A somewhat random record of observations of what's happening around Lake Wicwas and the Lakes Region. I hope to post about once a week - your comments are welcomed.
From 80 degrees to snow - this week's journal was supposed to be all about wildlife in South Carolina, but upon returning home Thursday night the local picture became the story.
Marion Lane on our arrival home from South Carolina.
Once we got north of Concord NH the scene looked like an Alaskan tundra with everything white and trees down beside the road for miles.
We arrived to find over a foot of heavy snow plastered to everything, branches and trees down everywhere, and about half the people in Meredith without power including most homes around Lake Wicwas. But that's better than some towns in the Lakes Regions which had 100% of their customers without electricity. And many of us around the lake are still without power as of 9:00 this morning.
The heavy snow and wind brought trees down into the lake in multiple locations - I expect there will be more to be found as we get on the lake to explore. This huge white pine and several hardwood trees were some of the casualties.
There will be a lot of trail maintenance to do over the next few weeks.
Trail crews in Meredith will be busy this spring.
On the bright side, there were some signs of spring including my first loon sighting on Friday. I also received a report of a pair of loons on the lake, so we're heading in the right direction.
Enough of winter in April; now down south to South Carolina where we had another fabulous time in the low country with our great host, tour guide, and entertainment director. We took walks along creeks, through swamps and old plantations, and of course along the Atlantic Ocean. These gave us the opportunity to enjoy wildlife much different from that in New England including dolphins, alligators, and anoles. The most fascinating of these are the pelicans, truly bizarre birds with some amazing abilities. Just floating on the water their unique physical attributes are immediately apparent with exception of not being able to see just how large their gular pouch is because it's all folded up under their beak.
A pretty bird in its special way.
This photo, taken in Alabama and sent to me by a good friend (thank you PL!) shows the gular pouch in its full glory:
Soaring along in formation, often close to the water to take advantage of air pressure off the water, is when they are most elegant.
Flying in close formation over Shem Creek.
Other times they will use the currents and updrafts from the onshore breeze when it hits the dune line to facilitate their flight. Wherever they are, they are an oxymoron of awkward beauty.
At feeding time they use powerful wings to gain altitude where they are able to see fish under water even with waves and reflections on the surface. When they identify a school of fish they just fold their wings and let themselves plunge head first down into the sea.
Target in sight.
Contact
Splash down
If they're on target that pouch swells with water and a number of fish which they swallow whole after letting the salt water drain out. When the tide changes they know to congregate around the breach between Sullivan Island and the Isle of Palms (that's also where we saw dolphins) and when there's a big school of fish it's quite a spectacle to see.
The other bird I'll mention is the Anhiga, another ungainly bird with a long neck that it uses in a most unusual manner, stretching it out for no apparent reason.
I often see this behavior - is it a threatening position to scare me away? Twisting its neck into a pretzel is just as interesting, but that makes sense for grooming or situational awareness.
The Anhniga, like a cormorant, will spread its wings out to dry them after diving for fish.
Sunbathing by a lagoon in the early morning light.
Other birds we saw were ones we'll soon find here in New Hampshire including yellow-rumped warblers, palm warblers, and bluebirds already feeding their chicks.
Papa Bluebird.
And Mama Bluebird. That might be a tick!
Back in New Hampshire, April is always a time of change, and this year, everyone and everything will need to be resilient to make it through to May.
The crocuses didn't succumb to an April snowstorm, and neither will we!
Some other good news: The forecast is for clear skies for tomorrow's eclipse. Fingers crossed for this rare astrological experience!
We spent the past week a thousand miles south of the Lakes Region, getting an early peek at summer, and it sure was nice. We saw spring unfold before our eyes as we drove the scenic route to South Carolina through the Shenandoah Valley, watching bare branches turn to flowering trees, then budding leaves, and finally to blooming magnolias as we arrived in Charleston and Mount Pleasant. Our favorite Low-County tour guide had plenty of activities lined up for our entertainment, and one of the first was a visit to "Breach Inlet", a break in the barrier islands that separates Sullivan's Island from the Isle of Palms. We walked the Atlantic shore along Isle of Palms and when we reached The Breach we found a dolphin fishing right in the breach as the tide rushed out.
A bottlenosed dolphin.
The breach is narrow so the current is swift as the water drains from the inland waterway when the tide goes out. There are docks and boats close by on either side, but the dolphin didn't seem to mind.
Looking for fish in the riptide.
It swam against the strong current yet it remained stationary, diving down and coming up in the same spot, probably catching fish after fish coming out with the tide.
Swimming against the tide.
It was one of the highlights of the trip.
Another wildlife spectacle was found at the edge of a small lake which contained an egret rookery.
These beautiful birds don't seem to mind sharing nesting territory as there are over a dozen nests in the same small area. And these birds are stunning when they show off all their plumage.
They have such an interesting shade of green on their face.
They also seem to be magnanimous, allowing interlopers to share the neighborhood.
A male anhinga preens while his mate feeds the young in the nest.
Mom with the hungry chicks.
Like many herons and storks, anhingas partially digest food and then regurgitate it for their young to eat right out of their throats.
Feeding time at the anhinga home.
They must really trust their parents
The anhinga pair was ahead of the egrets in the nesting cycle as they already had four good-size chicks in the nest while there was no evidence of egret chicks.
Did I mention the large, smiling alligator hiding in the foliage on the edge of the pond, just waiting for one of those plump birds to make a mistake?
"Never smile at a crocodile" (I know, it's a 'gator - sorry Peter Pan)
At another site, a marshy bay beside the Pitt Street Bridge in Charleston Harbor, we saw a wide range of birds, including sandpipers, brown thrashers, marsh wrens, grackles, and more egrets. I was able to watch one egret picking out its lunch from the marsh - probably small fish or shrimp.
Of course there were pelicans all around the South Carolina shore.
It's good to see pelicans making a comeback after their population was decimated by poisoning from pesticides.
We saw many animals that also live in New England, including ospreys.
Osprey over Isle of Palms
Other northern birds we saw included cardinals, mockingbirds, bluebirds, sandpipers, wood ducks (already with chicks hatched) and of course, Carolina wrens. Yes, the Carolina wren has worked its way north even to New Hampshire as things have warmed up over the years.
All along the drive both down and back there was a nearly constant circling of vultures taking advantage of thermals over the highway to search for road kill. From a distance I can't tell the difference between turkey vultures, which migrate to New England in summer, and black vultures, which don't come as far north as New England. But up close the black face (versus red on the turkey vulture) is evident. The South Carolina vultures are more much more tame than they are here in New Hampshire.
A Black Vulture perches on a roof top and watches the world pass by.
I even saw a vulture driving a bunch of crows away from a dumpster that the vulture had claimed for itself - this is one bird that's learned how to adapt to modern civilization.
Alas, we did eventually have to return home. As we drove back to New England we watched the season retreat, eventually regressing all the way back to brown leaves and bare branches here in New Hampshire. But I was happy to see the see that the Trailing Arbutus are still blooming.
So we didn't miss much, and now we get to experience spring twice in the same year. Thanks for a great visit LG!
This week we celebrated a life milestone (which will not be revealed) with a trip to a warmer climate for a few days.
Delnor Wiggins State Park
Yes, it was a trip south to savor a taste of summer at the beaches and wetlands of southwest Florida.
Corkscrew Swamp
Of course a trip anywhere must include a stop or two to sample the local flora and fauna, and this one allowed opportunities to look for some of our summer friends who travel south for the season. Several migrating birds that spend summers in New Hampshire were spotted, including yellow-rumped-warblers and ospreys.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Osprey returning from a fishing trip
The warblers were catching insects in the Corkscrew Swamp, while the osprey were fishing in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. We didn't see any Great Blue Herons, but we did see several of it's smaller cousin, named of course, the Little Blue Heron.
The Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) is about half the size of the Great Blue Heron
These were fishing in ponds and estuaries, and were quite successful in their endeavors.
Another similar bird that appears to be a mash-up of two of our favorite summer birds - the Common Loon and the Heron - is something called the Anhinga.
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)
The anhinga is a diving bird shaped somewhat like a loon, and it fishes like a loon although it doesn't catch fish with its beak, rather it stabs its prey spear-gun style with that long, sharp beak. At breeding time, it nests like a heron, building a nest of sticks in a tree. We were fortunate enough to be near the nest at meal time, which was reminiscent of the feeding of the Great Blue Herons seen up at Arbutus Hill Pond in Meredith last summer.
There were also many beautiful animals that have no counterpart in New England, including 'gators, Snowy Egrets, and the ungainly, yet wonderfully elegant, Brown Pelican.
Snowy Egret near the Naples Pier (love those yellow slippers)
Anyone want to mess with me?
A brown pelican glides low over the gulf waters
We also found some other friends that are smart enough to travel south with the other animals for the winter.
Thanks M&N for everything!
We knew we had picked a fine time to be away from central New Hampshire just by watching the weather reports of snow, ice, and freezing rain. Learning that we had lost electricity for a day just added to the picture. When we returned the result of the weather was evident, as the lakes had reformed into frozen icy glaciers. But it didn't take long to see people out taking advantage of whatever New England doles out.
Fat biking on Lake Wicwas
These two were moving along quite nicely on what are called Fat Bikes: bicycles with low pressure tires (3-10 psi) in the range of 3 to 5 inches wide that can ride on a variety of soft surfaces such as sand and snow. Evidently they also have soft enough tire composition to provide traction on clear ice. If anyone recognizes this couple, I'd be happy to send some pictures to them.
Later that day there were some other two-wheeled vehicles out on Lake Wicwas.
A faster mode of two-wheeled transportation
A couple of short videos:
They're also a little louder than fat bikes. These high-tech machines have spikes mounted into their tires so they have no problem with traction on ice.
The snow surface is rock-hard at the moment, and with no snow in the immediate forecast, ice sports may be the activity of the week. There certainly won't be any animal tracking, as I had to really stomp on the snow to break through the crust. But until new snow falls, we'll enjoy the ice: next weekend brings the New England Pond Hockey Classic to Meredith Bay, and they will be loving the current conditions in the Lakes Region.
