January 4, 2026: New Year's Visitors

Happy New Year!  

We had the pleasure of our first visitors of 2026 when the bobcat family stopped by on New Year's Day.

Mother bobcat and one of her two kits.

Mom and her two kits came looking to find a meal under the bird feeders.  We first saw mom near the feeders, but at that point all the targets of her hunt had fled, including the half dozen gray squirrels that had been there a moment before.  There isn't a lot of cover around the feeders, so it's hard to ambush prey; only once have we seen a bobcat catch a squirrel, and it was a very impressive feat.  So mom left emptyhanded, and headed back up through the woods.  

An unsuccessful hunting attempt.

When she reached the path, her two kits came trotting right up to her to see if she was bringing them lunch.  

Three little bob tails stick out from behind a tree.

Apparently she had instructed them to wait patiently hidden away while she went on her hunting mission.  They were of course disappointed, but they snuggled up and told her they understand.

It's ok mom, you'll get 'em next time.

Both kits looked strong and healthy, though one was noticeably smaller than the other, and he/she kept close to its mother.

The smaller of the two kits.

The larger kit was braver and more independent, venturing off on its own ahead of the others.

The larger kit.  Look at the size of the hind paws!

It was a great way to start the new year!  

There won't be any tracking opportunities to see what the bobcats or anyone else is doing until we get more snow because the ice storm this week created a bulletproof snowpack. 

Ice coats the trees.

Whether the ice-coated landscape is beautiful or not depends on perspective.  If you were one of the 10,000 Lakes Region customers who lost power, it was, understandably, not pretty to have everything coated with a quarter inch of ice.

But if you were safe and warm and able to get out the next day when the sun came out, there were some picturesque sights to see.  

Mother nature provides an endless array of wonders.  What new marvels will 2026 bring us?

December 28, 2025: Otters Times Three

We have passed the winter solstice now, but the sun still clings stubbornly close to the horizon, even in the middle of the day.  This photo was taken just 20 minutes after noon.

The sun doesn't rise much above the horizon at a latitude of 43.65 degrees.

Cold sunny days give us brilliant blue skies, but along with that dry weather coming from Canada after a snowstorm, we often also get cold winds.  Outside activities require warm clothing for sure.  But the animals?  Some will spend those days in dens or sheltered in thick stands of trees, but the otters, they are tough little critters.  Some are out hunting all night while others head out right at first light when the temperature is at its lowest.  By the time I get out, the otters have already been on long excursions across the lake.  One morning I followed their antics all the way across the lake.  The three brothers (my arbitrary conclusion as they remind me of three young boys I knew) slid down out of the trees and romped across the lake.

They would sometimes run, sometime hop, sometimes slide, always seeming to enjoy themselves.

They took shortcuts across swamps and over islands that were in their way.

They led me to their latrine, which they use regularly - I've seen their signs there in summer too.

You can tell an otter latrine because their scat looks like no other animal I know:  It's wet and loose and full of fish scales.

The otters' trail led me far across the lake.

All the way to the dam where they crossed - hopefully safely - Meredith Center Road into the mill brook that leads to Lake Winnisquam.  That was the end of my pursuit, as I wasn't about to follow them over the dangerous ice in the marsh and brook.  But I have seen otter playing at the mouth of that stream where it enters the northern tip of Winnisquam, and now I wonder if they are the same family that I think lives somewhere up Blake Brook west of Lake Wicwas.  

  

The powdery snowfalls we've been getting regularly keep refreshing the surface into good tracking conditions.  I haven't seen the bobcat yet this winter, but he or she left a near-perfect set of tracks in the dry snow.

A beautiful set of bobcat tracks.

Also, more turkeys were out searching for food where the snow was cleared to reveal open ground.

Turkeys will take advantage of human changes to the environment.

If you were fortunate enough to be in New Hampshire this year, you had a white Christmas.  We received fresh snow on Christmas Eve to set the mood, and even a few Hollywood-perfect snowflakes fell on Christmas Day.  I hope you had a peaceful day around a Christmas tree wherever you are - the beavers did!

The beavers' Christmas tree freshly draped with snow.

March 23, 2025: Now We're Springing Along

Ah yes - Snowdrops are blooming - spring is coming along.  Snowdrops aren't a native plant, but they're always the first to bloom, even before the crocuses.   

Snowdrops in March.

A true native sign of spring is lichen greening up, which in spring, unlike its dry, gray, cardboard-stiff status in summer, is now plump and verdant with moisture provided by winter snow melting off its granite home.

Rock Tripe Lichen.  

It actually looks somewhat edible this time of year.

This week we had more warm, beautiful days as well as some rainy ones, and what are usually small streams, sometimes even dry streambeds in summer, are now gushing with snowmelt.

And as a result, the lakes are flooding.  

A flooded shoreline along Lake Wicwas.

Hiking trails are filled with with huge puddles.

Frost still in the ground keeps low spots from draining.

With all the runoff along the shoreline I decided not to venture out to measure the ice thickness, but I'll bet it's still a good foot thick away from shore.  I may not trust it, but the animals do, so we know it's thick enough to support the weight of a bobcat.

A bobcat makes its way across the lake one morning.

And finds a way to get off the ice without getting its feet wet.

Cold ice on a warm day condenses some interesting fog banks as the moist air spreads across the lake.

We did take in the birdfeeders this week after they were emptied out, but I sprinkled a few seeds on the railing to give the birds a little more food while the rest of the snow melts.  It provided an opportunity to watch the birds in action.  

In this first video, a couple of White-breasted Nuthatches sort through the seeds to find one worthy of eating or taking away to hide somewhere.

In the next video, one bird works away on a hard-shelled safflower seed, then finds a few small seeds to gulp right down while it searches for another large seed worthy of hacking open.  You can see how much effort it takes to extract that little bit of high-energy fat from the shell.

At first I thought they were eating seeds that had fallen into cracks, but I soon realized they are smart enough stuff thier seed down in the crevice to hold it in place while they crack it open.  In this last video it hacks away at a safflower seed, then finds a few smaller ones to gobble up whole, before selecting a couple more safflower seeds to work on, finally taking one more large seed off to hide away in a tree bark crevice to save for later.

Look at those talons:

I guess that's how they can climb straight up and down tree trunks!

I also heard my first Red-winged Blackbird this week.  Snow, ice, flowers, sun, migrating birds - they're all part of spring in New Hampshire!

November 3, 2024: Autumn Visitors

We were treated to a couple of fall visitors this week.   The first was this young bobcat that snuck by the house in search of a mid-afternoon snack. 

On the Prowl.

It crept along the path through the blueberry bushes where the chipmunks and sparrows collect seeds on the ground. 

Finding no prospects there, it walked up to the corner of the house under the deck and waited a long time, listening to all the tasty sounds in the air:  birds singing, chipmunks chipping, squirrels rustling the dry oak leaves.  Being primarily ambush hunters, bobcats have a lot more patience than I do - I gave up watching before I saw if an unsuspecting prey put itself into a position where the cat thought it could make at attempt at it. 

It's hard to tell without a frame of reference, but this bobcat was much smaller than even a mature female, so I'm pretty sure it's one of this year's litter.  I've seen a young bobcat still with its mother as late as December so seeing this one out hunting on its own and looking healthy is a good sign its mother taught it well.  

The next visitors were a pair of deer that were grazing under the tall Red Oaks, greedily gobbling up the heavy load of acorns dropped on the forest floor this year.

Sibling No. 1

Sibling No. 2

The excellent acorn crop will provide sustenance for many animals, likely resulting in healthy populations of everything from squirrels to turkey to deer next year.  

These animals and others that don't head south or hibernate are growing their warm winter coats at this point even though they didn't need them this week as a warm air mass settled in for most of the week.  Thursday was anything but a clear fall day.  

The view from the Blueberry Ledge Trail on Mt. Whiteface.

On the hike up Mt. Whiteface I recognized this red moss from my recent visit to the Philbrick Bog.  

Sphagnum Moss

Though far removed from the geography of a bog, this high elevation area of dense spruce trees has the same properties of wet, acidic, and low nutrient soil.  I probably wouldn't have noticed it if not for its red color and the fact I had just seen it in the bog.  I love the way multiple plants share the same piece land as much as I do the fabulous colors of nature.

Sphagnum moss, Haircap moss, and Eastern Hemlock all sharing the land.

At a lower elevation of the mountain, this large, bright fungus growing ten feet off the trail on the base of a tree caught the corner of my eye. 

There are several different fungi that have a similar look, one of which is called a Turkey Tail fungus (another is called False-turkey Tail), both named for their similar appearance to the tail of our well known Thanksgiving fowl.  

Cornell Lab of Ornithology photo.

Finally, a quick update on our Wood Thrush that came through New Hampshire and was picked up by the tracking station on Red Hill on September 14th.  The thrush has made its way as far south as Georgia where it was last detected on October 8th.  

The path of Wood Thrush #55768.

Wood Thrushes may overwinter in Florida (or go on to Cuba or South America), so it may be stationary now until spring comes.  We can continue to watch for it here, hoping it will return in the spring.  Until then, we'll enjoy the last vestiges of fall.

Milkweed pods prepare to disperse their seeds for next year's crop.

September 1, 2024: Kittens under the Cabin

Our neighbor caught mother bobcat and her kit in their yard this week!

A young bobcat.  Photo by Michael Marion.

Her kit isn't all that little any more, but from the size of its paws you can see it still has a lot of growth yet to come.  Mom came by first, poked around the cabin just a bit then went on her way to find some food for them while the kit explored underneath the cabin for several minutes before heading off to catch up with her.  Thanks MM for sharing!

Mom off to the fertile hunting grounds on the Marion Conservation Area,
one of many conserved areas around Lake Wicwas.

Our relatively quiet loon season still has signs of life as the resident loons continue to defend their nesting areas from intruders to reinforce that the territory is occupied, so visitors don't get any ideas about coming here next spring to find an area to claim.  Lately it's been groups of three or four which might include a resident pair fending off a couple of rogues.  When loons are focused on each other they tend to be oblivious to me and will sometimes pop up right next to my kayak. 

The small groups continue to engage in circle dances with lots of head bobbing and showing off their size. 

"I'm bigger than you are - now get out of my cove!"

It will be interesting to see how long they stay on the lake this fall without chicks to look after. 

This one decided to move on.

The geese on the other hand had a good breeding season.  I counted 19 Canada Geese one afternoon on the large field that runs down to the lake. They can make a mess but they must help to fertilize the field as well. 

Can't really distinguish the juveniles from the adults now.

There's other natural fertilizer being left on the ground.  For perhaps a half-mile stretch of the Arbutus Hill Trail there are numerous piles of fresh bear scat right in the trail.  They are clearly visiting someone's bird feeder as the scat is full of sunflower seeds.

Deer scat isn't always immediately recognizable this time of year because it often doesn't look anything like the small, hard pellets seen in the winter.  In summer, when there's lots of lush green foliage to browse on, their droppings can be a soft, mushy plop.

Summer deer scat can look like a miniature cow patty.

We also saw a pile of moose droppings on the trail by Arbutus Hill Pond but they weren't photogenic. It's been a few years since I've seen a moose up there, but they are still present.  Thanks for a fun and interesting hike LH!

Here on the first of September it's time for the late summer wildflowers to be in the spotlight.  Lots of asters and goldenrod are blooming. 

Purple-stemmed (above) and Calico Asters (below).

Another pretty and prolific late-summer plant is Jewelweed, also known as touch-me-not.

Orange Jewelweed

After flowering, it produces a fruit that when swollen but not yet burst, will explode if you touch or gently squeeze it, ejecting its seeds far away from itself.  It spreads well and grows aggressively and has been shown to be successful in crowding out invasive garlic mustard.  I read recently that Jewelweed is an antidote to poison Ivy.  

And after seeing several tree branches around the lake with leaves turning red, there's no more denying that summer is fading fast.

But fall is a great season too!