New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

On the cusp of a heat wave.

Tuesday 05/26/2020

Today sure has started out pretty cool and a bit damp. Kind of misting this morning and feeling kind of raw outside. I can't help venturing out to take a whiff of my lilacs that are in full bloom. There is still enough trees and shrubs in bloom to enjoy a trip out now and then. If you have not done so yet be sure to get out for a ride this week on any sunny day. Oh how the hillsides are in grand splendor. Look off to the distant hillsides to see every possible shade of green. I think it is even more spectacular than some fall colors.

And the sounds of birds and now this week our American toads are trilling all day long. Make sure you swing by a wetland as well. For the third year in a row I have a robin nesting in my lilacs along the roadside in front of my house. Maybe the fourth year come to think of it. This year they are building on the left side of my drive as I head out. I spotted them bring in straw and twigs last week. It's a pretty big next this year. Two years ago it was in a lilac branch actually overhanging the driveway. Last year I didn't spot the nest ten feet in from the driveway until they were already off the nest. I set outside for hours often and can't believe I missed the nest building last year. I sure does pay to pay attention to things going on right in your yard.

I did have another bear pass through the other day. And this time he/she took down a different section of my fence. Even though fifty feet away the gate was wide open. I had been outside several times to place stuff for camp in the back of my truck and the fence was still up. I came inside for a couple minutes only to have my next door neighbor text me that a bear was in his back yard walking along the river. I dashed to my back deck for a look but missed it. My next trip out to my truck had the fence knocked down so I just missed it. Bears are on the move right now. It's black bear breeding season. When I was the bear biologist I used to get called out this time of year for a bear that had wandered into one of our cities and went up a tree to hide during the day. I moved some of them. So you too may see a bear coming by in the next few weeks.

By Tuesday things are supposed to be heating up in New Hampshire. Likely hit 90 degrees at least two days mid week. That will be quite the turn around from our cold damp spring we've had. Maybe the garden will shoot up some as well. I may need to get out the sprinkler system that I set up each year at my mom's. My potatoes poked through last week after nearly a month in the ground. Hardly anything is up from my late April planting. I may even risk putting in a few tomato plants in the off chance we don't get another hard frost. I remain an optimist when it comes to gardening.