Nature

[Rommie]

I feel like we had a nature thread somewhere but can't find it, so that probably means it's time for a new one.

Anyway, anyone else getting into birds more now that we're at home all the time? I have a bird ID app, and ordered a poster of the birds of North America, because I thought it'd be fun to check off ones I've seen etc. (I saw a pileated woodpecker yesterday which was cool and for the first time ever- those things are huge!) The funny thing about this is I mentioned it to my sister, who has a MSc in evolutionary biology studying birds, and she's all seriously "you have no idea what you're getting into." Because birders are crazy.

I dunno, I reckon this is going to be something like my hobby where I decided to collect a stamp from every country in the world. Went to a few gatherings where there was some serious gatekeeping going on, and I was like "dude I just want to collect a stamp from every country! No wonder your hobby is dying if you make the threshold for entry so intimidating!" So yeah, no one tell the serious birders what I'm up to.

[Swift]

I'm a very serious nature geek. I like birding, but I'm not a hard-core birder (I can tell stories if you like, but I'm fine with not doing so).

I would not say I'm any more into it since the pandemic, but I'm always very interested. We were very excited to have a red-headed woodpecker on our feeder the other day; they are rather uncommon around here, and it was a first for our yard.

My hard core nature thing I've been doing is iNaturalist, which is a citizen science program for recording observations of all kinds of organisms. They have a pretty cool app for doing it with your phone, or you can do it through their website. I'm currently at over a thousand observations.

We also got a game camera a couple of months ago and I've posted a couple of the photos or videos on my Facebook page.

[Rommie]

Haha I'm sure iNaturalist is going to start happening around here...

F has a game cam that was one of those classic "technically bought it for my dad for Christmas, but he uses it instead" presents. We mainly used it last year and probably the coolest thing was catching a fox once.

Speaking of, saw two foxes the other day while on a walk, maybe 10min apart! They were running across the road in opposite directions, so I'm fairly certain they were different foxes.

[SciFiFisher]

The closest we get to being naturalists is hanging nectar for hummingbirds. We live in a pretty urban area. One of my goals for this year was going to be to get out to the state and federal parks more. Hopefully, by this fall we can start doing that.

[Rommie]

So, I'm gonna talk about loons. Specifically, despite coming to this lake every summer for like 25 years, I've never seen a loon chick. This is unfortunate because loons are awesome, and I think my heart would melt in cute if I ever saw a chick hitching a ride on their parent's back.

We do have a breeding pair of loons that have decided our stretch is their territory, and a few years ago to encourage them the local loon society put out a little raft for them. F took my old 8" stargazing telescope and found a direct line of sight to said loon raft, but no one was on it this year excepting a turtle a few days ago. Until, that is, today! We just happened to notice some white on the raft with the telescope while making breakfast, ran to the telescope to look, and sure enough Ms. Loon was nesting. Which really involved tearing up the moss F put there onto her back, but hey. She def was at it for at least ten minutes, at which point I stopped watching, and she's gone now.

So, fingers crossed there! I'm not sure we'll have success though. One of the neighbors last week said he was looking out at lunch, and saw a loon under a lawn chair (!!!) and she'd laid an egg! That particular neighbor actually did an internship at some point for the loon society, so texted a picture to his old boss (who asked "that's a decoy, right?"), and they came out after a few hours to collect the egg- apparently if they haven't been around in four hours that means it's abandoned. Best they can bet is she got spooked by something and ran out of the water to hide, and laid the egg because of stress... so yeah guys, I dunno about our loons. They are special.

I'm definitely happy about seeing her climb out on the raft this morning though! I'd never seen a loon get out of the water before. Also, aside, but I love my husband so much- he's always thinking up things like this that make life more fun.

[SciFiFisher]

That is fantastic.

[Thumper]

It may be that I have more time for observing, but I think birds and other flora/fauna have been doing different things this season. We've seen several birds that we rarely or have never seen on the property, be actually prolific this spring. We've had turtles out the wazoo. This family has performed four "turtle rescues" in the last month. Extra chip monks, extra tree squirrels, minks. It's been very different from my point of view. And there is a nature thread somewhere here...

[Thumper]

There it is:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1508&start=225

[Rommie]

Well I'll keep posting here if that's alright.

Ms. Loon has taken up a pretty continuous bit of nest sitting as of Sunday morning. We had to shout at two kayakers to keep them away (she startles super easy), but luckily the loon society checks their email on Sundays because by the afternoon they were out and put up some "loon sanctuary- please keep away" water markers at a respectable distance.

She did get off the nest for a minute or two today, and I'm pretty sure there's an egg now. Not 100%, because honestly a loon egg is brown and looks like a dirt clod. But it's a dirt clod that wasn't there until just now, so we'll probably just say there's one there.

We're pretty lucky- first time they're really using the loon raft, and it's the year we're stuck at home! My dad says the last time they nested in that area they just did it on land right next to the raft, which seems silly. I've kind of decided loons are basically the pandas of the North country- cute black and white mascot, and lucky for them they are because they'd have trouble reproducing if humans weren't helping them. Plus, a la Anchorman, we are totally on LoonWatch2020 now.

(I looked it up btw, and it's a 3-4 week incubation period, so I'll let you guys know what happens!)

[Rommie]

Saw a bear this weekend! A legit young looking black bear. We were up in Bretton Woods this weekend doing some hiking (like 1.5 hours north of here), and while chilling over drinks Saturday evening he sauntered over a grassy hill. Gave all the people there a confused look for a good second (clearly thinking "no one was here all this year until now!"), then ran back down the hill, and sauntered off on a road. Definitely my best bear sighting in NH ever, I've only ever seen them otherwise running the other way.

What we were up to btw was working on the "52 with a view" hiking list- or rather, I'm working on it, and F doesn't mind coming along for the more chill hikes. This is a 48 peak list of sub-4000' climbs in NH (the 4000+ ft list is also a thing, but I don't think I'd ever complete it), and I got a cute little passport book last year to mark progress during the year, and concluded a pandemic year is definitely the one to make more progress. And gotta say, both definitely delivered on the views- amazing the trailheads were maybe 20min apart, but the mountains and views were totally different!- and the hardest thing about them was the fact that it was in the 80s even starting around 10am. (These are the sort of hikes where you're done in 3 hours, hence F coming along for them.) Pandemics suck, but I think getting these hikes in will be one of the best things out of it for me personally.

Also, funny thing, I thought we were completing hikes 6 and 7 this weekend... but then someone informed me this morning that they rejiggered the list for the first time in at least a decade less than a month ago! (Because some views disappear over time, of course.) And yay, two of the peaks are ones we climbed last year with a visiting friend, so I'm actually at 9/52!

My only thing now of course is hoping they release a cute little updated version of the passport books so I can transfer everything over before it becomes too much of a burden to do so. #priorities

[SciFiFisher]

Pics would be nice.

[Rommie]

Check FB.

I like how we took a selfie at the top of both, but the problem with summit selfies is you're more likely just gonna look super sweaty and gross and not want to share it.

[Rommie]

THE LOON CHICKS HATCHED!!!

We don't know exactly when but probably on Saturday. They are the tiniest little floof balls right now. It's awesome.

[Rommie]

So yeah, the loon chicks are dead.

Long-ish story: the loon society out here sent out an email the day before they disappeared saying they were going to catch the parents and chicks to band them and do a few medical tests. They definitely did because we saw them out there while comet spotting, Tuesday or Wednesday. Then the next morning, the chicks are gone- F did a thorough search via kayak, parents are going around calling forlornly with the mom with a little fish in her mouth, which is just about the SADDEST THING EVER if you know loon calls. And naturally, bored people in quarantine notice these things, so rumors begin to fly around the cove about if the loon society had something to do with the loon chicks.

A few days later, loon society sends out an email to address the rumors to confirm they, as a society that wants to help loons thrive, did not actually hurt the loons (shocker) and it's just a coincidence. Instead, there were 5 loons spotted in the cove recently (true, we saw them) and it turns out loons are a bit like lions on the Serengeti in that they'll kill the chicks of others, and try to take over territory if they see the loons there are successful at having chicks/ plus they're more vulnerable.

I guess we will never know. But it was a pretty cool week-ish while it lasted with the chicks. I confess though I was surprised at how sad I was that they were gone.

[SciFiFisher]

Wow! Loonicide is a thing. Who knew?

[Rommie]

It's kind of amazing how you can leave for a week and it feels like so much changes in nature when you're out in a rural area. I remember noticing this last year too when I left for a week in mid-summer but this time it's once again really obvious to me. It almost feels like I was cheated and missed something, which is of course a bit silly but there we have it.

To writ, it's definitely the end of summer- getting a little colder in the day, but where you can tell is night no longer keeps warm, so the water cools accordingly. I also find it insane that the sun now sets 20 to 8pm- like, it must have been around 8pm when we left on vacation then, how did I not notice?!

The real crazy one though is the drought. It's been pretty nonstop this summer, but the water level is now where we expect it in October, so that's not going to end well. You definitely notice some trees changing color already, and it's not because the seasons are changing, it's because there is a drought and they're dying.

[SciFiFisher]

One of the nice things about living on the West coast is how late in the day the sun sets...until it doesn't. And then you realize that fall has arrived. That will happen in a few more weeks here. And we too have been experiencing unprecedented drought. And fires. Lots of fires.

[Rommie]

Holy shit guys, came into the office this morning and within five minutes I saw a red tailed hawk catch a squirrel in a tree, and fly across to another tree to devour it! (File this away under reasons I tell people I love coming into my office even though no one is here.) Saw a few glimpses of the hawk enjoying breakfast in his new tree and suspect if I walk past there at lunch I'll find a squirrel tail remaining.

Gristly sure, but nature is cool.

[Rommie]

There's a big cemetery a 10min bike ride from us that I've never been to, Mt Auburn Cemetery, which I'd never been to before but yesterday afternoon was just perfect for. I'd heard it's the place around here for birdwatching during migration, so decided to check it out, and I came within 10ft of a red tailed hawk on the ground so I daresay they're right. (Wonder if it's the same as the guy I see around work sometimes!)

Also got to ID three new birds that were migratory ones (thrushes and a warbler) so that was fun. Since we've been into Pokemon Go for years (well, me less so in recent weeks, nothing new is happening in the game), it definitely has that kind of feel to it- F was joking when he heard about the migratory ones "it's so great that you managed to get some regional ones during the event!" which I guess makes sense to pumpkinpi but maybe not anyone else.

Anyway, think I'm gonna head down there more often at lunch while the weather agrees. It was a cool spot.

[SciFiFisher]

Awesome. I live in an area that is over the migratory routes for Canadian Geese. We live across the street from a Middle School. The track and a huge lawn area are right across from us. I frequently see flocks of Canadian Geese land in the field and rest. It's a sort of odd to me because it there isn't a pond or anything. It's a fairly residential area with the school being the end of the area and then a lot of less developed area on the other side of the school.

[Rommie]

So, still into birds. It's definitely a great pastime during a pandemic that is high on walking around in nature by yourself! Not much right now in New England, but got a cute set of birding binoculars for Christmas from the husband so went out to Deer Island by the Boston airport this past weekend, which is no longer an island but I heard was good for birds. And yeah, basically every bird that thinks Canada is too rough for winter in the high tundra hangs out in Boston harbor- thousands of birds there, and quite the sight to see! (And feel because it was super windy with a storm coming and high swell, so amazing to think a bird thinks that's a great place to hang out all winter.) Quite a sight, and got several new "lifers," aka what you call new birds on your list.

Also got the bird feeder up this weekend, and it's slowly being found by more and more birds. (Squirrels surprisingly not as much- we appear to be on the border of a squirrel turf war so even had one guy who climbed to the top but just sat there over trying to get at seeds, lest another squirrel gain ground.) I decided to keep track of all the birds we ever see from our house, and with the blue jay and mockingbird today we're at 10. Definitely nothing exotic in the suburbs but not like we have much other nature to observe, and honestly it's amazing how much more fun a backyard is if you have a bird feeder in it.

So hey, nature. I gotta say, it's always so nice when you find a new hobby to get into that you might never had if it wasn't for something like a good app. (Merlin Bird ID is what I use btw, it's great. Answer 5 questions and it'll tell you what bird you saw.) Like I bought a bird book too, but it's all a bit clumsy and I doubt I'd use it regularly when walking around, and you always have your phone on you so don't need to worry about missing a field notebook or something when just walking out and about. So that's nice.