New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Having been trapped in a seemingly endless cold dank spring today's 80 degree temperatures were certainly a welcome reprieve. And for me even nicer as I spent a good part of the day fishing in Maine with Maine Master Guide Stu Bristol. I love being out on a lake or pond these first few weeks of May. Oh, how the hillsides are splashed with every shade of pastel green you could imagine. In my eyes these colors rival our fall bursts of color. So many subtle different shades of green. And today against a crystal blue sky.

 

We were in hopes of catching a bunch of white perch and black crappy to filet for a planned Friday night fish fry at the New England Outdoor Writers Spring Safari to be held in Pittsburg NH in early June. For the second week in a row we struck out on perch and crappy but did land a few yellow perch and pike, which we released. The waters were most dead calm today with just enough of a breeze to gently move the boat along in a few drifts. This week there were another four or five boats on the pond no doubt soaking up the grandeur of the day as we were. A loon called sporadically through the day. Swallows swooped by but were not as common as last week I noted. Maybe a migration last week I thought.

 

Wow have the fields and lawns shot up this past week with the warmer sunnier days. And so have the black flies come out in good numbers here at my house. I'm not usually bothered by them here much. The local farmer planted much of his cow corn this week. I love to watch them harrow the fields and start the planting process. I can hear the tractor till and plant from my house some days.