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!

October 2, 2022:

I was away for the past couple of weeks, and on trips outside the Lakes Region I usually allocate time to exploring interesting natural areas.  But this trip was spent exploring our nation's early history in the historic triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown, with only one short nature walk before hurricane Ian chased us home.  There are so many opportunities here to learn about American history in the 16th through 19th centuries, and even some world history of those times related to the European exploration of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.  It shouldn't have surprised me to find that understanding history at that time included understanding the natural world as well - so much of the colonists' survival depended on knowledge and use of natural resources including plants and animals for food, medicine, tools, and shelter.  

Location of the Jamestown Church where John Rolfe and Pocahontas were married on April 5, 1614.

One  interesting fact I learned is that bison were plentiful in Virginia at the time the Jamestown colony was started in 1607 and they were an important part of native American society, being hunted for food, clothing, and shelter.  There were also caribou here, as there were in New Hampshire before overhunting extirpated both species from the eastern United States.

Even without focused nature hikes I still came across interesting plants and animals.  A day at the beach provided an opportunity to observe many osprey circling over the ocean and diving for fish, and as I watched them I wondered if they were locals or perhaps New England osprey on their way to South America.  I also came across herons and rails including this Night Heron in the moat at Fort Monroe in Hampton Virginia.

A Night Heron comfortable with human alterations to the environment.

On the grounds at Williamsburg are some huge trees that looked like live oak but are actually Compton Oaks, a hybrid of two oak species, the Southern Live Oak and the Overcup Oak.  

Compton Oak at Historic Williamsburg.

I thought this tree would have been hundreds of years old but in fact it's not quite even 90 years old, having been planted around 1933.  Things sure grow fast in this climate. 

This tree is younger than my parents.  (Sorry mom and dad : )

Magnolia trees grow large and lush in the Virginia climate as well.

Magnolia trees at the Smith's Fort Plantation in Scotland.

At this time of year they are done blooming but have large colorful seed pods now that the blossoms have gone by.

Pink and white seed pods on the magnolia.

A few of the pods were starting to release their bright red seeds.  

Near the magnolia a red iris was still blooming, and a stunning yellow butterfly was collecting nectar, combining for a dramatic color scene.

Red spider lily.

Cloudless Sulphur butterfly.

The magnolia trees and red spider lilies were at a plantation in Scotland, which is just a short ferry ride across the James River from the original Jamestown settlement.  The Jamestown Colony, which was was reconstructed on the exact same footprint (minus the part that has eroded into the river over the past 400 years) looked awfully small when viewed from the river.  

The entire colony fit within the walls that look like a gray picket fence - except for the corner that has since eroded away and is now under the James River.

Those were some pretty brave pioneers.  The tall, white monument built for the tercentennial in 1907 is made of New Hampshire granite!  It's outside the original colony walls as are the buildings to the left.

Archeologists were able to locate the exact position of the fort's walls by discovering the circles of different color clay where the posts of the fort were placed. Every bit of wood is long gone.  The same method was used to identify the location of the church shown earlier.  Archeology work continues; over a million artifacts have been uncovered and identified to date, and many of them are on display in the museum.

Ongoing archeological studies at Jamestown.

It's harvest season in Virginia and on our one nature hike we found lots of nuts and acorns along the White Oak Trail which follows the Warwick River in Newport News Park.  

Sweetgum

Shagbark hickory

Sweetgum fruit has many small winged seeds that are released through the holes in the spikey ball, while hickory has a hard, sweet nutmeat inside.

We arrived back in New Hampshire yesterday, pushed home a bit early by hurricane Ian, and are pleased to find the maple trees just starting to turn their leaves red and orange.  I'm looking forward this week to finding our loon chick Maddie and seeing how much she's grown.  I'll end the Virginia story with with one more brilliant Virginia plant:

American Beautyberry  (Callicarpa americana)

The color of the berries is unique, unlike any I've seen in New England.

March 15, 2020: They're Coming Back

I heard the first one this past Monday while riding a ski lift in Lincoln:  the pretty sound of a warbler singing its spring song on that warm, sunny day.  I recognized the song but couldn't name the bird.  It seemed awful early for a warbler to be that far  north, so when I got home I looked up what the first warblers are to return in the spring.  As soon as I saw the list of early birds, I knew what it was:  the yellow-rumped warbler.

A male yellow-rumped warbler.

Looking at the Cornell Ornithology Lab range map for the yellow-rumped it's easy to see why it arrives so early - it winters just south of the Lakes Region in northern Massachusetts, and just east on the Maine coast, so it's a quick jaunt into New Hampshire.  Other warblers such as the common yellowthroat and chestnut-sided winter in Central America.  They are on their way north but will need a few more weeks to complete their journey to New Hampshire.  Back home in Meredith I heard several more yellow-rumped warblers and was able to locate one high up in a tree, too high for a photo; the picture above was from last May.

Many warblers are insect-eaters but the yellow-rumped also consumes berries which has allowed them to adapt to a more northerly climate than most warblers.  Since the range maps are probably rather old I won't be surprised to see yellow-rumped warblers wintering all the way up to the Lakes Region in my lifetime as species migrate northward; there are plenty of berries still available here.

On the subject of berries and seeds, I recently read an article by Anne Krantz and Mary Tebo Davis published by the UNH Extension Service titled "Henry Thoreau and Shagbark Hickories".  The article describes the giant shagbark hickory trees Thoreau noted on a trip from Concord, Massachusetts to give a lecture at the Amherst, NH lyceum.  Some conversations with a couple of friends who live in that area led to them share photos of shagbarks on their property (thank PS and JW) that may have been just saplings when Thoreau rode by on his carriage.

Shagbark hickory along a property boundary in Hollis, NH.
Photo by P. Smith.

That reminded me of a tree with similar bark I had seen right close by in Meredith.  So I to a walk to see if it is one of these trees, and sure enough, there's a shagbark hickory right here on the shores of Lake Wicwas.

The shagbark hickory is aptly named.

That thick, shaggy bark serves as fire protection for the tree.

A mature shagbark Hickory, according to Thoreau's journal, could produce 12 bushels of nutmeats - that's a good food supply for our wild animals.  They don't produce large crops every year, and there was speculation that Thoreau's report may have been on the high side.

The crown of a shagbark hickory.

I've made a mental note to look for nuts under this tree over the next few autumns.

But spring comes first, and winter is quickly losing its hold.  That 60 degree day took a toll on the snow pack as well as the ice which is down to 13 inches of soft, porous ice - I think yesterday will be the last time I'll be on the lake until ice-out.  As openings around the lake edges expand, the first waterfowl have arrived.

Ice peels back from the Wicwas shoreline.

Ducks and Geese at the Wicwas outlet.

As more water opens up there are signs of river otter coming ashore.

A fisher latrine near an open spot in the ice,

The otter's diet is clear from their scat; it's composed mostly of fish scales.

And as mentioned last week, maple sugar season has arrived in the Lakes Region.  Soon we'll see the plumes of maple steam from the local sugar houses - and smell the sweet fragrance of spring in New Hampshire.

Sap buckets hanging on sugar maples at the  Remick Farm in Tamworth frame Mt. Chocorua.

Wasn't it nice to have just a little bit of normalcy this week?