Farmers Almanac

Women of the Dragonflies

~ lmachayes ~ 2 Comments

The minute we launched our kayaks, I knew we were in for a treat, for beside bur-reed and water-logged branches and even upon our boats, the Autumn Dragonflies danced, theirs a frantic last-minute mating routine.

Single males watched as couples prepared for the grand event and every once in a while they’d try to interfere, though that usually ended within seconds.

Once they gave up, they were willing to land and hang out with me for a few moments. If you know me, you know I was thrilled–especially given that every time I see a dragonfly of late, I’m sure it’s the last of the season. And then . . .

I heard a loud buzz over my head and upon my friend Pam’s vest, a Lake Darner landed. I told her not to move as I took in its glory. That being said, only moments before perhaps this same dragonfly tried to nab a canoodling pair positioned right below my paddle. For the moment, they survived, and he took a break.

His break over, onward we paddled into the wind and current. But really, it wasn’t a tough journey and around every bend we were wowed as we paused, drifted, and got lost in the scenery. The colors have reached their beyond peak rendition, but still, we were surrounded by beauty.

It showed itself in layers,

reflections,

and a combination of the two.

We paused beside tree stumps and gasped at their intricate structures as we remembered summer sightings of painted turtles.

As one might expect, the littlest things begged our focus, such as the spider only Pam spied through her lens.

While she looked down, I looked beyond to a far stump and Heron Rookery in the distance. And in the midst of my search–a Lake Darner Dragonfly flew in on patrol. Do you see it in the upper right-hand corner?

Our next wonder moment occurred when we realized a certain insect posed upon a drowned branch.

Our spot: a Wooly Bear caterpillar. Having grown up in Canada, Pam didn’t know about the Wooly Bear’s reputation as a predictor of winter weather. According to local lore and backed up by The Farmer’s Almanac, this is how it works: “The Woolly Bear caterpillar has 13 distinct segments of either rusty brown or black. The wider the rusty brown sections (or the more brown segments there are), the milder the coming winter will be. The more black there is, the more severe the winter.”

The curious thing: this is the first I’ve seen with a wider rusty brown section; all others have had wider black sections. Hmmm. Methinks that by April we’ll know which W. Bear was correct.

But here’s another question: there was water on either side of the downed limb. How in the world did the caterpillar get there? We’ve watched Hickory Tussock Caterpillars squirm their way across the water all summer, so we know they can “swim.” Did W. Bear come from the shore? A bird’s mouth? Or fall from a branch above? We’ll never know, but considering the possibilities opened our minds.

Beyond W. Bear, we found ourselves looking at a familiar view we’ve always enjoyed from the land behind us: a look north toward a Heron Rookery.

High up in the trees sit condominiums that we’ve seen filled with birds. One, two, three, four, even five birds. Large birds. Yes, the nests are large, but how in the world do they survive wild winds and how in the world do the birds co-exist upon them before fledging?

We spent a lot of time looking up, but an equal amount of time looking down, where Equisetum fluviatile, or Water Horsetail grew prolifically. The thing about it was that it had all been browsed as if a field mowed. We suspected the diners were Canada Geese that we knew had inhabited this place for months.

At last we reached a point where paddling further north presented some issues and the sun was lowering in the sky. So, we turned around and paddled south as far as we could go, with the sun blinding much of the sights. But . . . beside another stump we did stop. And were honored with the lines it presented from a complicated spider web intermixed with the tree’s lines.

Wthin sight of the Route 93 bridge, we again turned around to return to our launch site. The temperature had dipped and as we rounded the final bends, we found ourselves in full shade rather than sun. And a discussion of seasonal lighting entered our conversation.

Things are in flux in these parts. But for one more day, we were the women of the dragonflies.

Bear to Beer Possibilities: Meredith’s Page Pond and Forest

~ lmachayes ~ 5 Comments

Out of the magical hiking box today came the possibility of Page Pond and Forest in Meredith, New Hampshire. And so my guy and I found ourselves driving from the Lake Region of Maine to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, my old tromping grounds.

Because it was noon when we arrived, we decided to begin our adventure with a beer. Especially since on our last Bear to Beer Possibility adventure, we never did sip any suds. The note in the magical hiking box suggested that we stop by Frog Rock Tavern in Meredith. The beer we enjoyed. Mine was a Switchback and his a 603 Winni Ale. The food–not so great. In fact, the cheese and lettuce in my chicken sandwich were thicker than the breast. And BBQ sauce poured out of his chicken wrap as if it wanted to join the Waukewan Canal that flowed below our table.

But, right after lunch we headed to Page Pond and Forest and soon forgot lunch for our focus was on the American Beech trees and whatever else we might discover on this property that the town has conserved because of its importance both historically and naturally, especially with its vicinity to Lake Winnipesaukee. Would we find bear claw marks on the trees was our main question.

We started examining every beech tree we met both on trail and off, but loved the vistas offered, such as this look at Page Pond.

Beside the pond was a wetland that screamed dragonflies to us and so we stood still and watched.

I suggested to my guy that he stick his hand out and actually he did. Bingo. In flew a male Autumn Meadowhawk. My guy: the new Dragonfly Whisperer.

And then we saw a couple canoodling. Of course.

It may have been that others were canoodling or who knows what they were doing when they abandoned their truck. But, we were on property that had previously been farmed and quarried, so it wasn’t really such a surprise to encounter such an artifact.

Coming upon the mill site, however, was a delightful surprise. We knew it was there, but the sight of it was worth our awe.

According to Daniel Heyduk, who wrote a historical guide to this place, “Sewall Leavitt built a substantial dam and sawmill, which he operated until selling the mill and the 2 ½ acre mill lot to John Page in 1836. Page operated the mill until 1855, and the brook became known locally as Page Brook”.

It’s an impressive sight.

Heyduk writes: “Measured today, the dam is 96 feet long, 16 feet wide and 18 feet high at the spillway. The sluice opening is 5 feet wide and 9 feet high. The walls of the spillway which carries water from the sluice are 53 feet long.”

Because we were near water, we spotted several young Garter Snakes,

many, many Cardinal Flowers (I even heard my guy telling a woman their name as I bushwhacked to take some close-up photos–quite the naturalist has he become.),

and Pickerel Frogs.

We did well following the outer trails of the looped system on this almost 900-acre property, but . . . we got a bit ambitious and found ourselves suddenly crossing a field to nowhere. Well, it went somewhere, but took us away from the pond and forest and we ended up having to back track.

That was okay with me because I had the opportunity to spend a moment with a Monarch Butterfly.

Make that two moments.

Back on the trails, along the Wetland Loop, we began to realize that the shadows were growing longer.

And though we marched quickly back through the variety of natural communities because the hour was later than we’d realized, we paid a visit to the Leavitt cemetery before departing.

In his guide, Heyduk notes, “Schoolmaster and Farmer’s Almanac founder Dudley Leavitt, his wife Judith, and their children moved to Meredith in 1806, buying some 47 acres of lot 45. Leavitt bought more parcels between 1813 and 1829, bringing his farm to some 115 acres, which he actively farmed together with teaching in the public and his own school,
writing textbooks and researching and writing the almanac. Two years after moving to Meredith, Dudley Leavitt was signing the town tax inventory as a selectman. He wrote the annual Leavitt’s Old Farmer’s Almanack from 1797 until his death in 1851, and left manuscripts for the years through 1857.”

Oh yes, there was all of that, but we went in search of bear claw trees. There were beech nuts after all–a favorite form of sustenance for Black Bears.

But the only Black Bear in sight was one whom I follow on many a hike as he tends to don his UMaine clothing. On the back of his T-shirt the motto is this: Forever a Black Bear. And if you scroll back to the photo of the beers, you’ll see the Black Bear on his sweatshirt posed between the two glasses.

So . . . on our last Bear to Beer Possibility adventure we didn’t sip any suds as I said earlier. And today, we didn’t find any evidence of bears.

But, do you see who we did find? ARCHIE! His creator, Bob Montana, lived in Meredith for 35 years and last August the town dedicated this statue to him as part of their 250th anniversary.

Bear to Beer Possibilities: Good Beer. No Bears (except for my guy). And Archie. Another fun day of discoveries.