September 3, 2023: A Glimpse of Fall

Friday gave us our first glimpse of fall, one day before the start of meteorological autumn arrived.  It was bright, breezy and cool, with a brisk NW wind blowing away the humidity from early in the week.  As temperatures drop, the forest starts to become more active, as do the lakes.  I saw this white-tailed deer swimming between two islands in the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday.

A deer out for an afternoon dip.

It would swim where the water was deep, and walk along the bottom of the lake where it was shallow.

It climbed up onto one small firm spot,

which it crossed before jumping back into the lake.

Eventually it made its way onto one of the larger islands where it disappeared into the trees in search of fresh browsing spots.

Earlier in the week I met a deer standing in the clearing just past the trailhead of the Hamlin Town Forest.  

This one wasn't fazed at all; it just watched me as I went by and on my way.

No bear encounters this week so I was able to study the beechnuts on the ground.  They are plentiful, and were falling all around me like rain.

A good crop of beechnuts.

Though I do believe they are smaller than usual this year.

These were under a big beech tree, but I could find no signs of bear claws on this trunk.

No claw marks on this big old beech.

No up-close bear encounters, but I did find this nice pile of fresh bear scat one morning:

Very fresh bear scat full of black cherry fruit and seeds.

It was still glistening so it wasn't more than a couple of hours old, though it wasn't still warm.  A few minutes later I walked through a storm of bees hovering around a ground nest that the bear had just recently ripped up to eat the bees and the eggs.  I wasn't far behind it!

The current star of the wildflowers right now are the asters, of several types and colors. 

Yellow and purple centers in Calico Asters.

These were being appreciated by multiple species of insects seeking their pollen and ensuring a good seed crop for next year as well as seeds for the birds that will feed on them in the coming days.

There's nothing new to report on the loon chicks; LuLu and Checkers spend a lot of time watching their parents dive, maybe observing how it's done, but certainly wanting to be first in line when someone brings up a tasty morsel for them.

On this bright blue day it was dad they were haunting for food.

You can see a bit of white on dad's band.

I started seeing signs of trees turning color a couple of weeks of weeks ago but haven't wanted to admit it.  Now that September is here, there's no more denying it.

And Mt. Washington had its first snow of the season.  Fall is coming.

January 2, 2022: Happy New Year!

2022 entered the same way 2021 departed:  with a warm, foggy day.  It's been a mild winter so far but at least there have been regular snow falls to keep the ground white through this stretch of warm weather.  I've had several nice ski trips in the woods and on the lake but at this point the lake is mushy and I question the integrity of the ice near shore so I'll wait for a few cold nights before venturing out again.  

The soft snow has been good for both animal and human activity.  On a ski trip in the Red Hill Conservation Area in Moultonborough I saw countless deer tracks in the snow all along the trail and heading off into the woods.  One trail that I followed led me to an area where the deer had been foraging for acorns under the soft snow.

Deer were busy here gathering that high-energy food source.

The deer trail leading to the forage area.

All the animals will happily take advantage of the warm weather and thin snow cover to add to their winter reserves, whether in their body fat or in their food stashes.  I'm seeing lots of signs of red squirrels collecting seeds and nuts including blankets of shredded hemlock-cones all over the snow.

Hundreds of tiny hemlock cone scales stripped away to access the seeds hidden inside.

It must take a lot of patience to pull apart that many hemlock cones for such a tiny seed.

But then, what else does a squirrel have to do all winter?

The gray squirrels have found the bird feeders and are now chasing each other around, trying to defend different areas to protect a food source they want to call their own.  We're able to (mostly) keep them off the bird feeders by giving them a couple of their own feeding stations with squirrel-preferred food.  With so many squirrels and the myriad bobcat tracks around the house, maybe we'll witness some bobcat-squirrel interactions this winter.

It's great to have bird feeders out again to watch the variety of birds and their behavior, while hoping the warm weather doesn't bring the bears back out.  So far we've seen most of the common winter birds:  chick-a-dees, nuthatches, titmice, goldfinches, juncos, mourning doves, downy woodpeckers, and the now-becoming-common red-bellied woodpecker.  Not yet making an appearance are the hairy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, house finch, and purple finch.  After not having many goldfinches last year, this winter we are inundated, especially on warm, damp days when they commandeer the feeder.

Goldfinches storm the feeder.

And they are pretty aggressive towards each other and other birds in defending their food.

"Stay off my feeder!"

Unlike a chick-a-dee which will take a seed and fly off to eat it, goldfinches like to hang out on the feeder and eat.  With their unique beaks they can park themselves at a feeding perch and open and eat seed after seed.  But a bold chick-a-dee or nuthatch will eventually barge in to displace a finch from its perch and grab a seed for itself.

From these pictures you're probably thinking we had nothing but snowy, overcast skies, but there were moments of bright winter weather as well.

A bright sunny end to a ski day on the lake.

Now it's time for 2022 to bring in some real winter weather.

Happy New Year from Lake Wicwas!

May 2, 2021: Yellow-rumped Warblers

The procession of song bird migration to New England is running at full speed right now as an explosion of insects bursts out all around us.  I've already had the pleasure of the first swarm of black flies dive-bombing my eyes and buzzing like chainsaws as they probe my ear canals.  As much as I may despise these annoying creatures, they are what allow so many of our animals to survive, from song birds to trout, and this week a large flock of yellow-rumped warblers arrived at the lake to gorge on the plentiful feast, hungry from their long travel up from the south.  We counted about 15 of them, but there were certainly many more on either side of our field of view.  They would perch momentarily on a tree branch, a railing, or a dock post before flitting off to snag a tiny, tasty morsel.

Yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata)

These warblers have a distinctively different attack method than the eastern phoebe.  The phoebes seem to jet out on a direct path to their target, snatch it immediately at full speed, then circle right back to their observation post where they wait for their next victim.  They will occasionally make a minor flight adjustment right at the point of attack and sometimes have a little twitch of their wings, but in general they are very efficient.  In contrast, these warblers spent a lot time suspended in the air with their wings fluttering madly as they maneuvered to grasp their prey.  Their flight path is still fast and unpredictable enough that I was unable to catch any action pictures at all.

I considered whether the difference in the two birds' behavior is due to going after different insects but what from what I could find, they have the same target food.  Furthermore, both species were feeding together in the same location at the same time (and tolerating each other just fine) so perhaps it's just that the phoebe has much better flight planning and targeting skills.

An Eastern phoebe stalks its prey amongst the maple blossoms.

At least some of the warbler flock made its way over to the western side of the lake as Marge Thorpe observed them reducing the bug population over there.  She took some great pictures, then she and Dave did some research, and noting there are two subspecies of yellow-rumped warblers, determined these are the "Myrtle" subspecies, identified by the white throat.

A good look at the white throat of the Myrtle subspecies.
Photo by Marge Thorpe

These populate the east coast, while the "Audubon" subspecies, which has a yellow throat, live on the west coast.  In areas where the two subspecies overlap such as in the Canadian Rockies, intermediate forms of the bird occur. [Ref:  Cornell Ornithology Lab.]

"Who you lookin' at?"
Photo by Marge Thorpe

We also had a visit from mother deer and junior recently, but it was bittersweet because there was only one of the two siblings we watched all last summer.  

Momma deer (does she look pregnant again?)

And last year's fawn.

I'm afraid the other sibling met its demise this past winter, and was in fact the source of the remains I found on the lake back in early March (see March 7, 2021).  The remaining yearling looks pretty small and weak; I assumed the coyotes took advantage of its sibling's weakened winter condition, but it's also possible the deer died of its own accord and the coyotes just cleaned up the remains.  

Then, just this morning, in the early light of day, I came upon the two of them munching away on my favorite hobblebush shrub, which being out in the middle of the woods, they are welcome to enjoy, and enjoy they did, decimating all the fresh, tasty blossoms below chest level.

There won't be any berries for the birds from this viburnum bush.

Once they saw me they were off into the thick woods with five quick bounds, but they didn't go far, stopping to look back at me to watch where I was going.

"Can I please finish my breakfast?"

I expect they'll be back shortly to finish off the higher branches.

Deer dessert.

At least the flowers are going to a good cause, fueling the new fawns growing in momma's belly.

On another happy note, wildflower season is ramping up;  now is the time to be on the lookout for trillium - I had a report from Canterbury (thanks GP!) that painted trillium are blooming there, just a bit south of the Lakes Region, so they should be out here soon.

Painted trillium blooming in Canterbury.
Photo by Glen Powell

The spring wildflowers compete with the trees for our attention during the spring foliage season which is highlighted by red maple blossoms in the upper story and blueberry buds down by the waters edge.

Red maples shine up high

While blueberry bushes gleam down below.

Both are not only pretty but also welcome hints of what's to come.

Note that in addition to the black flies and other flying pests, crawling ticks are also on the prowl;  I've found both black legged (deer) ticks and wood ticks creeping up my legs even after following anti-tick measures, so do a good tick-check after your outdoor adventures.  

And thank those yellow-rumped warblers for doing their part in the battle of the bugs!

December 27, 2020: Deer Tracks Everywhere

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas - even if you were in the rain-drenched New England area.  Around the Lakes Region we had enough snow from the last storm to outlast the rain and keep the ground white, but our three foot dump is down to a third of that now.  Skiing will be on hold until we receive a new freshening of powder, but a quick freeze after the rain means that skating might be in order.  

Before the warm front arrived I'd been out to several different areas around the lakes and everywhere I went I found a plethora or deer tracks, so one afternoon I decided to follow some of our local deer to see what they were up to.  It was interesting to note the different forms the tracks took.  The oldest tracks were those set right after the deep snow fell.  It was so light and deep that their skinny little hooves sunk so deep down that their bellies dragged along, plowing a trough in the snow.

Even with those long legs they plowed a trough through the snow.

A day or two later, using the same path they had plowed out previously made their travel easier and left fresh tracks on top of their previous route.

Reusing a pre-packed trail.

The third variant I saw was the freshest, probably made the day I was out.  The snow had packed down enough that they left more traditional tracks in deep soft snow.  

Even through deep snow deer are able to sniff out stashes of acorns under the oak trees, and dig down to ground level to extract these high-energy food sources.  

Pawing down into the leaves for a meal of acorns.

After following along for a distance I came to a clue that I was probably tracking our mom and her two yearlings.

Two small melted-out beds and a bigger one for mom, all under the cover of hemlock branches.

The snow had melted right down to the ground.

This looks to me like a spot where the three of them bedded down for a nap, or maybe even to spend the night.  The melted snow tells me this wasn't digging for acorns but rather they spent a fair amount of time here.  I hope they have grown their warm fur coats by now.

I kept my eye out for signs of tree browse but didn't see any evidence of that.  But they did leave plenty of evidence along the trail that they have been eating!

Sadly, there are down sides to living close to all this nature.  Those deer completely decimated one of Linda's hydrangeas that was exposed once the snow melted down.  

How sad a sight is that.

It's a reminder that we are living in their world.  

I did get out yesterday to cut a hole in the ice close to shore and found it to be six inches thick, about half black ice and half white ice, which is safe enough for foot travel - at least where it's that thick.  But it was treacherous finding a way from shore to solid ice as the entire shoreline had melted out.  I'll wait for a couple more days of cold temps before I try out the surface condition for skating.

November 26, 2020: Happy Thanksgiving!

I decided to post early this week so I could wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you found a way to connect with your family and friends - we need some warmth in our lives on this cool and wet Thanksgiving 2020.

After a cold morning in Meredith the ice on Lake Wicwas was creeping out into the lake, further evidence that winter is getting closer.

But, to my surprise, Betty and Harold are still here!  I had seen a couple of loons fishing far out in the lake several times this week and they were acting suspiciously like our two loon chicks.

Harold and Betty, still on Lake Wicwas.

But they were also fishing in deep water, and I wasn't confident I could differentiate between five month old juveniles and molting adults this late in the year.  So I sent a few grainy pictures off to John Cooley at the Loon Preservation Committee, and he was able to confirm they are juveniles.

With that expert input I am confident these two are Betty and Harold.  John said the scalloped pattern on their backs is a distinctive feature on juvenile loons.  

They returned the next day and came close enough for a better look.

He added that one and two year old "sub-adults" have a more subtle version of this pattern, but when it's this distinct one can be confident it's a juvenile.  

John was pleased to hear that two of them are getting along well together in contrast to the sibling rivalry that loons often display.  He noted also the fact they are foraging in deep water and catching large fish is a good sign as they move onto their new fishing grounds in the Atlantic Ocean.  Our new loon couple that has taken over Harris Cove as their home appear to be excellent parents!

"Hey, are you going to share that?"

Now we just have to hope they have the good sense to get out of Dodge before ice-in.  It's nice to know we have observers on all corners of the lake who will keep watch as the ice closes in and reduces the take-off runways.  It seems every year the LPC has to go out and rescue a loon or two that doesn't get off their lake in time.

I had another interesting wildlife encounter this week.  I was on my to get the mail right around sunset when I came over a rise in the road and saw three deer standing in the middle of the road, mom and her two kids. Mom didn't hesitate for an instant, in fact, she acted so quickly that she literally leaped right over both her kids - which are pretty much full grown now - to dash off into the woods. One of the kids sprinted right off after her but the other just froze, kind of like the proverbial deer in the headlights.  But then it regained it's composure and also ran off, but in the opposite direction.  

Walking back down the road after retrieving the mail I could hear, and occasionally see through the leafless trees, the separated deer bounding along ahead of me.  Then about half way back there came a dramatic crashing of hooves through the forest up towards the road, and dashing across right in front of me was mom, with junior about 30 yards behind in rapid pursuit!  Mom clearly didn't waste any time running ahead to round up her lost child and bring the family back together.  Everything happened so quickly I wasn't able to get any pictures, but it was an experience to remember and that image of Mrs. Whitetail vaulting over her kids is burned into my memory!

It looked kind of like this.

Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are (or were), and I hope you enjoyed a nice turkey dinner, just not one these guys!