September 29, 2024: Logging for Moose

It's been a couple of years since I've seen a moose around Lake Wicwas, but I know they're still here.  

Moose scat - much larger than deer scat.

This week the Meredith Conservation Commission took a survey of a forestry project performed on the Leighton Town Forest far up in the Chemung area.  The work was done in 2017-2018 and included thinning overcrowded and weak trees as well as a several-acre patch cut for habitat diversity.  Much of the forest in New Hampshire is of a common age having regenerated after the state was largely cleared of forest in the nineteenth century.  With few fires to clear areas of forest, there is now minimal habitat of the young trees that many species need to survive.  One animal that takes advantage of early-growth trees is moose.  In the summer moose feed on aquatic vegetation in ponds and wetlands, but in winter they need other food sources which includes twigs and bark of small trees.  You can still see signs of bark scraped off red maple trees along the White Trail in the Hamlin Forest but they date from the early 2000s; there are few small trees left for them to feed on.

Look for old moose scrapes (this is from 2004) near the highest point on the Arbutus Hill Pond Trail.

The photo of moose scat was one of half a dozen piles of scat we saw on our trip around the patch cut at Leighton, which indicates the cut was successful.  The forestry plan for that property includes creating additional patch cuts every five to ten years so there will be a constant range of forest ages for animals to find their preferred habitat.

Here's what the cleared area looked like in 2018 shortly after in was cut.  

And here's what it looks like from the same spot today.

That thick young forest is what many species need for food and shelter.

It shows how quickly a forest can regenerate, though it will take 50 to 100 years to fully mature, and over 200 to become "old growth" forest.  Forestry requires a long term outlook.

The forest can look pretty ugly right after logging, but in a few years they recover.  Here's what the main logging path looked like right after the work was done.  

And six years later, the same spot has filled in with thick growth of pioneer species such raspberry, birch, red maple, and white pine.  

Here's another example of before and after:

2017

And the same area today:

2024

Another ​important aspect of forestry today is having a diverse forest to make it resilient to introduced animals, pathogens, and climate change. Imagine what would happen if many acres of forest consisted of a single species and that species was attacked by an invasive insect or disease like the ash trees and the elm trees before that. Or perhaps that species can't handle the droughts or very wet years climate change is causing. Careful forestry can open up areas around under-represented trees to allow them to thrive and maintain Forest diversity in case of species collapse.  For example, around the Lakes Region we find monocultures of Eastern Hemlock which is now under attack by the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that's a serious threat to the health of hemlock trees.  American Beech is facing a similar threat from the Beech Leaf Disease.

A hemlock monoculture with a closed canopy blocking light from other plants.

A knowledgeable forester also assesses soil conditions and sun exposure and will manage for species best suited to the immediate microclimate.  

There's a lot to consider in the long-term management of our forests.  If you're interested in learning more, keep an eye on the Commission's Facebook page as they will be having more public forestry tours in the future.  There's also a good article in the Summer 2024 issue of the Forest Society's Forest Notes publication [Managing for Resilient Landscapes, Aldrich and Weisiger, Pg 14]

And yes, I used to see a lot of moose, and I know I will see them again.

I froze when this big bull walked right in front of me some ten years ago.  I don't think it even noticed me, which is just the way you want it around a moose.

Back around the lake, ducks that spent the summer north of the Lakes Region have started to make their appearance on Wicwas as they return south for the winter.

Two pairs of Wood Ducks enjoy a rainy morning on the lake.

All the migrating birds - and we - will soon be treated to the great New Hampshire foliage season.

Foggy mornings and changing leaves - Fall is in the air.

September 22, 2024: Spring Peeping into Fall

This confused little Spring Peeper was climbing up the side of our house one evening right at supper time.

Look at the little suction cup pads on its toes.

Does our house look like a tree?  

Spring Peepers are the smallest frogs we have in New Hampshire, less than an inch in length, and have a distinguishing X-mark on their back.  They make up for their small size with a large voice - these are the frogs that create the loud peeping sound that keep you awake on early spring nights.  According to NH Audubon, a large group of them can make enough noise to be heard two and a half miles away!  [Ref:  NH Audubon]  Spring Peepers are similar to Wood Frogs in many ways including being able to climb trees, breeding only in vernal pools, and synthesizing antifreeze which allows them to survive subfreezing temperatures over the winter.  This feature lets them hibernate near the surface so they can emerge early in spring to get to vernal pools in time for their offspring to mature and leave the pool before it dries up in summer.

Walking along the White Trail in the Smyth Easement on one of these fine falls mornings I saw a spider web reflecting a sunbeam that found its way through the forest canopy.  

The owner was home and right at the center of its web.

I don't know what kind of spider it is other than it's in the orb-weaver family, and it's a pretty tiny spider to have created such a large web.  It likely means I was the first one on the trail that day, though because it was so visible in the sunbeam, I was able see it and leave it undisturbed for the next hiker to find.

There's been a cormorant hanging around the lake recently, taking advantage of the good fishing in Wicwas to fuel up during its migration south.  

Double-crested Cormorant

Keep your eye out for them this time of year on any of our lakes.  They can look like a loon from a distance, but they typically ride lower in the water.  They may look dark and plain, but up close they are actually quite pretty.

On the subject of birds, the NH Audubon Society has just established a bird tracking station on the Lakes Region Conservation Trust fire tower atop Red Hill in Moultonborough.  This joins a network of stations used to track birds across the country.  The Red Hill station already tagged its first bird, a Wood Thrush passing through New Hampshire on its way south.  Two days later the same bird was in Pennsylvania!  

Since then the station has detected two migrating Eastern Whip-poor-wills.  Birds are tracked using miniature transmitters attached to them.  The stations pick up the signal from the transmitter when the bird flies near a station, much like the ez-pass system on our car.  You can learn more about the system here.  With fall migration in full swing now, there should be many more birds detected over the coming weeks.  You can monitor the station's observations and track the birds' travels on-line at this link.  

It may be hard to believe, but the transmitters are so small that they can also be attached to bats and even insects, including dragonflies.  I don't know if any dragonflies have been tagged in our area, but they are very active right now especially in the marshes around the lake.  I watched male dragonflies hovering over their claimed territory until another one entered its air space. 

Then it zipped after it to chase the intruder away before returning to its sentry post.

Dragonflies have amazing joints and muscles that allow their wings to rotate in a figure eight pattern, providing the ability to hover as well as enabling high speed flight and rapid maneuvering to capture insects on the wing.

Four wings that move independently give dragonflies great acrobatic abilities.

Those marshes around the lake are starting to age into their soft golden hues of fall now.

Autumn marshes and Red Maple trees in wet areas are early signs of the coming season.

One of the prettiest times of year in the Lakes Region is almost here.

P.S.  For you historians, the Meredith Historical Society will be featuring our own Dean Dexter next Tuesday when he presents "The Smiths of Wicwas Lodge".  The event is at the Meredith Community Center on Tuesday, Oct 1st.  Doors open with snacks at 6:30pm and the presentation starts at 7:00.  I hope to see you there!

September 15, 2024: Acadia National Park

We spent this week at Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island in downeast Maine.  Acadia is one of the smallest national parks, containing only 49,000 acres compared to Yellowstone for example, which is 2.2 million acres.  Yet its beauty attracts 4 million visitors each year, more than even Yellowstone, making Acadia the fifth most visited of all our national parks.  

The east shore of Mt. Desert Island.

The number of people in the park means there isn't a lot of wildlife to be seen, but in quiet corners of the island outside the park we did find a few enjoyable sightings.  My favorite was a Seal. 

A Gray Seal in the Mr. Desert Narrows.

Most often I've seen Harbor Seals in Maine, but this one was very large, so I think it was a Gray Seal which can weight up to 800 pounds.  We didn't see any seals in either Seal Cove or Seal Harbor; we saw this seal in a section of  The Narrows on the far west side of Mt. Desert Island (known as "the quiet side").  

Seal Cove on the Quiet Side.

Avian sightings included immature Eiders (I think), Ring-billed Gulls, and a New Hampshire favorite, a Pileated Woodpecker.

Eiders in Compass Harbor

Ring-billed Gull in Ship Harbor.

Pileated Woodpecker on the trail to Compass Harbor.

We found the woodpecker and eiders on a quiet walk to Compass Harbor, just outside Bar Harbor.  (Thanks for the suggestion AW!)

We also saw a pretty monarch butterfly still lingering way up in northern Maine. 

And with this gorgeous weather I don't blame it for delaying the start of its long journey to Mexico.

What the National Park lacks in wildlife is made up for with its rugged beauty and geology.

The Otter Cliffs.

The area must be a paradise for geologists. Volcanic activity and the forces of shifting tectonic plates created cliffs of gorgeous pink granite and huge sections of the Earth's crust tilted up to almost vertical.  Then there is a random marbled rock of metamorphic quartz and feldspar haphazardly deposited on a shoreline.

At 500 million years old, this type of rock is oldest on Mt. Desert Island.

And amid all these rocky shorelines, there's a beautiful sand beach with aquamarine water.

"Sand Beach" seen from Great Head.

Here's a link to information about the geology of the region from the National Park Service.

The coastline may be highlight of the park, but the ponds and mountains are beautiful also.

View over Frenchman Bay from the top of Mt. Champlain.

Jordan Pond with The Bubbles in the distance.

We ended our visit with a sunset on Cadillac Mountain. 

It's unusual in New England to have this distant a horizon to watch the sun set behind.

Upon returning home to Lake Wicwas we were immediately greeted by one of our resident loons which is still here maintaining rights to its nesting territory.  It took a while, but I eventually was able to catch a glimpse of its band verifying it's the male of the north nesting territory.  

White band, black dot.

We were also pleased to see that even with only 0.15" of rain since mid-August the lake is still at nearly full level, helped by the beavers having impounded two large ponds which feed the lake with a constant trickle of water no matter how hard the beavers work to plug every leak.  

We didn't see beavers on Mt Desert Island but we did see their signs around Jordan Pond. 

A beaver Lodge up the stream that fills Jordan Pond.

It's easy to see why this small park has more annual visits than Yellowstone.

September 8, 2024: Overseer of the Lake

Wednesday evening was a gorgeous moment on the lake.  The sun was warm, the wind was calm, and lots of people were out enjoying a late summer cruise on the lake.  And those with an eye towards the sky were afforded a fabulous look at an apex predator enjoying the moment as much as we were.  

Perched there at the top of the tree, this Bald Eagle was perfectly happy to sit for over an hour, surveying its domain in the late-day sun. 

Several boats stopped on their travels to take in the site - and the eagle paid them no notice.  

I started seeing the occasional Bald Eagle on Lake Wicwas in 2014 and in the past ten years they've become a regular sight on the lake.  It's another success story of saving a species that had been decimated by DDT use.  Even though I see several each year, I'm still spellbound by how impressive they are when I get a good look at one.

There were a few somewhat smaller animals also basking in the warm September sun.  

Autumn Meadowhawk.

This Autumn Meadowhawk (I think) found a nice observation tower in the middle of a field surveying its domain for insects in the area to attack.  It's one of the late-season dragonflies which is how it got it name.  

There are also damselflies still common around the lake, and apparently, still mating.

One of the many species of Bluet damselflies.

Female damselflies deposit their eggs by inserting them into the leaves or stalks of plants, usually underwater, and they can submerge themselves completely while laying eggs.  It's not clear to me what phase of the mating process this pair is in, but the male may stay attached to the female to ensure his offspring aren't affected by another male before she lays her eggs, so maybe they're not quite ready yet.

Another smaller animal enjoying the warm day was this Cabbage Moth.

Unrolling it proboscis to probe deep into the the blossom.

It was taking nectar from purple clover, one of its primary food plants as an adult. 

The caterpillars of this moth are the phase that eats and damages cabbage and related plants.

🦋

A frequent kayaker sent me these pictures of grapes she found growing along the shore of the lake (thanks SD!).

I didn't know we had grapes on the lake.  These are either wild Fox Grapes, or, just as likely considering they are growing on a property that's been used for agriculture for well over a hundred years, Concord grapes.  Concord grapes are a cultivar of the Fox grape that was developed in 1849 by Ephriam Bull in Concord Massachusetts, and the original plant still grows there.  [REF:  The Concord Grape Association]  I went out to see if I could collect a few.  

After eating them I'm still not sure, but based on their palatable taste and location on a homestead property, I'll place my bet on Concord Grapes.

Nice summer weather notwithstanding, there are more and more tinges of color appearing around the lake.

These late summer days sure are nice.