New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

What a seesaw we have been on the last month. I arrived back from Florida on March 13th to find bare ground here in Epsom nearly everywhere. Only to have it snow a foot and a half the next day locking us back into winter. That snow slowly melted leaving some bare spots in the farm fields nearby only to have another foot of snow fall ten days ago putting us right back into winter mode. Except numbers of robins remained scattered about and a few ducks in spots of what open water there was here and there.

Finally despite the lack of much sun in this past week the snow has, I think, finally melted from the fields once more. Even the local small farm ponds have melted open leaving a few more spots for the pairs of ducks to be seen. Hooded mergansers and mallards mostly are what I have seen this week. The turkeys seem to be plentiful as well though when I drove by a big manure pile a few minutes ago a flock of a couple dozen turkeys were still working it over. It is these manure piles that have kept our turkeys alive this winter no doubt. You just can't under estimate the importance of a pile of crap. Well maybe not the stuff coming from afar lately.

I haven't been seeing deer, save for a dead one at roadside here in town yesterday. But by this weekend we are expecting some sun and warming to the 70's by Tuesday. That should start to green up some fields and that should bring the deer out in force.  I haven't seen much for geese either that should be milling about locally by now.

Today the Suncook River is at a low flood stage. Just barely over its banking in places. I guess the one thing to be said about all the snow and the rain as of late is that it has surely filled our vernal pools and at least  begun to recharge the ground water. With the big uptick in temps next week we should be on the verge of some salamanders moving. Although there sure is plenty of snow left in the woods/ So we are on the verge of a lot of things happening all at once. Come on sun.