October 12, 2025: Hoppers and Hawks

Adding to the migrating raptors this week was a Red-tailed Hawk rising up on the thermals over the summit of Bald Knob in the Ossipee Mountains.

Red-tailed Hawk in the Ossipees

I had some nice views of it with the sun shining through its plumage, though it quickly rose up to a small spec in the sky.  It didn't have a very red tail, or perhaps the bright light washed the color out.

Raptors use these thermals in their migration by riding them high in the air, sometimes thousands feet, without using energy flapping their wings.  Then they soar southward for miles, slowly losing altitude, until they find another rising thermal air column.  And if there's a stiff northwest wind, all the better.  

I also heard a red-tail hawk up on the hills behind Lake Wicwas this week but I couldn't see it.  They typically don't stay in the Lakes Region through the winter, migrating just south of us, but perhaps that boundary is moving north now.

I found myself looking skyward for other reasons also.

The foliage doesn't seem as bright this year, perhaps due to the drought conditions, but there are plenty of beautiful trees in localized areas, especially around the lake where they had plenty of water all summer.

Looking down can be fruitful too.  That's where I found this huge American Toad camouflaged among the dry leaves.

American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

There are migrating birds on the water too, including this flock of four mallards foraging for food in the shallow water near the dam on Wicwas.

Must be something good down there.

They're losing their iridescent summer colors.  

Paddling the marshy shorelines also reveals bright red American Cranberries ripening amongst the wetland growth.

If you see people tramping through the marshes in tall rubber boots, that's what they're collecting.

One must be prepared to take stowaways on board when paddling through the marshes.

Lots of little bugs hopped on my boat.

These appear to be different than the longer, thinner bugs that hop onto my kayak earlier in the summer.  I think these are a species of Planthopper, likely the Common Pondlily Planthopper.

Common Pondlily Planthopper (Megamelus davisi)

Wikipedia states there are over 12,000 species of planthoppers;  these are in the family Delphacidae, which includes "only" 2000 species.   

Thankfully these insects are purely herbivores.  That protrusion on its head is for sucking plant juices rather than human juices, so these are harmless to us; most had jumped ship before I got back to port.  But on my way home I passed by yet another pretty wetland plant, a variety of St John's Wort growing on a boulder in the lake.

Bog St. John's Wort  (Triadenum fraseri)

There's always something new and interesting to discover on the shores of your favorite lake.

June 20, 2021: Rocky Mountain Pelicans

On our final hike in steamboat springs last week we went up to find an abandoned uranium mine just east of steamboat. We weren't far up the trail when a flock of large birds came soaring up the west flank of the mountain from the Yampa valley.

A flock of large birds over the Yampa Valley, the Flattop Mountains are in the distance.

In the distance it was clear they were large with some white visible so my mind went to bald eagles, but I'd never seen eagles in a flock, let alone in formation. I lost sight of them as they dipped below the tree line but a few minutes later they circled up nearer to the ridge we were hiking and I got a better look - they were pelicans! 

American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

I remember reading somewhere about pelicans in Colorado but didn't really believe it, and certainly never expected to see them. But there they were, undisputable pelicans; I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen them with my own eyes.  Turning to my favorite bird resource, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, I find that they migrate across much of America west of the Mississippi river on their way to breeding grounds primarily in Canada, but also in pockets of Colorado, Wyoming, and the Dakotas. So much for me thinking they are purely ocean birds - though the brown pelicans I see in South Carolina are strictly seacoast dwellers.

Back in new Hampshire we've had some perfect summer weather, simply ideal for a guided paddle around Lake Wicwas on Friday.  The Lakes Region Conservation Trust organized the paddle which was attended by an enthusiastic group of twelve kayakers and canoers who toured eight LRCT-protected easements as well as four protected by the town of Meredith.

A colorful group prepares to depart on a two-hour tour.

The paddle was organized and led by LRCT Land and Stewardship Director Dave Mallard and me.

New Hampshire is incredibly fortunate to have so many generous, forward-looking people who have seen the importance of protecting our water and land resources.  On the trip we saw loons, kingbirds, painted turtles, yellow warblers, tree swallows and even got a glimpse of the loon nest.  In the marshes we saw blue flags (wild iris) and rose pogonia blooming.  

Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides)

Blue Flag (Iris versicolor)

The iris are almost gone-by but the small and delicate rose pogonia will be in bloom for a while - look for both in dense, boggy wetlands.

We're still waiting for definitive confirmation of the female nesting loon as she's been quite protective of her leg bands.  I did confirm there are two eggs still in the nest, though it was a little concerning that the nest was unoccupied with only one parent nearby, nonchalantly preening near the nest.

Two eggs sit unattended.

There were no boats in the area and no indication of where the other loon was or why it left the nest.  Hopefully it just needed a quick dip to cool off.

There was another large flying creature that landed on the lake when we were away, but the quick eye of Debby Crowley caught the renegade as it came in for a landing.  

Landing on Wicwas.  Photo by Debby Crowley.

Debby reported that the loons did not appreciate the stranger on the lake, but they also apparently didn't run off to hide - maybe they were curious about this large, noisy intruder too.

 A loon checks out the unusual beast.  Photo by Debby Crowley.

While I'm sharing stories from outside the Lakes Region I want to share this fabulous picture a friend took of a red-tailed hawk sitting in the top of tree along the Marginal Way in Ogunquit Maine.

Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).  Photo by John Windyka.

  

Red-tailed hawks are very large birds, and with a wing span of almost five feet they are often mistaken as immature bald eagles.  Keep an eye on the sky for both of them which are present in the Lakes Region.  This is one of the best photos I've seen of a red-tailed, with the sun illuminating the tail from above and those steely eyes staring right down at the camera.  Thanks for sharing John, and thanks also to PC for sharpening up the photo!

Finally, happy Father's Day to my dad and all fathers - this is your day to enjoy and remember what joy you've brought to the world.  Here's one many-times over dad, who's hopefully about to become a new father once again:

The soon-to-be father enjoying some personal time on the lake before his life gets very busy.

Now this late breaking news:  Claranne B. just reported a moose swimming along the shore of Lake Wicwas!  It the stomped right up onto land and walked across Loon Point.  It's a rare treat to see a moose, and great to know they are roaming around the Lakes Region!

April 15, 2018 - Summer residents returning, ready or not

The world is inching its way along towards spring, always at its own pace.  The days (until today that is) have been nice enough to get out and enjoy some springtime walks, but it's clear we still have a ways to go before lake activities are at hand.

Lake Wicwas still firmly in the grasp of Old Man Winter

The latest report from the Lake Winnipesaukee Ice Out team (Emerson Aviation) is that there is still no appreciable open water on the big lake.  Here on Lake Wicwas we have the same story, just bits of open water around a few edges edges.

Open water is growing, enabling ducks and beavers to cruise the shorelines

I'm still able able to venture out a short ways from shore to measure the ice, and it stands 12" thick, though we are now down to only 3" of solid ice with the rest being soft, porous ice.  But it was still strong enough on Friday to support me without sinking in at all.

12 inches of ice yet to wilt away

Bird activity seems to be picking up - there was a bald eagle and a pair of red-tailed hawks soaring over the lake this week. 

Red-tailed Hawk riding the thermals

And mallards have joined the geese on the lake.

All my ducks geese in a row

Mom and dad mallard looking for the best nesting site

Time to warm up my feet

The mallards seem to spend most of their time in the water, though they occasionally climb up onto the ice for whatever ducky-reason they may have:  (Link to video)

I even flushed out a grouse on one walk, though I had to send a picture of the tracks to one of my colleagues at the Conservation Commission to identify the tracks (thank you JS)!

Grouse tracks are much closer together than the larger turkey and pheasant

Even in the absence of insects the flycatchers and warblers are starting to return;  I heard my first phoebe and chestnut-sided warbler with its pretty "sweet-sweet-sweet-to-MEET-you" song on Friday.  On morning walks it's reassuring to hear the summer songbirds singing again.  We enjoy the sounds of chick-a-dees, titmice, and other year-round residents through the winter, but the songs of warblers provides some subliminal message that even if one's walking on snow and ice, summer will arrive.  Sounds are hard to capture, but here are some of the sights from one spring walk this week after an April shower.

An April Sunrise

Morning dew on last years survivors

Wintergreen wanting to be springgreen

Pretty barren in the understory

Pearl necklaces

Winter.  Still.

Pussy willows are among the first trees to blossom

It is a time of contradictions, old man winter fighting to conserve the past, and spring, pushing us into the inevitability of the future.

Cracks showing in winter's defenses