January 4, 2026: New Year's Visitors

Happy New Year!  

We had the pleasure of our first visitors of 2026 when the bobcat family stopped by on New Year's Day.

Mother bobcat and one of her two kits.

Mom and her two kits came looking to find a meal under the bird feeders.  We first saw mom near the feeders, but at that point all the targets of her hunt had fled, including the half dozen gray squirrels that had been there a moment before.  There isn't a lot of cover around the feeders, so it's hard to ambush prey; only once have we seen a bobcat catch a squirrel, and it was a very impressive feat.  So mom left emptyhanded, and headed back up through the woods.  

An unsuccessful hunting attempt.

When she reached the path, her two kits came trotting right up to her to see if she was bringing them lunch.  

Three little bob tails stick out from behind a tree.

Apparently she had instructed them to wait patiently hidden away while she went on her hunting mission.  They were of course disappointed, but they snuggled up and told her they understand.

It's ok mom, you'll get 'em next time.

Both kits looked strong and healthy, though one was noticeably smaller than the other, and he/she kept close to its mother.

The smaller of the two kits.

The larger kit was braver and more independent, venturing off on its own ahead of the others.

The larger kit.  Look at the size of the hind paws!

It was a great way to start the new year!  

There won't be any tracking opportunities to see what the bobcats or anyone else is doing until we get more snow because the ice storm this week created a bulletproof snowpack. 

Ice coats the trees.

Whether the ice-coated landscape is beautiful or not depends on perspective.  If you were one of the 10,000 Lakes Region customers who lost power, it was, understandably, not pretty to have everything coated with a quarter inch of ice.

But if you were safe and warm and able to get out the next day when the sun came out, there were some picturesque sights to see.  

Mother nature provides an endless array of wonders.  What new marvels will 2026 bring us?

December 22, 2024: Winter Solstice '24

The first day of winter sure came in with a bang, bringing the coldest temperatures of the year, with last night dropping down to 4 degrees Fahrenheit.  But we sure have been on the New Hampshire weather roller coaster, as it was 51 degrees on Tuesday.  All combined, the lake still hasn't frozen over.  But before the warm up we got in some good skating on the coves.

This time of year, before snow covers the lake, there are always interesting phenomena to see, such as these black holes with spider veins, perhaps caused by melt water seeking out low spots in the ice to drain down into the lake.

After the warm-up, melt water on the surface of the ice turned parts of the lake into a mirror.

Too bad we didn't get a flash freeze before more snow fell on what would have been an impeccable skating surface.

⛸

During the warm spell the bears came back out for one last forage for food - I hope.

A nice Black Bear pawprint in soft snow.

But with the cold back, the birdfeeders are once again out and open for business, and they're getting a lot of action now!

I still struggle with Downy versus Hairy, but I think this is a Hairy Woodpecker based on the large beak and lack of spots on the tail feathers

I found something unexpected on top of the snow one day:

Might this be a baby snapper shell?

What animal came up with this small turtle to snack on?  Probabably a mink or an otter.  

I had an incredibly fortunate encounter on the trails this week, and as a result, we're all treated to a rare opportunity to experience Lake Wicwas from a new perspective.  I was on a winter run on Wednesday in the Hamlin Town Forest, and as I approached Crockett's Ledge heading south from the White Mountain Ledge, I heard the unmistakable buzz of a drone.  (Insert jokes about New Jersey here ;-) 

As I came onto the open ledge I found operator Bruce Bouley, his drone hovering overhead.  I stopped to talk and I learned that it's his brother that has a house on Loon Point Road, and he's quite familiar with the area.  I asked if he would send me some pictures, and he told me he would post a video on his YouTube channel.  Yesterday I found the video which you can watch below.  It's really neat - you can see exactly the size and location of the open water on Wednesday, as well as narrow channels of water in the ice and many large ice patterns.  See how many of the houses, islands, coves, and wetlands you can recognize!  

Thank you Bruce for that fantastic opportunity to experience Wicwas and its surroundings from above!  

Later in the week there was still open water.  I didn't get out early this morning to see if the lake finished freezing over, but it probably didn't even with the cold temperature last night due to the strong northwest wind that was blowing across the open area (that's why it's often the last place to freeze).  But I'm guessing once the winds die down it will be the end of a liquid Wicwas.  I just hope the loon that's been observed multiple times over the past two weeks gets the hint and heads out in time.  But someone is watching it, and he's been in touch with the Loon Preservation Center, so they're prepared for a rescue if necessary.  I hope to be able to provide an update on both topics next week.

Until then, with the shortest day of the year now behind us, may the warmth of the intensifying sun's rays shine upon you!

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2023: Merry Christmas!

Unless mother nature brings us a Christmas Eve Miracle we aren't going to have a white Christmas this year.  That huge storm that swept up the entire East coast wiped out all the snow right up through the mountains.  But she didn't leave us empty, bestowing us with other forms of winter beauty and fascination.

Ice crystals that formed in clear water in a roadside ditch.

One never knows where nature's wonders are hiding until one looks in the most unexpected places.

So there are no snowy winter scenes to share this Christmas, but all that rain raised the water level in Lake Wicwas over 20 inches, and the high water adorned the lake with other forms of winter art.  Most interesting were three-dimensional sheets of ice that formed as the receding water froze.

One of many flooded areas of shoreline.

It created shapes that look like topographical maps with elevation contour lines.

Looks like a topographical map to me.

I spent some time thinking about how this might occur, and here's my theory:  Ice starts forming from the side of the lake and works its way outward.  Simultaneously, it thickens from below by adding more ice at the interface of ice and water as long as ice forms faster than the lake level drops.  But when the water level drops enough that it is no long in contact with the ice - which is fixed to the shoreline - then no more ice can form at the bottom, and new layer of ice starts at the outer edge of the now-suspended ice sheet.  This process repeats with the multi-tiered sheet being supported by land on the shore-side and floating on the lake on the outer edge.  That's my guess!

Shorelines with a drop-off to the lake rather than a gradual slope developed icicles as runoff dripped slowly off and froze before each drop could make its escape.

The rising water also caused enough shoreline flooding that several docks and rafts left untethered and too close to the lake were swept away with the wind and current.  One large group of dock parts ended up where one would expect - right up against the dam.

Fortunately it arrived unscathed and the Meredith water department crew came out and moved it away from the dam immediately after I alerted them.  The owners of this dock have been found and are working on retrieving it.

A second item got tangled up on the flooded shore line on its way down to the dam.

Its owners are also working on a rescue.  The final item has also be claimed; it didn't go far from home and is now secure.  

Many thanks to all who helped with identifying and retrieving these!

Humans aren't the only ones that have to deal with increasing rainfall events.  The wetland downstream from Wicwas was flooded.

Did you notice the freshly chewed trees?

The beavers must be in need of more material to reinforce their dams from the higher water.  It makes me wonder if their homes were flooded.  With the water dropping now they should be fine even without a white Christmas to insulate (and decorate) their lodges.

Merry Christmas to all!

January 31, 2021: Windy Winter Days

Old mother west wind, to borrow a phrase from Thornton Burgess, sure was busy this week.  Not only did she usher in some real cold, but she swept almost the entire surface of Lake Wicwas clear of the recent snow.

Ready for skating again.

The snow could be seen blowing through the air, swirling into snow-tornadoes rushing down the lake before being dumped on windward shores where the trees ended their journey.  There were parts of the lake that didn't want to release its snow, hanging on to it in variously shaped islands with sculpted cliffs, a miniature version of the geological facies found in southwest regions like Moab and Bryce Canyon.

On one of those windy days I came across a set of tracks in the piled up snow near shore that I wouldn't have identified if I hadn't seen the culprit in action.

Who left these?

I could have spent hours searching through tracking books and not identified them.  I'll share a few more pictures before I reveal the perpetrator in case you want to figure it out.

Hint:  Remember it was a windy day, and it was close to shore.

So here's the answer:

That old mother west wind was having a good time tossing a white pine cone around the lake.

I have a recollection of seeing a mark similar to this in the past, but wasn't sure what caused it; having seen proof now I hope the memory will stick for future observations.  

With the cold and the wind I didn't observe much animal activity out there, and whatever tracks they made were quickly filled in with blowing snow.  But I did come across this tiny set of mouse tracks in a sheltered spot.

A mouse travelling back and forth between hidey-holes in the snow.

The strong wind also did some work on the ice hanging off the eaves where snow had frozen and slid slowly out to hang in the breeze.  

More wind sculptures.

I was fortunate enough to pick the calmest day of the week to ski up Mt. Cardigan, and though it was perfectly calm on the summit, proof of the wind was visible in the wind-scoured rocks and rime ice formations.

With the cold weather, Meredith Bay is also finally iced-over, getting prepared for the Pond Hockey Tournament next weekend.

A cold day on Meredith Bay, with the Belknap Range in the background.

The coldest days in winter do tend to be the prettiest!

January 3, 2021: Tracks and Cracks

The mission for the last week of 2020 was to identify some tracks in the yard that appeared around the bird feeder.  My first thought was bobcat because they like to check out what's under the feeder, and also just because they're really neat and I always want to think a bobcat is in the vicinity!  The prints were the right size for a bobcat, but poorly defined in the deep snow so not identifiable, and the track pattern was not consistent with a nimble predator like a feline or a canine; it was more like the waddling path of a skunk or a porcupine.  The track led down to the water - which was still open at the very shoreline - but not into it, and the track clearly wasn't that of a mink anyway.  But when the the track re-emerged in an area with less snow, actually some wet mushy snow, the animal left perfectly clear prints that revealed its identify.

Any guesses?

  

That is the track of a raccoon.  Just looking at the print one can understand how a raccoon can be so dexterous, earning it the reputation as a very clever animal, able to open boxes, jars, even doorknobs.  Each foot has five independent fingers able to manipulate objects almost like a human.  The thumb isn't actually opposable like our thumbs are, but it's still highly functional.  Raccoons are also excellent climbers, and they can rotate their rear feet 180 degrees which allows them to rapidly climb down trees as well as up.  

When not in a hurry a raccoon will just plod along, as it was doing when it left this set of walking tracks in the wet snow.

Raccoons are nocturnal and I've only seen them a few times on early morning walks near the lake.  

Always near water.

And usually in dim light.

Every time I've seen one the lower half of its body has been wet, showing just how much time they spend in water.  But always just the lower half.  After I saw one swimming one morning I realized why that is: even when they swim they are so buoyant that their upper body stays dry!

A morning swim.

If you see a raccoon during the day you should be cautious - raccoons account for about half of all rabies in New Hampshire, and day time behavior is a sign of possible illness.

After checking the ice thickness, and getting reports from others around the lake (thank you AW and HC) I decided it was safe for skating.  As of yesterday there were nine inches of ice where I checked, and we got in a couple of great skates before Friday night's snow.

Lots of people out enjoying the lake.

A 360 degree panorama taken between Bryant and Sheep Islands.

Thanks for the pic TG!

Pond skating means watching for cracks which form when the ice expands and contracts, but I have never seen a crack form like this:

A long squiggly crack in the ice.

It's hard to see, but it was a near perfect sine wave that had propagated a long distance across the surface of the lake.  You can't tell how long it is in the picture so I skated along it and took a video which you can watch here.

Usually the cracks are rather straight, or with random turns and bends.  There were other unusual and interesting cracks in the ice, perhaps caused by the rapid rise and fall of the water under the ice due to the heavy rain just as it froze.  Here's a fascinating set of cracks:

This misaligned crack went across the widest part of the lake from the end of Loon Point towards the Blake's house.  It formed before the crack that crosses it; that one looks like two tectonic plates that separated along a fault line, with one shifting about 10 inches to the east.  An earthquake in Lake Wicwas!

You have to enjoy the ice when nature gives it to you - it doesn't last long, and the snow put an end to it - but now we're back on skis and snowshoes.

Mother nature also gave us a beautiful full moon this week, the December moon being called the "Cold Moon". 

That's according to the Farmer's Almanac.  There are other cultural names for the December moon including the Snow Moon, the Christmas Moon, and the Long Night Moon.  Whatever you want to call it, let's just hope this moon will put 2020 to bed for good.  

Goodnight Moon.

Welcome 2021!