October 12, 2025: Hoppers and Hawks

Adding to the migrating raptors this week was a Red-tailed Hawk rising up on the thermals over the summit of Bald Knob in the Ossipee Mountains.

Red-tailed Hawk in the Ossipees

I had some nice views of it with the sun shining through its plumage, though it quickly rose up to a small spec in the sky.  It didn't have a very red tail, or perhaps the bright light washed the color out.

Raptors use these thermals in their migration by riding them high in the air, sometimes thousands feet, without using energy flapping their wings.  Then they soar southward for miles, slowly losing altitude, until they find another rising thermal air column.  And if there's a stiff northwest wind, all the better.  

I also heard a red-tail hawk up on the hills behind Lake Wicwas this week but I couldn't see it.  They typically don't stay in the Lakes Region through the winter, migrating just south of us, but perhaps that boundary is moving north now.

I found myself looking skyward for other reasons also.

The foliage doesn't seem as bright this year, perhaps due to the drought conditions, but there are plenty of beautiful trees in localized areas, especially around the lake where they had plenty of water all summer.

Looking down can be fruitful too.  That's where I found this huge American Toad camouflaged among the dry leaves.

American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

There are migrating birds on the water too, including this flock of four mallards foraging for food in the shallow water near the dam on Wicwas.

Must be something good down there.

They're losing their iridescent summer colors.  

Paddling the marshy shorelines also reveals bright red American Cranberries ripening amongst the wetland growth.

If you see people tramping through the marshes in tall rubber boots, that's what they're collecting.

One must be prepared to take stowaways on board when paddling through the marshes.

Lots of little bugs hopped on my boat.

These appear to be different than the longer, thinner bugs that hop onto my kayak earlier in the summer.  I think these are a species of Planthopper, likely the Common Pondlily Planthopper.

Common Pondlily Planthopper (Megamelus davisi)

Wikipedia states there are over 12,000 species of planthoppers;  these are in the family Delphacidae, which includes "only" 2000 species.   

Thankfully these insects are purely herbivores.  That protrusion on its head is for sucking plant juices rather than human juices, so these are harmless to us; most had jumped ship before I got back to port.  But on my way home I passed by yet another pretty wetland plant, a variety of St John's Wort growing on a boulder in the lake.

Bog St. John's Wort  (Triadenum fraseri)

There's always something new and interesting to discover on the shores of your favorite lake.

July 6, 2025: Introducing Spangle and Star

Let's welcome the two newest additions to Lake Wicwas, Spangle and Star, hatched on or about July 1st and 2nd, probably one day apart.

Spangle and Star, about three days old.

We don't know the sex of either, but I'm going to say Spangle is the big sister and Star is the little brother.  The first time I saw them, Spangle was riding up atop one of the parents while Star, very shy, was hiding out under a wing - or least trying to.

Star is half hidden under mom's (?) left wing.

Star was kicking hard with surprisingly large feet, trying to get far enough up to climb aboard.

Can you see his not-so-little foot kicking up the water?

The parents are very attentive.  Whenever something gets anywhere near the parent with the chicks, the other parent starts hollering loudly.  Thus I stayed far away and got only blurry pictures.  When I received a report that the family was out of Harris Cove and around Loon Point into the main part of the lake, I went to the nest to collect any shell fragments for the Loon Preservation Committee to analyze. 

You may have seen the nest from Chemung Road.

Analyzing the egg shells will help us understand the health of the loons as well as the lake itself.  The nest is surprisingly small, perhaps 18" in diameter.  They did a good job of getting on and off the nest and turning the eggs over without them rolling into the lake.

There were quite a few shell fragments and one piece of egg membrane still in the nest.  

We were fortunate to be able to collect them before some other animal consumed them for their calcium content.

As of yesterday the family was travelling all the way down to the southern tip of the lake and back up the western shoreline.  Dean Cascadden was able to take some video of the parents feeding the chicks near his dock.  You can find the video on the Lake Wicwas Community Forum page on Facebook.  If you're a Facebook user you should follow this page!

When you're on the lake observing the loons (carefully from a safe distance of course!) don't forget to take note of all the other beauty that's on the lake in summer - the aquatic plants are spectacular.  Larger plants like Yellow and White water lilies and Pickerel Weed are easily seen, but you'll have to tuck in close and slow to see some of the more delicate water-based flowers including Floating Bladderwort and American Cranberry.

Large (American) Cranberry

Floating Bladderwort

The natural adaptations of plants is incredible.  Take the floating bladderwort for example.  It has six appendages filled with air to give the plant the ability to float stably on the surface of the lake to support its bright yellow flower which attracts pollinators.  Trailing below in the water is a long stem that acts as a weighted keel to keep it from capsizing.  

If we're lucky, come August we'll get to see Purple Bladderwort blooming too.  By then Spangle and Star should be past their most vulnerable days, but for the next month, let's hope they and their parents can defy all the challenges they will surely face!

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.  

October 3, 2021: Cranberry Trifecta

This week we were hiking with good friends (thanks Bill and Tracy!) in the Kelley-Drake Conservation Area, a nice property conserved by the New Hampton Conservation Commission, when we came upon a large growth of low green plants with bright red berries in a wet area near Lake Pemigewasset.  Bill immediately identified them as cranberries.

Large cranberry or American cranberry (vaccinium macrocarpon)

I picked up a few of them and brought them home to see if they are the edible type, and sure enough, they are.

In fact these are the same species that are cultivated into a highly valuable commercial crop, especially in the cranberry bogs of Cape Cod.  If you serve Ocean Spray cranberries at Thanksgiving table, this is what you are eating.  I cooked up my handful of berries with a little maple sugar and had them in my yogurt - delicious!

It's clearly the season for cranberries; in the past few weeks I have come across mountain cranberries, cranberry viburnum, and now the traditional American cranberry.  I expect this weekend I'll see people in the marshes around the lakes with buckets in hand foraging for these pretty delicacies.

As the weather cools and flowers fade from the scene there are fewer pollinators around.  The yellow jackets are storming the hummingbird feeder but many other bees are much less prevalent.  One exception is the bumble bee.  This large and hairy bee can keep warm better than other bees and hornets and is often the first to arrive and the last to be seen each season.

A bumblebee diligently collects pollen from each tiny flower.

Nice and warm in its thick fur coat.

They're happy to find Linda's collection of coleus which she kindly lets bloom late in the summer.

Off to the next coleus.

We've had some cooler weather now, but I think the foliage is still a bit behind.  Even up in the White Mountains this week the color is just emerging.

Sandwich Dome and Jennings Peak seen from Sandwich Notch Road.

Kastle Equine at Bumps Intervale in Campton.

Back in Meredith where the foliage is even less developed, mom and her two loon chicks are still on Lake Wicwas but I think mom is getting a little frustrated with them.  I heard them far off, with one of the chicks making a really annoying call that sounded just like a kid whining that they're hungry.  When they sailed by me both chicks were constantly harassing mom, demanding food.

Coca and Jimmy badgering mom for food.

At one point mom lost her patience and snapped at them.

"Catch your own dinner!"

One chick then dove and came up far away, but it wasn't long before he or she returned back to mother.  I haven't seen dad for a week or two now so maybe this time he's really gone for the winter.  Mom will soon follow, and then Coco and Jimmy will have to fend for themselves.

Until they too leave, everyone will treasure the calm, warm, waning days of summer.