Species List

Surry Mountain Lake is comprised of over 1600 acres of land and a 265 acre lake. Park rangers manage the area to maximize and maintain diverse habitat types which in turn maximizes the species of wildlife that utilize the area. Over half of the land is forested, but also contained in the 1600 acres that make up Surry Mountain Lake, are fields, early successional growth, wetlands, river, and lake habitats.

Park Rangers use various management techniques including mowing or controlled burns to maintain open fields, planting and pruning apple trees for fruit production and erecting and maintaining nesting boxes for songbirds and wood ducks. Forest management, including thinning and harvesting, is also utilized. Aspen regeneration is an on-going management effort to create critical habitat requirements for ruffed grouse. Brush piles are assembled, often with the help of local scouting groups, to create cover for small animals such as the eastern cottontail.

Aquatic resources are also managed. Park rangers, along with biologists from the Corps of Engineers and the state of New Hampshire's Fish and Game Department, electroshock the lake in order to get a better understanding of the fishery. Park rangers also conduct creel surveys and collect biological data to help in managing the fishery. Habitat improvement techniques have been implemented, including adding structures to the lake, for cover and protection for young fish.

It is not uncommon when visiting Surry Mountain Lake to see an abundance of wildlife. If you enjoy watching birds, Surry Mountain is the place to go. Whether you watch the ravens and waterfowl from on top of the dam, or you go to the recreation area to get a glimpse of a great blue heron standing motionless in the shallows. Perhaps you will see a bald eagle fly over the lake, or king fishers "rattling" as they skim over the surface of the lake. In the lake, perch, pickerel, bass, and crappie are found. In the colder water of the river, trout, which are stocked by the state thrive, with some of them making their way into the lake. Deer, turkey, and grouse as well as some of the smaller critters love the apples especially when the temperatures drop and snow is on the ground. In the spring bobolinks make use of the open fields to raise their young, and in this same area you will also see bluebirds, wrens and swallows busily building their nests in the nesting boxes.

Last Updated: January 24, 2011