December 17, 2017 - Ice In

Winter is here, and signs of winter fun are starting to appear.

I don't think the animals in the region think it's a lot of fun, but they are also out leaving their marks in the snow.  This week I saw mouse, squirrel and deer tracks in the light, dry snow, but thankfully no bear tracks;  I expect they are all bedded down now, with the overnight lows falling to near zero.  The red squirrel tracks are easy to identify as they burrow out from under snow and make highways running from tree to tree.

A squirrel trail leads between two productive trees

Another animal highway was visible in the lake before the latest snow fell:

The beavers kept a lane open in the ice

The beavers had made a path by travelling back and forth between two lodges, including their food supply stashed at one of the lodges.

A food stash at a lodge

Because mice have so little mass their tracks are visible only when the snow is extremely soft and fluffy.

Mouse tracks in the light snow

Soon they won't venture on top of the snow much at all - they will tunnel down below it whenever they can to stay out of sight of the owls.

The bright snow brings out details that I wouldn't see otherwise, such as these woodpecker trees I hadn't noticed before.

Woodpeckers working on hardwood trees rather than their usual pine

And the still-flowing streams stand out in stark contrast to the fresh snow.

The red berries of the winterberry have been noticed all fall, and a few wintergreen berries are showing through the snow where they are protected near the trunk of a tree, both providing a bit of Christmas Red to go with the green of the pines, spruce, and hemlock needles.

Winterberry

Wintergreen

It looks like the cold weather will hold at least another week so we should be having a white Christmas this year - I hope to see you out enjoying the beauty of winter over the holidays!

Note:  Ice-in on Lake Wicwas occurred on December 12, an average date, and much earlier than last year.  The ice in one cove is currently 6-1/2" thick, 4" of black ice under 2-1/2" of white ice.  I wouldn't trust the ice yet though, as there was open water only a few days ago.  Keep an eye on the ice fishermen - they tend to cut holes as they go, so have a good idea of where and when it's safe.

October 7, 2012

After a beautiful late-summer day on Friday, the weather at Lake Wicwas turned back to fall.  I did not see a lot of activity around the lake, but I did see an Osprey, which surprized me, since I thought they had all started their migration by now.  Perhaps this one was coming down from a summer in Canada.  Dave T. told me about the Squam Science Center's project that is tracking osprey with RF transmitters, and it's fascinating to watch their journey.  They have tracked osprey that had their nest right here in Tilton and spent the summer in the neighboring lakes (but they weren't the birds that were at Lake Wicwas this summer according to their maps).  You can follow their migration here:  Project Osprey.  One of the new chicks (Jill) left Tilton on September 11 and arrived at the Amazon River three days ago - including a 24 hour flight from Cuba to South America - a trip of 3900 miles in 25 days!

Back closer to home, the fall colors are near peak in the Lakes Region, and the weather allowed some good leaf peeping.  We took a nice walk along the Winnipesaukee River Trail from Tilton to Franklin;  the water is flowing rapidly in the river, probably due to a combination of last week's rain fall and lowering the lake level in Winnipesaukee.

But the foliage is better right here - these are some of the sights you'll find right on the shores of Lake Wicwas: 

There are still a few brave fishermen out enjoying their trade in the beautiful surroundings.

The Partridge Berries and Wintergreen are ripening now, trying to attract some of the attention from the trees above, and providing some bright color right at our feet.

Partridge Berry

Wintergreen

Nodding Ladies' Tresses

There is also a lovely fall flower blooming now - a tiny orchid with the name Nodding Ladies' Tresses:

And on a morning walk, the moon was trying its best to draw my attention up above the trees.

It is amazing to think there is NASA equipment that has been up there for over 40 years now.

I did see a pheasant dart out of a thicket, but there's little chance to get a picture of that bird.  Here's one (sort-of) wild creature I did capture.

If you've ever wondered if evergreens lose their needles as the deciduous trees do, there's plenty of evidence in the lake  right now.  These are white pine needles that have been shed.

They are also forming a soft, quiet carpet in the forest at the moment.

Enjoy the autumn splendor while it lasts!

April 9, 2011

Not much changed around Lake Wicwas this week.  Even though the temperature was seasonably warm and the snow is melting, we just didn’t make a lot of progress.  The ice did give up a little ground, as it dropped two inches in thickness, but it remains 22 inches deep.  There are still only small openings around the shore line.

Maple Sugar season is comning to an end.  The Chemung Gang Sugar Shack (the Taggett's) are boiling their last batch for the season this weekend.  They said they had a record year, with 22 gallons of syrup made, and just about every drop sold.  They only had a few bottles left when I was there today, so if you want some great, fresh local syrup straight from the trees that drink the same water as Lake Wicwas, you'd better hurry!

Crows

Crow season never ends.  We saw a group of three or four harrassing a hawk who was too close to their nesting site. 

Later, a flock of crows was out on the ice huddling up like a football team as they decided who was going to get the fisherman's leftovers that were uncovered by the melting snow.




In the woods there are bare spots showing up now, and signs of life are reappearing.

Tree Clubmoss

Wintergreen

In the shade however, it's not uncommon to find well over a foot of snow.  Here and there one finds holes in the snow cover where a rock underneath the snow has conducted the warmth from below up to melt the snow from the bottom, sometimes suspending the snow several inches above the ground.

I haven't checked on the progress of the second house construction lately, but the one on the north side of the lake looks complete from the outside, and will certainly have happy occupants this summer!