Earlier this month one of my busiest camera locations encountered a black bear who had an itch to scratch. See the video, up close and personal!
Back scratcher
A black bear finds a new use for my wildlife camera.
Tag: New Hampshire
Mount Cabot and The Horn
Bagging another two peaks – one NH48 and one 52WAV.
After bagging some of the more prominent New Hampshire peaks three days ago – in the Pemigewasset Wilderness, at the heart of White Mountain National Forest – I was still itching for another hike on this long holiday weekend. So early today my son and I headed back north, through the fog lining the Connecticut River Valley. We passed through the Sunday-morning quiet in small towns like Groveton and tiny towns like Stark, ending up on a remote gravel road leading to the New Hampshire Fish Hatchery near York Pond. As the sun struggled to beat back the morning fog, we dove into the damp, green forests below Mount Cabot. Our goal was an 11.5-mile triangular loop over Cabot and another less prominent – but more promising – bump called The Horn. Read on!
Galehead and South Twin
Two more 4000-footers, on July 4th!
The July 4th holiday provided me an opportunity to get back to the White Mountains, to revisit some peaks I had visited on my first days as a college student in 1982. The weather forecast looked good, and although a brief sprinkle spritzed my car as I approached the trailhead, spirits were high as I met up with two friends and their two dogs. Our goal was to climb two of New Hampshire’s 48 four-thousand-foot peaks: South Twin, and Galehead. We succeeded and had some fantastic views along the way. Read on!
Lyme wildlife: June 2024
New surprises!
My wildlife cameras have been busy this month! With the return of spring, I placed a camera back down by the riverside… and started capturing the daily visits of a couple of Canada Geese and their brood of little goslings. As the weeks wore by, the goslings grew bigger… and fewer. (We started with four, then three, then two.) They were fun to watch, but the really cool stuff came later. Read on!
Timelapse: solar tracker
A day in the life of a solar panel…
I made a short timelapse movie using one of my wildlife cameras to photograph our solar panels throughout a solar day: after a foggy start, the solar panels track the sunshine from sunrise to sunset. This movie is from June 25 – less than a week after summer solstice – and at midday you can see the sun is very high in the sky; check out the video!
Time lapse: equinox to solstice
Watch spring arrive in New Hampshire!
As regular readers know, I have placed several wildlife cameras in a forest near home, and have captured many enjoyable videos of wildlife like deer, bear, fox, coyote, bobcat, turkey, and more. The same cameras can be set to capture photos on a regular schedule, which can later be stitched into a timelapse video. Back in March, a few days before the spring equinox, I placed a camera at the edge of what I knew to be a vernal pool; this month, a few days after the summer solstice, I removed the camera. The camera snapped an image every five minutes from sunrise to sunset, resulting in 14,697 images. Watch the pool evolve from a snowy landscape into a lush fern-filled glade. Watch the heavy snow of March 23 lay its burden on the branches, and then watch those branches relax on March 23 and 25; watch the pool freeze and then re-thaw; watch the April 4th snowstorm bury the pool once again; watch snow melt and the grasses stretch toward the April sun; watch the ferns unfurl into the May sunshine. Below is an abbreviated timelapse, one photo per day at noon. See the full-res noon-time video (1 minute), and the full-length video (10 minutes). If you watch very, very closely, you might see a animal or two.
Strawberry season
A favorite time of year!
Every spring I look forward to strawberry season. Around here, that means late June (or, back in the day, the first week of July). The days get long, the weather gets hot, and the strawberries become red and juicy. I go early in the morning, when it’s still cool, and pick a whole tray. At home, the ripest, juiciest berries become an instant snack while I wash, trim, slice, and freeze the rest. They become part of my breakfast parfait for months to come!
Eagle replaces Osprey?
Who knows why, but the osprey have moved on.
It has been 10 days since I last saw the osprey building a nest, just upriver from here. Unfortunately, they seem to have given up and sought a better location. I saw one osprey, in flight, over the weekend – but not near the nest. One day, when I went to investigate, I found this fellow sitting in a nearby tree. I imagine eagles and osprey compete for territory – they both dine primarily on fish, especially when living alongside a river – and so the osprey may have been pushed out.
Notice the small, dark bird above and to his left. They both sat in contented companionship for tens of minutes, while I watched.
Continue reading “Eagle replaces Osprey?”Lyme wildlife – May 2024
Five cameras in the forest.
As spring turns into summer, my wildlife cameras have been busy. I have five cameras out in the forest – one capturing a timelapse and four using motion triggers to capture passing wildlife. After the exciting encounter with momma bear (and two cubs) early in the month, as noted in my earlier post, I did not see her again for almost three weeks. This month’s video highlights a variety of animals and locations, mostly in chronological order: turkey, deer, raccoon, porcupine, a teeny mouse, … and yes, momma bear, who returns to fiddle with my cameras once again.
Willey, Field, and Tom
A three-fer of four-thousand-footers.
In my continuing effort to re-visit some of New Hampshire’s tallest peaks – those 48 peaks over four thousand feet – I joined two friends today to walk the forested range on the west side of Crawford Notch: Mounts Willey, Field, and Tom. This threesome offers a steep climb, a pleasant up-and-down ridge walk, and a few spectacular views to the east (the southern Presidential Range, including Mount Washington), to the west (the Pemigewasset Wilderness), and to the south (Mount Carrigain and the peaks along the Kancamagus Highway). Check out the photo gallery, and read on!
David Kotz 