Site Discussions

Last weekend (April 30th) I witnessed eight(!) Ospreys riding the same thermal together and headed north along the Baker River in Warren, NH near the fish hatchery. I’ve never seen such a group of them. I couldn’t help but wonder where they had spent the winter, or how far north they’d travel before dispersing. Thanks for this article about one of my favorite birds.

My US Forest Service bulletin says this about regenerating oak:  If advance reproduction is scarce or absent new seedlings will have to be established.  There are no known cultural techniques that result in new seedlings established.  In areas of heavy known deer populations it will be impossible to establish natural oak regeneration unless control measures are taken.  Oak seedlings can be planted under an overstory and allowed to develop as advance reproduction.  The overstory should be maintained at about 60%.  Plant the largest oak seedlings available.  Planting oaks after clearcutting has generally been unsatisfactory because the planted seedlings do not grow fast enough to compete with new growth.

I’m guessing the animal under your shed is a woodchuck, Caleb.

I haven’t done this personally, Mike, but we did a story once on it. The author Pat Bartlett, a forester, suggested that seeding in fall was probably a waste of time, as you’re just providing winter rodent food. He suggested waiting until April or May and planting germinated acorns. Collect them in fall, store in refrigerator over the winter in gallon zip-lock bag, moisten from time to time so there’s always condensation on inside of bag, taken them out in spring (keep bag sealed) and in a week or so they’ll start to sprout. When roots are about 1-inch long poke hole in ground and plant.

My husband has had a ruffed grouse following him around even with our two dogs on leashes. It was originally found injured on the side of the road back in the fall. It recovered in a box outside for a few days and left. This spring (such as it is) it appeared & is always hanging around. It goes on walks with the dogs & my husband & sits on our porch or sometimes on my husband’s shoulder. We have never seen another one anywhere.

Such a curious creature.

I recently caught one and my fiance wants to keep it as a pet…..My question is can they be pets and what do they feed on?

Cute but ugly I recently caught one in Windsor Connecticut about 8 inches long.

I like it.

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE TREE STUMPS AFTER THE TREES ARE CUT?

I live no where near water and there is a muskrat living under my shed. It’s been there for three years now and is perfectly fine. Should I relocate it or not?

Well informative article.Thanks

Fascinating series of pics. To think I nearly skipped this article since there are no ospreys in our beaver dam. Maybe we should build a platform.

I’m trying for oak, too. Any possibility in “seeding” collected acorns?

If you burned in the spring, most likely the beech will resprout. A summer or fall burn might be more effective if you have dry enough conditions to get the litter to burn. Basically you need to hit the beech before it has put resources back into the ground.

I think mourning doves are amazing creatures!

Loved the article. Rules on meat processing changed drastically for me when I moved out here to Colorado 4 years ago. Deer/elk seasons generally much warmer and you need to skin out and get your animal to a processor pronto. They’ll hang it in cooler for awhile before cutting. Shot my first elk in 2014 and that was an education! Quartered and took straps, tenderloin and flank and neck meat in the field, wrapped in game bags and hiked out 175 lbs. of meat. Never had to gut the animal.

Sounds like a nice childhood going to grandma’s cottage in your youth. The call of the loon is the iconic sound of the north.

Jake,

The sap run is predicated on a freeze/thaw cycle. So, it needs to freeze at night and then get warm during the day. You’ll get maybe four weeks out of your tapholes if you’re lucky—after that the tree will stop running. So look for a window in early spring where you’ll have a block of that weather. When you see the weather forecast saying a week of highs in the 40s or 50s and lows in the 20s, tap then.

You often see flocks of loons at the beaches in winter here in southern New England.
I’ve seen anywhere from a pair up to about 20.
The strange thing to me is that they’re silent, they don’t make any kind of call.

We are one of the winter destinations for both the Common Loon and a lesser number of Red-Throated Loons.  Most of Long Island Sound and the waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts are winter homes to the Loons.