October 3, 2021: Cranberry Trifecta

This week we were hiking with good friends (thanks Bill and Tracy!) in the Kelley-Drake Conservation Area, a nice property conserved by the New Hampton Conservation Commission, when we came upon a large growth of low green plants with bright red berries in a wet area near Lake Pemigewasset.  Bill immediately identified them as cranberries.

Large cranberry or American cranberry (vaccinium macrocarpon)

I picked up a few of them and brought them home to see if they are the edible type, and sure enough, they are.

In fact these are the same species that are cultivated into a highly valuable commercial crop, especially in the cranberry bogs of Cape Cod.  If you serve Ocean Spray cranberries at Thanksgiving table, this is what you are eating.  I cooked up my handful of berries with a little maple sugar and had them in my yogurt - delicious!

It's clearly the season for cranberries; in the past few weeks I have come across mountain cranberries, cranberry viburnum, and now the traditional American cranberry.  I expect this weekend I'll see people in the marshes around the lakes with buckets in hand foraging for these pretty delicacies.

As the weather cools and flowers fade from the scene there are fewer pollinators around.  The yellow jackets are storming the hummingbird feeder but many other bees are much less prevalent.  One exception is the bumble bee.  This large and hairy bee can keep warm better than other bees and hornets and is often the first to arrive and the last to be seen each season.

A bumblebee diligently collects pollen from each tiny flower.

Nice and warm in its thick fur coat.

They're happy to find Linda's collection of coleus which she kindly lets bloom late in the summer.

Off to the next coleus.

We've had some cooler weather now, but I think the foliage is still a bit behind.  Even up in the White Mountains this week the color is just emerging.

Sandwich Dome and Jennings Peak seen from Sandwich Notch Road.

Kastle Equine at Bumps Intervale in Campton.

Back in Meredith where the foliage is even less developed, mom and her two loon chicks are still on Lake Wicwas but I think mom is getting a little frustrated with them.  I heard them far off, with one of the chicks making a really annoying call that sounded just like a kid whining that they're hungry.  When they sailed by me both chicks were constantly harassing mom, demanding food.

Coca and Jimmy badgering mom for food.

At one point mom lost her patience and snapped at them.

"Catch your own dinner!"

One chick then dove and came up far away, but it wasn't long before he or she returned back to mother.  I haven't seen dad for a week or two now so maybe this time he's really gone for the winter.  Mom will soon follow, and then Coco and Jimmy will have to fend for themselves.

Until they too leave, everyone will treasure the calm, warm, waning days of summer.

September 8, 2019: Bumble Bee Season

Bumble bees are certainly around all summer, but this time of year they seem to be particularly noticeable.

A bumble bee searches for pollen on lantana flowers.

These large members of the bee family are important pollinators and are presently found swarming over the tiny blossoms of plants like goldenrod and Linda's Coleuses.

Golden rod is a favorite provider this time of year.

These non-aggressive bees are covered with thick hair which keeps them warm and explains why they are the first bee to become active in the spring as well as why they can hang around into fall even after the other bees have disappeared.

A nice warm fur coat.

Similar to other pollen collecting bees, the worker bee's mission is to collect enough food for the queen to lay eggs and fatten up to survive the winter.  In late summer only worker bees and queen bees are born, and all of them will leave the nest.  The worker bees feed the queen, and every bee in the colony will die when winter finally arrives except for the queen; only the queen will hibernate and live through the winter.  In the spring the queen will find a nest location, lay her eggs, and sit on them for two weeks to keep them warm, just like a bird does.  When they hatch, the new season begins.  [Ref:  Alina Bradford, LiveScience, 2017]

Large pollen sacs to bring home for the queen.

Several species of bumble bee have seen dramatic reductions in population in New Hampshire, and NH Fish & Game has listed four species as species of Greatest Conservation Need.  (Who knew Fish & Game studies bees?)  [Ref:  Sandra Rehan, NH Wildlife Journal, May/June 2016]  Rehan and other researchers at the University of New Hampshire are studying the cause of population decline which appears to be due to multiple factors including habitat loss, insecticides, climate change, and pesticides.  [Ref:  NH Wildlife Action Plan, Appendix A]

It's good to know Linda is doing her part to help these important insects survive.

Coming in for a landing on Linda's lupines.

The town of Meredith recently completed a habit logging project on the Eames property up behind the Hamlin easement.  The goal was to improve the quality of the forest and create greater habitat diversity for a range of birds and mammals.  I went for a short walk through the logged area (there are no trails in the area logged) and I saw that the project already appears to be bearing fruit.

This moose print in the soft soil is larger than my boot.

That's the track of a good size moose that was using the logging trail for ease of movement, and was probably enjoying the new browse area.  If you are hiking along the magenta trail - which is in the process of being re-blazed with white trail markers - and you see a large clear cut along the trail, know that this is NOT on town land.  That clear cut was done by a private land owner adjacent to the Eames property.

Clear cut along the border of the Eames Conservation Easement

If allowed to grow back to forest, this cut will provide excellent browse for moose and deer for many years, as well as a young successional forest habitat for ground birds and small animals.

I don't have any new pictures of the loon chicks this week, but I did see another very promising event.  One of the chicks came through the cove by itself and spent a long time fishing all along the cove.  And I saw it come with a fish on two of its dives.  So at least one of the chicks is providing for itself - good news especially as fall arrives and the parents will be going on their way in the coming weeks.  And fall is coming, as seen by misting mornings becoming more common.

A misty morning on the day I walked the logged area in Eames.

September 23, 2018: Changing Seasons

We are just past the equal of day and night:  astronomical fall began last night at 9:54 pm when the autumnal equinox occured.  As the days get shorter and cooler both plants and animals sense it - everything is starting to prepare for the coming change.  Here is just a sampling of the many indicators around Lake Wicwas that the local community is adapting to what must come.

The trees on the shoreline are just starting to show some color.

Turtles and frogs are out collecting every last bit of warmth they can get before they go into hibernation.

Painted Turtle absorbing the late day sun

This wood frog was using the warmth these wood chips absorbed from the sun

Bees are scurrying around, gathering up as much pollen as they can find to get them through the winter. 

A Bumble bee transferring pollen from the blossoms on Linda's Coleus to its hind legs

A northern water snake was swimming across the lake - perhaps it was hoping to catch a passing squirrel?

A Northern Water Snake cruises the lake

I bet the snake is a faster, more agile swimmer than a squirrel. 


The geese are starting to flock up for their travels south; I counted 39 on the lake one afternoon.  This big one, probably a male, was on lookout duty.

A Sentry off Mark Island

After having little visible presence during the summer the beavers become much more active this time of year.  Here they have stuffed the dam at the outlet of Lake Wicwas with all kinds of debris as they attempt to raise the water level to increase the size of their domain.

Many thanks to the town for cleaning this out yet again

The comeback of beavers to New Hampshire after their virtual extirpation has created the water bodies that are a big factor in the recovery of the Great Blue Heron population as well.  I caught one such heron gliding over the lake on its way to a rocky perch for some fishing.

I didn't see much of Mr. Wood Duck this summer, but he did make an appearance on one of my kayak trips around the lake this week.  He and the misses will stay together on the lake for some time yet and migrating wood ducks on their way south will stop by to visit them.

Many birds - herons, loons, ducks - will be around quite a bit longer, some right up until the lake finally freezes over.

Many human residents of the lakes are also getting ready to find a warmer place to spend the winter.  Here are some bittersweet late-summer scenes, as we get ready for the changes as well.

The final sunset cruise of the Hurricane.

The Blue Heron Lodge basking in the low, late day sun.

A warm, calm day for a kayak - hopefully there will be few more of these!

One last canoe before closing up the cabin.

And finally, a lonely bench overlooking the lake waits for someone to come sit and enjoy the sights of the season.  I hope you'll be able to take in some of the most beautiful sights of the year as we make the transition into autumn.

August 27, 2017 - Harvest Season

The harvest season has begun, which is appropriate, as it has felt like fall the past few days, cool, bright, and dry.  Some harvesters have begun collecting the smallest items of the autumn crop as the pollen flies all around.

A heavily-laden bumblebee comes in for a landing

A honey bee with full pollen sacs

It's good thing bees aren't allergic.

Just looking at this makes my eyes itch

The largest animals are also collecting the fall bounty;  the bear has completed the removal of the black cherries, bending over the flexible trunks and stripping off all the fruit.  It also rolled a rotten log right into the middle of the trail to extract the bugs from underneath.

An old pine log left behind after a meal

The least it could have done was clear the table after its meal and roll the log back off the trail.

The large quantity of ground-based insects this time of year - ants, crickets, grasshoppers, etc. - make it a good time for snakes to be born.  I found this new-born garter snake slithering around the wood chips near the house.  (Garter snakes are ovoviviparous, meaning they give birth to live offspring rather than laying eggs as most reptiles do.)

The new moon that blotted out just over half of the sun on Monday will, in two weeks, also follow the harvest theme as the September full moon is known as the Harvest Moon.

The eclipse at maximum blockage.  Two sunspots are visible on the left side

We were fortunate enough to have clear skies during the entire period of the eclipse.

Well, I guess I can't put off the sad news any longer:  Tardy is no longer part of the Lake Wicwas community.  The first indication came on Wednesday when I heard news of a long period of awful, mourning loon calls, which was described as sounding like a parent who lost a child.  Then a careful loon watcher reported that the chick had not been seen for a couple of days, even though there was a pair frequenting the waters where the nesting family had usually been seen.  Next came a report of a loon swimming around for 30 minutes with a minnow in its beak, as if searching for a chick to feed - that sure sounded like a animal with parenting hormones in play.  So yesterday I went on two searches for the family, and on the second I found the banded female in close proximity to (presumably) its mate, with no chick to be seen.

There have been many eagles seen circling over the loon family, so that is a likely cause of its demise.

A bald eagle soaring over the loon family - photo by Debby Crowley

There are other possibilities, including turtles and other loons, but unless a body is recovered, we'll never know for sure.  Two years ago when we lost both chicks, one of them was found with a neck injury indicative of attack by another loon.

At least mom and dad appear to be fine;  mom must have been hungry after all that work raising and defending a chick, as she caught herself a tremendous meal.

Either that or she was consoling herself with the loon-equivalent of a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

She spent a long time catching and releasing this large fish, tiring it out before swallowing it.  Here's the whole sequence:

I guess we'll just have to try to enjoy the harvest season without our little Tardy.

My last picture of Tardy, August 21, 2017