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.

August 25, 2024: Double-Dammed Pond

We're getting towards the best time of the year to be outside:  The bugs are mostly gone, the air is cooler and drier, and once the smoke from wildfires moves out the sky will be blue.  With so many great hiking options right close by there's no need to travel far to get your nature fix.  Right here beside Lake Wicwas is the 700 acre Hamlin-Eames-Smyth Town Forest with almost 20 miles of trails.  One of my favorite loops is the Blue Trail that goes out to Double-dammed Pond.  

Double-dammed Pond

This pretty beaver pond got its name from the fact it has dams at both ends of its elongated pond.  On my way out there I stopped to peruse numerous fungi with a range of sizes, colors, and shapes.

Indian Pipe

Amanita

Yellow Slime Mold

I think this is a Yellow Slime Mold (with a second fungus growing with it) - something worth studying further - it's really interesting.

Those are just a few of many you'll see if you take a walk in the woods this week.  I'll include more of the mushrooms I've seen this summer when I do the annual fungus post.  

🍄

Most of the woodland flowers are done blooming now but if you look along the shores of any pond or stream where more sun reaches the ground you're likely so see aquatic or wetland flowers blooming.  A perennial late-summer favorite of mine is the turtlehead.

Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)

It was on a walk to a different beaver pond quite a bit farther north that I came upon a fabulous raptor perched proudly on a drowned tree in the pond.  

It was a small a raptor and I knew it was something special, though I wasn't prepared to declare it was a Merlin until I returned home and checked the field guides, and finally sent the picture to a friend who's a true avian expert (thanks RB!) and he confirmed it was a Merlin.  

That's a first for me.  I've seen small, fast raptors speeding through the yard on occasion and wondered if was a Merlin but never got a good enough look to know.  To see one perched, waiting for an unsuspecting bird to fly near was a real treat.  Merlins are small falcons and are very fast and powerful birds.  Other birds are their primary food source; they catch them on the wing, chasing them down, or forcing them to fly higher until they tire out and are overtaken.  Merlins breed in Canada so this one was probably on its way to the southern US or Central America for the winter.

Beaver Pond in Twin Mountain

Back on Wicwas I came upon what I thought was a new sculpture someone had placed in their yard.

It looked so real, but was so stationary that I didn't think it was real; it never moved as I paddled right by it.  But looking back over my shoulder I detected a slight twitch in its head, and decided it was in fact the real thing.  Last week someone shared with me that they watched a heron eat a turtle - whole.  He said it was quite a sight to see.  I'd never heard of that, and looking into it, I learned that herons have two stomachs, which together, allow them to digest turtles.  The first has a potent stomach acid that softens bones and shells.  The second stomach grinds everything up with the help of stones the heron eats for this purpose, much like loons do.  That begs the question of whether herons, like loons, suffer from lead poisoning from consuming lead fishing sinkers.  Maybe herons take different size stones, or maybe they collect them from areas where fishing tackle might not be lost.  

The forest has been quiet here in late summer, but I have seen this deer a couple of times recently. 

Yesterday morning we had a lengthy stare-off where the deer took a long time to decide if I was a threat.  It eventually concluded "yes" and was off.

Is that where the term "high-tail" it out of here comes from?

June 23, 2024: Bambi Comes to Visit

A healthy looking White-tailed Deer paid a visit to the yard this week and we enjoyed watching it while it browsed because it was mostly nibbling on plants we didn't mind it gobbling up.  Even though we were standing very still inside the house the deer was able to detect our motion and be on high alert.  

Deer are incredibly sensitive animals.

I know their namesake fly, the Deer Fly, torments them as much as they do us, as the deer's constant tail swishing and ear twitching shows, but deer apparently are more tolerant than I am to these painful pests.

A couple of deer flies attached right to its forehead.

At one point the deer was munching on Sheep Laurel.

"This looks tasty."

Then it went after the Whorled Loosestrife.

Does it taste as good as it looks?

Even better was when it started working on various weeds.

The reach,

the snap,

and the munch.  Note the ragged broken off stem above its nose.  

A rough broken stem rather than a clean cut is a sign of deer damage because lacking front incisors, deer tear off vegetation rather than cut it with sharp front teeth like a rabbit.  We don't mind finding these on the weeds, but there are plenty of garden casualties that result from deer and other wildlife when we're not around to shoo them away.  Living amidst nature is definitely a give and take experience.

Did you happen to notice all the Rice Krispies in the lake this week?

These are the male cones of the White Pine tree and there was a good batch of them this year.

A friend gave them this name and it's perfect - that's exactly what they look like, just floating in the lake rather than your cereal bowl.

These are the factories that produced all that green pollen that fell a couple of weeks ago.

Another plant that is prolific this year is the Rose Pogonia.  

Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides)

I mention these every summer simply because they are so fabulous.  If you haven't seen them you really should grab a kayak and head into one of the many marshes around Wicwas or any of the other local lakes.  They really are special - a native, miniature orchid.

Note the two legs of a spider hiding behind one of the flowers.

There is good news from the loons:  last week's mating efforts were productive and the northern pair has built a second nest and is now incubating at least one egg.  I went out with the LPC intern Jayden on Wednesday and it must have been right after the first egg was laid as both loons were away from the nest long before we came anywhere near it.  With them off the nest, Jayden was able to see a single egg through binoculars.  As we got nearer to the nest both loons came right up beside us, ready to defend their nest if needed.  

We quickly moved away.  Jayden thinks it's likely they were not incubating the egg yet because a second egg will be added to the nest.  Waiting until both eggs are laid before incubation allows the two eggs to hatch close together, usually about 24 hours apart.  The next day there was a loon on the nest, so the incubation timer likely started on June 20th.  Now we wait anxiously, with two loon nests on the lake.  Check here on July 21st for an update, and on July 15th for the south nest.  

Finally, I want to thank the intrepid group of hikers that braved the heat and humidity to participate in the Lakes Region Conservation Trust guided hike to the Smyth Easement.  We started from the Hamlin Town Forest trailhead and were able to get nice but very hazy views from both Crockett's Ledge and the White Mountain Ledge.

A hazy day in the mountains.

It was the hottest day of the year, 94 degrees when we finished with 99% relative humidity, but we took it slow and had a great trip.  Even on a hot day there were lots of birds singing - we heard Hermit Thrushes, Scarlet Tanagers, Ovenbirds, and several different warblers, among many others.  At one of the stream crossings we stopped to see what we would find.  There were small fish in the brook, and we  discovered some beautiful bright green damselflies with black wings.  I think they were Ebony Jewelwings.  

Sometimes the best part of a hike is when you just stop, look, and listen.

May 5, 2024: Boats and Birds are back on the Lake

Docks are going in and boats are appearing on the lake - sure signs that summer is approaching.  The April showers have come and gone and the lake is down to its proper summer level - just in time as both pairs of our nesting loons have returned and started scouting for nesting sites.  I got on the lake a couple of times, and on one of my kayak trips I watched a hawk fly over the lake right towards me and land high on an island I was paddling beside.    

Broad-winged Hawk.  (Buteo platypterus)

The broad-winged Hawks have returned.  These are hawks I often see and hear soaring over the lakes and trees in summer.  Their strongly banded tail is visible as they fly, and their high-pitched whistle is easily heard piercing the summer sky. 

Photo credit:  David Brown

New Hampshire's broad-winged hawks migrate 4000 miles twice a year, back and forth from Central America, and these birds are survivors.  Fossil records show they have been on the planet for 400,000 years.  [Ref:  Cornell Lab of Ornithology]  Cornell also states they usually nest "far from areas of human disturbance," another indicator that the conserved areas around Wicwas are supportive of wildlife species that need large unfragmented lands.

Later on the paddle I saw motion far across the lake in a marsh.  I couldn't see what it was but took a picture to blow up later, and saw that it was a Great Blue Heron.  And it had some huge object in its beak.

Is that a fish?  It doesn't look like a snake.  The photo is too poor to tell.

The herons have been back for a while now but many warblers arrived just this week.  I saw or heard Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, and Blackburnian warblers as well as Oven Birds.  

Lots of animals are taking advantage of the trees that got blown into the lake, not just the beavers.  I've seen painted turtles sun bathing on them as well as this heron which was using one felled tree as a fishing platform.

Amy and Russ found the Harris Cove loons preening one afternoon and were able to identify both of them by their bands.  This provided the confirmation that both nesting pairs are back.

The Harris Cove male.  Photo by Amy Wilson.

The two pairs seem to be sharing the lake well so it looks like we're set for another successful breeding season.  Between these two pairs, Lake Wicwas has fledged nine new loons over the past five years.

I also caught a glimpse of two deer strolling the woods.

I think they might have been yearlings still traveling together as both appeared rather small.  White-tailed deer are curious animals and they watched me for a while, eventually deciding I wasn't a threat, but they walked slowly up into thicker woods just to be safe.

The spring flora is also starting to rev up now.  This week I saw my first Trillium, a purple one.

Purple Trillium (Trillium erectum) in Hamlin.

Fiddleheads are poking up in and around wetlands.

Also Violets, the Sweet White and Common Blue, as well as Trailing Arbutus, are in bloom.

Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)

There's a lot going on around the lake in spring, and there's only a short time left to enjoy it all without dealing with the bugs.  All those Phoebes and warblers fliting through the bare branches show that bugs are back on the lake too.