New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Here's to spring!

Friday 03/17/2006

Spring signs continue to dribble into New Hampshire day by day. Nearly every day I can pick out another new sign of spring. Most spectacular was during the tremendous thunder storm that rumbled through Monday night. This storm the day before chewed up and spit out whole strips of the mid west with over 100 tornados. Oh it rumbled and grumbled a bit here Monday night with a rolling thunder lasting half a minute or more in the distance. More typical of an August storm than March.

But it was during this storm that I headed out to look for frogs. And I found several crossing the road within a half mile of my house. No salamanders, just wood frogs. But my sense is the next warm rain may very well be "The Salamander Night."

I saw a flock of ring necked ducks yesterday on Bixby Pond in Epsom and earlier in the week a flock of hooded mergansers dotted the pond. Ducks and geese are now frequently seen in pairs scattered about, no longer in flocks. The whole waterfowl mass migration is underway.

A flock of robins was marching across the field by my house last night all facing the same direction as if in migration as I headed out for my hour-long dog walk. During the walk a woodcock passed overhead. My first of the year.

Despite the cool down the last few days, ice has continued to retreat from many of the smaller ponds and lakes. The Suncook River is complete devoid of ice or even any floating ice. The color of the water is changing, I think because of the changing sun angle, to a more grayish/blue hue. Official spring is just three days away. Hooray.