New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

A trip to see the Washington D.C. cherry blossoms and more.

Friday 03/31/2006

My wife and I headed to D.C. on Tuesday to visit my son Adam and take in the peak of the cherry blossoms. And we nailed it. We managed to take in the sights including a trip to the top of the Washington Monument, which was one site on my must-see list, but it has been closed for renovations the last trips down. We did slide over to my favorite place, the National Air and Space Museum, to catch the Imax show of the Mars rovers. I have been following the travels of the two Mars rovers since they landed over two years ago. Generally the background on my home office computer is one of the latest pictures from Mars, or one from the Cassini satellite which is orbiting Saturn. What a spectacular view from atop the monument that juts over 500 feet into the sky. I snapped a picture from each of the viewing windows with the Capitol Building, the Whitehouse, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials all laying below me.

Wednesday was a picture perfect day with a deep blue cloudless sky as we walked the perimeter of the Basin with a forest of cherry trees in full bloom all around us. It was grand.

I got home Thursday afternoon to summer-like temperatures back here and just in time to get to the annual Strafford County UNH Cooperative Extension Forestry and Wildlife Night. Biologist/forester Matt Tarr provided an excellent lecture on planting food plots to attract wildlife for viewing and hunting. This is a whole new area that I am getting more and more requests from landowners about who want to SEE more wildlife on their properties.

Waterfowl, particularly ring-necked ducks, are still passing through in numbers. No wood frogs or peepers for me yet locally. But the next rain is sure to awaken them and have the spotted salamanders on the move. This is about the most dynamic time of year for wildlife in NH. It really takes day AND night observations to gather all that is available to see and hear.

Today (Friday) I spent the day helping the Fish and Game non game staff erecting the annual fencing to protect likely nesting areas for the federally threatened piping plover. We put up over a half mile of posts with roping and signs asking folks to stay clear of the nesting areas. I have done it every year since the beginning, which is about 9 or 10 now I think. Usually we are lucky to have a couple volunteers and 4 or 5 staff members. Once we set the date we get it done rain/snow or shine. Two years ago we had to dig through the 6 foot snow drifts to get my ATV and trailer on to the beach. Most years we seem to have a knack for picking about the nastiest day possible.

Not so this year. It was sunny, no wind and in the 70's. It was a perfect day to be on the beech. And this brought help out of the woodwork, it seems, with a total of 15 staff and volunteers. We made quick work of the fencing and had it done by noon or so.