New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

From listening for grouse and turkeys at sunrise to a dancing with a fire in the sky.

Tuesday 04/26/2005

I've had a couple of interesting and satisfying days in the field already this week. But first some really good news. My call to the Dam Bureau folks at DES last Thursday brought a quick response by Friday as the river began to re-flood. Plus the drought to deluge rain over the weekend topped the Suncook River off so now it actually is at a low flood stage. More good news as some of the fisheries staff at Fish and Game have been in touch with the DES folks to try to keep the fish egg kill from happening next year. And you can very well expect I'll have an eye on the river from my perch out my bedroom window first thing each morning.

Yesterday after a brief stop at F&G HQ in the morning I slide down to do the waterfowl nesting survey on the one kilometer square plot in Londonderry. I stopped in to check the dam and water level at the Little Cohas Marsh area on the way to the duck plot. The plot actually is right along the southern border of the town not far from Kimball Pond. There are a couple of active beaver ponds one on either end of the plot connected by a small brook. In the decade and a half I have been checking it the northern one has been surrounded by a couple of developments. But the houses are set well away from the water and haven't seemed to reduce the waterfowl activity. In fact I ended up identifying two goose pairs, one mallard pair and four wood duck pairs. A couple of years ago I ran into a yearling bull moose her. I mean practically ran into! I called to him and got him real close.

I was sneaking into the southern pond and noticed a bunch of painted turtles on one log nearby. I crept in and actually counted 21 turtles before I startled them and sent every last one into hiding. I have a picture of the old log I'll now call the 21-turtle spot. I stopped ten feet from the log, planted my feet and didn't move hardly a muscle for almost an hour. At this marsh waterfowl are slow to reveal themselves. An hour wait is the norm here.

And so I waited and waited to see a duck, or expecting some turtles to bob up. Not one turtle surfaced in the hour I waited. But a goose did! It just appeared magically, as wild things can, not 30 yards away. While I was standing motionless a great blue heron swooped into the cove, pterodactyl-like, but spooked when I glanced up at him.

I finished off the day stopping late afternoon at a habitat project in Candia putting me home late again.

I headed off at 04:30 this morning for a grouse/turkey survey route that starts in Candia and ends almost in Derry. It is a ten-mile long route which has me stop every mile and listen exactly four minutes for any grouse drumming or turkeys gobbling. Generally I try to do these on weekend mornings to avoid commuter traffic here in Region 3. But this weekend was a wash-out. They can not be run when it is raining. Even so the actually listening begins a half hour BEFORE sunrise which was 05:18 this morning. At most of my stops I had some traffic go by, with a couple of stops having three cars go by. It's pretty hard to hear a grouse or a turkey with cars streaming by. And I heard none this morning. Some years I have heard several turkeys on this route. I picked the most "back road" line I could within the randomly assigned area. Even so I am amazed at how busy our roads are at oh-dark hundred hours.

I got back just in time to meet the state "fire crew" at the storage area in Bear Brook State Park. We loaded out equipment and headed of to Blue Job Mountain in Farmington. We burned about eight acres on top of the mountain to maintain the blue berries there for wildlife. Luckily Professor Bon Quigley from the UNH Thompson School had his class of 12 forestry students up for a little OJT. They were a big help as our state crew was kind of skimpy today.

It is always a tough day to burn Blue Job because it is a mountain top. My little three wheeler was the mule again today going up to the fire pond to fill the barrel then tugging the 350 pounds of water up over some real serious ledges and rough terrain. I had to make the last run out to the fire pond to pull out the mini pump which had me creeping down off the mountain after 4:00 this afternoon. Plus I spent some "hot time" on the fire line. This put me home after 5:00 again tonight totally wiped out. I did rally and get my dogs out for a 45 minute hike. I did hear a couple of toads trilling in the meadow.