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!

October 13, 2024: Anthocyanin

It sounds scary, but anthocyanin is what produces the red and crimson foliage that makes New Hampshire famous this time of year.  

Red Maples are the red champions of the autumn nature show.

Yellow and orange colors in leaves are present year-round but are only revealed in the fall when the leaves stop producing the chlorophyll that conceals their underlying colors. 

Photosynthesis ceases at the leaf tips first and works back towards the stem.

Trees with red leaves, however, actually create the pigment anthocyanin as they shut down photosynthesis in the fall.  They don't do it for our viewing pleasure or to extend the tourist season, but rather because the chemical helps protect plants against cold temperatures.

Black gum are less prevalent than maples but have even deeper red color in their leaves.

They use some of the sugars created over the summer to form this compound.  Anthocyanin is produced by a wide variety of plants with red, blue, and purple coloring including blueberries, tomatoes, red cabbage, beets, grapes, corn, even sweet potato.  It's one of several chemicals in the flavonoid family which are known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits to humans.

Indian Cucumber has only a splash of anthocyanin.  The berries aren't edible, but the tubers are.

The color of these plants varies because anthocyanin changes color with pH level:  it is red in acidic conditions, purple in neutral, and yellow in alkaline conditions.  The chemical is thus useful in measuring pH levels - remember pH strips in high school chemistry?  Wikipedia provides lots of information on anthocyanin if you're interesed in learning more.

Jack-in-the-pulpit berries must be quite acidic.

Sumac is another red star this time of year.

Blueberry bushes are known to love acidic soil, and their leaves also turn dark red in the fall.

These were at 2400' elevation on the ledges up to Black Mountiain.

Black Mountain State Forest is in Haverhill and Benton, NH, and though the foliage there seemed past peak that far north on Friday, it was still pretty.

Thank you TB for the recommendation - it was a great hike!  

Around the Lakes Region, the maples are still at peak color.  I'll end with a few sights from around Lake Wicwas.

It's not too lake to take it all in!

September 17, 2023: Nature's Hovercraft

Most of nature's flying creatures have evolved with a bias towards fast, efficient flight, but there are a few animals which in addition to being very quick and maneuverable, have the ability to hover in place like a helicopter.  Hummingbirds achieve this feat through unusual shoulders that give their wings a large range of rotation rather than a simple up and down motion with limited rotation.  

A hummingbird rotates its wings in a figure-eight pattern, which provides lift on both the forward and backward wing stroke, a most valuable ability when drinking nectar from a flower who's stalk won't support even the one-tenth of an ounce weight of a ruby-throated hummingbird.  

The dragonfly is even more advanced in its flight surfaces.  Dragonflies have four wings, each of which can move independently of the others.  This gives it the ability to fly forward, backward, up and down, even sideways - important features when hunting down other agile flying insects on the wing.  Though dragonflies have the ability to hover, and use it regularly, they don't hover in one place for long.  I watched a group of them hunting over a marsh this week, devouring insects, and though they would hover for a moment, by the time I pointed the camera, they had zoomed away.  And it's not easy focusing on a small, fast moving object.  I took dozens of pictures to get one decent shot that shows all four wings.

On this same paddle I saw a bird that uses a different technique to remain stationary while hunting for food.

This osprey was perched in a tree often used by an eagle, which is what I thought it was from a distance.  Osprey migrate south starting in September, so maybe they'll head off with the strong northwest winds from hurricane Lee, but they've been very visible and audible the past few weeks.  I've heard them crash into the lake when they've targeted a fish from their high perch, then fly up and away with dinner in its talons.  If you want to see a fantastic video of an osprey diving for a fish, watch this video from Mark Smith Photography.  (I think it's better with the sound turned off.)  Osprey are the only birds I'm aware of that dive well under water to catch their prey.

In June (June 11, "Fern Weather") I noted a Jack-in-the-Pulpit growing along the side of the road.  Now, three months later, the Jack-in-the-Pulpit are showing the world their snappy red berries.  

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

Birds consume these berries, including turkey and wood thrush.  

Another plant sporting red berries now is the False Soloman's Seal, which was also mentioned in the same June post - they must have the same game plan.

False Soloman's Seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

These not quite as showy berries are food for mice as well as many birds, including grouse.

LuLu and Checkers are really getting independent.  We sometimes see them with no adults anywhere in sight.  It makes me wonder if the parents occasionally head off to force the juveniles to learn to fend for themselves, as well as to get some peace and quiet - the kids constantly whine at them for food when they're together.  One afternoon I took a picture of a parent and a kid, only to find out later I was photobombed once again.

The heron posed a few days later for a private sitting, for which which Linda did the honors.

Great Blue Heron.  Photo by Linda Powell

The fall wildflowers continue to shine.  Asters now call our attention in walks through fields and along roadsides.

Purple-stemmed aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum)

Hurricane Lee was kind to New Hampshire, staying well offshore and sending us only a moderate northwest wind with a bit of rain.  The night before it went by, Lee even gave us a brilliant sunset.  

Pre-Lee Sunset

Fall officially arrives next Saturday.

June 11, 2023: Fern Weather

A stretch of cool, damp weather is just what ferns and other wetland-dwelling plants love, so they were in their element this week.

Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum)

The cinnamon fern is identifiable by its distinctive cinnamon-colored central fronds that grow straight up, surrounded by large green fronds, both of which can grow up to five feet high in fertile wetlands.  When these ferns emerge in spring as fiddleheads they resemble the edible ostrich fern, but cinnamon fiddleheads have a white, fuzzy covering over them.

Don't eat fiddleheads that have this white, fuzzy covering.

In comparison, ostrich ferns have a thin, brown, papery covering.  Even the edible ostrich fern can contain toxins, but not enough to cause problems.  The cinnamon fern has sufficient toxins that if eaten can cause nausea and other symptoms.  

The Jack-in-the-Pulpit is often found in cultivated gardens, but it also grows wild in the Lakes Region.  I found this one at the edge of a drainage ditch along a dirt road.  It took me a minute to figure out why it didn't look quite right:  its leaves had been chomped off by a deer.

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
Note the bare stalks where the leaves have been eaten off the top.

Another plant that favors cool and damp is the false Soloman's seal.

False Soloman's Seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

Later in the summer the pretty white flowers will produce deep-red berries which are edible, but with a large pit and little flesh, they're not worth much more than a sample of one or two as you pass them by.

One more spring flower blooming now is the bluebead lily.

These will have large, blue berries in mid-summer, but they are not edible.

Thanks to Amy Wilson's good eye, we finally confirmed that the female of the loon pair that nests in Harris Cove has returned.  Reports are that the pair continues to poke around the islands looking for a safe place to build a nest but still hasn't settled on a site.  The Loon Preservation Committee biologist visited Wicwas again this week and confirmed that all is well on the northern nest.  

One of the Harris Cove loons caught itself a really nice meal one morning.

A fish this size might be a whole meal.

It had to spend several minutes beating it up enough to dare to swallow it.

A loon doesn't want a fish this large flailing around in its gullet.

It looks to me like the fish was a black crappie.

That's a favorite pan fish for humans too!

May 17, 2020: Fresh Fish for Dinner

There is so much going on around the lakes these days, with wildflowers blooming, birds arriving, animals nesting, that I was already struggling with what to eliminate to keep this week's journal entry from being too long, and then something exceptional came along that trumped all.  One evening, right at dinner time, Linda saw a large raptor fly by with a good size fish dangling from its talons.  Then, lucky for us, it decided to savor its dinner just about a hundred yards away and though it was partially blocked by trees branches it was clear enough for us to see that it was an osprey, and for us to watch what unfolded.  I should warn you, this might get a little graphic.

Somehow the bird managed to land on a branch with one foot without dropping the flailing fish - which was very much alive - from the other foot .

It held on to the tree with one leg and onto the fish with the other.

It looked like it caught a horned pout (aka catfish, officially the brown bullhead), but I'd be happy to have any fishermen out there weigh in on the identification.

Looks like a Bullhead to me.

If it is a catfish, that's interesting, as catfish prowl around on the bottom of the lake - not where I'd expect an osprey to be fishing.

When the fish gave a violent thrash it would throw the osprey off balance and it would have to use its wings to keep its perch on the branch.  This went on for a while, and at one point the bird seemed to yell at the fish, "Give up, your fate is sealed!"

"It's over!"

Eventually the fish lost enough strength that the osprey was ready to partake in its catch.  (This is where it gets bloody.)  The osprey started at the head, perhaps even avoiding the skin, and reached inside the fish's mouth to extract choicest cuts of meat.

The first tasty bite.

It would rip out a chunk of flesh and then lift its head up to swallow it down.

A piece of fish being chewed.

Every now and then it would look over at me to make sure I wasn't an eagle that was going to swoop in and steal its hard-earned dinner.

We watched for while, but eventually the osprey flew off with most of the fish still intact.  This was most likely a male, as females do most of the incubating while the males provide food for the nest.  Mom - and any chicks if they have hatched yet - will be happy to have fresh fish delivered right to their home for dinner.

OK, even with lots of other action taking place right now, it all pales in comparison to that, but here's a quick run down of what else is happening around the lakes right now.

Downy Serviceberry and Leather Leaf are blooming.

Leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) grows right at the waters edge.

Downy Serviceberry (Amelanchier), also called Shadbush, are blooming all around the Lakes Region,
some growing as tall as 30'.

Their blossoms will produce edible fruit.

So are many azaleas.

The beech have followed the maples in pushing out new leaves.

Early beech leaves.

Last week's pond lilies have already pushed buds up above the surface of the lake.

Yellow Pond Lily.

Ferns are sprouting, and Jack has woken up.

Linda got some of these at Moulton Farm this week - they're delicious with butter and garlic!

Jack (in-the-Pulpit) is just getting started.

I also saw my first butterfly, first dragon fly, and heard my first leopard frog and spring peeper this week.  I'm seeing deer tracks regularly on my morning walks, including this set along the edge of the road.

Deer tracks near Chemung State Forest.

The warblers are arriving in mass now, which means one thing is certain: black flies.

Is seeing and hearing these pretty birds worth suffering with black flies?

 .

Those swarming, biting insects may drive us crazy, but they're a critical food source for all our beautiful song birds.  And the fish rely on them too, especially their larvae.  Which means, in turn, our fat and happy osprey does as well.

Off in search of his next meal.