May 4, 2025: Fiddleheads Erupt

A few sunny days in late April really get things moving - the sun is as strong now as it is at the end of July.  In warm, damp, sunny spots ferns are shooting out of the ground, their fiddle heads mimicking the top of a violin.  

While on shaded forest floors, the Trailing Arbutus are now in full bloom.

They are so small you may have to look carefully to find them.  Trailing Arbutus, along with Partridge Berry are some of our forests' more common ground covers, helping to maintain moisture in the soil as well as providing food and cover for the smallest of animals.  I saw my first bee of the year buzzing among the Trailing Arbutus - it was a bumble bee, the primary pollinator of this plant.  These large bees with a hairy coat can stand colder temperatures, and are the first  bees to emerge after winter.  If you find Trailing Arbutus flowers, pinch one of their flowers and smell the strong, sweet perfume that attracts the bees. 

More birds arrive daily now - this week there's been a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers here every day.  

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

They flit erratically among the bare branches picking off insects and caterpillars. 

Caught this one in action.

Yellow-rumpeds spend the winter farther north than most warblers so they arrive early, allowing us to see them rather than just hear them since the bare tree branches give them no cover.  

How they got their name.

Bare tree branches let me watch a Tufted Titmouse forage around in a young successional forest picking off insects and spiders.  

We'll lose those bare branches in just a few more days so the birds will be well hidden up in the treetops.  The trees are now starting to put out leaves; the view down on treetops from Crockett's Ledge shows tinges of pale yellow-green aspen and dark red maple buds.

Just a smattering of color against brown branches.

Other new arrivals this week include Oven Bird, Common Yellowthroat, and Veery.  But my bird of the week was this Broad-winged Hawk which spent time hanging out amidst the warblers.

Broad-winged Hawk

I was surprised that while it was here the warblers will still flying around in the trees.  The hawk wasn't trying to be secretive because it twice flew from one tree to another. 

It also walked up and down a branch, showing off its talons.

So the warblers were certainly aware of its presence.  Are warblers smart enough to tell a broad-winged hawk apart from the smaller Merlin and Kestrel, and know that broad-wings mostly go after small animals on the ground?  They should keep in mind that these hawks do occasionally take a bird on the wing.

One quiet morning as I was listening to the birds' sunrise serenade beside the lake, I jumped a foot in the air when a beaver gave a loud slap just a few yards away from me. I hadn't seen it coming and it really is startling when you're not expecting it. I watched it swim back and forth, and it presented me with a couple more tail slaps.

There was another noisy event on the lake this week:  The loons are back to fighting over either territory or mates.  Two days after I took a nice trip around the lake and was pleased at seeing two pairs of loons peacefully enjoying their separate territories, I witnessed the most intense loon battle I've ever seen.  I heard a ruckus and looked out and saw two loons in a wing-rowing chase winding back and forth across the lake at breakneck speed - they looked like waterskiers carving up the cove.  When they reached the end of the cove they went back and forth multiple times, chasing, diving to make sharp stops and turns, barely losing a beat.  I had watched for a long time not wanting to look away, but eventually I got my camera.

They went out of my sight, but then came back and I took more video until they went far down the lake.  I checked my watch only after they'd been at it for at least a few minutes - I have no idea how long it was going on before they caught my attention, but it was ten minutes that I watched before they went back out of sight, still in active combat.  

I'm amazed at their endurance; that video was only two and a quarter minutes of a fight that went on well over ten minutes and they never once stopped going full tilt.  I can only assume one of the contestants is the north territory male.  It seems it would be one doing the chasing to drive another away, but it could be the other way around.  It could also be two females fighting over who gets to pair with the male.  Hopefully someone will give up rather than fight to the death.  But what will happen if the weaker bird gets so exhausted it can't escape?  I was happy to see a pair together fishing peacefully in the northern territory the next morning.

Some of the trees and shrubs I like to watch progress in spring are Service Berry, Black Cherry, and Hobblebush Viburnmum, all of which are pushing out small leaves now.  The viburnum is the furthest along, already forming flower buds.  

Hobblebush Viburnum early buds.

All three of these shrubs/trees might have blossoms by next week - stay tuned!

May 7, 2023: Black and White Warblers Crash the Party

This spring party is feasting on a buffet of insects, providing much entertainment.  The air show started a few weeks ago when the phoebes appeared, but really hit its stride this week with the arrival of masses of yellow-rumped warblers.  Whereas the phoebes - which have taken up residence near our house - dash out from a tree branch to catch a bug and then return to the same tree to watch for the next victim, the yellow-rumped warblers were flying along quickly from tree to tree, the whole flock moving rapidly in the same direction.  As I was watching the yellow-rumped's do their thing, I noticed one bird acting differently - rather than flitting about catching flying insects, this bird was rapidly climbing up and around the trunk of an oak tree like a nuthatch.  With binoculars, I saw it was the Black and White Warbler.  I hear their distinctive "squeaky-wheel" call often, but rarely see them, and have never gotten a picture of one before, but I was able to here.

Black and White Warbler

They move so fast it's hard to get a picture that isn't blurred by their motion.  According the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, black and white warblers often travel with large bands of other migrating warblers.  The B&W's come all the way from Florida or Central America to breed here.  Their diet consists almost entirely of spiders and insects, especially their larva, all of which they pick out of crevices in the bark of trees.  Black and white warblers are ground-nesters, usually building their nest at the base of a tree or a rock for protection and cover.   

Belting out it's high-pitched squeaky-wheel song.

Other additions to the spring bird arrivals this week included the Winter Wren and the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  Here's one of the many Yellow-rumped warblers.

The robins are once again building their annual nest under our deck.

Mrs. Robin collects nesting materials.

They've been doing this for so many years I guess they just don't mind being disturbed every time we walk by.

The cool and damp weather has meant a long season for the trailing arbutus - they are still blooming.  The service berries have joined them now, as have the fly-honeysuckle.

Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)

You're surely aware that all the rain in the northeast has caused significant flooding and washouts of roads and trails.  A beaver dam on Meredith Neck failed and now the pond is just a shallow mud hole after the rush of water took away part of Meredith Neck Road.  There were reports of the beavers rebuilding the dam that held back the pond after the first breach, but they haven't been seen since it failed a second time with the latest rain.  All the beaver dams around Wicwas seem to have held.  The water level in the lake was as high as twelve inches above normal, but it's now coming back down.  Profile Falls in Bristol is gushing, and the trail to the Pemigewasset River is impassible due to flooding.

Profile Falls on the Smith River.

The first warm sunny evening following all that rain sure got the Spring Peepers excited:

I went for a kayak the day the weather was clearing; I did get a few showers on me, but it was worth it, as our male loon gave me a great show as it performed a thorough preening routine.

Afterwards, he wanted to make darn sure I knew it was him out there:

Making sure I saw his leg band.

Things are getting busy around the lake as spring hits its stride - I barely mentioned all the plants now bursting out with buds and leaves - maybe next week.  I'll close with a video of a Turkey Vulture that was enjoying the airflow being forced upwards by the cliff at Crockett's Ledge.  

While I was there I also saw an osprey fly right overhead.  Ledges provide good vantage points for observing animals as well as great views!

May 1, 2022: The Rookery

We've returned from our excursion in South Carolina, but not before experiencing a few more wonders of nature.  Our fabulous host and tour guide had tracked down a rookery along a marsh in Mount Pleasant and when we visited we found a host of southern bird species sharing an obviously popular spot for nesting which included Anhingas, Wood Storks, Snowy Egrets, and Great Egrets.  And in their breeding mode they were putting on quite a display - not for us, but for their mates.

A Snowy Egret struts its stuff.

The males of both the snowy and great egrets had their breeding plumage in place and were proud to display it.  

A great egret attracting attention.

It's easy to see why these birds where hunted to near extinction for their feathers during the early 1900s.  No longer at risk of being shot, they now have more time to discuss parenting methods.

"I think we should let them cry at night."

I couldn't tell which nests had chicks in them but it appeared that the great egrets were flying back and forth bringing food in to feed chicks in at least some of the nests.

Regurgitating food for the chicks.

Meanwhile, one of the snowy egrets continued to make home improvements.

Bringing in some additional building materials.

The wood storks were well hidden deep within the trees so it's not clear what they were up to, but it appeared that the anhingas had already nested and were incubating their eggs.  

The anhingas looked like loons panting on their nests in the hot sun.

We earlier had watched a snowy egret fishing in Shem Creek at low tide and I found it fascinating how it would shake its foot in the mud to scare out a crab or a shrimp and then with lightning speed stab it with its bill.  You can see it in action in this video I took at the creek:

A couple of other interesting, non-New Hampshire creatures we came across during our travels in the low country included a reptile and a crustacean.

Brown anole  (Anolis sagrei)

Some kind of land-and-sea crab.

I don't what kind of crab that was, running around by the brackish water with the alligators, but the lizard is a brown anole, a non-native species that was likely introduced to Florida in the 1970s and has exploded in population throughout the south, largely displacing the native Carolina (aka green) anole. 

Upon returning home we found winter still hanging on strongly in New Hampshire, with barely any progress towards spring while we were away.  The red maple blossoms, the first to come out, had barely budged.  

Red maple blossoms still just emerging.

But at least the Trailing Arbutus (mayflower) are blooming in the forest.

Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)

And, two more summer residents and a passing migrant arrived this week:

A palm warbler makes a rest stop on its way to Canada.

This pair of yellow-rumped warblers is behaving like they are going to nest right here.

On the lookout for the next insect.

Yellow-rumped warblers are an early arriver and we watched them dashing around the bare branches as well as on the ground, picking off insects, probably of the crawling variety.  The palm warbler is just passing through New Hampshire on its way to breed in Canada or downeast Maine.  I also heard a blue-headed vireo singing from somewhere high in the tree tops.

I'll end with one decidedly non-nature moment, but an interesting connection between north and south.  I saw a large ship which looked like a ferry heading out to sea from Charleston Harbor in a direction that didn't seem like a ferry route.  I took a picture and after expanding it I saw it was "The Cat" which I thought ran from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.  A little digging revealed that after a few seasons off, it was returning to New England from its summer berth in Charleston.

"The Cat" returning north for its service between Maine and Nova Scotia.

This ship started life as the U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command fast ferry Alakai (USNS Puerto Rico).  There's a neat video of it being retrofitted at the Detyens Shipyard in North Charleston including how it was put into drydock and then refloated.  

It's one of the larger migrating objects I've seen this spring.

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!

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?