November 30, 2025: Hooded Mergansers

Every fall migration is different.  Some years it's Ring-necked Ducks, others it's Buffleheads.  This year:  Hooded Mergansers.

We've seen several different groups of them stop on the lake to refuel, sometimes just two or three, other times half a dozen.  These are small diving ducks that make a quick plunge down under water to hunt for fish.  This female came up once with a meal too large to consume during her dive.

I love the pretty shape their tails make as they swim.

The explanation for this is they are small, yet tall birds with large heads that make them top heavy. 

The widespread tail helps them maintain their balance while swimming and sets a stable base for them to dive.

Tail feathers spread out for stability.

One morning there was just one pair on the water - or at least a male with aspirations to become a pair.  He was doing his best to impress his chosen bride but it seems she was either not impressed, or perhaps playing hard to get.  She spent a lot of time with her head down low or even under water.  

I took some video of him going through the courting rituals of head bobbing and dipping, but even after that great display she wandered off away from him.

But eventually she seemed to warm up enough to follow him along.

I came upon more red fruit for the animals this week, including this red apple still hanging on a tree.  

At first I thought it was the Charlie Brown Leaf of apples, the last one still clinging to its branch, but then I noticed there were quite a few more up higher.

This tree was loaded with fruit a few weeks ago, and since there were no apples rotting on the ground, I'll assume the deer, fox, bears, and squirrels have been cleaning them up.

There are also these plump, juicy cranberries growing beside the Laverack Trail behind the Meredith Village Savings Bank in Meredith Village.  

I wonder if they'd make good cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving Dinner.  Better off to leave them for the birds.

We're getting more signs of cold weather now; this gray squirrel has done a good job insulating its nest high in an oak tree with lots of fluffy leaves to keep out the cold north wind.  

A Gray Squirrel nest tucked into the fork of a tree.

Perhaps he's related to Happy Jack Squirrel in Thornton Burgess' stories Old Mother West Wind.  We'll see plenty more winter signs in the days to come.

We still have a few more weeks for migrating birds to stop by the Lakes Region so maybe we'll see some other species, but I won't mind if the mergansers keep coming.

November 23, 2025: The Freeze Begins

This week Lake Wicwas saw three cold nights with the temperature dropping into the 20s.  Ice formed the first night in some sheltered marshes, and each night crept farther out into the lake.

Various aquatic plants got caught in the quick freeze.

I wonder if plants frozen in ice can photosynthesize.

The wildlife has been pretty reclusive lately other than the turkeys which continue to be quite prevalent and visible.

But there are plenty of signs that animals are active and getting ready for winter.  In a young forest that's regenerating after a habitat cut to provide forage for moose there are plenty of signs it's having the desired results.  There were many, many trees with the tender branches nibbled off way up high, and some trees that were too high, yet too tasty to pass by, were bent over and snapped so the moose could reach the nutritious tips.

Trees bent over and lots of nibbled branches.

Trees that had grown too high to reach are also serving them well.  Moose scrape off the tender bark and nutritious cambium underneath with their lower incisors and munch that down too.

A fresh scrape made by a moose stripping the bark from the bottom up.

A mature moose can weigh 1000 pounds and consume 40 pounds of plant material every day, so creating these forest openings are important for moose and other animals (including grouse and snowshoe hare) that lack this habitat now that fires are extinguished before a natural opening is created.

The smaller of New Hampshire's ungulates, the white-tailed deer, are also leaving signs as rut season goes on.  Look for triangular shaped scrapes on the ground, often with leaves and dirt kicked several feet beyond the scrape.

On the water, I don't see beavers swimming at dusk anymore, but they are certainly actively stocking their winter food stores and reinforcing their lodges.  This beaver family even added a touch of greenery for the holiday season.

Note a second beaver lodge farther back on the left.

I discovered a new local hiking trail this week which I enjoyed:  Sugar Hill State Forest in Bristol.  New Hampshire State Parks doesn't have much information about the trail, but All Trails has a fair description and the trailhead appears on google maps.  

There are nice views of Mt. Cardigan and Newfound lake from the ridge.  

Mt. Cardigan from Sugar Hill State Forest

Newfound Lake

The trailhead doesn't have any parking but it's just a short walk from downtown Bristol which is where I parked.  The sign at the trailhead is a few yards up beside a home's driveway, and the sign there shows the trail continues past the State Forest to North Main St, so you can make it a loop if you don't mind walking back along a quiet side road.  

The trailhead just of Rt 104 (Main St) east of downtown Bristol.

If you do that you'll end up on private property that's being developed but the land owners are happy to have hikers pass through, and they invite you to walk down their driveway to North Main Street.  If you go that route you'll get a view of Mount Moosilauke, which was snow-covered this week.

Mt, Moosilauke from the northern terminus of the trail.

The route isn't straight forward so give me shout if you'd like more information.

If the cold weather keeps up we might get earlier ice-in than the past few years.  Our dabbling ducks  might have to move on soon, though the diving ducks, including our young loon, are probably safe for a few more weeks.

A couple of female mallards scout for food along the shoreline.

Bottoms Up!

        Happy Thanksgiving!

November 16, 2025: Buffleheads

A few more migrating birds found Lake Wicwas a pleasant place to rest during their long travel south for the winter, including this group of Buffleheads.

Bufflehead are really enjoyable to watch this time of year, bringing a flash of brightness and action to the November scene.  

Buffleheads relaxing on Lake Wicwas.

And they seem to be more tranquil than many other ducks; they spend many hours just swimming around slowly in formation, occasionally diving for food.  

Six males and two females.

I'll assume this is because they are tired!  Bufflehead migrate at night, leaving precisely at dusk, and sometimes traveling hundreds of miles in a single night. [ref:  Travis Audubon]  This allows them to take advantage of calmer winds and helps them avoid predators.  

But, as you probably noticed, they weren't a uniform flock - for some reason there was a Scaup mixed in with them, though it tended to drift away to fish closer to shore on occasion.

A Lesser Scout hangs out with the Buffleheads

If I've seen a Scaup before it would have been on the ocean, and I didn't know it.  I've not seen one on Wicwas.  I believe this is a Lesser Scaup based on a small corner on the back of its head; the Greater Scaup has a smooth, rounded head.

The squared-off back of the head is barely discernable in this picture.

You can read more about buffleheads in the above link to Travis Audubon.

More signs of the colder temperatures are evident around the lake.

Ice crystals on wintergreen, an evergreen which turns a burgundy color in cold weather.

Radiation cooling and damp ground provide an excellent canvas for Jack Frost to practice his art.

Low bush blueberry

Jack really pays attention to detail.

Beautifully rendered ice crystals.

Other signs of the season were found at the water's edge:

Cat-o-nine Tails

When the cat-o-nine tails start to shred you know winter's near.  We also had our first snowflakes in the air this week, as well as a little graupel that collected on the ground.

Graupel

I've mentioned this interesting form of precipitation before.  It forms when a snowflake floats around inside a cloud containing supercooled water droplets which adhere to the snowflake.  When the growing ice ball gets too heavy, it drops from the cloud to earth.  Here you can see some of the snowflakes as well as the graupel.

November is a transition time between seasons with less activity taking place as everyone prepares for winter, both human and wild.  It makes for a  peaceful time on the lake. 

And a nice reprieve from the busy summer and fall seasons before winter hits, a time for all to relax, reenergize, and enjoy some tranquility along with the buffleheads.

November 9, 2025: In the Hornet's Nest

After a few more cold nights this week I decided it was safe to go back to study the large Bald-faced Hornet nest I found this fall. (see Oct 5 Journal) 

I took it off the tree and sliced it down the center line through the entry door and peeled it open.  I found the internal structure fascinating.

Inside were three tiers of beautifully constructed hexagonal paper combs.  

These aren't honey combs, but rather incubator chambers for larvae.  The hexagonal structure is found throughout nature because it's the most efficient form to maximize volume with the least construction material.  

Though most of the cells were empty, a few had larvae in them that hadn't matured before the cold weather arrived.

A couple of larvae in the comb.

The site iNaturalist has a good description of the life cycle of these members of the yellow jacket family, but I'll give a short summary here.  

The nest is started by a single inseminated queen that overwintered on the ground - the only member of a nest that survives to the next year.  She starts a small nest and raises young until there are enough to take over nest construction and feeding of larvae, at which point the queen dedicates all her time to laying eggs of workers.  The workers expand the nest by chewing up soft wood and bark, combining it with their saliva to create the paper for the cells and the outer protective covering.  When the first tier is full they start on a second and third tier.  The workers also bring food to the larvae in the nest.

In late summer the queen starts to lay fertile male and females eggs.  These will fly from the nest and mate, presumably with insects from a different nest.  The males, as well as the queen and all the workers will die; only a new, fertilized queen will bury into the leaf litter and emerge in the spring to start a new nest.  

If you want a nice little side gig, you can search out and sell these nests.  Dozens have sold on ebay this fall with prices ranging from a couple of dollars up to $300.  Just make sure there are no live animals inside!

This was a windy week in New Hampshire, but there were enough calm times to get out for a paddle.  

It was good to see lots of food sources around the lake for animals to feed on this winter.

Winterberry

Chokeberry

Both of these are important food sources because they last well into the winter months, especially for birds that are fruit-eaters like bluebirds and cedar waxwings.

I also found our young loon, apparently alone on the lake but doing well.  

Spangle is looking quite sharp now.

She may be here several more weeks.  

It's not uncommon to get a nice day or two late into November, but I now appreciate every paddle on the lake like it might be my last for the year.

Our local flock of turkeys continues to be active and visible - and looking quite healthy.

They may be awkward birds, they are pretty.

Turkey's are omnivores, eating just about anything they come across.  Though they are probably mostly eating seeds, we're happy to have them in the garden because they will consume ticks, grubs, and any other insects they find as they scratch around in the leaf litter.

Turkeys make us think of Thanksgiving, and yes, it's November.  But even in Novembernature gives us reasons every day to be grateful.