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Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) flowering is a true signal for the start of spring. It is also known as Shadbush, because it blooms while Shad, the fish, return to coastal streams from the ocean. This year, our Serviceberry bloomed on the same day we went out on the lake to see if our loons had arrived. They had! Below are photos of our loon pair showing us their leg bands.
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Pleasant Lake female showing her bands - left leg blue and green and right leg red.
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Pleasant Lake male showing his left leg bands - yellow with black stripe and orange.
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Our female returns for her 20th season on Pleasant Lake. She was banded on Squam Lake in 2001 as a chick, and her first brood here (below) was six years later in 2007. She has been re-banded twice since then: in 2010 when her mate was banded, and in 2022 when her bands appeared to be damaged. Her mate that first year was with her through 2023. In 2024, he did not return from wintering on the ocean. Her new mate is now starting his third year on the lake. He was banded for the first time last June, so we don't know his age.
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Our female is in her 26th year of life and is still strong and beautiful! Jen has been photographing her since 2007 - in this photo above her previous green right leg band is visible.
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The photo above is also from 2007, with her mate who we think is the same one banded in 2010, and who was here on Pleasant Lake through 2023. Together with her two mates, our superstar Mama has fledged (raised until fully feathered and able to survive independently) 23 chicks.
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Above, she is feasting on a catfish she just caught. Hopefully, she'll find plenty of fish in the next week or so to help her produce two healthy eggs.
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Starting with the high-pitched Spring Peepers and Wood Frogs, sounding like a bunch of monkeys, local frogs and toads have been welcoming spring with song. Recently, the American Toads have taken center stage. If you have them on a pond nearby, you will see them fighting over potential mates.
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American Toads are not the only amphibians still singing or yet to begin. Here is a link to the calls of New England frogs and toads that will help you identify them.
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Beech trees are now unfolding leaves that were already developing in their characteristic long, narrow winter leaf buds. If you look closely, one new leaf has an insect on it. It's a nymph of an Assassin Bug (Reduviidae), which is a predator of a variety of insects.
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This time of year draws our attention to how these organisms "know" when to leaf out or hatch. Do they all use the same clues or tell time in the same way? The answer is complex and depends on what kind of organism it is. Basically, the most reliable clues for time of year are day-length and sun angle. Those clues, moderated by temperature, are used along with internal biological clocks.
Flowering plants (like the Marsh Marigolds below) and their insect pollinators also need to get the timing right! A pollinator a week or so late could mean little reproduction for the plant and less food for the pollinator.
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We know that changing climate is making that coordination more difficult. That means it is time again to consider the valuable function that plants like dandelions play in helping pollinators deal with the uncertainty of food in early spring.
Below, a Tri-colored Bumblebee (Bombus ternarius) is getting dandelion pollen and nectar while waiting for the species it normally depends on and pollinates to begin flowering. Here is a very well-written article on why dandelions are important. They provide us with much more than pollen and nectar for native pollinators! It is ever so reassuring to see lawns full of dandelions around New London as people come to understand their role in supporting early spring pollinators.
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Loons, trees, flowers, frogs, toads, insects, turtles, wood ducks and many other species - how they figure out when to appear has been an area of intense research for many years. There is no space here to even begin to provide the details. For now, as we watch spring unfold, just appreciate that so many organisms around us are pretty good at getting the timing right. Oh, and going out to watch them in action on a sunny day will help set your own biological clock.
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Back soon with the loons and more wild friends around the lake ... Jen and Jon
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Text and Photographs by Jen Esten and Jon Waage
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PLPA is managed by volunteers and supported by member donations.
If you wish to support our work, please consider becoming a PLPA member
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To subscribe to this Newsletter or see recent issues click
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To subscribe to the PLPA's new newsletter, Ripples, providing local watershed news, information and alerts, click
here
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Ours is not the only lake blessed with loons in New Hampshire. As members and supporters of the Loon Preservation Committee, we encourage you to visit their website ( https://www.loon.org/ ) to learn more about loons and LPC's efforts to help others in the area enjoy the treasures we have here on Pleasant Lake.
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