New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Ducks at dawn and the spring drought continues.

Thursday 04/13/2006

I am restless this time of year. And lucky for me I have plenty to be restless about. I can't imagine any other career that would hold my interest for 30 years, yet this November will mark 30 years for me at the NH Fish and Game Department. But sleep can come hard for me this time of year because I can't wait to get going some mornings.

For instance Wednesday morning I woke up at 4:12, although I hadn't intended to, by 4:20 I had cleaned up, shaved and was on the road to a state facility to pick up my Fish and Game truck to conduct my first of the spring sunrise waterfowl survey. It has been in my mind to get them started early this year because of the early spring conditions, but we had friends up for dinner and cards which saw me climbing into bed around midnight Tuesday night.

But work won yesterday morning and by 5:20 am I was hiking into the dark woods in Bedford along Baboosic Brook to be ready to observe a wetland for ducks and geese at exactly one half hour BEFORE sunrise. Robin songs filled the still dark woods, but the hint of day was well underway. Right on cue, at the appointed time, 5:41, a drake mallard swam by me. It seems to happen every year at this site. Unfortunately where I have been alone at this huge pine tree for most of the last 18 years or so, now a house sets across the wetland, but at least it was still in the dark too at that early hour.

At 5:56 four wood ducks flew over as the hen called softly into the first light of day. I sat motionless on the ground up against the huge pine and partly sheltered by an overhanging hemlock, only rolling my eyes to observe. I should have put on some long johns and another layer as by 6:00 am the dampness was getting to me as my thermometer only read 32 degrees when I left. But I was in a rush and would pay for it this morning. The cold air over the water caused a ribbon of fog to hover over the water's surface. In the dim light of dawn a pair of hooded mergansers emerged ghost-like out of the fog coming up stream. I was sure I could see the white cheek patch of a goose setting on the beaver lodge, where one sat last year, but the growing light revealed just a sun bleached beaver stick.

Robin songs continued all morning long with song sparrows spaced in between, frequently interrupted by blue jays, crows and tufted titmouse calls. Further down stream, even after I had studied a back water for 20 minutes to a half hour with my binoculars, another drake mallard took flight. Then a pair of geese sailed overhead, sometimes with cupped wings, but were not counted because I did not see them land. I turned east off the brook to follow a tributary upstream since this is the southern boundary of this assigned one kilometer square block at 6:51. Unusually there was nothing in the lower cattail covered beaver pond, but it was alive with a chorus of spring peepers. I followed an esker towards the other nearby beaver pond staying low until I could creep up the incline at the right spot to observe this pond.

And when I did I could see a few fresh bubbles on the waters surface telling me a duck had just landed there minutes ago. Sure enough another drake mallard was gliding into the cattails and could be gone quickly. I moved to the down slope to stop in a patch of sunlight to glean its warmth. I studied this pond and quickly focused on three drake wood ducks following a hen through the back channels of the swamp.

That was it for ducks this early morning. I did double back in order to cross the brook over a snow mobile bridge and to see if I could spot the geese. By a little after 8:00 am I was headed to Portsmouth for a mid morning quarterly meeting of the Wildlife Hazard Team. Just three years ago a wild turkey was hit during the landing of an Air National Guard tanker causing $3.2 million in damage. Runways and wildlife just don't mix and I have been brought into the team the last couple of years to try help to prevent more strikes.

Rain showers were predicted for Wednesday overnight. But none arrived. The sky is cloudy this Thursday morning, but it just doesn't seem to be shedding any rain. So this spring drought continues. March was one of the driest on record with just over an inch of rain. It looks like April is following suit. The vernal pools are all quite low this spring. If this trend continues they will dry early killing this years crop of some frogs and many salamanders. Such is life in a vernal pool. For these animals each year is a gamble to raise young. Some years they will loose. It just is so opposite of what I expected last fall and winter with so much rain. It is amazing how fast the ground has dried out and the woods too. April showers? Not!