September 6, 2026: The Magnificent Bryozoan

On one paddle around the lake this week I discovered enough items of interest to fill four journals, but I'll restrain myself to just a couple. There were pretty flowers and ripe berries along the shore, fish surfacing to catch insects, turtles sunning themselves on logs, but the most unique was a large, round bryozoan community clinging to the end of a long submerged branch.

Blob on a Stick:  Magnificent Bryozoa (Pectinatella magnifica)

I've seen these before and always think they're an amphibian's egg mass - frog, salamander - before remembering no, it's the wrong location and the wrong time of year for eggs.

The colony formed at the tip of a long, submerged branch.

Slowly it comes to me that it's a colony of hundreds of thousands of microscopic organisms called Bryozoa.  These are filter-feeding organisms that have tiny cilia that reach out to capture algae, phytoplankton, and other organic debris which helps keep clear the water.  But they also require clean water to survive, so their presence is a good sign in a waterbody.  Early on my paddle I did find a small accumulation of cyanobacteria.

Cyanobacteria, likely Gloeotrichia echinulata.  (Thank you MT for help with identification!)

My research on whether magnificent bryozoa reduces blue-green algae is mixed.  Some references state bryozoa do take in cyanobacteria, but also found that they expel much of it alive.  [Ref:  SébastienAutret,MariaInesMoreiradeGouveia,AudreyVanhove,SéverineAllegra,FrançoiseGirardot.Assessmentofthecyanobacteriarisk,consideringtheinvasivebryozoanPectinatellamagnifica:methodologicalapproach.AquaEcOmics,Mar2025,EvianlesBains,France.,2025]

Most of the glob is a gelatinous sphere which supports the colony - all the living organisms are on the outside where their cilia can reach out to grab their prey. 

Note they are also expanding down the branch.

Though they look creepy, they're completely harmless to the point you can touch them, but if you do, be careful to not damage them so they can continue to perform their work.  

The second item of note was much larger, and though just as interesting, not as exciting.

A large floating mat of organic material.

I found these large mats of floating organic material in several shallow areas with low waterflow.  They  show the process of the eutrophication of a lake.  When organic material - mostly aquatic plants - dies where oxygen levels are low, it decomposes at a slow enough rate that it accumulates faster than it decays, which results in these large floating mats.  Once they form, they can grow quickly as more organic material collects along the periphery. 

Over time they thicken such that plants grow on them, pulling out water and dropping more organic materials. 

Pickerel Weed taking up residence on a floating mat.

Eventually they become thick and firm enough to support trees, and that one can walk on them without sinking down into the water on which they float.  In the not too distant future - perhaps in my grandchildren's lifetime - one may be able to walk to some of the islands in Lake Wicwas that are currently separated by shallow marshes or bogs.

A great local example of this process, where you can actually walk on a lake now covered by these organic mats, is the Philbrick-Cricenti Bog in New London.  

A boardwalk on the Philbrick-Cricenti bog.

I highly recommend a visit if you've never been there - it's quite an experience.  You can find more information about that bog here.

Early this year we had a skunk visiting the yard on a regular basis.  This week, it's been a porcupine!  It seems to really enjoy feasting on clover and other plants in the yard.  It truly is not concerned with with its safety as it just continued dining as we stood there and took pictures. 

And when we decided it was time to shoo it away, it was very reluctant to leave its dinner table, but after we made enough racket, it finally decided to vamoose.

I'll end with a few other sights from my morning paddle.

Painted turtles collecting solar rays to strengthen their shells for winter hibernation.

Bladderwort

Crows, just hanging out.

An osprey soaring overhead, looking for breakfast.

September is a beautiful time on the lake.

August 16, 2026: Flying Loons and Flourishing Fungi

I simply have to start this week with a fantastic photograph taken by Debby Crowley.  She was in her kayak watching for Pip when this caught her eye. 

Photo by Debby Crowley

Catching a loon flying fast overhead is no easy task!  An opportunity to see something like this isn't a lucky moment, but as any photographer can tell you, it's most often the result of much time spent in the field. Thank you Debby, and I'm glad you stayed upright!

One morning while I was loon watching, I caught Pip doing a foot wag. 

Now that's a foot!

Pip has now grown into a handsome young juvenile loon.

Pip will be dressed in this chevron plumage through the rest of its summer and fall here on Wicwas, so even as it grows, it will be distinguishable from all the other loons on the lake.

Much easier to photograph than an airborne loon was this osprey, perched stationary on one of its favorite lookouts points on Lake Wicwas.

This tall spike of a tree is on the southeast corner of Wood Island with a broad view of the lake. 

This section of lake is a prime spot to look for osprey diving into the lake to catch fish.  A good time to watch is late afternoon and evening on a clear, calm day.  If you see a raptor soaring overhead, stop and watch a while from a distance and you might get a show. 

When I was scouring the tree tops for osprey and eagles, I saw an indication that this might be a good mast year for white pine. 

A good crop of green cones on the tall pines.

Lots of birds and small mammals will appreciate this bounty come winter.

The evening primrose have bloomed and I've been checking in the morning for the pretty primrose moth, but I haven't seen one yet.  

Evening Primrose, with no moths, just a beetle.

If you see one you'll know it.  With soft pink and white coloring, it's one of the prettiest moths you'll ever see.

In the forest, there were some new sights this week.  Mushroom season is picking up speed now and Indian Pipes are decorating the hiking trails in damp areas. 

In another somewhat damp areas I came across this small, delicate plant, one I haven't seen before. 

Woodland Horsetail at Page Pond.

It's a Wood Horsetail, a perennial.  Just like the club moss (see Sept 20, 2015) horsetails are decendents of huge trees that grew a hundred feet tall in the Carboniferous period 300 million years ago.  Today's horsetail species max out at about 20". 

Finally, to end the week, here's a pretty melody courtesy of a Song Sparrow singing its heart out one morning.

Whatever the song sparrow might lack for flamboyant plumage, it makes up for with its voice.

August 10, 2025: Shelburne, Vermont

We took a trip to northern Vermont this week to explore the Shelburne area along Lake Champlain's eastern shore.  Little did we know we’d be heading right into the worst part of the smoke blowing in from the wildfires in Canada. We didn’t have any big hiking excursions in our plans, so the smoke didn’t impact our activities but it did reduce visibility and paint the sky a dull gray all week. One of the highlights of the trip was a day at the Shelburne Farm, and right there at the first field we entered was an osprey nest.

Osprey on a man-made platform at Shelburne Farms.

There didn’t appear to be any juveniles in the nest, and several times a second osprey tried to land on the nest but the inhabitant refused their approach every time. There wasn’t any physical altercation between them, just a lot of squawking at each other.  Eventually the nest-sitter flew off to harass the intruder. 

Off on the attack.

And then returned to its place as king of the roost.

Returning Home

This made me aware that I haven’t seen or heard as many osprey on Lake Wicwas this summer as in recent years. They must have found some other primary fishing spot.

 
The Shelburne Farm and its opulent house and barns were built by Lila Vanderbilt Webb, the youngest daughter of William Vanderbilt, and her husband William Webb. Her inheritance allowed the couple to purchase 33 farms covering 4000 acres along Lake Champlain in the late 1800’s.

That's just the barn.

The farm is now “an education nonprofit on a mission to inspire and cultivate learning for a sustainable future.” [Ref: Shelburne Farms]  It’s a beautiful property, open to the public with no admission fee.

The Shelburne Inn overlooking Lake Champlain.

With a view across the lake to the Adirondack Mountains in New York.

We also spent a day at the Shelburne Museum which is a huge outdoor museum with more than 40 structures covering everything from farming to the history of the circus in America. 

There’s an up-and-down sawmill like the one that cut timber at the Page Pond mill dam on Meredith Neck.

Up and down Sawmill originally powered by the White River.

This sawmill was built in 1873 and operated in South Royalton Vermont, probably until the mid 1800s when it would have been upgraded to a circular saw which continued to operate into the early 1900s.  I loved the juxtaposition of the 1873 sawmill with a truck load of saw logs heading off to a 2025 sawmill.

There’s also a two-lane covered bridge that was moved to the museum from Cambridge Vermont where it spanned the Lamoille River for over 100 years.

I don’t think I’ve seen a two-lane covered bridge before.


Nestled in between Shelburne Farm and Shelburne Museum is Shelburne Bay Park which extends about a mile along Lake Champlain.  One of the park's trails goes up and over a steep hill – too steep in places for logging to have taken place, and that's where I found quite few very old trees that escaped the sawmills.  Most impressive was this White Oak which I knew was something special when I saw the incredibly thick and deeply furrowed bark.

Other ancient trees there were Shagbark Hickory, Red Pine, and Eastern Cedar.

Cedar

Shagbark Hickory

References I found estimate the oldest trees in the park to be 200 years old, perhaps older. This means they survived the clear cutting of New England during the mid-1800’s Sheep Craze when much of New England was put into pasture land, and again around the turn of the century when, after the forest had regrown for 50-80 years, most of New England was deforested for the second time for lumber, charcoal, and paper.  Lime production was an important Vermont industry and it required a huge amount of wood. A lime kiln operated in South Burlington from 1825 until 1971. [Ref: MyChamplainValley]

While we were away I received multiple reports and pictures that show all is well with our loon family even though there were a number of rogue loons visiting the lake. 

Spangle is molting her baby fluff, revealing bits of her juvenile chevron pattern underneath.

The family is becoming more independent now.    

One loon and one chick.

Thank you all for keeping us updated while we were away!

April 27, 2025: Talons and Trilliums

Spring is popping up everywhere now, and I saw my first true wildflower Wednesday on a hike in the Ossipee Mountains - not where or what I expected.  But there on a southern exposure on the Mt. Shaw Trail, I saw my first flash of color, a bright Round-leaved Yellow Violet (one of those oxymoronic flower names).

Round-leaved Yellow Violet (Viola rotundifolia)

This was at 1800' elevation, and soon there were many of these violets, sometimes in large clumps.

A little higher up Mt. Shaw, on a ledge overlooking a deep-blue Lake Winnipesauke, I could see there's still snow on the trails at Gunstock.

It was a warm, sunny day, and approaching the trailhead on my way down in the afternoon I started seeing trillium leaves poking up through the leaf litter.  Then right at the parking area there were dozens of them.

Dozens of trillium at the Mt. Shaw Trailhead.

A few had buds that were about to open.

So I searched to see if I could find one that had opened, and finally I found one - just one, and just barely open, but that was enough to verify they were Purple Trillium.

Purple Trillium

On the next sunny day there will be a fabulous display of color at the Mt. Shaw trailhead on Rt. 171 for all to see.

A deciduous forest floor only gets direct sunlight for a brief period between snow-melt and leaf-out.  These early wildflowers have evolved the ability to emerge early enough to take advantage of this short window to collect enough energy to blossom and survive until next spring.  

It wasn't until Friday, back at Lake Wicwas, that I saw my first Trailing Arbutus in bloom.

Trailing Arbutus aka Mayflower

At the same time as the flowers are exploding on the scene, so are the birds.  This week I heard the first Hermit Thrush, Blue-headed Vireo, Phoebe, Palm Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler.  All of these have loud songs, and the hermit thrush is my favorite of the woodland birds.

On a mid-day kayak I saw my first osprey of the season as it flew over the lake and landed in a lichen covered tree on Loon  Point.

On the same paddle I came across a promising loon encounter.  Two loons were interacting closely, actively enough that I first thought they were in conflict.  But there wasn't any chasing or vocalizing, and their behavior didn't seem aggressive, so maybe they were just checking each other out.

When one of them swam right beside my kayak I was able to clearly see the white band with black dot that identified it as the northern male.  And later in my trip there were two loons fishing together in the northern territory, so perhaps the behavior I saw earlier was the loon version of flirting.  Maybe our male has accepted a new mate after last year's partner was killed.  

I also saw a second pair of loons in the south territory which may be the banded south pair, but we'll need to see bands to know that.  The busy loon-watching season has begun!

It's an exciting time of year on the lakes and in the forests as nature reawakens for the summer; there were many more new sightings, too many to note, so some will have to wait.  But something else is exploding on the scene too.  Be aware that biting insects will be out very soon, so the days of bug-free walks are almost over.  Here's clear evidence that the insects are coming.

Happy spring!