New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Mid way through summer and it is put on hold.

Wednesday 07/14/2004

Well, summer seemed to stop this week. I pity those on vacation. Nights have been rather cool despite the cloud cover and days barely warming into the 70s. This week has been rather cloudy misty and cool for several days and is expected to continue into the weekend. Actually not bad for working outside but as I watched some crows and other birds searching for prey today, I wondered how this cool spring and now summer has affected them. Are the insect populations, that normally are thriving in the summer heat, as abundant? It looked like a whole lot of searching going on today in a fresh cut piece along the junction of rt. 16 and rt. 4 at Dover Point this afternoon. The crickets sure haven't been vocal yet around my house nor a cicada yet.

All is quiet down below in the meadow except for the baritone bull frogs occasional burst. The house wren has been as bubbly as ever. In fact last Thursday I erected a new bird house on a pole along the back of my lawn and by the next morning a wren was making trips with nesting material into it.

Although my bee balm is in full bloom I have yet to see a hummingbird swing in for a taste. I have even erected a hummingbird feeder nearby for an added attraction. I have noticed more butterflies this past week. Monarchs should be here now although I haven't seen one.

This rain certainly has produced one of the lushest green summers I can remember. Even the little stream, which are usually starting to dry up by now, have an ample supply of water running in them. Surely the wetland insects are having a banner year. The honey suckle has produced a good supply of berries as has my black cherry trees. I'm sure the fruit eating birds are thriving as well. The robins seem to be happy bouncing from tree to tree.

Boy has this been a year for chipmunks. They are everywhere. Dead on the roads by the dozens and scampering across every road. I practically have to do a tap dance on my brake peddle when I take the back roads to Concord. Since last year was not a "good" nut year I can't figure out what has spiked their population this year. I even saw a piece on the news one night about everyone have chipmunk problems. I'm sure something will equal them off soon enough as the cars seem to be doing a rather aggressive job already.