Blog 3 Columns – Masonry

The folks down at Marshall's Garage have declared Ice Out to be April 20, 2019.

November is here and that means both mom and Precious Kittie will be leaving the lake soon and heading, separately, to the Gulf of Maine.

With the onset of colder temperatures we are seeing the tail end of migration on and around Pleasant Lake.   We have had a few unusual visitors stopping by. A flock of seven Bufflehead.  They are a tiny duck on their way to their wintering grounds on open bays, reservoirs and lakes in southern United States.

As the water level drops and activity on Pleasant Lake declines, we take some time to explore the Fall nearby. The view of our lake from Mt Kearsarge is always a treat, even on a hazy day. Up close, the colors remain spectacular and mushrooms are still popping up, even in a patch of lichens near the summit of Kearsarge.

Fall on Pleasant Lake is a mix of misty cold days and explosions of Fall color in  Turtle Cove.  The lake level is being dropped around 4.5 feet for dam repair. It is all ready down over 3 feet which has exposed a lot of shallow lake bottom, including almost all of Turtle Cove.

As Pleasant Lake turns toward the Fall, we have good news for the merganser family. All four chicks are looking healthy and still with their mother. They have been exercising their wings and taking short flights around the lake. Precious Kittie has also been practicing flying and is spending more time alone.

Precious Kittie is now just over 12 weeks old and becoming quite beautiful. Here's some pictures of what she was up to in her 11th week of life. Both parents are still taking care of her. Signs of autumn are visible on the lake.

With help from a dedicated wildlife biologist, John Cooley, senior biologist at Loon Preservation Committee, we were able to locate, catch and remove the hook and leader from the young merganser on Friday 9/7.

On Saturday, September 1st, there was a ceremony at the dam in Elkins unveiling the granite bench that PLPA had installed as a tribute to Kittie Wilson and her years of service to Pleasant Lake and our area in general. 

After a long dry spell we have suddenly received a bounty of wet weather.  The considerable dampness has resulted in an explosion of mushrooms growing in our woods.  The following are just a few examples of the dozens of fungi and efts we have found in the Cascades along the stream leading to Pleasant Lake this week. 

The Loons are doing very well.  The chick, 'Precious Kittie', is growing big and strong, recently developing her real feathers.  We thought it might be interesting to show a few developmental photos.  The individual photos are captioned with her ages. 

Our loon chick is doing well and spending more time diving and testing its wings. Its parents spend more time apart looking for food. Merganser female now has only 5 chicks (down from original 7) and we caught her moving them away from a diving loon in the evening.