New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Slowly slipping into winter with a few fall hiccups along the way.

Monday 11/22/2004

A few days of milder than normal temperatures has staved off what looked to be an early winter setting in a week or two ago. All the small ponds were skimmed over with ice, but are now all open. I figured this would be a milder than normal and wetter than normal fall based on the weather pattern of the last few months. I am still doubting a white Christmas.

Heavy rains predicted for Wednesday night will bring the water levels up in our streams again. Many years the brooks remain very low well into the fall. The mild temperatures the last few days has lofted some small millers into the night air. Some kind of hatch going on. I can't imagine there is much of anything left around to dine on them. Bats are gone as are all the frogs. So perhaps a late fall hatching has proved to be a boost for these winged creatures.

Not much else to report from my perspective. I did get out into the woods to one of my deer tree stands for about 45 minutes before dark this evening. Glory be, a buck has made a scrape directly under my tree stand since I placed it there a week or so ago. I really should be spending some more time there! It is a spot that has had a buck scrape almost every year that I have hunted there for 20 years or so. Now there is a nice blazed trail to my tree stand. I believe a housing development is planned for the 50 acre site. There is orange flagging everywhere. A bear has recently taken my mother's bird feeder down for the 3rd or 4th time this year near this site. I feel so sick inside thinking how this will change so much of my life when the roads and houses are built.