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.