October 12, 2025: Hoppers and Hawks

Adding to the migrating raptors this week was a Red-tailed Hawk rising up on the thermals over the summit of Bald Knob in the Ossipee Mountains.

Red-tailed Hawk in the Ossipees

I had some nice views of it with the sun shining through its plumage, though it quickly rose up to a small spec in the sky.  It didn't have a very red tail, or perhaps the bright light washed the color out.

Raptors use these thermals in their migration by riding them high in the air, sometimes thousands feet, without using energy flapping their wings.  Then they soar southward for miles, slowly losing altitude, until they find another rising thermal air column.  And if there's a stiff northwest wind, all the better.  

I also heard a red-tail hawk up on the hills behind Lake Wicwas this week but I couldn't see it.  They typically don't stay in the Lakes Region through the winter, migrating just south of us, but perhaps that boundary is moving north now.

I found myself looking skyward for other reasons also.

The foliage doesn't seem as bright this year, perhaps due to the drought conditions, but there are plenty of beautiful trees in localized areas, especially around the lake where they had plenty of water all summer.

Looking down can be fruitful too.  That's where I found this huge American Toad camouflaged among the dry leaves.

American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

There are migrating birds on the water too, including this flock of four mallards foraging for food in the shallow water near the dam on Wicwas.

Must be something good down there.

They're losing their iridescent summer colors.  

Paddling the marshy shorelines also reveals bright red American Cranberries ripening amongst the wetland growth.

If you see people tramping through the marshes in tall rubber boots, that's what they're collecting.

One must be prepared to take stowaways on board when paddling through the marshes.

Lots of little bugs hopped on my boat.

These appear to be different than the longer, thinner bugs that hop onto my kayak earlier in the summer.  I think these are a species of Planthopper, likely the Common Pondlily Planthopper.

Common Pondlily Planthopper (Megamelus davisi)

Wikipedia states there are over 12,000 species of planthoppers;  these are in the family Delphacidae, which includes "only" 2000 species.   

Thankfully these insects are purely herbivores.  That protrusion on its head is for sucking plant juices rather than human juices, so these are harmless to us; most had jumped ship before I got back to port.  But on my way home I passed by yet another pretty wetland plant, a variety of St John's Wort growing on a boulder in the lake.

Bog St. John's Wort  (Triadenum fraseri)

There's always something new and interesting to discover on the shores of your favorite lake.

November 28, 2021: Honey Mushrooms

A few weeks ago (See October 24 post) I noted a huge growth of mushrooms surrounding an oak tree on the trail up to Crockett's Ledge in the Hamlin town forest.  I looked into what kind of mushroom it was and I believe it's a Honey Mushroom.  I've been fascinated with mushrooms and fungi in general since I learned about the essential role they play in life on earth - without fungus living in the soil and feeding plants including the tallest trees in the forest, there would be no plant life as we know it.  Now when I see the fruit of some fungus reaching up above the soil I think about what's going on down below where the vast majority of the organism is working to break down materials into nutrients they feed to the roots of plants.  But looking up information about the honey mushroom I learned there is also a dark side to fungi, and the honey mushroom is one of the evil ones.  

A small growth of honey mushrooms wreaking havoc on this hemlock.

Rather than decomposing residual material in the soil, the honey mushroom attacks the living roots of the host tree - thus they are often found ringing the trunk of tree, commonly oak.

This is the crop of honey mushrooms that got my attention earlier this fall.

As the fungus eats away at the roots it may kill them completely or weaken them to the point that they can no long support the tree and it's uprooted by the wind.  Even worse, like most fungi the honey mushroom sends out threads underground for several meters which allow it to spread to other trees.  This is one mushroom worth watching for; it can be controlled by an arborist using a fungicide.

Another danger to watch for - particularly this time of year while they are hungrily on the prowl to fatten up their winter stores - are bears.  The current issue of NH Fish and Game Wildlife Journal has a good article about the danger of feeding animals both intentionally and unintentionally and how it leads to their demise.  The focus is on deer and explains how feeding them interrupts their digestive system because it takes ungulates two weeks for their multiple-stomach system to adapt to new food.  This resulted in the death of 12 deer in South Hampton when they ate corn and other grains that their system wasn't prepared for.  

Another well known animal impacted by human food is the black bear.  Being omnivores, bears can digest most human food (but not chocolate!) so the issue isn't the food itself but rather the interaction with humans.  And it's not safe to put those bird feeders out yet - Harry Clymer sent me these photos of three black bears foraging through his yard for apples:

A black bear harvesting apples.  Photos by Harry Clymer.

Great pictures Harry - thanks for sharing!

The bears will be out until we get a good cold stretch, which at the moment is nowhere in sight.  The article discusses both of these animals' plight from human interaction; if Fish and Game posts the article on their website I'll share it.  

On the water, we haven't seen many of the interesting migrating ducks yet but a lot of mallards have been stopping by the lake.  On Thanksgiving we had a flock of about a dozen mallards swimming around and dredging up acorns from the bottom of the lake where overhanging oak trees dropped their seeds in preparation for the ducks' Thanksgiving Day feast.

Part of the fleet on Thanksgiving Day.

Three drakes court a single hen.

Dabbling for acorns along the shoreline.

We also had a couple of visits by what appears to be a juvenile loon.

Could this be one of our loon chicks?

I wish there were a way to tell whether this is one of our chicks or a visitor from another lake.

One last nature note:  On Thursday we watched a pretty bobcat prowling all the way down along the far side of the road - I'm sure it was in search of a turkey dinner.  I hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day - without having to scour the forest or dive in the lake for your meal!

May 30, 2021: Time for Baby Birds

The weather on this Memorial Day Weekend certainly isn't what we're hoping for, especially after the past couple weeks of hot, summer-like weather had spoiled us terribly.  The flowers, trees, and even animals however are very thankful for the rain and some cooler temperatures, including our little family of mallards.  They continue to dabble in the cove, fly in and out for unknown reasons, and still scour the road for acorns.  They must have the ability to smell those big seeds even after they've been packed down into the ground because every morning there are little funnel holes in the road where they've been excavating.  One morning I watched them in action:

Mr. Mallard zeros in on an invisible target.

He probes down into the ground,

And plucks up a tasty morsel.

Down the hatch!

All that good nutrition combined with a lot of effort to defend their territory has produced results.  This week we saw mom in tow with five little chicks.

Five little ducklings follow mom in tight formation.

They had been so good at concealing their nest, and the chicks so quiet, that we never discovered where the nest was situated, though we knew its approximate location because dad would be stationed right off shore on a regular basis while (we assume) mom was on the nest.

Another bird species is not nearly so careful in keeping their presence secret.  Walking through the woods on Friday I heard a loud, high pitched peep-peep-peep-peep-peep coming from somewhere in the forest.  I stopped to see if I could figure out what it was and where it was coming from, and I found that making noise walking on the leaves and fallen branches only made the peeping more adamant.  This hinted that it was undisciplined baby birds thinking a meal was heading their way via mom or dad, unlike an adult animal that would be quiet when it detected an approaching creature.  The piercing sound was rather easy to track down and I soon found the source of the racket which was emanating from a small hole in an ash tree.

The source of the noise.

I didn't expect to see the parents anytime soon after tramping around the area so I left, but came back late that evening, quietly, and settled in a discreet spot to see if I could learn who's nest it was.  It took only about ten minutes before two loud birds came flying into the trees near the area, landed where I couldn't see them, and started sending out dramatic alert calls which told me they knew something wasn't right (me).  Nonetheless, after a few minutes of this, a downy woodpecker - the female - flew onto the tree below the hole with a good size morsel of food that looked like a large insect, in its beak.

Bringing home dinner for the hungry kids.

She spent a few moments doing the woodpecker jig, jerking her head one way and the other to survey the surroundings before poking her head into the hole, then disappearing inside.

"Hi kids"

Nothing but tail.

She was in the tree for a minute or two before scooting out quickly, immediately landing on a nearby dead tree to begin her search for another insect to bring home.  

Back at the supermarket.

We've entered the peak period of bird hatching, so keep an eye for all flavors of baby birds throughout the forests and lakes.  Ducklings and Canada goose goslings will be some of the most visible, but robin and phoebe chicks are also occasionally seen.  Loons won't be hatching for several more weeks - the only pair that appears to have returned to Lake Wicwas is still searching out nesting sites.  There also continue to be battles over territory and/or mates on Wicwas.  This week I watched a long altercation take place, long enough to decide to get my camera and see if I could catch some it on video - which I did, still getting over two minutes of action before they went out of sight, and I don't know how long the battle continued after that.  The action was far away, and hand-holding a telephoto lens makes for poor video, but you can at least get the idea of what was taking place if you watch it:

And here's a short clip of a wing-rowing event:

Perhaps you saw the announcement that the Meredith Conservation Commission is holding the second of its summer guided walk series at the Hamlin-Eames Conservation Area.  The walk will start with a brief memorial to Peter Miller who passed away last November and a dedication of a plaque in his memory.  Peter was a Meredith conservation commissioner who designed the trails in Hamlin and Eames and led the fund raising effort to purchase the Eames property.  There will be guided walks ranging from one third of mile up to three miles.  If you would like to participate, meet at the Hamlin Trailhead on Chemung Rd at 10:00am on Saturday, June 5th.  

It's also National Trails Day -  I hope to see you there!

If you're interested in honoring those who died in the service of our country, there will be a short memorial service at Oakland Cemetery tomorrow morning at 8:00, at Meredith Village Cemetery at 9:00, and in front of the Meredith Library at 10:00, followed later by a ceremony at Hesky Park.   It's a small way to remember those whom made the ultimate sacrfice for us.

April 4, 2021: March Madness

So much for "Out like a Lamb".  March ended with a vengeance, hitting us with some of the strongest winds we see around the lakes.  And it came at a time when the frost is leaving the ground and the soil is wet and soft, allowing for toppling trees over by the roots.   Fortunately we were far enough north that shaded forests still had a decent frost base and most of the trees I saw blown over were snapped off above the ground at a weak point in the trunk.  This particular tree was inconsiderate enough to fall right along a trail, which makes a lot more clean up work than if it fell straight across the path.  

A white pine snapped off by wind.

A much more thoughtful tree was kind enough to fall away from the house by which it stood for the past 80 or so years, and then, in an extreme case of good fortune, it lined itself up precisely between two other pines that were narrowly spaced and joined forces to grab hold of it right before it completely demolished all of the boats so carefully lined up between them.

Sometimes all the stars just line up right!

Another boat on the land wasn't quite as fortunate.  This aluminum rowboat was picked up by that northwest wind and blown, Dorothy-style, over the land and into the lake.

I didn't see it happen so it's possible it landed on the ice and then was blown into this stretch of open water where it got trapped.  After the storm I was able to secure it on land and later paddle it back to its home when after the wind died down.  So here we are, days before ice-out and the first boat has already been launched.  

The animals are taking advantage of bits of open water as well, as I heard my first beaver-tail crash onto the water when I walked along the lake just after sunset.  We also have a pair of mallards that appear to have made this small stretch of open water their new home.

"How does this spot look dear?"

Sailing among the icebergs.

They spend all day cruising in these tiny areas, paddling back and forth in the narrow channels, sometimes walking over the icebergs, sometimes using them for a napping spot.  

"Ouch that's cold."

Goose and duck down is still the best insulation.

Whenever another pair of mallards shows up these guys waste no time in shooing them away.  I didn't realize mallards were that territorial; we've had fun watching them all week.  They've also found a good source of food under our bird feeders and are doing a great  job of cleaning up all the mess the birds created all winter.

Nature's vacuum cleaner

Those open spots have been freezing over at night so I'm not sure where they go - probably onto land or down to the outlet by the dam which remains open all night.

Cold nights are slowing the ice-out process.

Sadly, with the arrival of April in bear-country, it's the end of bird feeders.  We've had a few new appearances this week including the first robin, the first song sparrows, the return of the redpolls, and even a few juncos which we haven't seen all winter.

A common redpoll cracks one of the last seeds from the feeder.

Birds have tremendous memories when it comes to remembering where they've stored individual seeds as well as where they've found food sources.  I wonder if these are the same redpolls that were at our feeder in February, coming back to where they previously found a meal on their way south.  Redpolls are now migrating all the way up to Greenland and the farthest northern parts of Canada for their breeding season.

As far as the ice goes, Meredith Bay is clear of ice as are many other parts of the big lake.  But that wind blew a lot of ice into Wolfeboro, the Weirs and other southern bays so Winnipesaukee hasn't declared ice-out as of today - maybe it will happen early next week.   Lake Waukewan shows a lot of blue water with all its ice blown onto the shore of the town beach.

Lots of blue water on Waukewan with all the ice blown down toward the town beach.

But Wicwas still has a ways to go.

A few more warm sunny days will get us blue water too!

I'll end with one last bird feeder moment for the year.

A downy woodpecker and a red-breasted nuthatch help empty the feeder for the last time.

I'm glad there are plenty of natural food sources available for them now.  And look - the crocuses bloomed for Easter!

Happy Easter!