September 29, 2024: Logging for Moose

It's been a couple of years since I've seen a moose around Lake Wicwas, but I know they're still here.  

Moose scat - much larger than deer scat.

This week the Meredith Conservation Commission took a survey of a forestry project performed on the Leighton Town Forest far up in the Chemung area.  The work was done in 2017-2018 and included thinning overcrowded and weak trees as well as a several-acre patch cut for habitat diversity.  Much of the forest in New Hampshire is of a common age having regenerated after the state was largely cleared of forest in the nineteenth century.  With few fires to clear areas of forest, there is now minimal habitat of the young trees that many species need to survive.  One animal that takes advantage of early-growth trees is moose.  In the summer moose feed on aquatic vegetation in ponds and wetlands, but in winter they need other food sources which includes twigs and bark of small trees.  You can still see signs of bark scraped off red maple trees along the White Trail in the Hamlin Forest but they date from the early 2000s; there are few small trees left for them to feed on.

Look for old moose scrapes (this is from 2004) near the highest point on the Arbutus Hill Pond Trail.

The photo of moose scat was one of half a dozen piles of scat we saw on our trip around the patch cut at Leighton, which indicates the cut was successful.  The forestry plan for that property includes creating additional patch cuts every five to ten years so there will be a constant range of forest ages for animals to find their preferred habitat.

Here's what the cleared area looked like in 2018 shortly after in was cut.  

And here's what it looks like from the same spot today.

That thick young forest is what many species need for food and shelter.

It shows how quickly a forest can regenerate, though it will take 50 to 100 years to fully mature, and over 200 to become "old growth" forest.  Forestry requires a long term outlook.

The forest can look pretty ugly right after logging, but in a few years they recover.  Here's what the main logging path looked like right after the work was done.  

And six years later, the same spot has filled in with thick growth of pioneer species such raspberry, birch, red maple, and white pine.  

Here's another example of before and after:

2017

And the same area today:

2024

Another ​important aspect of forestry today is having a diverse forest to make it resilient to introduced animals, pathogens, and climate change. Imagine what would happen if many acres of forest consisted of a single species and that species was attacked by an invasive insect or disease like the ash trees and the elm trees before that. Or perhaps that species can't handle the droughts or very wet years climate change is causing. Careful forestry can open up areas around under-represented trees to allow them to thrive and maintain Forest diversity in case of species collapse.  For example, around the Lakes Region we find monocultures of Eastern Hemlock which is now under attack by the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that's a serious threat to the health of hemlock trees.  American Beech is facing a similar threat from the Beech Leaf Disease.

A hemlock monoculture with a closed canopy blocking light from other plants.

A knowledgeable forester also assesses soil conditions and sun exposure and will manage for species best suited to the immediate microclimate.  

There's a lot to consider in the long-term management of our forests.  If you're interested in learning more, keep an eye on the Commission's Facebook page as they will be having more public forestry tours in the future.  There's also a good article in the Summer 2024 issue of the Forest Society's Forest Notes publication [Managing for Resilient Landscapes, Aldrich and Weisiger, Pg 14]

And yes, I used to see a lot of moose, and I know I will see them again.

I froze when this big bull walked right in front of me some ten years ago.  I don't think it even noticed me, which is just the way you want it around a moose.

Back around the lake, ducks that spent the summer north of the Lakes Region have started to make their appearance on Wicwas as they return south for the winter.

Two pairs of Wood Ducks enjoy a rainy morning on the lake.

All the migrating birds - and we - will soon be treated to the great New Hampshire foliage season.

Foggy mornings and changing leaves - Fall is in the air.

November 5, 2023: Beaver Scent Mounds

Here we are in early November and we just had our first frost at the lake.  And that was just barely, with frost fomring only in open areas subject to radiational cooling with a clear view of the sky.  Leaves on the ground and small plants had just a tinge of frozen ice crystals on their surfaces.

The first frost on November 2nd.

I was surprised to find ice in the shallow marshes around the lake where the surface had cooled enough for a skim of ice to form.

First ice on the lake. 

On a hike on Leighton Mountain in the Chemung area there were even a few icicles that had formed from water dripping off a ledge.

On that same ledge was an obvious cave where an animal was probably sleeping as we went by.

 Fresh dirt pushed out of the entrance shows it's an active den.

It looks like a nice warm and secure home deep in the hillside, though I don't know whose home it is.  It's in the right location for a porcupine, but there was no scat at the entrance, and no signs of trees stripped of their bark around the den.  It appears too small for a bear den, and too far from water for a racoon.  Fox like better hidden areas with concealed entrances.  So I'm guessing a bobcat lives here.  It's too far away for me to trek back and forth with a trail camera, but maybe this winter I can go back when there's snow on the ground and look for tracks.  

On a walk near the lake I noticed an area where beaver had been coming on shore apparently to mark territory, so I placed my camera there to see if I could catch the claimer of the land.  Sure enough, the very next night, at 1:30 am, the beaver appeared.

A beaver collects material for a scent mound.

The camera recorded a short video of it doing its thing.  It collected an armful of leaves and pine needles, and formed them into a small pile.  It then climbed over the pile and deposited its scent right on top.  The whole process took about 20 seconds.  

Beavers have a set of glands called castor glands that produce castoreum, a highly aromatic substance they use for marking territory.  (The strong smell makes it a common ingredient in cosmetics.)  If you turn the volume up you can hear the beaver release the castoreum at five seconds into the video.

One of my walks this week found me at a beaver pond which has created the right habitat for a heron rookery.  Their nests look like large tangles of sticks at the tops of dead trees.  

Three Great Blue Heron nests are visible in the treetops at the far side of the pond.

The dammed-up pond dammed flooded the roots of the trees, killing them, creating the ideal platform for herons to nest and raise their young.  Beavers create valuable environmental benefits for many animals including birds, amphibians, reptiles, and humans.

Another week has passed without any sightings of the juvenile loons LuLu and Checkers, so I think it's time to say they have left the lake.  We will never know if they return after their four or five years spent on the Atlantic Ocean.  My last sighting of them was October 21st.

My last picture of LuLu or Checkers.

In an interesting coincidence, October 21st is the exact same date of the last sighting of the chicks Coca and Jimmy in 2021.  Lake Wicwas has now successfully fledged ten loons over the past six years.

I'll close with one more autumn moment from my hike on Leighton Mountain, a pretty scene looking over Randlett Pond.

Randlett Pond.

A bit of fall remains, but the drab of November is almost here.