New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff
NH Turns Red!
Wednesday 10/05/2005
The plugs have been pulled on just about every red maple in central NH. The plugs that has kept the chlorophyll, and therefore the green in all the tree leaves, seem to have all been pulled at once this year. Usually the "swamp maple", red maples around the wetlands, turn several weeks to a month before the maples on higher ground. This just didn't happen this year. But now maples every where are quickly changing color. I got on the Suncook River in my canoe for a bit yesterday afternoon. The section below my house is lined with red oaks to the west and white pines to the east so the colors won't be as obvious as the sections with maples. Still a tranquil refreshing sight to see.
When I was down to my moms on Sunday I noticed a red maple on the edge of her garden that was just about all orange and red. She had spent the day rototilling her garden and said she watched it turn color through the day. She claimed it was mostly green in the morning but by afternoon had completely changed. So NH is changing color by the hour this week.
Tomorrow I stock pheasants again west of Concord. Last week there was some color but the trees were mostly green and the distant horizon was mostly green. I suspect that will have changed dramatically by tomorrow. Watching the trees change color from week to week over a wide area is one of the best parts of pheasant stocking. A heavy rain is predicted for Friday night into Saturday. To the north it will strip many of the leaves from the trees that turned a week ago. I think we'll not loose our color down here, but will if the rain comes week from now or so. It is the first windy rain storm after the trees turn that stripes the trees of their color. So all depending on when that rain comes how long the color will last. It would be nice to have a long rainless period to enjoy the annual spectacle.
The ducks and geese have grown real restless this past week. Flocks of both move up and down the river at sunset. Not right over the river as if they were local birds but a little distance away parallel to the river. Day sounds are dominated by crows calling and crickets hold sway to the nights. The night sounds are still late summer sounds even though the temperatures drop dramatically just after sunset.
