September 7, 2025: Quieter Days on the Lakes

Welcome to September, a time when things graciously slow down around all the lakes.  I took advantage of a calm day to paddle the big lake; it's a peaceful place on a September morning.

Lake Winnipesaukee in September.

I paddled around several of Meredith's Islands to the east of Meredith Neck: Beaver, Hawk's Nest, Three Mile, and Pine.  I had the lake to myself until almost 11:00, affording opportunities to see several birds including this eagle having its breakfast on Three Mile Island.

I will surmise this is an immature Bald Eagle that has not yet earned its white head and tail feathers.

A little farther along, a Double-crested Cormorant was biding its time off the eastern point of Hawk's Nest Island.

A cormorant surveys the big lake.

I discovered an interesting find deep in a secluded cove in the cut between the Beaver Islands:  a stand of Black Gum (aka Black Tupelo) trees which were starting to turn red.

There used to be several large black gum trees on Wicwas too, but most of them have been taken down by beavers, though there are still a few smaller trees around.  You can find them most easily in the fall when their thick, glossy leaves turn a deep crimson color.

Look for these dark-red black gum leaves in early to mid October.

After paddling past Pine Island I followed the shoreline of Meredith Neck north back to Leavitt Beach, and along the way I rounded a point and flushed a Great Blue Heron off its resting point on a shoreline bounder.

Here are few manmade sights you might recognize from this part of the lake.

Stone marker at the north entrance to the channel behind Pine Island

That's Red Hill directly behind, with 4043' Mt. Passaconaway the high peak off in the distance.

AMC Camp on Three Mile Island

Y-Landing on Meredith Neck

Back on Lake Wicwas, our most famous residents, the loons and our juvenile Spangle, continue to do well even while constantly fending off intruders.  I found mom and spangle fishing in the middle of the lake one bright day.

Stopping to watch - at a safe distance of course - after one dive Spangle came up right next to me!  She did her best to hide, keeping a low profile before she dove again.

Heading north after this I found what I presume to be Spangle's father right at the line defining the north and south nesting territories guarding his domain against four other loons.  Even as a nearly full-size juvenile, spangle is still vulnerable to attack by other loons and protected fiercely by her parents.  

Spangle has shed all her baby feathers and is now fully clothed in juvenile plumage.

The feeble amount of rain we received this week did little to help the drought situation.  The lake is now down about seven inches, and almost all the streams are bone-dry (this was prior to yesterday when we did get some first appreciable rain, the first since July 13th, with more on tap for today).

Not a drop of water in these streams.

The only exception are ones that have beaver dams upstream which store enough water to keep the stream running slowly all summer as water leaks through the dam.  

This stream is supplied with water from the upstream beaver pond shown below.

The pond level is down, but that's what's keeping the stream alive.

The dry summer has been great for tourism and outside activities, but hard on plants and wildlife.  Water in both beaver ponds and flowing streams are incredibly valuable resources to animals in drought years.

I'm hearing lots of reports of ground hornet nests this fall - perhaps due to the dry summer?  I have personal experience with two already.  One I found in the Hamlin forest at the intersection of the Blue and Yellow trails heading up to Crockett's Ledge.  There was a large boulder turned over beside the trail and I wondered why.  Looking around I found the hole where it came from and realized a bear had excavated a bee nest to access the eggs and larvae.  

An excavated yellow-jacket nest.

Hornets that had survived the attack, perhaps because they were away from the nest at the time, were working like a construction crew after a tornado to recover what they could from the remains.  

I still can't image how a bear can endure the dozens, maybe hundreds, of stings it sustains while it feeds on a nest.  My advice to hikers is to simply keep a steady pace as you hike.  As long as you keep moving, even if you stomp right on top of a nest, by the time the hornets come out to investigate, they won't bother you if you've gone past them.  They're only likely to be a problem if you happen sit down right next to one - so be aware of where you stop for a break on your hikes.  If you see bees, move on quickly.

I wanted to mention all the wild fruit that's ripening now but that will have to wait.  I'll share just this fun moment of watching a young robin collecting cherries from a Black Cherry tree.

It's an important time of  year for animals to start stocking up on calories for winter, whether for hibernation or migration.

September 8, 2024: Overseer of the Lake

Wednesday evening was a gorgeous moment on the lake.  The sun was warm, the wind was calm, and lots of people were out enjoying a late summer cruise on the lake.  And those with an eye towards the sky were afforded a fabulous look at an apex predator enjoying the moment as much as we were.  

Perched there at the top of the tree, this Bald Eagle was perfectly happy to sit for over an hour, surveying its domain in the late-day sun. 

Several boats stopped on their travels to take in the site - and the eagle paid them no notice.  

I started seeing the occasional Bald Eagle on Lake Wicwas in 2014 and in the past ten years they've become a regular sight on the lake.  It's another success story of saving a species that had been decimated by DDT use.  Even though I see several each year, I'm still spellbound by how impressive they are when I get a good look at one.

There were a few somewhat smaller animals also basking in the warm September sun.  

Autumn Meadowhawk.

This Autumn Meadowhawk (I think) found a nice observation tower in the middle of a field surveying its domain for insects in the area to attack.  It's one of the late-season dragonflies which is how it got it name.  

There are also damselflies still common around the lake, and apparently, still mating.

One of the many species of Bluet damselflies.

Female damselflies deposit their eggs by inserting them into the leaves or stalks of plants, usually underwater, and they can submerge themselves completely while laying eggs.  It's not clear to me what phase of the mating process this pair is in, but the male may stay attached to the female to ensure his offspring aren't affected by another male before she lays her eggs, so maybe they're not quite ready yet.

Another smaller animal enjoying the warm day was this Cabbage Moth.

Unrolling it proboscis to probe deep into the the blossom.

It was taking nectar from purple clover, one of its primary food plants as an adult. 

The caterpillars of this moth are the phase that eats and damages cabbage and related plants.

🦋

A frequent kayaker sent me these pictures of grapes she found growing along the shore of the lake (thanks SD!).

I didn't know we had grapes on the lake.  These are either wild Fox Grapes, or, just as likely considering they are growing on a property that's been used for agriculture for well over a hundred years, Concord grapes.  Concord grapes are a cultivar of the Fox grape that was developed in 1849 by Ephriam Bull in Concord Massachusetts, and the original plant still grows there.  [REF:  The Concord Grape Association]  I went out to see if I could collect a few.  

After eating them I'm still not sure, but based on their palatable taste and location on a homestead property, I'll place my bet on Concord Grapes.

Nice summer weather notwithstanding, there are more and more tinges of color appearing around the lake.

These late summer days sure are nice.

 

March 17: 2024: Mink on Thin Ice

It's a busy time of year with so much happening all at once as the world wakes up from its winter slumber.  One cold morning as I was enjoying the interesting patterns that formed on the lake over night, a flash of brown scooted onto the thin ice from shore and bounded across the lake right in front of me.  It was one of those lucky occasions when I had my camera in my hand.

Mink on the ice.

No problem with traction for those claws.

A mink doesn't worry about falling through thin ice - when it came to edge of the ice it just slipped into the water and continued on its way.

That was on Wednesday.  The day before was bright and windy and that took a big toll on the ice with the wind really breaking things up.  

The ice started breaking up on Monday.

Getting wider under the March sun on Tuesday.

The wind blew shreds of ice up over the transition point which glistened like diamonds in the sun.

By noon on Tuesday there were large expanses of open water.

By Saturday, most of winter's ice was gone with just one ice patch blocking the passage on the west site of Bryant Island.  It's possible ice-out will occur later today which would make it one of the earliest ice-out dates recorded.  

Many geese have now arrived and they're fighting over the best nesting sites in the marshes.  We've also seen bald eagles almost every day this week, both circling over the lake and sitting on the ice, perhaps feeding off things that were blown up onto the ice with the wind.

A couple of bald eagles survey the lake.  Are they looking for a nesting site?

In addition to annoying the Canada Geese endlessly, one afternoon an eagle flew right over me and landed in a tree, and had a heated argument with a red-bellied woodpecker that was not happy with its presence.  The two of them made quite the ruckus.  Here's a clip of the interaction - the eagle starts and ends, with the woodpecker calling out in the middle.  

This went on for quite some time.  Between the eagles, the geese, the mallards, and the red squirrels in the forest, it's been a noisy week.  Now we just need the wood frogs to join in.

The mergansers have also been plentiful this spring with a couple of different groups congregating on the lake.  I saw a few altercations of males chasing males, but mostly they seem well behaved as they figure out how to pair up for the mating season.

A couple of available female Common Mergansers.

And a male about to go...

under the ice for a fishing excursion.

I didn't realize that like Wood Ducks, Common Mergansers make their nests in tree cavities up to a mile away from water.  The female chooses the nesting site and builds the nest, and I believe the female also selects her mate, the one she finds most desirable after observing them all strut their stuff.  After mating, the male is done and leaves the child rearing to the mother.  I'd love to know how she gets a dozen little ducklings to travel a mile through a thick forest back to the lake.

The beavers also came around as soon as the ice opened up enough for them to swim along the shore line, and they are already building their scent mounds to mark their territory.  

I've also heard spring bird songs this week including the Song Sparrow and even a Carolina Wren (though that was a bit south of the Lakes Region, along the high banks of the Merrimack River in Concord) so the great migration is underway.  But this entry is long enough, so those will have to wait for another week.  

This is a great time to get outside to watch the world wake up and break into its triumphant return to life.  Just remember to wear your mud boots, and that tick season never ends - I've already found one deer tick - so take appropriate precautions.  

Mr. Mink won't be able to take short cuts across the lake any more, but for us, it's a time of renewal, rebirth, and rediscovery.

Blueberry buds, red and swelling with spring life.

October 15, 2023: Now There are Two

Last week I saw an eagle over by Bryant Island - this week there were two eagles on the Rawson Wood Island right next to Bryant.  I saw the first one far across the lake, sitting way up high at the very top of a dead pine tree.

You have to scan well above the horizon if you're looking for eagles.

I stopped and watched for a while as it just perused its surroundings, acting as though it was at the top of the food chain - which it is.  When I saw it start to raise its tail up in the air,

I knew what was about to happen.

Right after it had reduced its ballast, it took flight and I watched it fly over to a neighboring pine. 

That's when I saw the second eagle, this one perched at the top of that tree, up with all those pine cones.

There's only room for one at top.

I figure they must be a pair.  It makes we wonder if eagles don't excrete their waste where they live.

On the same trip that I saw the eagles I also found both juvenile loons together with one parent.  

I'll keep reporting on them as long as they stay on the lake, which last year was all the way until Christmas.

I've seen a few wooly bear caterpillars this year, the species that some people say predict the winter weather, but I also saw a new caterpillar which I think is a Virginian tiger moth.  

Virginian Tiger Moth caterpillar (Spilosoma virginica)

The well-known black and brown wooly bear caterpillar is also a member of the tiger moth family; it's formal name is the Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella).  The Virginian tiger moth caterpillar I saw is a solid, rich golden color and not something I recall seeing before.  Looking up what the adult moth looks like, there's a good chance I've seen one around but never noted it, as they are a plain, non-descript white moth, sometimes with black spots on its wings.  

Virginian Tiger Moth.  Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

Someone asked recently how many beaver lodges are on Lake Wicwas.  I have found 12 on the lake plus three more on streams right above or below the lake, though some appear to have been abandoned.  Here's a map showing the locations of lodges I've found, but there are certainly others I haven't discovered.  Each lodge may have 6 residents in the summer:  two parents, a couple of last years kits as well as the new years kits. If eight lodges are occupied that would mean 48 beavers on the lake.

It sure was nice to have some classic fall weather this week to allow pleasant walks in the woods and paddles on the water - with no bugs!  The foliage might not be as brilliant as in some years, and as mentioned last week, one theory is that there was too much rain for deep colors to form.  And here's another observation:  Maple trees right on the shoreline, which have had even more water than usual with the high water levels flooding their roots all summer, have the best color I've seen anywhere.  Maybe they have adapted to wet conditions over time so the wet summer didn't affect them.  My grandfather did call them swamp maples after all.

To find the best color this year you may need to go no farther than a local wetland.