By Aaron Brooke Jenkyn
Another beautiful fall in Eastman meant kayaks on the water well into November, lots of people on the trails and happy kids playing on swing sets well beyond labor Day.
In August, George and Stephanie Decker enjoyed watching a large pileated woodpecker in their backyard.
Gordon Luce spotted a female merlin (a small falcon) on his deck in the early evening hours of August 30. He wrote that he thinks he has seen this bird on several other occasions over the past years, usually at this time of year or a little later. A few years ago, she killed a pigeon by driving it into their window and then flew away with it. She was probably looking for an encore on her way south, but, lucky for Gordon and the pigeons, this year’s visit was a little less eventful!
On September 22, while searching for the loons on the lake, Milt and Rhonda Weinstein saw a willet (a large sandpiper with a long, straight bill) perched on the eastern shore, just north of East Cove. It made a couple of short forays over the water, calling as it flew, and then flew across the lake, where they lost sight of it. Later that same day, they saw three of the four loons, one adult and the two juveniles.
Mary Boyle, Don Lacey and Gail Schmidt were surveying the beech trees near Cole pond on October 5, when Don noticed a large tree, maybe 15 feet off the trail. When the group moved closer to examine it, they noticed that it had fantastic claw marks visible from the trail, slightly above eye level, and some lower as well. A bear had been using the tree as a scratching post!
On October 14, Janet O’Connell and Rob Smith were passing through South Cove, after returning from a hike and spotted a female spruce grouse foraging under the evergreens.
In the summer column of “what’s out there,” Elaine Lascher wrote in to tell us about a bobcat she saw along old Route 10, toward exit 14. This fall, Elaine wrote in with an exciting update on that wildlife encounter: “Last June I had just driven under the overpass when I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye. I stopped my car and a cat-like animal with whiskers jumped onto the road from the right in front of my car. It stopped in the road for a few seconds and looked at my car before launching itself into the woods on the opposite side of the road. Its color was neutral with no distinct pattern, and it was walking on three legs with its right, front paw held out in the air. My first thought was that it was a bobcat, but its legs seemed too long for a bobcat’s body. I thought about this animal for a long while afterward because it was injured. I mentioned the sighting to a friend, who told me that Richard Altman saw the same animal near his house at Eastman. A few months have passed since I saw the creature. Last week, I was part of an Eastman-sponsored trip to the Adirondacks. We had the opportunity to visit the Adirondack Museum, which had a display of animals native to the region, including examples of a bobcat and a lynx. The creature I observed was, undoubtedly, a lynx. I heard from others in the group that Richard had the same reaction to the exhibit. Dave Wood told me that, subsequently, the animal was found suffering and was, ultimately, destroyed. NH Fish and game had been contacted but could not respond to the call. I know that lynx have not been in our area for many years, which is what makes this sighting somewhat unique.”
My family took advantage of the nice weather to get out and try some of the hiking trails in Eastman that we hadn’t been on yet, including the new John’s Glen loop and Heath Forest. We found all of the trails immaculately maintained and enjoyed watching and listening for birds along each of them. We were especially excited to see a blue heron on several occasions. Closer to home, we had a young raccoon that visited for a few days before moving on and a barred owl that we can hear, but haven’t actually seen in months. Before long, the snow will fall and we will be breaking out the snowshoes and tracking guides.
Hope to see you out and about and don’t forget to send along any wildlife sightings! whatsoutthere@eastmannh.org.
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