After several false starts, it looks like spring has arrived to stay in the Upper Valley. Of course, I’m not taking the snow tires off until the second week of May.
Along with the ice going out, our summer residents are arriving back in droves. I spotted six loons on the Middleton’s pond on March 31. By the time I put the boat in the next day, they’d moved on. My bet is they’d been scouting the territory to see which ponds were open and just stopped for a rest and a meal before heading back south. But there were other critters out and about.
One of the resident osprey had a good perch overlooking the pond.
A bald eagle hauled several sticks into a tall pine that looks over the shore. I’m not sure what he? was up to – too late for this year’s nest and seems early to be starting on next year’s. When I check again yesterday, there didn’t seem to be any progress on a nest.
My next trip took me to the Weston’s pond last Sunday. A friend on the pond told me that one loon had arrived back on the April 9. There was still only one loon on the pond.
The first loon back on the Weston’s pond. He? spent the morning cruising lazily, occasionally foraging.
Most of the action on the pond was from the Canada geese. They’re sorting out territories. This requires lots of honking, hissing and wrestling. Here’s another coming to join the fray.
Just as the tail feathers touch the water…..
And splashdown!There were several eastern phoebes hunting along the edge of the pond and lots of tree swallows swooping over the pond.
I got back to the Weston’s pond on Tuesday for a brisk paddle – it was 39°F when I put the boat in. We still had only one loon and the geese were causing a ruckus. There was one hummock just off shore that was a treasured spot. It changed hands several times during the morning. The goose on the right has just abandoned it at the suggestion of the goose in the middle. The fight wasn’t settled and moved out into the water. The goose being chased eventually conceded and moved off down the pond. Male red-winged blackbirds are back and staking out territories. I haven’t seen a female yet, they usually wait a while after the males head north.
Wednesday morning found me back on the Middleton’s pond. And missing the balmy day before. It was a chilly 28°F as I pushed through a skim of ice to get on the pond. As soon as I cleared the ice, there were trout feeding at the surface. The osprey both made quick work of finding breakfast. And, there were loons.The loons slept in a bit before waking to face the day. They spent some time preening, ending with a nice stretch.. Then decided the day could wait and went back to sleep. There were lots of ducks of several sorts around the lake. And what seemed an endless of mergansers suddenly flying around. Here’s a pair of ring-necked ducks, a nice catch.
A pair of mallard drakes were swimming along the shore when something startled them. They took a very short flight – maybe 15 feet before settling and continuing on their way. After a time, our loons reawakened and decided they’d face the day afterall. They headed out to forage a bit.
They also spent some time exploring along the shore. The hummock they’ve used for their nest site for several years washed away in the heavy rains last summer. They’ll have to find a new site.
At one point, one loon beached and almost seemed to be presenting. That would be about a month early. The second loon didn’t respond and they soon started off down the shoreline again.
Another pretty good indication that spring is really here is the return of the warblers. Warblers are beautiful little birds. Emphasis on little. They’re devilishly hard to photograph. They’re in almost continuous motion while foraging through the underbrush. This palm warbler paused briefly in the clear.
This morning I headed to the Easton’s pond again. Our second loon has returned. As I was putting the boat in, another loon flew over and was challenged by the loons on the pond. A loon flew over the pond on two more occasions, both times flying off after being challenged. The home team spent the morning foraging and preening.
The highlight of the morning was finding three otters feeding and wrestling on the bank of the pond.
I don’t know that I’ve ever found a pair of otters. When I spot them, there are either one alone or a trio of them. Today there were three. This was the first time I’ve seen this behavior – they were clawing at a tree stump. They didn’t seem to be finding anything to eat and the scratching was interrupted by rounds of wrestling. One of the trio broke off from the tree and grabbed a perch for breakfast. The other two otters took time for a couple rounds of wrestling while the first ate.
As I was heading back to the boat launch, I passed the loons foraging together. One started preening, so I stuck around to get the stretch shot. And, should you have any remaining doubts spring has returned to the Upper Valley, the honey wagons are flocking to the fields.
Our bluebirds are again building in our nesting box. I checked the cameras several weeks ago and all seemed fine. But now the camera in the box the birds are using isn’t working properly. We’ll have to skip watching the first brood – I’m not going to disturb the box to get at the camera until the the chicks fledge. Hopefully we’ll be back online for the second brood.
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Your photographs are downright magical! I appreciate the time you take to write descriptions…mini stories…of what you are observing. How I would love to do these things!
Your pics are epic and keeps me from losing touch with VT
Thanks for taking and sharing photos of all the creatures you spotted. I love that one of the red-winged blackbird. I enjoy seeing all your photos.
Your photographs are downright magical! I appreciate the time you take to write descriptions…mini stories…of what you are observing. How I would love to do these things!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed them.
Enjoyed the post and the images and of course the three Otters!
Thanks. Finding otters somewhere they can be photographed is always a treat.