New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

The monsoons of May

Wednesday 05/25/2005

We are currently in the middle of another wet and wild day. A strong gust of wind just rattled the windows and brushed a curtain of rain across my view of the Suncook River. The river is casting a grayish brown reflection this morning. Gray from the low churning clouds above and the brown stained water serving as the screen for today showing of the local nature film. How the river and scene changes from day to day. There is a new feature showing every day if you care to look. A sunny day would sure change the mood of the river, and likely me. The reds of the red maples guarding the river at it's edge and all the fresh looking green branches reaching out over the river should be forming a brilliant dazzling view, if only the clouds would let it. But it is not to be today, or apparently for a few more days. The river has pushed up into the meadow again gradually pushing into the lower edge of the unplanted corn field. Looks like the corn will be planed much later than usual in the meadow.

The weather pattern has been stuck for several weeks in this cold rainy cycle. Yet this is the worst that it has been. And it is coming at about the worst possible time. Ducks and geese have already hatched some of their broods. Likely some of the unhatched nests will be flooded by the rising waters. Turkey and grouse hens will be hatching their young over the next few days as well. Many of their newly hatched young may be killed by the cold damp conditions. We really need a break from this pattern very soon. No doubt the song birds will be at risk too. To me the hard rain even keeps the insects at bay, while it is good as far as the mosquitos and black flies go, it is probably tough on the bird parents searching for flying morsels for their chicks. I bet all young bird mortalities will be up this spring.

In my travels this week I checked a Fish and Game Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Brentwood, our Deer Hill WMA.
I had pulled some logs in front of an old woods road that bisects a wetland where I found my first wood frog eggs of the year. I also placed new "No Vehicle" signs on both sides of the road as well as directly on the logs. I was hoping to keep the four-wheeled trucks out of the wetland and keep them from crushing the frog eggs. NOT. The logs have been pushed aside and there has been plenty of recent traffic into the wetland to do some "mudding" I guess. For the life of me I can't understand how someone can think that going into someone else's property to tear it up, ruin the wetlands and things living in it can be OK. Especially when it has been clearly posted and barricaded to exclude them. On the other side of the WMA the pile of tires seems to have grown and now a large bucket, over five gallons, has been added, but has rolled down the banking. From the spout on top I would say it is some type of oil container. It seems so hard to own large acreage and keep it the way you the owner wants it.

The clean up crew was still working on the Bellamy River WMA oil spill yesterday. They were completing the back filling and grading. Still two huge dumpsters of material as well as huge piles on either side of the road means there are several more days of clean up to go. I bet it will top the $20,000 mark by the time it is done. That sure was an expensive 50 gallons of fuel oil. That puts it at $400 per gallon!

My son Adam just arrived minutes ago from D.C. after driving through the night after his shift ended at midnight. Oh to be 24 again! We have had plans for a couple of months to be striper fishing today. NOT. Gale force winds on the coast are not a place for us two in my little 15 foot boat. Maybe a little fresh water bass fishing will have to do. Still it will be tough fishing. conditions no matter where we go.