New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

With a record hot and dry July behind us the toll this summer's drought is taking is showing in some trees already showing an orange blush. According the most recent NOWA report the month of July was the hottest on record worldwide. And our trees have been so stressed from this extreme weather that they are ready to give up this summer altogether. So many lawns and fields are turning brown as well. More of a late fall color. I'm afraid one of my two pear trees that I planted three decades ago is not going to survive this drought. Three quarters of the branches have died the last several weeks. The farmer's corn crop is half the height it should be by now and I'm sure the corn cobs have barely any corn on them. So much for the nutrients his dairy cows will need this winter.

And this summer's high temperatures have no doubt further impacted our dwindling moose herd. Just the other night while watching the ten o'clock news I could see that almost statewide temperatures were still in the 80's. At these temperatures moose cease to feed. As it already is because of our warmer summers adult cow moose body weights are down causing a significant reduction in moose calve births. The percentage of cows giving birth to twin calves was down to only 11% when the 2002 to 2005 moose study was conducted by Fish and Game. In the last three summers of the current study NO twinning is now taking place. And the calving rate has declined from 75% of adult producing calves in 2002 to only 54% last year and 60% this year. So this summers heat wave lasting weeks with temperatures at 80 degrees at ten o"clock at night will only further reduce cow weights.

But we have actually had a bit of good news this week. I actually had a half inch of rain in my gauge from Saturday nights thunder storm and another 4/10 from yesterday's rain. Amounts I have not seen since last April or before. Much, much needed rain I must say. Even with this rain the stream gauge on the Suncook River in Chichester is reading the lowest flow in over 60 years. This has been a real tough summer for our fish friends.