April 21, 2019: Happy Lowcountry Easter!

We were away this past week enjoying some warm southern hospitality in South Carolina, so I don't have much to report about the status of life in New Hampshire this week, but the ice is starting to break up on Lake Wicwas, and the latest prediction from Emerson Aviation is for ice-out on Winnipesaukee within the next few days.  When we left New Hampshire it was snowing,

but when we arrived in South Carolina, it was a completely different world.

No ice, green grass

Ducklings and goslings had already hatched out.

It's amazing what a difference 800 miles can make.

I always try to visit habitats in climates that are completely different from New England, and a great contrast is the swampland of the Lowcountry.

Knees of cypress trees grow upwards from their roots in the swamp;  their purpose is still unknown

It is so flat here that you can walk for five miles and not gain six feet of elevation.  Tens of thousands of square miles of South Carolina swamps were converted to rice fields in the 1700s and 1800s but as that crop ended in the early 20th century the rice fields were either developed or left to return to natural vegetation - very similar to New Hampshire's sheep pastures that have returned to forest.

Irrigation canals built to flood and drain the rice fields can still be found.

The raised dike on the left separates salt water marsh from the impounded rice fields

 It's hard to imagine when touring the cities and suburbs around Charleston or any other Lowcountry city that the land was previously wild swamp with towering cedar and tupelo trees.

Because this land was forested these trees are less than 150 years old, so not nearly as large as the  virgin bottomland forest found at Congaree National Park.

We saw quite a few local birds, some that we don't have in in New England, some that we do.

The wood stork probes deep in the muck with its long, sensitive beak for fish and other wetland animals

Red-bellied Woodpecker next to the opening to its nest

Tricolored heron, a bit smaller than the Great Blue

Those birds were all in the swamps at the Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel, South Carolina, but this next one is an ocean bird.

Brown Pelican at Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant, SC

We were also treated to an unexpected sight - we got to see a green anole change its color.  We first saw it climbing on the trunk of a tree, wearing its bright green jacket in honor of the Masters golf tournament.

But when it scooted down to the ground and onto the dead leaves it almost immediately changed its color to a dark brown.

I was amazed at how quickly it could completely transform itself, and I assumed it changed color to blend in.  But a little reading revealed that these reptiles do not change color to blend in to their surroundings as commonly believed (which makes sense since on the brown tree trunk it was bright green.)  Scientists are not sure, but current research suggests they change their color based on stress, mood, or for social reasons - e.g. aggression and territory defense.  Did I stress this little guy out by taking its picture without asking permission?

On a different note, the post a few weeks back about a spalted hemlock tree brought to light another wood working artisan with a connection to Lake Wicwas.  A member of one of our Wicwas families collects spalted wood (as well as other types of wood) and turns them into beautiful works of art.  He sent a few pictures of his creations, including this bowl made from spalted maple.

If the tree I found near Lake Wicwas has any useful properties I will be sure to get a section of it to him as well.  Thank you for sharing!



I wonder if there is any spalted wood down in the Lowcountry.

A raised path carves through the Lowcountry forest

March 24, 2019: Fungi Build Walls Too

More signs of spring are appearing around the lakes:  this week I saw the first gaggle of geese flying north in tight formation.  So when I saw a bunch of large birds out on the lake I thought it was geese.

14 Gobblers out for a morning walk

But closer inspection revealed they were turkeys!  I have never seen turkeys out walking around in the middle of a lake before.  They came across the cove and strutted right up the shore and into the woods, pecking at various tiny seeds along the way.

The army approaches

This one shows a small beard, some had ones much larger

I'm not sure why they came across the lake, but it's probably safer than than crossing the road.  There is a great video of a flock of turkeys crossing a road in Litchfield, NH, under the careful supervision of a member of the flock (the patriarch?).  It's worth watching if you haven't seen it (thanks PC!):  Turkey Traffic Cop



Last week I noted the spalting I found inside a recently blown over tree.

With the guidance of our town and county foresters I learned that spalting is caused by fungi, and with a little digging I found a US Forest Service publication, "Encyclopedia of Plant Pathology" [Maloy and Murray editors, 2001, John Wiley and Sons] with a nice succinct article on the process that creates it.  The entry titled "Zone Lines" was written by Kevin Smith of the Forest Service Northeastern Research Station, right here in Durham, NH.  It explains that these distinct lines are created at the boundary where two different genetically distinct fungi are growing;  the fungi within a single zone usually contain a single genetic individual, with a different genetic individual on the other side of the zone line.

Amazing clarity of these zone lines

The lines themselves contain dead parts of the fungi and high concentrations of wood resins and gums.  The article doesn't state this, but I'm guessing the fungi push these out ahead of the areas they are colonizing.

Now here's the interesting part:  the fungi use these lines for "self-isolation" by creating survival structures that "reduces competition from other potential colonizers".  The makeup of the zone lines prevent the neighboring individuals from crossing it.  It appears that building walls around our domain to keep others out has been built into our genetic material from the very beginning;  fungi were some of the earliest life forms on the planet.

This could be the map of some war-torn region of our planet

Spalted wood is pretty rare and hard to find, but is highly valued by woodworkers because when it's workable it makes interesting patterns in the products.

Spalted wood products.  Photo from "Woodworker's Journal"

I went back this week and cut a small piece of wood from the tree I found and will save it for our local wood artisan for when he returns this spring.  I don't know if it will be usable, but I figure that if anyone can make it work, it will be he who was able to create art out of 80 year old trees pulled from the bottom of the lake where they had been lying since the hurricane of 1938. (Click here to more read about that story.)

Hurricane Bowl crafted by Wayne B.

And here are more signs of spring:  the first snowdrops have pushed their way up beside the house.  But it's going to be a while before those geese find any open water - there is still 23" of ice on Lake Wicwas!

The first flowers to arrive:  Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis, remember "nives" from subnivian?)