New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff
A ting of fall in the air and on the trees.
Wednesday 09/19/2012
Yesterday I got out striper fishing with my son-in-law Derek. Probably a wrap to the season. Wind was blowing a good gust and built all afternoon. We fished inland of the open sea but even in the protected bay there were white caps by the time we ended a little after four. And we had a wind driven super high tide scraping the vegetation from the shore into the waters making it difficult to troll without dredging up a salad. And the bite was poor with only one small striper brought to the boat. Wind driven stinging rain hit our faces as we turned into the wind for the trip back to the launch. But a any day on the sea is good day at sea in my book.
I was way up north the middle of last week where colors were already showing on a many trees. My trip back up to Waterville Valley over the weekend had a noticeable change with lots more color. And this week has seen a real up tick locally in color and not just swamp maples.
So we are on a roller coaster ride about to plunge into fall. Two mornings ago my thermometer read 39 degrees F at six am. But no frost as yet and my garden is still full of tomatoes and string beans. My mom, bless her soul, has been canning and freezing away all by herself as I have been tied up with other things of late.
Another good rain event last night has kept our streams flowing and still recovering from the drought of summer. We really haven't had the deluge from a left over hurricane that we usually get this time of year. So I am seeing pretty dry wetlands and beaver ponds going into fall.
The neighbor farmer started cutting his silage corn a couple weeks early this year. Looks like an average crop to me. Corn seemed to shoot out of the ground last spring and was on pace for a record harvest in my eyes when the summer drought hit and put the brakes and the growth. But it matured early because of the jump start. The air around my home most days is filled with the whirring sound of the chopper as the fields are turned into silage for his dairy cows. Another sure sign of fall.
