December 21, 2025: Eagles Over the Bay

But first, more turkeys.  It was a week of big birds in Meredith.  Over the years I've seen turkeys in fields, backyards, in the forest, and along roadsides, but I'd never seen them out in the middle of a lake before now.

A turkey trek across Lake Wicwas.

This group of three female (I think) turkeys appeared to be taking a short cut across the frozen lake.  

Their sensory abilities are incredible.  As far away as I was, and being as quiet and still as possible, the slightest motion triggered their senses and they immediately went from a slow walk into a moderate trot to speed their way across the open expanse. 
Of course, they could take flight to avoid a terrestrial predator such as a bobcat or coyote, but what about an aerial attack?  I expect a mature bald eagle would be able to take down a fleeing turkey.  And that's a distinct possibility now that Bald Eagles have returned to the Lake Region.  Excellent photographer and good friend Eytan Wulfsohn noticed three bald eagles on the thin ice forming off Bay Point Inn at the end of Meredith Bay.

Photos by Eytan Wulfsohn

There were three of them, two mature and one juvenile, and he was able to run home to get his camera to take some great pictures, including the juvenile in flight.

The dark, mottled plumage of juvenile bald eagle.

This is likely a resident pair and their offspring, as there is enough open water throughout the winter for fishing.  (They use the rivers after the lakes freeze.)  Eagles also augment their primarily-fish diet with mammals and birds - maybe even a turkey or two?  

Perusing the ice edge for lunch.

By late summer or early fall, a newly hatched eagle is completely independent and the parents no longer provide food for it.  Often a juvenile will move away, but sometimes they stay in the same nesting area for a period of time.  A juvenile eagle will spend several years wandering, investigating territories based primarily on food availability.  By four or five years old they are mature, have their adult plumage and are ready to breed.  Only then do they select a nesting site and look for a mate.  Or perhaps, take over an existing mate by driving off a weaker member of an established pair.  It's actually similar to that of the Common Loon.

The return of turkeys and eagles to North America are success stories in restoring extirpated species to their native territories.  Both populations were first thinned out by overhunting (some states had bounties for killing eagles), further hurt by habitat loss, and then completely done in by the pesticide DDT.  But with new regulations and, in the case of the turkey, reintroduction of birds from the Alleghany Mountain area in New York, both species are now flourishing - and adding greatly to the excitement and quality of life in New Hampshire.

An impressive bird to see return to New Hampshire.

Back closer to Lake Wicwas, the lake and shores were crisscrossed with tracks beyond turkeys - lot of members of the mustelid (weasel) family:  mink, otter, and ermine (the winter name for the short-tailed weasel in its white coat).  The tracks of latter were the hardest for me to determine, but following the tracks for a while led me to conclude it was an ermine by its behavior.  It spent a lot time hopping from tree to tree like a squirrel does. 

But the tracks were too large for a squirrel.   

Too large for a squirrel, too small for a fisher.

The ermine was hunting for mice and other small rodents under the snow, using its hearing to detect its prey chewing on something down in the subnivean zone.  When it pounces down on it, if it misses, it will relentlessly pursue its prey until it secures it.

They also locate prey with their excellent sense of smell.  Ermine are extremely reclusive - I have only seen an ermine once, and it was in early winter, after it had donned its white coat but before snow was on the ground so it was highly visible.

In snow, with that camouflage, I could step on one and not even see it!

One more bit of news:  The winter solstice occurs today at 10:03 am.  The days are already getting longer!