July 9, 2023: A Paddle Up Blake Brook

I took advantage of the high water level - it's been as much as eight inches above full-pond - to take a summer paddle up Blake Brook to the beaver dam that holds back a good size beaver pond.  Along the way I found a number of interesting plants and animals including this bold Green Frog sitting on a lily pad.

It was another case of only seeing a well camouflaged animal because it hopped from one lily pad to another to get out of my way as I paddled through its domain.  But then it just sat calmly as I went by, posing nicely for an up-close portrait, a great opportunity to see the intricate detail of a frog's eye.

Here's looking at you, kid.

Even with high water the beaver dam had no problem holding back all that weight.  There were two spots along the dam where water was flowing over but it wasn't taking out any of the base structure.

The low point on the dam holding back the pond behind it.

I took some video of the other overflow:

The beavers will repair those low spots soon enough.

Here's an unusual flower I found on the trip that I wasn't familiar with:

Large Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon)

It turns out it's the blossom of the large cranberry.  I learned that the name "cranberry" comes from the fact that the blossom's stamen resembles the beak of a crane (the bird) though I'll admit I'm not sure I see it.  I later noticed that when I took a picture which includes an unopened blossom, someone photo-bombed it:

A little green monster photo-bombing.

This painted turtle was happily sunning itself in the marsh near the entrance to Blake Brook.

I learned several new things from the Nature of Pleasant Lake Newsletter about the important benefits of turtles sunning themselves; it's more than just raising their body temperature.  I'll say more about this in a future post, or you can read their newsletter here.  Another day this week I came upon a murder of crows (that's what a group of crows is called) highly interested in something beside the road.  Examining the source of attraction it was immediately evident they had located a painted turtle nest and had fully excavated the nest and consumed all the eggs, leaving only the leathery shells behind.

An excavated painted turtle nest.

The shells are soft and pliable and feel like thin leather.

It's good to know that painted turtle are plentiful; the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them in the category of  "species of least concern".

The blueberries are about to ripen; I just hope I get some.  Between the song sparrow and the kingbird (you're a flycatcher - leave my blueberries alone and go catch some bugs!), and the chipmunk, the berries are getting eaten as quickly as they ripen.  

The kingbird flits down to pick off a single berry at a time, but the chipmunk runs from bush to bush to get the choicest berries, stuffs his checks full of them, then sprints off to its den to stash them away for later.

Mr. Puffy Cheeks

He makes quite the acrobatic contortions to get to the berry he wants.

Hanging on by his toenails.

I really don't don't mind sharing - it looks like there will be enough for everyone this year.

And the loon update:  Still no chicks from the second nest, but Checkers and LuLu are doing great, with the parents constantly on guard for intruding loons.

Always on guard.

Watching mom and dad fishing to see how it's done.

The recent hot and humid air augmented with smoke from wildfires in Canada has made for interesting atmospheric scenes at both ends of the day.

Summer humidity makes for morning fog,

and evening sunsets.

It's nice to have summer finally arrive.

And this late breaking news:  We may have a chick from the second nest - I received a report last night (thanks R&J) that both loons were off the nest and there was only one egg visible.  I'll give a mid-week update when we know for sure.  

April 30, 2017

Signs of life are poking up everywhere as spring emerges from its long slumber.  The very first of the wildflowers, the Trailing Arbutus, emerged early in the week and are now blooming widely in the warmer locations.

First wildflower buds of the season

Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens), also known as Mayflower

Little Canada Mayflower stalks are starting to push their way up through last fall's leaf litter, even in the most improbable spots.

Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) also known as false-lily-of-the-valley.  Confusing, isn't it?

Soon the forest floor will be speckled with green shoots.

Even the Red Oak seeds are emerging from their cradle, reaching a toe out to test the soil, revealing their true colors even at this early stage.

A Red Oak is born

It's a wonder of nature that some day such a tiny seed will become a majestic oak.

A pair of Red Oaks along the Blue Trail in the Hamlin conservation area

Most of the Red Maple flowers are gone now and they are starting to push out miniature leaves, as are the Black Cherry trees.

Black Cherry leaves, and fruit in its early form

Allergy lovers, of course, already know this.

I witnessed a couple of displays of aerial acrobatics this week as crows defended their nests.  First I saw one crow attacking another that was just sitting in the top of an oak tree.

The attacker would fly away and circle up to gather energy for a bombing run.  As it dove down at the tree-sitter, the target would raise its sharp beak and let a out a loud "caaaw" and the bomber would make a close approach at high speed, then bank hard and swing away for another strafing run.

A crow protecting its territory

This went on for several minutes - I shared a couple of videos on YouTube:

               Crow Acrobatics                Bombing Run

Another day I saw a small bird chasing a larger bird and thought it was one of the smaller birds such as a blue jay or a black bird harassing a crow. (This is known as "mobbing": when smaller birds harass a larger bird to protect their nesting territory.  Crows for example, are known robbers of young hatchlings from smaller bird's nests.)  But with binoculars I immediately saw it was a crow going after a Bald Eagle.  The eagle flew to the shoreline and found a protected branch on a white pine to land, and the crow went on its way.

The Eagle protected from its smaller antagonist

I know there are crow nests in this area, as when walking nearby the crows put up an awful racket when I'm in the vicinity of their nest tree.  They know eagles love to raid their offspring just as much as the crows love to raid those of smaller birds.  It doesn't matter if you are the largest creature in the forest;  it won't make you invulnerable to less powerful nations who will fight tirelessly to protect their country.

Soon the next bird generation will be hatching out to join with all the other new life that makes up the rebirth of New England year after year.

Postscript:  As you drive the roads in Meredith in the coming weeks, take note how good the roadsides look.  A team of generous volunteers spent their Saturday morning picking up trash along the town's roads.  The event was organized and sponsored by Dave Kutcher and DAK Financial Group in Meredith.  Next time you're down town, stop by to say thank you to Dave and his team. Many thanks all the wonderful people who participated, including employees of Meredith's DPW who took away the mountain of trash collected.  It really makes a difference in how our town looks!

April 9, 2011

Not much changed around Lake Wicwas this week.  Even though the temperature was seasonably warm and the snow is melting, we just didn’t make a lot of progress.  The ice did give up a little ground, as it dropped two inches in thickness, but it remains 22 inches deep.  There are still only small openings around the shore line.

Maple Sugar season is comning to an end.  The Chemung Gang Sugar Shack (the Taggett's) are boiling their last batch for the season this weekend.  They said they had a record year, with 22 gallons of syrup made, and just about every drop sold.  They only had a few bottles left when I was there today, so if you want some great, fresh local syrup straight from the trees that drink the same water as Lake Wicwas, you'd better hurry!

Crows

Crow season never ends.  We saw a group of three or four harrassing a hawk who was too close to their nesting site. 

Later, a flock of crows was out on the ice huddling up like a football team as they decided who was going to get the fisherman's leftovers that were uncovered by the melting snow.




In the woods there are bare spots showing up now, and signs of life are reappearing.

Tree Clubmoss

Wintergreen

In the shade however, it's not uncommon to find well over a foot of snow.  Here and there one finds holes in the snow cover where a rock underneath the snow has conducted the warmth from below up to melt the snow from the bottom, sometimes suspending the snow several inches above the ground.

I haven't checked on the progress of the second house construction lately, but the one on the north side of the lake looks complete from the outside, and will certainly have happy occupants this summer!