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!