April 12, 2026: Ice-Out

We were making good progress towards ice-out early in the week with a strong April sun shinning down on the darkening ice.

Monday

But then the thinnest layer of new snow set things back when the fresh white surface turned those rays around and reflected them right back into space.

A Snowy Tuesday

But a couple of warm days followed and ate away at the new snow.

Thursday

and by Friday we were back on the path towards rapid melting.  

Friday

Interesting formations always appear as meltwater finds the path to a low spot on the ice.

Ice Spider

The very next day, after a windy night, we woke to this:

Blue Water on Saturday Morning

Wind had splintered the ice like a giant ice chipper into small crystal fragments and piled them up against the edge of the waning ice sheet.

I think that's a compact summary of the ice-out process:  solid ice on left, open water on the right, and the fragmented ice crystals at the interface.  The green color at the margin of ice and fragments comes from liquid water that was swept onto the ice reflecting green pine trees on the far shore.

The wave action continued to erode the ice during the day, and the wind drove everything to the shore line.

You could audibly hear the ice fragments clinking and tinkling against each other in the wave action. 

By afternoon, almost all the remaining ice had been melted and worn away by the wave action.  Ice-out on Wicwas was declared yesterday, April 11.

Lake Wicwas Boat Ramp at 4:41pm on April 11th.

April 11 is typical for ice-out on Wicwas, but due to the cold December resulting in an early ice-in date of December 10th, the lake was ice-covered for 122 days, the longest period of ice cover since the winter of 2018-2019.  Lake Winnisquam was declared ice free on April 6th, and Lake Winnipesaukee is getting close with ice left only in Center Harbor and Wolfeboro according to Emerson Aviation.  

Earlier in the week the lake was too soft to be an avenue for coyotes, but it wasn't too soft for water-loving animals.  A pair of geese walked across the lake.

Making the trek from open water along the shore to their nesting site.

I'm pretty sure it's the pair that nests in the wetland behind Sheep Island, and that's where they were heading to see if it's open enough to start nestbuilding.  It's a well protected nesting site, and they want first dibs on it.

We also watched a River Otter out playing on the ice - it has no concern with crossing open water at the shore lines.  It was dusk so I couldn't get a picture, but here's one from an otter on an earlier trip across the lake.

They run, hop, jump, slide, and just generally seem to have a grand time playing on the ice.

Belly Slide

And finally, more late breaking news from the lake: The loons have arrived!

This is most likely the northern territory male and hopefully, a new mate.

This pair arrived Friday (or earlier), before ice-out.  Like the geese, they want to claim their territory before any other bird noses in.  All our loon watchers will be looking for bands now to determine who they are!

April 20, 2025: Hungry Beavers

Happy Easter!

While we're waiting for the wildflowers in the forests to bloom - the Trailing Arbutus will be first - we can enjoy cultivated crocuses, daffodils and Hepatica.  

These hepatica were planted by us, but at least they are native to North America, unlike the crocuses.

Hepatica are native in a wide range across the United States, from Canada to northern Florida.

I had my first paddle on the lake this week and appreciated the clear water and the chance to see new shoots of various aquatic plants pushing up from the bottom of the marshes.  There were also lots of birds to see and hear.  The Pine Warblers were the stars of the audio broadcast, but the Song Sparrows were a strong supporting cast and much more musical than the raspy call of the pine warblers.  But the most populous birds were the geese.

I passed by at least five pairs on the lake.  

Guard duty

Many were arguing with competitors for territory, but at least one pair was already on a nest.  I came around a corner just as one of the pair, likely the male, went off in the other direction to drive away an intruding goose, which left the female unprotected on the nest.  

Well camouflaged on the nest.

I was able to glide by without disturbing her, but she held her head low to the water just like loons do, and was absolutely motionless the entire time.

I saw only one loon on my paddle, but quarrels between loons have been seen and heard this week.  I was able to confirm that at least one of our banded loons is back on the lake.

That's a green and silver band on the right leg.

This is the female from the pair that has nested in Harris Cover for several years now.  It was interesting to find her far into the northern territory.  The long-time male in the northern territory lost his mate last summer so it will be interesting to see what happens there.  I haven't determined if the northern territory banded male is back on the lake this year.

We still have a few Ringed-neck Ducks  and many Wood Ducks.  

A couple of male Wood Ducks.

At one point there were five male Ring-necked Ducks courting a single female.

The main attraction was swimming away to the left of this picture.

It might seem like she was being harassed, but she was more likely assessing which one is best suited to be her mate.  The boldest male would often fend off another male if he approached her.  Five courting one makes me wonder if there are more males than females, and if it may be near the end of the pairing-up season.  

And the beavers - they are so much fun to watch.  In addition to seeing them swim across the lake every evening, one morning a beaver was feeding on submerged branches from a White Pine tree that had fallen into the lake.  It was just floating calm as can be enjoying its breakfast.

Look at that tail and those dexterous fingers!

When it finished with one branch it would dive down, gnaw off another from the tree and come back up to dine some more.  You can follow its path under the water by tracking the bubbles surfacing.

The beaver family creating a new pond near the Hamlin Forest trailhead continues to expand their domain.  I'll give an update on that situation in the coming weeks.

Ice-out on Wicwas was called on April 11th, three days before Lake Winnipesaukee was declared ice free.  That gave Wicwas a total of 105 days of ice cover, well below the average of 119 days due to the warm fall and late ice-in.  As of mid-week, I was still able to find a few patches of snow and ice around Meredith.

It's a different story in the mountains where it's still definitely winter.  Passing through Franconia Notch on our way up to Jay Peak in Vermont we saw Mt. Lafayette was freshly blanketed in white.  And at Jay, yes, it's still winter there!

It's easy to see why hikers that don't do their research get into trouble in the mountains this time of year.

April 21, 2024: First Wildflower

I noted my first wildflower of the year at Page Pond on April 16th, a Coltsfoot.  (I don 't count introduced species like crocuses and snowdrops.)

Coltsfoot, April 16

Like most things this year, it's ahead of schedule.  Coltsfoot usually blooms in the first week of May and the earliest I've seem them previously is April 29th.  I'll be looking for the Trailing Arbutus to bloom next.

The lake level continues to be high though it has come down quite a bit over the last few days.  The high water may be raising havoc with the Canada geese finding sufficient nesting sites.  I've watched pairs of geese tangling with each other, apparently one pair defending their nesting site from an intruding pair.

If you're boating on the lake in the next few weeks, be careful of floating debris in the water from the recent storm.  There are lots of logs floating just under the surface and several large trees still making their way around the lake including this large one currently stuck on the bottom down towards the dam.

Photos by Dean Cascadden.

There's also a lost umbrella base floating in the lake, looking like a white submarine with its periscope up.  If you recognize it let me know and we'll get it back to you.

Up Periscope.  (Note the log also in the picture.)

All the trees in the lake have been a bonanza for the beavers who are finding easy foraging for food without having to cut their own trees down.

Branches gnawed clean of their bark.

Calmly enjoying an easy meal in the lake.

Good news on the loon front:  Just yesterday I confirmed our northern banded-loon pair has returned for the summer.  Earlier I had seen the female alone and caught sight of her bands.

All four bands are visible.

This is the female of the pair that raised LuLu and Checkers last year; she was banded on Lake Pemigewasset in 2018 and has been on Wicwas since 2021 when she evicted our prior banded female.  Then yesterday a pair of loons came by and I was able to get a look at its white band with black dot to determine it's LuLu and Checker's father, as well as another glimpse of the female.  

You can just barely make out the male's band on its left leg.

So the 2024 loon mating season has begun.  We'll be monitoring the lake level carefully now to keep it as steady as we can which won't be easy as those beavers are already packing the dam with all those branches blown down.

One more pair of breeding animals before I end:  The wood ducks appear to have taken up home here, so keep your eye open in a few weeks for mother wood duck and what is often her large brood of chicks.

Mrs. Wood Duck on her morning tour of the lake.

Take advantage of these last few bug-free days to get outside - the black flies will be here way too soon.

March 19, 2023: Courting Doves

Mourning Doves are one of the most widespread of all birds, second only to the American Robin.  We've all seen them; they appear rather non-descript and I never paid them much attention until this week when some unusual behavior made me look more closely at them, and when you look closely, they really are rather elegant.

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)

What caught my eye was two of them sitting side-by-side on a tree branch performing some kind of ritual where they were bobbing their heads up and down together with their beaks locked with each other's.  If they weren't so calm about it I would have thought they were fighting, but this clearly wasn't the case, so I referred to Stokes, A Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume II, which has a chapter on mourning doves, and I discovered these are quite fascinating birds, and ones that are easy to observe based on their numbers and frequent visits to bird feeders.  

A pair of courting mourning doves.

Mourning doves have a courting process that is both intricate and observable.  It usually starts with a male bird sitting on a perch, puffing out its chest feathers, and then giving a long, loud coo.  This auditory announcement of its availability is followed by a dramatic flight display where it flies up perhaps a hundred feet in the air and then spirals downward, soaring on fixed wings.  That should attract some attention.  I didn't see this behavior - it's possible the pair I'm watching has progressed beyond this stage, but I'll keep watching for it.  

Apparently what I saw the two birds doing occurs after they have already paired up and is a pre-copulation action called "billing".  According to Stokes, the female bird puts its beak in the male's beak and they bob their heads up and down together.  

Though I didn't capture that behavior, I did later see them exhibiting other mating behavior that I was able to video.  I believe the male is strutting and showing off to the female, both its plumage and its physical abilities with all the bobbing and preening.  

Male and female mourning doves are very similar in appearance, with the male having a slightly more reddish breast and a darker cap on its head.  A female's head is also somewhat rounder than a male's.  

At one point during the week there were two other doves in the area and there was some aggressive behavior related to defending territory and/or mates.  I'll be on the watch for more of these behaviors this spring as well.

Mr. and Mrs. mourning dove on a snowy morning.

Shortly after I posted last week's journal on otters I took a ski over to Lake Winnisquam, and to my surprise, I saw otters!  Where the stream that flows out of Wicwas enters into the northern tip of Winnisquam, the current entering the lake had opened up a large expanse of water.

Where the Wicwas Millbrook enters Lake Winnisquam.

And where open water met ice, two otters were having a great time.  I don't bring my camera when I'm skiing so all I had was my phone, and one of the rules of nature is to not approach wildlife close enough to disturb them, so this is the best picture I could get; it shows one them sticking its neck up, probably having detected my presence.

I read just this week something that might explain how otters can safely travel under the ice at this time of year.  According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, "In late winter, water levels usually drop below ice levels in frozen rivers and lakes, leaving a layer of air that allows river otters to travel and hunt under the ice."  I always wondered how they could dive under the ice and know they would be able find a place to surface before they ran out of air.

I watched the otters play for a while before I went on my way.  It was a beautiful day on the lakes.

There are more signs of spring's approach every day.  On Friday I saw my first migrating waterfowl of the year.

The first Canada goose, at the other end of the Millbrook, the dam at the outflow from Lake Wicwas.

And, you may remember the snowdrops had emerged back on February 12th.  Well those little plants are darn tough, because after being frozen, flooded, and buried in snow after they emerged, when the snowbank receded yesterday, they bloomed!

Snowdrops blooming behind the snowbanks on March 18.

Flowers blooming, birds courting, ice opening up - and two feet of fresh snow in the western part of the Lakes Region - all in the same week.  It's tug-of-war time in New Hampshire.

Spear Mountain in Danbury on March 15th.