April 27, 2025: Talons and Trilliums

Spring is popping up everywhere now, and I saw my first true wildflower Wednesday on a hike in the Ossipee Mountains - not where or what I expected.  But there on a southern exposure on the Mt. Shaw Trail, I saw my first flash of color, a bright Round-leaved Yellow Violet (one of those oxymoronic flower names).

Round-leaved Yellow Violet (Viola rotundifolia)

This was at 1800' elevation, and soon there were many of these violets, sometimes in large clumps.

A little higher up Mt. Shaw, on a ledge overlooking a deep-blue Lake Winnipesauke, I could see there's still snow on the trails at Gunstock.

It was a warm, sunny day, and approaching the trailhead on my way down in the afternoon I started seeing trillium leaves poking up through the leaf litter.  Then right at the parking area there were dozens of them.

Dozens of trillium at the Mt. Shaw Trailhead.

A few had buds that were about to open.

So I searched to see if I could find one that had opened, and finally I found one - just one, and just barely open, but that was enough to verify they were Purple Trillium.

Purple Trillium

On the next sunny day there will be a fabulous display of color at the Mt. Shaw trailhead on Rt. 171 for all to see.

A deciduous forest floor only gets direct sunlight for a brief period between snow-melt and leaf-out.  These early wildflowers have evolved the ability to emerge early enough to take advantage of this short window to collect enough energy to blossom and survive until next spring.  

It wasn't until Friday, back at Lake Wicwas, that I saw my first Trailing Arbutus in bloom.

Trailing Arbutus aka Mayflower

At the same time as the flowers are exploding on the scene, so are the birds.  This week I heard the first Hermit Thrush, Blue-headed Vireo, Phoebe, Palm Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler.  All of these have loud songs, and the hermit thrush is my favorite of the woodland birds.

On a mid-day kayak I saw my first osprey of the season as it flew over the lake and landed in a lichen covered tree on Loon  Point.

On the same paddle I came across a promising loon encounter.  Two loons were interacting closely, actively enough that I first thought they were in conflict.  But there wasn't any chasing or vocalizing, and their behavior didn't seem aggressive, so maybe they were just checking each other out.

When one of them swam right beside my kayak I was able to clearly see the white band with black dot that identified it as the northern male.  And later in my trip there were two loons fishing together in the northern territory, so perhaps the behavior I saw earlier was the loon version of flirting.  Maybe our male has accepted a new mate after last year's partner was killed.  

I also saw a second pair of loons in the south territory which may be the banded south pair, but we'll need to see bands to know that.  The busy loon-watching season has begun!

It's an exciting time of year on the lakes and in the forests as nature reawakens for the summer; there were many more new sightings, too many to note, so some will have to wait.  But something else is exploding on the scene too.  Be aware that biting insects will be out very soon, so the days of bug-free walks are almost over.  Here's clear evidence that the insects are coming.

Happy spring!

April 20, 2025: Hungry Beavers

Happy Easter!

While we're waiting for the wildflowers in the forests to bloom - the Trailing Arbutus will be first - we can enjoy cultivated crocuses, daffodils and Hepatica.  

These hepatica were planted by us, but at least they are native to North America, unlike the crocuses.

Hepatica are native in a wide range across the United States, from Canada to northern Florida.

I had my first paddle on the lake this week and appreciated the clear water and the chance to see new shoots of various aquatic plants pushing up from the bottom of the marshes.  There were also lots of birds to see and hear.  The Pine Warblers were the stars of the audio broadcast, but the Song Sparrows were a strong supporting cast and much more musical than the raspy call of the pine warblers.  But the most populous birds were the geese.

I passed by at least five pairs on the lake.  

Guard duty

Many were arguing with competitors for territory, but at least one pair was already on a nest.  I came around a corner just as one of the pair, likely the male, went off in the other direction to drive away an intruding goose, which left the female unprotected on the nest.  

Well camouflaged on the nest.

I was able to glide by without disturbing her, but she held her head low to the water just like loons do, and was absolutely motionless the entire time.

I saw only one loon on my paddle, but quarrels between loons have been seen and heard this week.  I was able to confirm that at least one of our banded loons is back on the lake.

That's a green and silver band on the right leg.

This is the female from the pair that has nested in Harris Cover for several years now.  It was interesting to find her far into the northern territory.  The long-time male in the northern territory lost his mate last summer so it will be interesting to see what happens there.  I haven't determined if the northern territory banded male is back on the lake this year.

We still have a few Ringed-neck Ducks  and many Wood Ducks.  

A couple of male Wood Ducks.

At one point there were five male Ring-necked Ducks courting a single female.

The main attraction was swimming away to the left of this picture.

It might seem like she was being harassed, but she was more likely assessing which one is best suited to be her mate.  The boldest male would often fend off another male if he approached her.  Five courting one makes me wonder if there are more males than females, and if it may be near the end of the pairing-up season.  

And the beavers - they are so much fun to watch.  In addition to seeing them swim across the lake every evening, one morning a beaver was feeding on submerged branches from a White Pine tree that had fallen into the lake.  It was just floating calm as can be enjoying its breakfast.

Look at that tail and those dexterous fingers!

When it finished with one branch it would dive down, gnaw off another from the tree and come back up to dine some more.  You can follow its path under the water by tracking the bubbles surfacing.

The beaver family creating a new pond near the Hamlin Forest trailhead continues to expand their domain.  I'll give an update on that situation in the coming weeks.

Ice-out on Wicwas was called on April 11th, three days before Lake Winnipesaukee was declared ice free.  That gave Wicwas a total of 105 days of ice cover, well below the average of 119 days due to the warm fall and late ice-in.  As of mid-week, I was still able to find a few patches of snow and ice around Meredith.

It's a different story in the mountains where it's still definitely winter.  Passing through Franconia Notch on our way up to Jay Peak in Vermont we saw Mt. Lafayette was freshly blanketed in white.  And at Jay, yes, it's still winter there!

It's easy to see why hikers that don't do their research get into trouble in the mountains this time of year.

April 13, 2025: Spanish Moss and Soggy Snow

We spent the past week in South Carolina where it was nice to see something other than snow in the tree branches.  When we returned to the lake on Thursday night we found quite a change had taken place in the days we were gone.  Not only was all the snow gone, but the lake was almost completely open.  We were greeted the first night home with the call of a loon drifting over the lake.  The next morning was dull and gray - a perfect day if you're a duck - and we were immediately treated to a smorgasbord of ducks on the lake including mergansers, wood ducks, mallards, black ducks, and these ring-necked ducks which are always a treat to see.

Ring-necked Duck.

Later in the day a pair was having an afternoon siesta near the shoreline.  

Sleeping with one eye open at 1:00pm.

I was careful not to disturb them, but eventually they woke up and perked up a bit.

When they suddenly leapt out of the water, I thought I had startled them.

But in fact, their flock, which was hidden around a point of land, had taken flight, and they were just heading off to catch up with their friends.

Can you see the mallard on the rock near shore?

Another early migrant was an Eastern Phoebe.

Eastern Phoebe perched over the lake, hoping the insects are out soon.

And no surprise, with the ice out, the beavers are back on their evening cruises across the lake in search of food and timber for building supplies.

There were branches nibbled clean of their bark showing they had been on shore, and sure enough, come night fall, one arrived to feast.

That's one big beaver that seems to have stored up plenty of winter food, but nonetheless is looking for something fresh to eat.

Now, South Carolina.  Our hostess arranged for perfect weather in the mid 80's all week and not a drop of rain.  A fun part of visiting new areas is finding unfamiliar things to investigate, such as these blossom-type items scattered all over the ground in a Low Country forest.  I figured they were pollen-producing blossoms of a tree and it didn't take long to identify them as Sweetgum.  

The dried up, brown spikey-thing (a "gumball") tucked into the leaf litter on the left was a helpful clue.

Imagine how much pollen can be expelled from all those blossoms.  

Male flowers of the Sweetgum tree.

Not far away at food-serving facility beside a lagoon I saw a large bird we don't have in New England but is easy to identify.

A Black Vulture looks for easy pickings.

Black Vultures don't venture north of Massachusetts, but maybe soon they'll make their way up here like the Red-bellied woodpeckers and winter Bluebirds have.

On the Isle of Palms we saw the usual culprits such as Laughing Gulls, Egrets, and Boat-tailed Grackles, but also a new bird for me, Willets.

Willets foraging in the surf on Isle of Palms.

It took a bit for me to recognize them as they were wearing winter or immature plumage.  (Thanks RB for the confirmation!)

Along Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant, a pair of Barn Swallows was dashing around over the marsh collecting insects, but then perched on a railing just for our enjoyment.

Barn Swallows at Shem Creek.

There were also pelicans gliding low over the creek watching the fishing and shrimp boats for cast-off fish.

Over at Folley Island we saw Pelicans performing their freefall crash into the Atlantic Ocean.

Searching for targets.

On the attack.

Contact!

No trip to the Low Country would be complete without a visit to a stand of Live Oaks with their Spanish Moss.

This is "Oak Alley" at Boone Hall Plantation which also provides much history of the slave trade and life in South Carolina.  It's worth a visit, for the history lesson as well as the flowers.

Some of the gardens in front of the plantation Mansion.

And then, after a beautiful trip through the Shenandoah Valley where we drove along miles of Red Buds and flowering trees, watching summer return to late winter, we were back in New Hampshire.  And yesterday, mother nature made sure we knew that as we woke up to this on Saturday morning.

Back to snow in the trees - we should have stayed down south another week!  Thanks for a great visit!

April 6, 2025: Spring Visitors are Arriving

If there are any bird watchers following the Red Hill Tracking Station, you know it detected its first bird of the year on March 15th:  a Northern Saw-whet Owl. 

Northern Saw-whet Owl  (Photo from Cornell Lab or Ornithology)

I've never seen one of these small owls, and probably never will as they are nocturnal and seldom seen.  But they are resident in New Hampshire year round, and they have a call that sounds like a truck backing up which they give in the evening from January through May, so maybe I'll hear one some evening.  

Like many owls, the female incubates the eggs and cares for the young for the first couple of weeks while the male hunts for the entire family.  But then the female abandons the nest, leaving the remaining care up to the male.  The male does a fine job of providing for the family, but he isn't interested in house-keeping. Though the female keeps a clean nesting site while she is resident, the male does no such thing.  According to the Cornell website "By the time the young owls leave the nest, 10 days to 2 weeks later, the nest cavity has a thick layer of feces, pellets, and rotting prey parts."  

The migration patterns of this owl are not well known, which is why researchers started Project Owlnet to learn more.  The detections from the Red Hill Tracking Station will be very helpful to the research.  You can read more about the Northern saw-whet owl here.  You can also see what other birds have been detected passing near the fire tower on Red Hill here, and there's always a link in the header at the top of this blog.  

A couple of early spring birds I did see this week were a Song Sparrow and a huge flock of Common Grackles making a loud racket in the tops of the trees.

A Song Sparrow gleans spilled seeds under the feeder.

A Common Grackle, May, 2021.

While some birds arrive, and there are growing expanses of open water at the inlet from Dolloff Brook and at the dam, there's still enough ice in the lake that the loons may hold off a bit longer.  Areas of lake that open up on warm days often freeze up again during a cold night.

And as the lake level rises and falls, ice sheets are left hanging in space, fastened to flooded shrubs along the shoreline.

Hermit Thrushes may arrive any time now, and the Broad-winged hawks should be close behind them, so keep your eye out for them.  And if you see a loon, either in the lake or flying overhead, please let me know - it shouldn't be too much longer now even though some days I do question that.

Keep the faith!