March 2, 2025: It's Getting Squirrely Out There

The winter mating season for gray squirrels has begun, and they put on quite a show as their mating ritual plays out.  

As a female approaches her one day of fertility, all the males compete for the opportunity to mate. Several males will follow her, attracted by her scent. As her time gets closer, the pursuit intensifies, and the males fight with each other to establish dominance, the strongest one leading the pack, demonstrating the best genes for the female to mate with.  But it doesn't always work out for him.  Sometimes the leader will get so distracted or tired fighting off a challenger, that another will sneak in and make his move.  A female may mate with several males during the 24 hours she is in estrous. 

Squirrels mate twice a year; the winter mating season being much more visible with the bare trees and the whole gang attracted to the food supply at the squirrel and bird feeders. It can provide some fun entertainment on a late winter morning.  (My apologies for the poorly focused video.)

Here's a link with more information on gray squirrels: 

https://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/article/squirrel-breeding-biology-courtship-mating-chase

A couple of other notes from the lake:  The Mourning Doves are also pairing up for mating; this dove was preening itself and showing off its plumage for its mate, much like a turkey might do.

And the Bluebirds continue to frequent the yard, giving us much appreciated flashes of color during this time of mostly white and gray.

We are also treated to many spring bird calls now on  these warm late-winter days, most notably Chickadees and Tufted Titmice.  

Spring bird calls and mating squirrels:  more sure signs that spring is on its way, even with 22 inches of ice still on Lake Wicwas.

March 19, 2023: Courting Doves

Mourning Doves are one of the most widespread of all birds, second only to the American Robin.  We've all seen them; they appear rather non-descript and I never paid them much attention until this week when some unusual behavior made me look more closely at them, and when you look closely, they really are rather elegant.

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)

What caught my eye was two of them sitting side-by-side on a tree branch performing some kind of ritual where they were bobbing their heads up and down together with their beaks locked with each other's.  If they weren't so calm about it I would have thought they were fighting, but this clearly wasn't the case, so I referred to Stokes, A Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume II, which has a chapter on mourning doves, and I discovered these are quite fascinating birds, and ones that are easy to observe based on their numbers and frequent visits to bird feeders.  

A pair of courting mourning doves.

Mourning doves have a courting process that is both intricate and observable.  It usually starts with a male bird sitting on a perch, puffing out its chest feathers, and then giving a long, loud coo.  This auditory announcement of its availability is followed by a dramatic flight display where it flies up perhaps a hundred feet in the air and then spirals downward, soaring on fixed wings.  That should attract some attention.  I didn't see this behavior - it's possible the pair I'm watching has progressed beyond this stage, but I'll keep watching for it.  

Apparently what I saw the two birds doing occurs after they have already paired up and is a pre-copulation action called "billing".  According to Stokes, the female bird puts its beak in the male's beak and they bob their heads up and down together.  

Though I didn't capture that behavior, I did later see them exhibiting other mating behavior that I was able to video.  I believe the male is strutting and showing off to the female, both its plumage and its physical abilities with all the bobbing and preening.  

Male and female mourning doves are very similar in appearance, with the male having a slightly more reddish breast and a darker cap on its head.  A female's head is also somewhat rounder than a male's.  

At one point during the week there were two other doves in the area and there was some aggressive behavior related to defending territory and/or mates.  I'll be on the watch for more of these behaviors this spring as well.

Mr. and Mrs. mourning dove on a snowy morning.

Shortly after I posted last week's journal on otters I took a ski over to Lake Winnisquam, and to my surprise, I saw otters!  Where the stream that flows out of Wicwas enters into the northern tip of Winnisquam, the current entering the lake had opened up a large expanse of water.

Where the Wicwas Millbrook enters Lake Winnisquam.

And where open water met ice, two otters were having a great time.  I don't bring my camera when I'm skiing so all I had was my phone, and one of the rules of nature is to not approach wildlife close enough to disturb them, so this is the best picture I could get; it shows one them sticking its neck up, probably having detected my presence.

I read just this week something that might explain how otters can safely travel under the ice at this time of year.  According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, "In late winter, water levels usually drop below ice levels in frozen rivers and lakes, leaving a layer of air that allows river otters to travel and hunt under the ice."  I always wondered how they could dive under the ice and know they would be able find a place to surface before they ran out of air.

I watched the otters play for a while before I went on my way.  It was a beautiful day on the lakes.

There are more signs of spring's approach every day.  On Friday I saw my first migrating waterfowl of the year.

The first Canada goose, at the other end of the Millbrook, the dam at the outflow from Lake Wicwas.

And, you may remember the snowdrops had emerged back on February 12th.  Well those little plants are darn tough, because after being frozen, flooded, and buried in snow after they emerged, when the snowbank receded yesterday, they bloomed!

Snowdrops blooming behind the snowbanks on March 18.

Flowers blooming, birds courting, ice opening up - and two feet of fresh snow in the western part of the Lakes Region - all in the same week.  It's tug-of-war time in New Hampshire.

Spear Mountain in Danbury on March 15th.

February 5, 2023: Hockey in a Polar Vortex

I feel sorry for the hockey players.  This winter has been so warm that Meredith Bay still hasn't frozen over, so the New England Pond Hockey tournament, which brings players from all over the county, was moved from Lake Winnipesaukee to Lake Waukewan.

26 rinks of cold fun on Lake Waukewan.

And then, on the weekend of the event, we get the coldest weather of not only the year, but near all-time record cold.  Saturday morning it was -17 degrees in Meredith, not our coldest ever seen, but cold enough, and with the wind it felt like 44 degrees below zero.  The start of the games on Saturday was delayed until noon when the temperature had warmed up to -1, though with Waukewan exposed to the northwest winds, the wind chill was still a cool -25 degrees, but the games went on.

Some of the action on Saturday afternoon.

They shorted the length of the games from 30 minutes to 15 minutes, but some teams had to play two games in a row - these are some tough folks.

With the delayed start, I bet the restaurants and bars were busy late into Friday night!

Mount Washington was of course the coldest spot in the state, and perhaps on the continent if you factor in wind chill.  I watched the temperature drop all day on Friday, falling to a low of -46.2 Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -108.  

Wind speeds and temperatures recorded Friday on Mt. Washington.

Mt. Washington even made the national news yesterday; you can listen to (or read) a report on the record-setting conditions on the summit and what caused them here.

I didn't get out for more than a few minutes at a time on Friday or Saturday, but I did get a quick hike in on Wednesday when the cold weather was just forming. The air mass coming down from Canada was already pushing in very dry air with dew points down to -30 degrees Fahrenheit, ushering in those cobalt blue skies.

Red Hill Fire Tower.

And from the summit of Red Hill I could see large areas of open water in Lake Winnipesaukee.

Someone asked me about bears during this cold snap.  (This person had a surprise, up close and personal meeting with a bear while trail running, and now thinks about bears a lot!)  With such a short cold spell and good snow cover, I think all the ground dwelling animals like bears and foxes will be just fine because the ground is still warm and the frost has barely penetrated the earth.  I worry more about the deer and the tree dwellers like birds and squirrels.  On the coldest days the squirrels were nowhere to be seen, but the birds were at the feeders.

The birds spent a lot of time taking in calories on Saturday.

Birds can lose up to 10% of their body weight burning energy to keep warm through a single cold night, so they need to consume food every day.  Perhaps the squirrels do better in their nests insulated with leaves, curled up into small balls with their thick furry tails wrapped around them.  Still, with those temperatures and winds it must be pretty hard on them.  

I expect the mourning doves have been around all winter but I first saw them last week during the snow storm, the two of them puffed up in an oak tree keeping warm.

Mr. and Mrs. Mourning Dove

The world may be cold, but it sure is pretty.

The trail up to Red Hill.

June 17, 2018 - A Historic Moment at Wicwas

First, the good news:  the loons have nested!  The nest was first seen by the keen eye of Amy Wilson, with a couple of suggestions from Dave and Marge Thorpe, and as Amy had her camera with a good telephoto lens, she was able to catch a couple of pictures from far away without disturbing the loon on the nest. 

A near ideal nesting site.  Photos by Amy Wilson

This year they selected a well hidden spot, with good overhead cover from the sun and predators - unlike last years nest, right out in the middle of a cove - so it will not be marked with signs.  But if you do happen to come across it, move away quickly, as just a short time with the parent off the nest leaves the eggs vulnerable to being over-heated, under-heated, or taken by a predator.  Also, if you notice a loon acting strangely, such as flapping its wings, calling loudly, or coming up close to someone's boat, it likely means the boat is near the nest, so please ask them to move away from the shore.

Just showing off a few weeks ago, but it's they type of display use to attract threats away from the nest

And here is the momentous event:  as far back as anyone can remember (and there are some people that have been on this lake for a long time) we have only had one nesting pair of loons on the lake.  This year, for the first time, there is a second nest.

Nest number two!

Again, it was Amy who found it.  This nest is much more visible, but Henry Stevens, biologist for the Loon Preservation Committee, will be at Wicwas tomorrow, and he will determine if this nest should be marked.

After so much loon drama on the lake the past three years, there hasn't been a chick that survived since 2014.  I'm hoping that the rogue loon that has been part of the problem - and has been on the lake again this summer - has found a mate and now will be too busy taking care of its own offspring to harass the other pair.  But first-time parents don't have a lot of experience, so that scenario may not play out.  At any rate, the general rule of thumb is that each loon pair needs 150 acres of lake, so Lake Wicwas is large enough for two nesting pairs to share.  I'll keep everyone up to date with the status of a pair of pairs!

In another exciting moment this week, the quick eye of Neil Crimins caught this good size black ambling along Loon Point this past week, looking for unsecured garbage cans or a stray bird feeder.

Bear Alert!  Photo by Neil Crimins

He also caught sight of doe with a very tiny new fawn!  Keep your eye out and maybe you'll see one too.  Send me a picture if you're lucky enough to get one.

I was away for much of the past week enjoying a visit with family in South Carolina who live in a beautiful spot near Charleston, and are very gracious hosts.  They brought us to a raptor rehabilitation center in Awendaw, South Carolina called The Center for Birds of Prey, which has eagles, hawks, kites, and many others birds on site, and even does raptor demonstrations.

American Kestrel

Great horned owl coming in for a landing

Little baby kestrels (corrected, I think)

I highly recommend a visit if you are ever near the Charleston area.

Back at Lake Wicwas, the only raptor I saw this week was an osprey soaring over the lake one morning.

Osprey on a fishing excursion

But I did see another handsome couple the same day, happily enjoying a sunny morning with a brilliant blue sky.

A happy a pair of mourning doves (Is that an oxymoron?)

There are lots of pairs on the lake, and hopefully, a couple of new baby loons will soon join them.