On Sept. 19th, Chris Martin who is the “eagle guy” for NH Audubon arrived at the lake with Dave Govatski who is on the NH TNC board. The purpose was to put up a predator guard on the nest tree of the bald eagles. They had been successful for three or four years but this year after they started sitting on the nest, they stopped. They must have lost the eggs for some reason. The most obvious is a racoon who smells fishy things up in a tree and investigates. The predator guard will prevent raccoons from climbing the tree. They may change trees but Chris said that they have put a lot of effort into the nest in that tree so they may try again. We can hope.
The process started with finding the circumference of the tree and cutting pieces of metal sheathing that length plus some overlap. Then, Chris got out the spray paint to make the bright shiny aluminum blend in. Initially, it seemed as if he was just making a fence with brown paint but then filled in the spaces with black paint and then added some silver paint.
Next, the first band of the guard was put in place with a few nails.
Next, the second layer was put on so that there is about a 4 foot band of metal, more than a raccoon can get over. A bear could but they generally aren’t on the island in the spring as there are no hibernation spots and not enough food. They stay on the mainland.
Chris and Peter Goodwin are proud of the work done. There are some white areas where leaves were placed to make a mottled effect. When we were walking away, at about 50 yards you could hardly see the guard on the tree. It won’t be seen from shore in the summer because of the leaves on the trees and it should protect the eagle eggs and chicks from raccoons.
Near the tree were some Indian Cucumbers that have nice blue berries and the leaves were turning color.
There still is a bit of summer left, or there has been. People have been out floating in the water on rafts and cruising around the lake in their boats. Not much action on the North Beach of Stamp Act or the sand bar but people are still enjoying the lake.
