May 16, 2021: How Are Your Allergies?

Spring, sunshine, warm temps, strong winds - it all adds up to tree-pollen season, and it seems to be a good one, though if you suffer from spring allergies, you already know that.  The primary culprits shedding pollen right now are oak, birch, and ash - the early-bird red maples have already gone to seed.

These red maple helicopters will soon be twirling their seeds down to earth.

It's the birch and oak that are shedding their pollen now.

There's a lot of pollen in those oak flowers.

There's not much we can do but wait for the rain to come along and wash all that pollen out of the air.

While we're talking about trees, I want to show a huge bittersweet vine (tree?) I saw over at the Meredith Community Forest while doing some conservation property monitoring work.

A massive bittersweet vine.

This is Oriental bittersweet, a woody vine that was introduced here from China as an ornamental plant, which it is - they are beautiful in the fall with their showy red and yellow berries.  But being non-native, they have no natural controls on their growth and expansion, so they will take over very large areas of field and forest.  Being a vine they are most often found as smaller plants spiraling up around a tree trunk, as this plant initially did.  But as bittersweet grows, the vine will strangle the supporting plant.  After it killed its initial host tree this one encountered another bittersweet vine and the two of them decided to team up and dance with each other (prior photo).

The vine's first host is lying dead on the ground.

I have never seen bittersweet this large before; it would be interesting to count its growth rings to age it.

Moving on to animal life, in addition to the loon mating drama of last week, we now have duck drama as well.  We've had a pair of mallards take up residence in Marion Cove this spring - they are always here, sometimes up on land eating acorns or other plants - and on occasion they've had to usher other ducks away from "their" cove.  But this week it appears another male came in and had a fancy for our female.  There were several moments of total chaos with wings flapping, water flying, and beaks quacking as three ducks engaged in some kind of battle of dominance.

All three kind of flew-swam-tumbled down along the shore out of sight.

Mrs. Mallard got into the action too.

Then a few minutes later two males came steaming back down along the shoreline in tight formation, one right on the aft quarter of the other, escorting it back to international waters.  I saw this take place once again but I have no idea how times they went by that I didn't see.  I'm guessing the challenger kept coming back to try and steal the other's bride and had to be repeatedly driven off.  Regardless of the results of paternity testing we're hoping we'll get to see little ducklings in a few more weeks!

Another bird observed on the lake this week was possibly the source of a lot of very traumatic loon calling.

An immature bald eagle.

This bald eagle flew low over the lake then rose up and landed high in a pine tree right at the water's edge where it would have an eagle-eye view of all the action.  

A bald eagle's head and tail won't become white until 3 to 5 years of age.

Even without chicks in tow I expect the loons don't like to see that watching over them.

Two weeks ago I mentioned that trillium were blooming in Canterbury, and earlier this week I saw my first in the Lakes Region; it's a compelling reason to get out on the wooded trails and find one of these beautiful flowers.

Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum)

While you're out there look for the many other early wildflowers  blooming now including goldthreads, violets, and the just-now-emerging fringed polygala.  Hopefully you'll be able to find them through the blurry vision of teary, watery, pollen-triggered eyes.

May 31, 2020: The Sounds of Summer

But first this: 

 

Yes, the song birds are now nesting.  I found this small ground nest only because the inhabitant fluttered away as I walked past the nest which was located right beside the trail, perfectly hidden under a branch of a low-bush blueberry; I really had to look to find it.  They look like Robin eggs, but I think more likely this is a nest of either a hermit thrush or a veery.  I frequently hear the thrush in this vicinity so the odds suggest that's what it is.  Maybe I'll learn more as time goes on.

I didn't see the goslings this week, but Mrs. Mallard did come by with her ten chicks in tow.

The waterfowl nest long before the songbirds.

Before I get to the sounds of the week I really must mention the sights because the spring wildflower season is peaking now.  My personal favorite, the painted trillium, has been blooming for over a week but can still be found throughout the Lakes Region.

Painted Trillium

Just popping out this week is a flower everyone loves to see, the pink lady's slipper.  The photo of this beautiful patch was sent to me by Marge Thorpe.

Pink Lady's Slipper, photo by Marge Thorpe.

A smaller, more delicate flower now blooming isn't quite as prominent, but it's worth taking the effort to look at the fine detail in its delicate star-like bloom.  

Easter Starflower

The blossoms on the hobblebush are gone now - leaving behind tiny specks that will grow into fruit this summer - but here's one picture from their peak of beauty.

Hobblebush Viburnum

I've been watching this particular plant as it evolves and will continue to watch as its fruit grows, turns red, and eventually black when fully ripe.

Now to the sounds.  All the animals are loving this warm weather as much as we are and they're singing their praises out loud and clear.  The combination of birds, frogs and toads blend together to create symphonic entertainment each morning and evening.  Add the occasional crash of a beaver tail into the water for some percussion and it's a full Wagner opera.  

Having such a long stretch of warm weather this early in the year means sleeping with the windows open when so many animals are still at a high level of spring activity.  Some of the sounds to be woken up by include turkeys gobbling, owls hooting, tree frogs trilling, large animals crashing through the woods (bears?) and of course, the beaver alert.  I remember sitting in the Marion's cabin 35 years ago when were considering purchasing our land on Lake Wicwas and Mrs. Marion warned us that it was a very noisy neighborhood.  Confused, we asked her what she meant, and she said "The birds!  They wake you every morning!"  That has always stuck with me, especially considering the Marions lived in downtown Boston!

A loud member of  nature's orchestra, sitting in the percussion section, is the woodpecker.  Though they do chirp now and then in the choir, their drumming is most distinctive and great fun to hear.  One morning there were two yellow-bellied sapsuckers out drumming in a round.  One would drum first, then the second would answer.  I couldn't find the musicians, but I sure heard them.

This behavior is used to define their territory.  I learned from UNH biologist Matt Tarr that spring bird singing is primarily to define territory - two male birds of the same species will wake up in the morning and immediately start singing to say "I'm still here".  As long as each bird stays on its side of the agreed-to dividing line everything is fine.  But cross that line, and trouble ensues.  Since woodpeckers don't have a song to sing - only their short calls - they find a resonant object on which to drum to make their presence known, usually a dead tree or branch, and the louder and greater its resonance, the larger a territory the sound can cover.  

Regarding sights under water, the crystal clear lake water is about to change.

Pollen covers the surface of Lake Wicwas

All that pollen in the air has now found its way to the ground.  Add to that the multitude of microscopic life that will start to grow in the lakes, as well as some churning up by animals and humans, and the visibility will be much reduced from its early spring clarity.  But all the trees aren't quite done:  the white pine is just starting to release its dose.  Pines produce the thick green pollen that is so visible on surfaces, but thankfully, due to the large size of the pollen particles it isn't an allergy nuisance for most people.

With all the pollen out of the atmosphere there were some spectacular summer days on the lakes this week.

Now that's something to sing about!

May 19, 2013

Have you been sneezing this week?  Perhaps New Hampshire should endorse yet another season:  pollen season.  The crystal clear water we've enjoyed since the ice melted is now cloudy and thick with pollen.

Pollen on Lake Wicwas

If you look way up at the tops of the oak trees you will see long, dangling blossoms - hundreds of them - providing an idea of just how much pollen they release.  But all this pollen in Lake Wicwas probably serves as a food source for many small organism at the bottom of the food chain, in turn providing food for fish, amphibians, and birds of prey.

Yesterday, sitting on the deck on a calm evening, I heard a loud bird calling from the top of a tree, up where those oak blossoms are - a rather short, two-syllable, rising whistle that I didn't recognize.  I got the binoculars, but couldn't find it until it flew.  Then I could see it a bit, but it was way up in the tip top, and hard to get a good look, but it did look and behave like a flycatcher.  I got the laptop and went to my most trusted bird identification web site, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  Going to the section on flycatchers, I started playing their calls to see if I could identify it.  When I played the Great Crested Flycatcher call, I was pretty sure that was it.  But then I played some of its longer calls, and all of a sudden, the bird called back!  It sang the same calls playing on the computer!  I took that as a pretty good confirmation of its identity.  I played a couple more calls and each time it responded;  I then decided to leave it alone.  I never got a picture of it, but looking it up on line, I found that it eats a lot more than flies!

Great Crested Flycatcher (Credit Joe McDonald)

Did you see an article in the May 9th edition of the Meredith News about the Wicwas Grange?  It's getting a major renovation, and its membership has risen from seven to almost 100 over the past three years.  Today, walking up to the Center, we saw a bustle of activity as people and equipment were doing outside landscaping.  It's looking pretty nice!

Wicwas Grange

On the walk, we also saw a new spider:  A Nursery Web Spider. 

Nursery Web Spider (Pisaurina mira)

Like many spiders, the female carries it eggs in a sac, but when they are ready to hatch, she builds a nursery web for them.  The young hatch and grow through their fist molt in the safety of the web, while the mother stays close by to defend her nursery from attackers.  

We also enjoyed the Lilacs blooming all around Lake Wicwas this week. 

Lilacs near Meredith Center

There are some beautiful lilacs at the house on the corner of Dow Road and Meredith Center Rd, across from the Lakeland School.

I had one other new experience this week.  Walking along a path on a mostly calm day, I noticed a couple of puffs of smoke coming up from a juniper tree.  Stopping to watch, of course, I saw no more and wondered if it was my imagination.  So I blew a breath of air at the tip of a branch, and poof - a burst of smoke-like pollen dispersed flew into the air.

Common Juniper (Juniperus Communis) Releasing Pollen

It has been extremely dry again around the lake, with the pine needles and leaves stiff and brittle on the ground.  But as I write, it is raining, so the fire danger may recede, as will, hopefully, the agony of the allergy sufferers!

May 14, 2011

Lake Wicwas enjoyed one fantastic summer-like day this week before the weather turned back to cool and damp.  I expect I have enjoyed my last tranquil walk in the woods, being able to walk slowly without the constant buzz of mosquitoes all around.  The black flies are out, and the mosquitoes will follow shortly.  It is one aspect of summer I could do without!

Clouds Lift over the Hills behind Lake Wicwas

One warm day was enough to encourage the trees to push out their leaves – even the oaks now have tiny leaves on their branches, and the hills are painted a pale-green as photosynthesis begins.

Pale Green Leaves Emerging

Birch Tree Flower

The tree pollen is very high right now, and is reported to be at record levels this year.  All trees have some sort of flower which produces pollen; this is the flower of a birch tree, getting ready to release its crop to us allergy sufferers.












I think the Trillium is the most fabulous flower in New Hampshire, and there is a wonderful display of Painted Trillium right now on the Blue Trail in the Hamlin Conservation area.  My feelings for trillium are likely based on my first experience with this flower.  I came across it the first time on a group hiking trip in western NH.  I saw a single Purple Trillium; I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it was something special.  You can imagine my distress when the leader of the trip leaned over and plucked it off its stem, saying, “we’ll look it up later”.  Ever since then I think I’ve felt a need to protect them (and felt a lot less respect for one particular trip leader).  I have never seen a purple trillium again.

Painted Trillium

The Hobblebush Viburnum is also blooming, joining the brightness of the Shadbush.  This plant has an intriguing blossom, with a circle of large white flowers surrounding dozens of tiny blooms.  Hobblebush can be seen along the Blue Trail as well as many other places around Lake Wicwas.

Hobblebush Viburnum

Pin Cherry

Another white, blossoming tree is the Pin Cherry, which can be found along Chemung Rd at the edges of the swamps.  In a few months this will be an important source of food for many birds.







Speaking of birds, one can tell the insects are back by the Phoebes flitting out of the trees to catch an insect, and returning to its perch to wait for its next victim.  The Swallows are also back, dive-bombing the insects just above the surface of the lake.  Red-winged Blackbirds have been frequenting the bird feeders rather than spending time out in the marshes.

Red-winged Blackbird

(Note that I added some additional information from my sightings on the May 8th entry.)