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.

May 25, 2025: Northern Water Snake

Swimmers in New Hampshire lakes might not be pleased to see this, but rest assured that these snakes will flee from anything larger than a big frog, especially humans, so there's nothing to worry about unless you decide to approach one of these guys.

A northern water snake on a midday search for food or a mate.

Northern Water Snakes are very common around all our waterbodies, rarely found any distance from a pond, lake, or stream.  They are excellent swimmers and especially active this time of year when they are searching for mates.  After mating the two snakes will go their separate ways, with the female gestating 10 to 30 young until late summer.  During this time, water snakes feed primarily on fish and amphibians, but also crayfish, leeches, and other snakes.  

Snakes use their tongue as a sensor.  They stick it out to collect airborne molecules on it, then pull it in into their head and place it into an organ that lets them smell what was captured on the tongue.  The forked tongue provides a stereoscopic capability which lets them determine the direction of the source. 

Sticking our its tongue to smell.

Northern water snakes are not poisonous, but do have sharp teeth they use catch and hold onto their prey, which they swallow whole.  With fast reflexes they are able to catch fish, sometimes hunting minnows at night, though they are most active during the day, and are often found sunning themselves on a warm rock or branch at the water's edge.

A good size water snake I found sunning itself on a rock a few summers ago.

Predators of water snakes include birds, racoons, and snapping turtles, as well as other snakes.  Some day maybe I'll see an eagle swoop down and grab a swimming snake off the surface of the lake.

The female water snake is ovoviviparous, meaning it gives birth to live young which are left completely on their own.  This is the time for larger fish to exact revenge, as the infant snakes are especially vulnerable to fish.  Many of the young won't survive, but with a couple dozen snakes born every year over perhaps a five year life span, the species is not in danger - where there is a good food source.  The biggest risk to this species is the loss of natural waterfront habitat which provides the food it needs.

I haven't seen a snake sunning itself on this tree trunk that fell into Lake Wicwas, but lots of other animals have been using it including turtles, geese, ducks, and this week, a Double-crested Cormorant.  

Double-crested Cormorant.

A pair of mallards does their preening on the log.

The water level in Wicwas is still about 10" above normal, but at least one pair of geese was able to incubate their eggs before the lake flooded.

Looks like five goslings.

The loons, however, are still cruising the lake, waiting for the level to go down before building a nest.  One day we saw both pairs of loons floating on their respective side of the line that divides the two territories, and both pairs were vocalizing loudly to let the other pair know they need to stay where they are.  The northern pair did have an intruder one day, which they appear to have quickly sent packing to another lake.

An intruder in the northern territory.

Cool weather has extended the period of the early wildflowers; all the ones noted last week are still in bloom.  This week the Lady's Slippers are in peak color, the Painted Trilliums have started to bloom, the Canada Mayflowers are about to, and the various cherries are in full bloom.

Painted Trillium.

Lady's slipper in a deep color.

Canada Mayflower about to bloom.

I also saw a small Jack-in-the-Pulpit just starting its spring sermon.  

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

There will be more of these soon, but you have to look for them as they hide under cover of their leaves!

September 22, 2024: Spring Peeping into Fall

This confused little Spring Peeper was climbing up the side of our house one evening right at supper time.

Look at the little suction cup pads on its toes.

Does our house look like a tree?  

Spring Peepers are the smallest frogs we have in New Hampshire, less than an inch in length, and have a distinguishing X-mark on their back.  They make up for their small size with a large voice - these are the frogs that create the loud peeping sound that keep you awake on early spring nights.  According to NH Audubon, a large group of them can make enough noise to be heard two and a half miles away!  [Ref:  NH Audubon]  Spring Peepers are similar to Wood Frogs in many ways including being able to climb trees, breeding only in vernal pools, and synthesizing antifreeze which allows them to survive subfreezing temperatures over the winter.  This feature lets them hibernate near the surface so they can emerge early in spring to get to vernal pools in time for their offspring to mature and leave the pool before it dries up in summer.

Walking along the White Trail in the Smyth Easement on one of these fine falls mornings I saw a spider web reflecting a sunbeam that found its way through the forest canopy.  

The owner was home and right at the center of its web.

I don't know what kind of spider it is other than it's in the orb-weaver family, and it's a pretty tiny spider to have created such a large web.  It likely means I was the first one on the trail that day, though because it was so visible in the sunbeam, I was able see it and leave it undisturbed for the next hiker to find.

There's been a cormorant hanging around the lake recently, taking advantage of the good fishing in Wicwas to fuel up during its migration south.  

Double-crested Cormorant

Keep your eye out for them this time of year on any of our lakes.  They can look like a loon from a distance, but they typically ride lower in the water.  They may look dark and plain, but up close they are actually quite pretty.

On the subject of birds, the NH Audubon Society has just established a bird tracking station on the Lakes Region Conservation Trust fire tower atop Red Hill in Moultonborough.  This joins a network of stations used to track birds across the country.  The Red Hill station already tagged its first bird, a Wood Thrush passing through New Hampshire on its way south.  Two days later the same bird was in Pennsylvania!  

Since then the station has detected two migrating Eastern Whip-poor-wills.  Birds are tracked using miniature transmitters attached to them.  The stations pick up the signal from the transmitter when the bird flies near a station, much like the ez-pass system on our car.  You can learn more about the system here.  With fall migration in full swing now, there should be many more birds detected over the coming weeks.  You can monitor the station's observations and track the birds' travels on-line at this link.  

It may be hard to believe, but the transmitters are so small that they can also be attached to bats and even insects, including dragonflies.  I don't know if any dragonflies have been tagged in our area, but they are very active right now especially in the marshes around the lake.  I watched male dragonflies hovering over their claimed territory until another one entered its air space. 

Then it zipped after it to chase the intruder away before returning to its sentry post.

Dragonflies have amazing joints and muscles that allow their wings to rotate in a figure eight pattern, providing the ability to hover as well as enabling high speed flight and rapid maneuvering to capture insects on the wing.

Four wings that move independently give dragonflies great acrobatic abilities.

Those marshes around the lake are starting to age into their soft golden hues of fall now.

Autumn marshes and Red Maple trees in wet areas are early signs of the coming season.

One of the prettiest times of year in the Lakes Region is almost here.

P.S.  For you historians, the Meredith Historical Society will be featuring our own Dean Dexter next Tuesday when he presents "The Smiths of Wicwas Lodge".  The event is at the Meredith Community Center on Tuesday, Oct 1st.  Doors open with snacks at 6:30pm and the presentation starts at 7:00.  I hope to see you there!

September 13, 2020: Soaking up the Waning Rays of Summer

We saw a few more cool mornings this week and the daylight hours have shrunk to almost twelve; there's no denying now that fall is around the corner, meaning it's time to soak in all the warm days we get now.  Returning from a trip on the lake one day this week I found a most interesting sight:  a great blue heron doing just that.

A great blue heron soaking up the late summer rays.

I have never seen a heron do this before - its wings spread out, collecting up the sun as if it were trying to get a tan under its chin!  

The only other bird I've seen act like this is the cormorant.  The cormorant is a large diving bird similar to a loon but with a distinct difference in it feathers:  the cormorant's feathers are not water-repellent as the loons are, so they absorb water, making the cormorant heavier and more efficient at diving and catching fish.  But that added weight makes it more difficult to become airborne and to fly efficiently, which is why you'll often see cormorants sitting on the rocks at the ocean with their wings spread out - they are drying their feathers.  You might even see this behavior on a lake in New Hampshire.

A double-crested cormorant drys its wings over Lake Wicwas.

Cormorants are infrequent visitors to Lake Wicwas;  some years I see several around the lake, but most often there are none or maybe a transient for a few days.

A trio of cormorants sits under a waxing moon in 2010.

The cool weather has sparked a change in behavior amongst our other large diving birds, the loons.  This week we saw only one chick and a parent together, the first time I haven't found the two chicks close together, which was a little concerning.  But farther down the lake we found the other chick, also with a parent.  Also, one of the chick/parent pairs was much farther north in the lake that the chicks have been all summer, almost to Bryant Island.  These two facts make me think that our other pair of loons (the banded pair) has left the lake.

Prior to this point there has always been one loon out on guard duty well south of Bryant Island keeping the other loons away from the family while the other parent watched over both chicks.  The fact that they have moved farther north into the other pair's territory tells me the northern pair is gone for the winter.  And that bodes well for Harold and Betty, as one more danger to them is gone, and now both parents can provide food for the chicks.  I have yet to see either of the chicks catch their own food, though the loon experts at the Loon Preservation Committee say they are capable of it now, although just like teenagers, they'll rely on mom and dad as long as they can get away with it!

It must be an exciting time for the new chicks as they get to explore new horizons.

Harold and Betty are seeing new parts of the lake for the first time.

We were fortunate to have a beautiful day when the Lake Wicwas Association held the 11th Annual Paddle Regatta over Labor Day weekend.

It was well attended by a group of paddlers that explored some of the lake's marshes and conservation areas, including the islands conserved by Rawson Wood many years ago for loon nesting habitat, and which were in fact the nesting location for our banded pair this year.  

If you're out on the lake in the next week soaking up some sun, take a look near the shore for these interesting flowers:

Turtlehead (Chelone Glabra)

They tend to hide out among the blueberries and other low growth so you may to look a bit, but they have such an interesting bloom its worth seeking them out.  Regarding its Latin name, according to the US Forest Service, "In Greek mythology, there was a nymph named Chelone who insulted the gods; in punishment, she was turned into a turtle."

Cold nights and misty mornings will be more common now, so be sure to get out and enjoy the warm afternoons whenever you get the chance!

Morning mist envelops Wedding Island.