April 16, 2023: Ice out and Spring In

Everything happened so quickly this week that there's way too much to discuss, so this entry will pretty much be a recording of events for the journal followed by a few notes about the mergansers which have been so plentiful and entertaining.  

Many of the spring birds arrived - here's what I observed for the first time this year:

• Northern Flicker
• Pine Warbler
• Blue-headed Vireo
• Swamp Sparrow
• Hermit Thrush
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Wood Duck
• Common Loon
• American Robin

Robins of course are here year 'round, living off fruit in the winter, but I rarely see them in the cold months.  Now that it's spring, they're here and hopping all over the ground listening for insects and worms in the soft soil.

Tuning in on lunch down underground.

The Pine Warblers are usually the first of warbler family to arrive and they have a loud distinctive call so you know when they're here.  Much more subtle and absolutely beautiful - perhaps the most eloquent of all the bird songs - is the Hermit Thrush.  Their song in the early morning is one of the most satisfying sounds of summer.  Another distinctive song is that of the wood frog which I heard for the first time this week, dozens of male wood frogs singing their hearts out looking for a mate.  Scientists say males congregate in a single vernal pool so they have a better chance of attracting females to their pool due to the loud sound.  Then each frog has to perform solo to gain the favor of an arriving female.  [Ref:  Discover Magazine]

The first report of a loon on Wicwas was on April 9th, and the following day a pair was observed.  I went for a paddle on Thursday but I wasn't able to find them.  So far there have only been reports of one pair on the lake.

There were also eagles on the lake this week;  I went looking for what was causing a traumatic call from the loons, and there was the eagle soaring overhead.

This was an immature bald eagle.  I also saw a mature eagle which landed in one of the pine trees where eagles roosted over the deer kill this winter.

Could it be looking for a nesting site?  

The loons' arrival on Sunday preceded ice-out on Wicwas by three days; ice-out was called on Wednesday April 12, right in line with the average ice-out day.  Ice-out came quickly with the warm and windy weather.  (We hit 86 degrees this week.)  

On Tuesday there was still a lot of ice in the lake.

Intrepid fisher people on Tuesday, April 11.

By Wednesday it was essentially gone, with only remnants blown onto the boat ramp by the strong northwest wind.

Ice-out was declared on Wednesday, April 12

Even with an average ice-out date, the late ice-in date of December 25th meant a lower than usual ice-coverage period of 108 days, quite a bit short of the 123 day average.

Now a few comments on the mergansers.  There have been multiple groups of them on the lake, numbering perhaps two dozen in total.  

Common mergansers socializing.

They've been interacting quite actively, though their intent isn't always clear.  When there are three or four males and one female I assume the drakes (males) are vying for the affection of the hen. 

Four drakes, one hen.

Other times a male is chasing away another male which also makes sense.  But sometimes a female is chasing away another female - does that mean she has selected a mate and doesn't want another girl to move in on her chosen one? 

When they've had enough action they'll climb up on the ice to preen and rest.  

The Lakes Region is right on the edge of common mergansers' breeding zone, so most of these are migrants on their way to their primary breeding area in Canada.  Too bad, because they are such pretty birds.

And it's fun to watch them dive, as they put their heads down and flip up their tails.

When one group of them was close I captured a bit of their antics, which you can watch here:

80 degrees with flowers blooming and warblers singing doesn't mean that winter sports are over.  There's still skiing to be had on Mount Washington!

The scene in Mount Washington's Tuckerman Ravine on Friday, April 14th.

It's the time of many seasons all-at-once here in New Hampshire.

 

April 17 2022: Our Banded Loons Return

An encouraging sign for our loons as well as the loon population in general appeared this week:  Our mating pair of loons has returned.  I was able to get a good look at the bands on the legs of both the male and the female, proof they are the same pair that fledged two healthy chicks, last summer, Jimmy and Coco.

The female has lots of jewelry, two bands on each leg.

The male has only a single band on its left leg.

The pair will spend the next month or two fattening up on fresh fish and selecting a nesting site.  I've heard sounds of contests with other loons, so there's likely to be a little territory resolution to be done as well.  Last year the various loons resolved their differences fairly quickly and this pair had nested by the first of June; we can only hope this year goes as well as last.  (I reported this sighting to the LPC, and perhaps you saw that they scooped me and put these pictures in their newsletter!)  

On the subject of mating and territory, one day I was drawn from a long distance by the persistent tapping of a woodpecker declaring his territory.  As I carefully closed in on the sound I was amazed at how much noise a small bird can produce.  The downy woodpecker knows to find good solid, dead but dry branch to hammer on which will resonant loudly throughout the forest.  The farther the sound can carry, the larger territory a male woodpecker can claim.  After a long time circling under the tree I was finally able to spot the percussionist, way up high on a dead oak limb.  The video is poor, but you can clearly understand how his signal carries far across the land (click on the video below):

Our list of summer migrants continues to grow, with this week's arrivals including pine warblers, brown creepers, and great blue herons, one of our larger birds on the lake.  Our highly visible raptor, the osprey - also known as the fish hawk - has returned and immediately made its present known by its loud kip-kip-kip call as it flies off from its perch overhanging the lake where it sits looking for an unsuspecting fish down below.  One evening after a successful fishing expedition it flew into our cove and ate its catch in a secluded spot where an eagle wouldn't steal its dinner.  It was dusk and I didn't want to disturb it, knowing it was hungry after its long flight from Central America, but I was able to get a couple of pictures of meal time.

"This looks like a safe spot."

"No one followed me?"

"Time to eat!"

I'm not sure why osprey fluff all their feathers up like this:

Could it be to help them dry off after their dive into the water to catch the fish?

Another of my favorite birds that visit Lake Wicwas in the spring and fall made a quick appearance this week.

Mr. and Mrs. Bufflehead

This is Mr. Bufflehead, I didn't get a decent shot of Mrs.

These birds still have a long way to travel - their primary breeding ground ranges from western Canada to Alaska.  The Lakes Region may be their first fuel and rest stop as they leave their winter grounds along the Atlantic coast.

Last week it was the wood frogs singing, and this week, on April 11th, it was the spring peepers raising a racket in the newly awakening forest.  And as spring unfurls, lots of green shoots are erupting from the earth and buds are swelling, ready to burst open with the next sunny warm day.  And more spring flowers are blooming too!

Crocuses

The season of renewal is here  -  Happy Easter!

April 18, 2021: Warblers, Another Sign of Spring

As the weather warms more and more summer birds are arriving.  This week I heard my first pine warbler, one of the earliest warblers to appear each year, and checking my notes, this was three weeks earlier than last year.  Pine warblers spend their time high up in the tree branches so I wasn't able to see any, but there are many.  As I walked along I would hear one loud and close, and then far away in the distance, another would respond, sending its report right back after the first one finished its message.  As I got close to the second one, I could hear a third off in the distance responding to the second.  I believe what's going on is that each bird has staked out its nesting territory and is proclaiming its domain with its song.  If it hears another pine warbler far away, all is well.  But if another gets too close, there will be an altercation.  I imagine a checkerboard pattern of pine warbler nesting sites throughout the forest.  

What's interesting is that within this range there may be a dozen other bird species doing the same thing, and they are perfectly comfortable with sharing their territory with different species of birds, just not with those of the same species.  

Here's a picture I took of a pine warbler back in 2013 when a male perched on a dead branch with no leaves to hide behind.

Pine warblers are unique among warblers in that seeds make up a large part of their diet, especially, perhaps as expected, pine seeds.  If you keep bird feeders out at this time of year and want to try to attract a pine warbler, try hanging your bird feeder high up, maybe 30 or 40 feet above the ground (that will also discourage the bears).  Having a diet of seeds lets pine warblers arrive earlier in the spring than birds that rely on insects, and pine warblers will starting breeding soon - thus the claiming of territory at this point in the year.

I mentioned seeing ring-necked ducks last week; on one kayak trip I came upon an interesting combination of three ring-necked ducks and a lone female merganser.

Earlier the same day I watched what was likely the same three ring-necked ducks, two males apparently courting a single female early in the morning.

A curious beaver on patrol seemed to be heading in that direction to see if there was going to be a show to watch as they fought over her attention.

I often struggle to differentiate between beaver and muskrat, but I'm pretty sure I saw a couple of muskrats this week.  At morning or night it's a pretty good bet a swimming rodent is a beaver, especially if it's on a high speed mission; muskrats are more likely to be active during the day and often are a little more erratic in their swimming patterns.  Muskrats are also smaller, but the sure way to tell is by the tail, as the muskrat has a thin rat-like tail versus the wide, flat paddle of the beaver tail.  I think this medium size rodent, swimming along the shore at 2:00 in the afternoon, was a muskrat:

A muskrat enjoys a warm spring afternoon.

In addition to the ring-necked ducks, we were visited by several groups of buffleheads this week.  

Mrs. Bufflehead.

And Mr. Bufflehead.

I always enjoy seeing these pretty birds and watching their dives - they are so quick as they upend themselves and plunk straight down into the water.  

One other neat observation was made by Tom Crane back on March 29th, before ice-out:  a pair of common goldeneyes visiting Wicwas, diving within a small channel that had opened up along the northern edge of the lake.

A pair of common goldeneyes fish between the ice sheets.

Tom noted "The male's head really gleamed a beautiful green when the sun hit it. We have also had a pair of Wood Ducks hanging around the cove longer than usual. We have also had a few of what look like Buffleheads around lately, as well as passing Mergansers. An interesting time of year."

Hopefully we'll get an improvement from the recent chilly, wet weather so we can get out and see more of the migrating birds.  It won't be long before the birds heading for Canada will have departed the Lakes Region.

A bufflehead takes off for places unknown.

But they'll be back again next year.

May 3, 2020: More Warblers Arrive

Way back on March 15th I saw - actually heard - the first summer warbler back to New Hampshire, a yellow-rumped warbler, up north in Lincoln.  Now, almost two months later, many other birds that have a longer migration route are starting to arrive.  With the assistance of the Merlin Bird App, I was able to identify two new ones for me:  the Pine Warbler and the Palm Warbler.

A palm warbler on its way north

The palm warbler won't be here for long - the maps indicate that its breeding range is beyond even the northern tip of New Hampshire.  I was fortunate enough just to catch one as it stopped to enjoy some time in the Lakes Region. 

The pine warbler on the other hand will spend the summer here.  Because it lives its life high up in the branches of white pine trees I wasn't able to see one other than some faint silhouettes dancing around against the bright sky.  But there were many and they were singing constantly, so with the sound recordings on the Merlin app I was able to identify them.  (The Cornell Ornithology Lab Merlin App can be downloaded on your smart phone so you can take it with you in the field.  It has an identification feature where you answer three simple questions, and then it gives you a list of possible birds based on your location.)

Other summer birds are returning as well;  I saw an osprey and two great blue herons on a paddle around Lake Wicwas. 

The osprey have returned

I took advantage of the high spring water and lack of lily pads to paddle up to the beaver dam that holds back Blake Brook where it enters Lake Wicwas.

The beaver dam holding back Blake Brook

There was visible current flowing through the dam and a delightful trickling sound that the beavers will soon put and end to.  You can see more of the dam and hear the water in this short video I took while I was there.  You'll see one spot in particular where water was breaking through the dam.  The beavers won't let that go on for long!

On this same trip I finally got positive confirmation that last year's male loon has returned. 

The male loon was banded last July - it has a white band with a black dot.

I didn't get to see the female's bands, but Tom Crane has confirmed the banded female is here as well, so our resident pair has definitely returned.  Both loons gave me a nice long show as they were doing their mid-morning preening and on one good belly roll I got a chance to observe the results of their work.

Look at how the water balls up on their feathers.  During preening they take oil from a gland near their tail and spread it onto their feathers to repel water and keep them dry and warm - it's like waxing your car!  They clearly weren't bothered by me using a telephoto lens from a long distance away.

A few more members have joined the spring wildflower guild, including the trailing arbutus (sometimes called mayflower). 

Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)

I always request not picking wildflowers, but once in your life, when you find a large healthy patch of arbutus, you should take one of these tiny flowers and roll it between your finger to experience the beautiful sweet perfume it uses to lure in the pollinators - it's a delight to all the senses.



This time of year, to close out each spring day, the beavers come out just at sunset to inspect their domain and collect building materials to repair those holes in their dams.

The lake yields to a beaver as it makes its evening rounds.

Their work day is just beginning.