January 11, 2015

Just as forecast, the coldest air of the season arrived this past week, bring several days of temperatures below zero, with the coldest morning registering -12° F.  With many days of below freezing temperatures, the ice on Lake Wicwas should be safe for most activities, short of automobiles and airplanes.  On one of the coldest nights, January 5th, the Full Wolf Moon rose over the lake.

The January Wolf Moon

There are no wolves in New Hampshire today, but the coyotes might have been out howling (or maybe tucked away in their dens on a cold night).  January through February is mating season for coyotes - what a romantic setting for them!

One very cold night extracted a bit of moisture our of the air, depositing a thin layer of dry snow on the  crust left by the previous rain.  I saw no coyote signs, but these precise animal tracks were left by a fox we saw walking along the edge of the lake.

Fox and other light animals have easy travel on this winter surface, but not the heavier animals, including humans.  The thick ice-crust on top of several inches of light, dry snow make for inhospitable travel - unstable, sharp, noisy - for any creature that breaks though the crust.  

I expect the deer are staying in very close quarters;  not only would they be highly vulnerable to coyotes in these conditions, but just walking would lacerate their legs.

The cold temperatures also fashioned a new set of intricate ice structures on any object that was on the ice.

Sometimes even just a bump on the surface of the lake was enough to seed crystal growth. 

I am way too easily amused by the simplest of things....

Remember the great pine cone crop from the White Pines back in August?

August 24, 2014

Well, now they are all on lake after strong winds blew them off the trees.

Pine Cones Scattered by the Wind

It doesn't appear there are any seeds left in them for the birds and the squirrels;  they have long since been released onto the ground to germinate next spring's seedlings.

With just an inch or two of light snow on Friday there was enough cover on the crust to do some skiing on the lake.  I was out yesterday with my nephews and we toured a good part of the lake, watching all the activity.  It was a beautiful, but still cold day.

Bob Houses have Appeared on Lake Wicwas

Winter Fun on the Lake

It has even been cold enough that much of Lake Winnipesaukee has frozen over - bob houses are rapidly sprouting up all over Meredith bay.

It is good to know that winter has finally settled in over the Lakes.

A Winter Afternoon

January 4, 2015

Happy New Year!  It's the first week of January, and already the days are getting longer.  We had enough cold weather this past week to finally secure what looks like a lasting layer of ice on Lake Wicwas.  Ice-in just made it before the end of 2014, freezing over on December 29th, a full month later than last year. 

Ice-In on December 29, 2014

The cold weather after all the rain made for an outstanding skating surface, but only on the areas that have been frozen since November.  It also created a beautiful reflective surface for sunny blue-sky days and cold winter sunsets.

Sunset on New Year's Day, 2015

Coming back from a run on one of these cold days I found a group of motorcycle enthusiasts out enjoying the ice by the boat landing. 

They have some pretty nice looking equipment, with sharply customized tires for getting a bite on the ice.

They even brought some young drivers along to start getting a feel for ice riding at an early age!

I took a walk in the Hamlin-Eames-Smyth conservation area on New Year's day.  The rapid drop in temperature - right after the heavy rain - had formed elaborate ice formations in the streams, as they were still flooded from the rain and snow-melt.  This stream crossing is right at the trail head on Chemung Road,

Hamlin Trail Head

Farther along the same stream, the surface had frozen where the ground was more level and the water had slackened. 

Bright sun reflected off the formations.

The saturated ground also extruded these curious ice crystals as the cold air and soil above drew the warmth and moisture out of the soil.  Water froze from the surface, pushing each crystal upward as it froze.

 These crystals are about an inch and half tall.

The coldest weather of the season will hit in the next few days - it  looks like winter was just waiting for 2015 to arrive.

December 27, 2014

It has been so warm this week that when I was walking today I wouldn't have been surprised to find the bear out again - but there were no signs, I am happy to report.  Warm temperatures - over 50 degrees on Christmas day - and more rain have washed away much of the Thanksgiving Day snow, and the ice on Lake Wicwas has retreated yet again.

December 27

And this was after we had a small dose of wet snow earlier in the week that had the world looking wintry again.

December 23

Then just a few days later, anywhere the sun could get through or water could collect, the ground was bare.

Sunlight Reflects off Large Puddles in the Trail

The streams are running like spring freshets, and the lake is back up several inches above full level.

The repeated melt-freeze cycles have converted the remaining snow flakes into various forms of opaque and clear ice crystals.

On the surface of the lake, wind and waves tossed chunks of ice many feet up onto the ice, leaving them stranded far from the water's edge.

The plants are animals are a bit perplexed, with green grass and ground cover appearing, and even some buds popping out.

Even the snow fleas think it's March - I found hundreds of them hatched out the surface of the snow in an area exposed to the sun.

The Black Bear may not have emerged to take advantage of the moment but other animals have!

Pine Cone Debris left by a Red Squirrel

December 21, 2014

Winter is taking its time this year in its slow but nonetheless certain approach on Lake Wicwas.  The snow we had several weeks ago has managed to hold on even with several days of warm and rainy weather.  And where the snow formed a layer of slush in the lake, it has survived the rain as well.  After a couple of cool nights that fell below freezing I saw the first pioneers out exploring the ice on the lake.  No surprise they were fishermen!

First Ice Travel of the Season

I cut a hole through the ice and found to my surprise almost six inches of ice;  two inches of frozen slush on top of almost four inches of good black ice.  So where it has remained frozen it is quite safe for foot travel - just be certain you know where the line is, because at the same time there is open water farther out in the lake.

December 15, 2014 - Lots of open water

That was on December 15th.  Today, after a few flakes of snow this morning, the ice has filled in a bit more.

December 21, 2014

The open areas are getting smaller, but the weather forecast for the coming week indicates this may be short lived....

I took a walk through the conservation land around the beaver ponds on one of the few sunny days this week.  I saw no wildlife, but had some beautiful scenes of white snow and blue skies.

Beaver Pond in the Hamlin-Eames-Smyth Conservation Area

For those of you who are alpine skiers, Ragged Mountain in Danbury has opened their new high-speed quad chair lift to the summit of Spear Mountain.  Four minutes to the top sure beats the old lift of 13 minutes - if it didn't stop three times on the way up!

New Doppelmayr High Speed Quad from the Summit of Spear Mountain

December 14, 2014

A few more traces of snow this week provided a surface that left evidence of more animals traveling the hills and shores of Lake Wicwas - but no bears!

This seemingly distinctive bird track was left on our deck one morning (and no, it didn't find any bird feeders). 

My first thought was a crow even though we've never seen crows on the deck, but there are other birds that leave a similar track, including the Rock Dove.  But the size and shape are closer to a crow, so that's my best guess.

I had a couple of other bird sightings this week.  A pretty Pileated Woodpecker flew along beside me on a stretch of Chemung Road before it banked off into the forest.  And this morning I caught glimpse of an enormous bird flying over the lake.  It landed far away, high in the top of white pine.  It had the size and behavior of a bald eagle, but through the binoculars it clearly didn't have the right markings.  I concluded it was probably a Golden Eagle, and I have read about recent sightings of Goldens in the area.  After it had landed, a smaller - yet still good sized bird, probably a crow - was harassing it, diving at it in the tree.  With each pass the eagle stabbed at the diving bird with its massive beak, and seeing that weapon, the attacker never got very close.  The eagle was eating something, so I wonder if it had taken a meal from the crow.  It's also possible the crow was just trying to drive it from its territory.  Either way, the crow only made a few passes before it gave up and moved on.  I captured some poor pictures, but with the far distance it was the best I could do.  With better ice I would have tried to get a closer approach, but not yet.

Speaking of ice, the center of the lake hasn't made much progress in freezing over.  The temperatures continue in a narrow range - five or ten degrees below freezing over night, and five or ten degrees above freezing during the day, which isn't conducive to ice forming.

Most of the edges of the lake have been frozen for some time, but there are plenty of openings where the Otter can come up on shore for some play time.  There is quite a bit of traffic on particular otter trail,

and one of my wildlife spotters told me there were several otters playing on the snow down by the dam.  He saw them out playing in both the morning and the late afternoon, enjoying the warm weather while it lasts.  (Thanks Callum!)