March 13, 2016

The warm winter continues;  how does 68 degrees on March 7th sound?  The snow is gone, and the ice is already soft and translucent with open water around many of the edges of Lake Wicwas. 

Warm, humid weather took it's toll on the ice, which in turn used its stored-coldness to condense the damp air in its presence as if to say "you're not supposed to be here yet".

The battle zone between winter and spring

The first shoots of green are coming up weeks ahead of schedule. 

Fresh green shoots already appearing

And I saw the second summer insects of the year (the first were moths at the windows a couple of weeks ago).

A newly hatched spider enjoying the warmth of a black mailbox

Last year at this time we had a couple of feet of snow on the ground and people were out on the ice well into April. 

Same day, one year ago

My last trip on the ice this year was on March 8th, when I measured 4" of clear ice under 6" of white ice.  Now there's nothing but mush on the surface, and I won't be surprised if we have the earliest ice out ever.  Did you hear that in Alaska, in order to run the Iditarod dog-sled race they had to truck in snow?

We have taken in all the bird feeders except for one, and that one comes in every night to keep the bears away - they will certainly be on the prowl for food soon if they aren't out already.  A usual early sign of spring is the first yellow goldfinch, but this year they are well behind the times.

A still-brown goldfinch peruses the softening lake

Sugaring season also started early, as did mud season, which is passing quickly since the frost never had a chance to penetrate very deeply in the earth.

Collecting maple sap beside Lakeland School with Lake Wicwas in the distance

Not only are the poor maples drilled to drain their blood, but they also have to suffer mud season postings

Snow is the best surface for tracking animals, but mud season can also be good, leaving evidence that the deer are out and moving around.

Deer are leaving their mark in the season

I would normally be saying about this point that old man winter is starting to lose his grip on the lake.  But this year, he never really got a hold of it!

What's left of winter on Lake Wicwas as seen from the boat ramp on Chemung Rd

March 10, 2013

More snow for Lake Wicwas!  It just keeps coming, and now that it's March, snowy days are followed by fabulous warm and sunny days.

The latest storm was a soft, gentle snow painting a beautiful picture around the lake.

It also left a perfect layer for animal prints, of which there were many.  Long stretches of mink prints followed along the shoreline looking for mice and squirrels.

Mink Tracks

A hole next to a fallen tree where an otter had come out to to sun itself in the warm, fresh air.

Otter Hole

A meandering path of some tiny, unknown creature (a mole or a vole maybe?) as it wandered in circles on the ice in search of who-knows-what!  This is why the mink likes this territory....

Which way to Terra Firma?

Lots of fox prints as well, and this morning at 8:00, a red fox came trotting down the road in broad daylight.

Red Fox on the Hunt

It may be a male out doing some extra hunting for its mate back in the den nursing kits which may have just been born.  The activity is already picking up around the lake!

With a fabulous, clear blue sky and the sun nearing the equinox, the temperature reached past 50 degrees the past two days, and the fresh white snow made for a pretty intense scene out on the lake. 

Bright March Sun and Clear Blue Sky

I noticed a new clearing on a hill north-west of the lake - it looks like logging, as the roads seem too numerous and steep for a development.  Does anyone know this story?

Tree Clearing north of Lake Wicwas

The March sun is starting to work on the ice, softening the surface, but the deep slush from last week has somehow mostly frozen up.  There is now a layer of two inches of porous ice - yet strong enough to support one's weight - on top off the slush now, and in some areas the new snow is melted down to the ice layer.  All told, there is still a total of 18 inches of ice - eight inches of soft ice and then ten inches of hard ice - at least where I cut a hole.

The openings where the streams enter are getting larger every day.

These are all signs that old man winter is starting to lose its grip on Lake Wicwas.

And then today, I saw the first chipmunk of 2013 peeking out from its den - another sign!

Spring's First Chipmunk

The maple syrup is also flowing, with lots of taps appearing on the trees - the past few days have been perfect weather for it. Mud season is also now in full swing, and the roads around the lake have been posted.  It could be a long mud season with the good snow pack. 

But days like this let us know spring is on its way!

March 27, 2011

More snow, and more cold weather! It’s hard to believe that a week ago I was thinking I was done going out on the ice. Now the openings around the shore have frozen solid again, and the ice has firmed up completely. Admittedly, 2010 was a record-early spring and ice-out, but at this point last year the ice was completely gone from Lake Wicwas, and this year it’s still two feet thick. The only openings right now are where the streams empty into the lake.
 
The wildlife must be struggling to find food, and wondering where spring is. Look at this poor little guy, out searching for something to eat and thinking, what is all this white stuff doing in my backyard? 

Chipmunk in Spring

Chick-A-Dee

Maybe the cold weather will keep the bears in hibernation a bit longer, because if they come out now, their usual food supplies won’t be available, which could result in even more human interaction than usual. But it will be sad to bring in the bird feeders.

River Otter Tracks

The snow pack is still deep, but the surface just under the latest few inches of snow is frozen, so one can walk through the woods easily without snow shoes. Today we took a walk around Sheep Island, and found lots of otter tracks all around the lake. We saw their signs from sliding down the shoreline out onto to the lake, as well as gallivanting around on the ice in circles, bounding along, and then sliding along on their bellies leaving long, smooth trails.There were clearly at least two of them playing together, as their trails merge and split, and follow each other all around the lake. 

Hop-hop-slide, Hop-hop-slide

And one of them was obviously curious as to when spring will arrive.

We also found the remnants of an old lightning strike.  This huge white pine was split right down the middle, with the upper portion of the tree jammed into the lower portion.  There is still evidence of charred wood in the split.

Then we found another interesting artifact in a stand of white pines.  One just never knows what will grow on the shores of Lake Wicwas.




 






While we're on the topic of white pines, here's one that has fed a lot of pileated woodpeckers over the years.

Pileated Woodpecker Holes

 


The living plant progress was slowed considerably this week due to the cold weather, but the maple sugar season must be doing very well. I found a large icicle hanging from a branch of a maple tree where it had been damaged by another tree; it was sap from the tree that had oozed from the wound. Even though it wasn’t a sugar maple, it still had the sweet taste of maple sugar. Seeing this reminds me of how fascinating it is that liquid can run freely inside a tree – that is clearly below freezing temperature – only to freeze as soon as it leaves the confines of the cells in the plant. The Taggetts were boiling sap in their sugar house this weekend - be on the look for their syrup in a few weeks.

 The one sign of spring progressing is the increasing size of the open water at the dam.  The strong current from the runoff continues to erode the ice;  the water level is four inches below full-lake, and there is still a strong rush of water over the lowered dam.  This is also reason to be careful on the ice at any time of year.

Open water at the dam

Oh, and for the record, it was 16 degrees this morning, with a wind chill of 2 degrees below zero. On March 27. At least the sun was shining!