.

The video makes it look like it was moving its wings slowly when in fact they were moving so fast you couldn't see them.  When it finally stopped and tried to hide under a tuft of grass I got a good look at it and I think it's a Carolina Locust.  

Carolina Locust (Dissosteira carolina)

What incredible camouflage for a dirt road.  They're fun to watch but I guess a large outbreak can damage crops even here in New England.

The last crawler I saw was the biggest of all - almost 3" long.

It seems every summer I see one - and only one - of these many-legged, well-armored arthropods.  Arthropods, which includes spiders, aren't insects or bugs, and more closely related to crustaceans.  They don't go through a metamorphosis but remain crawlers all their lives and are harmless to humans.  They are born with only a few of those four legged segments and add more segments as they molt over the five years it takes them to reach maturity.  During that time they are helpful animals, consuming small insects and decaying plant material.  [University of California, Oakland]

Here's yet another creepy-looking insect that is completely harmless.

A Katydid, also called a Bush Cricket.

Katydids, in the cricket family, are mostly nocturnal, using their color and leaf-life patterning to hide on plants during the day.  I have no idea why it was resting on a white deck chair at 2:00 in the afternoon.  

Finally, here's an insect that has completed its metamorphosis into an airborne adult. 

Green Comma (Polygonia faunus)

This flashy Green Comma was flitting around in its primary habitat of a small mountain stream running along the Edmund Path on the flank of Mt. Eisenhower.  It lives in boreal north America, primarily mountain woodlands, so not likely to be seen around Lake Wicwas.

Something I'm watching for but haven't seen yet is a cicada.  But the creepy-crawler season isn't over yet....

P.S:  There was a lot of interest in last week's osprey so I'll share a post from August 2020 which includes another osprey fishing experience.  It was also in mid-August, in the same part of the lake, and within 5 minutes of the same time of day!  7:15pm on a quiet mid-August evening is the time to watch for them!

August 11, 2024: Osprey in Action

There has been a lot of osprey activity around the lake recently.  On a quiet evening paddle this week I heard one calling way off down the lake and looked in that direction - there were two ospreys flying far off in the distance.  They were close to the shore of an island, flying about tree-top level and occasionally crashing down into the lake in an attempt to catch a late day dinner.  As I continued down the lake one of them flew right over me; it was clearly empty handed.

Look at those talons.  Too bad they're empty.

The other osprey continued to make dives, and one was close enough for me take a couple of fuzzy pictures.  They are right into the sun but it lets you see how dramatic their dives are.  When an osprey targets a fish it will fold its wings and dive down head first until just before it hits the water.  An instant before impact it extends its talons ahead of its body and crashes into the lake feet-first, going down a couple of feet if necessary.  

Target contact!

If it's successful, it surfaces and takes off with its fish.  

Getting airborne.

This dive was a success.

A nice size fish.

After a few strong strokes of its wings it give a great shake to rid itself of all the extra weight of the water on its feathers.  

That's a lot of weight to rid itself of.

It will then turn the fish head first and fly to a secluded tree to dine.  If it's an adult nurturing chicks, after it has its fill of the choicest parts of the fish it will take the rest to its nest to feed its mate and their offspring.

Off to find a safe place to eat, out of sight of the eagles.

Late afternoon and evening is the best time to watch for this spectacle.  If you hear the kip-kip-kip call of an osprey, look around for it, and if you're patient, you might get a show.

🦅

I was up in Franconia Notch this week on what turned out to be the pick of the week weather-wise. It was cool and dry with light winds, only 15-20 mph on the summit of Mt. Lafayette. There's a reason this is rated as one of the top hikes in world (yes, in the world).

I like to hike the loop over Lafayette, Lincoln, and Little Haystack counterclockwise so I have sun behind me on the ridge and the water falls in front of me on the Falling Waters Trail.  There are a dozen gorgeous river views along that trail; here are a just a few of them.  

On my way down the Old Bridle Path I heard a clanking sound off in the distance and didn't know what it was. I soon came across the AMC Trail Crew working on the trail and instantly knew the source of the sound.  

Not a bad office for a summer job.  (At least on a nice day.)

I had read about the five year reconstruction project of the entire loop trail, and this was it. After decades of over use - the trail sees over 40,000 visitors each year - it has become terribly eroded.  

This is how badly much of the trail has eroded over the decades.

The work has to be done, but it saddens me that it will no longer be a hike in the rugged White Mountains, but instead more like a stroll through a city park.  Here's what the trail looks like where they've completed their work. 

 A finished section of trail.

It doesn't look much like a rugged hike to a 5249' peak in the White Mountains.

The number of hours that are going into this project is hard to fathom.  The clanking sound was the crew off in the woods splitting granite boulders to build all those steps and water bars.  They drag the cut pieces of granite to the trail and place them in a hole dug two or more feet deep to secure them well enough to endure all those feet over the coming years. It's like an iceberg - you only see the tip of the stone. All of this is done by hand.  But there's a very good reason this trail sees so much traffic:

The Franconia Ridge Trail runs along the top of that mountain range.

Back at the lake I came across a stash of Snapping Turtle eggs that had been exposed by recent rain eroding soil that was covering the nest.  I noticed the broken shells in the eroded ditch where water ran off the road.

The turtle shells are the ragged white objects in the eroded area.

The contents of the eggs were likely eaten by any number of predators - crows, raccoons, or minks for example.  Looking around I saw something unexpected - there was a displaced egg untouched and several more still in the part of the bank that hadn't been fully eroded. 

Six eggs visible in part of the nest still embedded in the gravel.

Why did the predator leave these choice eggs behind?  It seems any of those predators would have detected the eggs in the bank, if only by smell even if they weren't yet eroded enough to be visible.

Snapping turtle eggs look like perfectly round ping pong balls, just a little smaller.

An intact egg next to an open shell.  

Their shells are soft and leathery so they don't crack like a bird egg.

That was on Friday.  I figured the rain Friday night would have washed away the rest of the nest, and sure enough, Saturday morning, everything was gone.

Now eroded right up to the pavement.

Even though there is no shortage of snappers in the lake and the eggs provide a great source of protein for their predators, it's still sad to see a nest exposed due to poor road side conditions.  This momma snapper needs to work harder to find a safer place for her nests.

🐢

I'll end with a happier picture:  One more view from the iconic Franconia Ridge Trail.

Mt. Lafayette, the highest peak in the Franconia Range.

August 4, 2024: Thread-waisted Wasp

The summer bounty of healthy plants thriving in a combination of hot sunny weather and plenty of rain makes a sound foundation for the food chain.  It seems every patch of flowers has an insect or two taking in the nectar, including these Thread-waisted wasps which I see feeding on Black-eyed Susans. 

Thread-waisted Wasp.

It's pretty clear how this wasp got its name, and it's just amazing it can support that large lower abdomen with such a tiny connection.  This wasp looks scary and it does sting, but not humans, and not to defend itself or its nest.  It's a solitary species which doesn't build large nests like some other wasps.  What it does sting is a caterpillar of another insect.  Its venom kills the caterpillar and the wasp takes the dead caterpillar away, buries it, and lays an egg on the caterpillar.  When the egg hatches, it will feed on the caterpillar, providing the wasp larva all the food it needs to grow and pupate into a mature wasp.  Pretty clever.  It seems every animal that has survived over the eons has evolved some unique trait that allows it to propagate its species.  

Here's another insect I found in a bright colored flower.  

A small bee spreads pollen from plant to plant.

The insects go on to feed birds that gorge on both the adult insects as well as larvae in the form of caterpillars.  I don't know if hummingbirds help with pollination but they've been helping themselves to the flowers' nectar as well.

Ruby-throated hummingbird.

Some of the early bloomers such as Evening Primrose, Black-eyed Susans, and Woodland Sunflowers have gone to seed here in the first days of August, and they are appreciated by goldfinches, sparrows, and other seed-consuming birds.

Goldfinch feasting on Woodland Sunflowers.

Many fruiting trees and shrubs have already produced their bounty for the animals - blueberries and cherries for example; now it's time for black raspberries.  

What these lack in size they make up for in sweetness.

Like the blueberries and black cherries, the bears will be after these sweet treats.  Unfortunately, bears will also search out human-sourced food wherever they find it.  If you need a reminder to take down birdfeeders and not leave trash outside, take a look at this large bear that was ransacking yards on Loon Point Road this week.  

(Specific location and photographer redacted!)

We continue to have an abundance of loons on the lake and they were again flocked together one morning, this time an asylum of seven.

An asylum of seven.

At one point the Harris Cove pair performed a synchronized swimming routine to display bands on both participants to ensure I knew what team they played for.

Team Harris was among the asylum.  

Orange over yellow is the male, blue over green is the female.

🏅🏅🏅

Yesterday the Lake Wicwas Association held its annual meeting and as always, the best part was catching up with all our lake friends, some of whom we may see only once a year at this very moment.  In additional to hearing an informative, if somewhat concerning report on cyanobacteria from NH Lakes President Andrea LaMoreaux, we also heard reports on the current state of the lake's water quality, aquatic plants, and loons. 

Andrea LaMoreaux presents at the Lake Wicwas Association annual meeting at the Wicws Grange.

The association also recognized Paul Trombi for his 15 years of leadership for our Lake Host program!  Thank you Paul, and everyone who supports the program and who attended yesterday's meeting.  Overall, Lake Wicwas is in good condition and with your careful stewardship, Wicwas = and all our precious lakes - will continue to be resilient resources for wasps, birds, and bears, as well as humans.