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The Vinalhaven Sightings Report is organized and edited by Kirk Gentalen on behalf of Vinalhaven Land Trust and Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Out and about on Vinalhaven, MCHT steward Kirk Gentalen reports on what he and others have seen in their travels. Contributions of stories and photos are welcome, and can be sent to vinalhavensightings@gmail.com.




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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

the only good juniper is crispy juniper

Welcome to the Vinalhaven sightings report
October 1st, 2014.

Thanks to MCHT and VLT

“We love those parasitic wasps” – Linnell Mather

 

crispy juniper


 
 
Highlights – Birdies, Cool caterpillars, Cool birds, Dry woods and few mushrooms, Slime Molds, and a really cool hot fire.

 

Send us your sightings! – Or just contact us – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com

 


the mushroom slide show and walk will be somewhere
behind the great cormorants, to the left of the big hill in the distance
 
 
Mushroom slideshow and walk – this Friday/Saturday – October 3rd at 7:00pm and the 4th at 9am– with the Coastal Mountain Land Trust! Go to their website for directions and more info – if you are in the Camden area – should be a good show! http://www.coastalmountains.org/news/calendar.html

Promethea Moth caterpillar
photo by Hannah Lazzaro
 

Sightings – Couple of cool caterpillar shots were sent in recently. Hannah Lazzaro found this Promethea Moth caterpillar (9/18) - thanks for sending the photo!, and then Colleen Conlan found this sphinx moth caterpillar (possibly a Fawn Sphinx (Sphinx kalmia)) at Skoog Park.

 

parasitic wasp eggs on a sphinx moth caterpillar
photo by Linnell and Colleen
 
 
 
 
The cool thing about this shot (thank you Colleen and Linnell!) – other than it being a cool shot itself – are the reddish cocoons standing up on the caterpillar - towards the tail end if you can tell which end is which. Anyway, those are parasitic wasp cocoons and the dark marks on the caterpillar’s back are “exit holes” where the larvae emerged after “macking on that caterpillar's insides”. Where are the missing larvae?

 

Araneus diadematus
from the window
 
 
 
“The caterpillar may live for several more days, but it stops feeding and gradually shrinks and dries up (we all do)”. – “T & S of Insects” – Eiseman and Charney.

 
Super cute however you look at it – and dead by now. Death by wasp larvae. Not the way to go.

 
nice snapper!
photo by Jim Clayter

 
Talk about super cute- take a look at the next generation of snappin’ turtle for old harbor pond! Jim Clayter got this picture of this somewhat small snapper crossin’ the road and headin’ to the pond! See you there! Jim also reports Cedar Waxwings in his yard, first he’s seen in 12 years or so! You know it’s a good waxwing year when Jim sees ‘em at his house!

lotta moltin' going on
 
 
 
nice to see the white on the eider heads again






Also at Old Harbor PondRick Morgan spotted an Otter (lucky stiff!) (9/20) swimming near the Mack’s Pond inflow (outflow?). Good Spot! Rick also reports a Veery from up near Tip-toe Mtn. Cool bird.
Blackpoll Warbler - photo by John Drury
 
 
 
John Drury has sent in some songbird photos from Greens. Recent highlights he passes along are Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Philadelphia Vireo and lots of warblers no doubt and owls to boot! Thanks John!

Great Horned
photo by John Drury
 

 

 
parula showin' olive back
photo by John Drury
 
 
 
 
ruby-throated hummingbird
photo by John Drury
 
 
 
 
 
 
our favorite view of a Black-and-white Warbler
photo by John Drury
 
 
 
 
blue-headed Vireo with a mouth full
photo by John Drury
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Philadelphia Vireo
photo by John Drury
Lists(9/21) – (State Beach) Solitary Sandpiper, 2 Lesser and 6 Greater Yellowlegs,  Semi-palmated Plover, 4 Red-necked Grebe, 4 Loons, Great Blue Heron, Song Sparrow, lots of Black Guillemots…(Lane’s) – Great Blue Heron (GBH), Belted Kingfisher, Song Sparrow, Parula, Yellowthroat, Yellow-rumped Warbler

red-eyed vireo
photo by John Drury
 








 
 
 
poison pax look so innocent when they are little
North Haven trip – (9/22) – Common Loon, Black Guillemot, Turkey Vulture (seen flying across the thorofare), Kestrel, Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Swainson’s Thrush, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Blue Jay, Flickers, Spotted Sandpiper…Destroying Angel, Poison Pax, Citron Amanita, Orange Jelly…Raccoon, Otter, Mink, and Deer sign.

poison pax underside
 




2 Carrion Beetle species day on North Haven, including this Tomentose Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus tomententosus) with a bunch of mites hitchin’ a ride. It felt like they were agitating the beetles, with all its rubbin’ and wing opening and stuff. But that’s hard to say that the agitation was going on for sure.

 

jack-in-the-pulpit berries are non-tormentose
Quick note on the word “tormentose”. Maybe it’s thrown around your house often, but I had to look this up and here’s what we found…. On wiki (“that’s good enough me”).

 

Tomentose are plant hairs that are flattened and matted.[1] The Latin word meaning 'cushion stuffing,' tomentum, is used to describe a woolly coating formed by the 'tomentose' hairs.[1]

 

 
Just check out that velvety thorax covering on that Carrion Beetle (family Silphidae). “Resembles bumblebee”. The other carrion beetle was the classic American Carrion Beetle (Necrophila americana) which is a yearly sight. Good eating fellas!

the brown area is where the
otters roll
 

(9/24) paddle to Leadbetter – 13 Common Loon, lots of Guillemots, Great Blue Heron, Spotted Sandpiper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Black-capped Chickadee, Ovenbird, Blackpoll, Black and white, Black-throated Green, Yellow-rumped (tons!) Warblers, Redstart, Brown Creeper, Juncos, Phoebe, Blue-headed Vireo. Great Horned Owl Pellet, green snake pooppin’.  Hefty amounts of Otter spraint and sign, Citron Amanita, Yellow patches, “shriveled” Pholiota sp., Gem-studded Puffball, Common Laccaria, Emetic and Fragile Russula, Poison Pax.

 

this otter spraint spelled "C 9".
someday I will find out why this is important



this green snake was cute at first...



 




 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
...and then it pooped on me - musked too.
and it stunk! not sure I want to know what
that white stuff was.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
sometimes wolk's milk slime is pink
 
 
 
(9/25) Armbrust Hill – 6 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Black-bellied Plover, Catbird, Flicker, Blue Jay.

 

Lane’s Island – Black-capped Chickadee, Blackpoll (several), Parula, “like a gagillion” Yellow-rumped Warblers, Philadelphia Vireo.
wolf's milk is sometimes orangish

 

 
 
 
 
many headed slime - needed little moisture to get going
 
 
 
 
Huber – Black and white warbler, Black-capped chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, 10 Surf Scoter, 15 Red-breasted Merganser, Red-breasted Nuthatch. Destroying Angel, Brick Tops, Slimes- Wolf’s milk, Tapioca, and many headed.
Brick tops at huber



cramp or carbon balls are fun to say







fresh birch polypore
an old friend













damn planes

 

(9/26) Calderwood paddle and Burn. 2 Peregrine Falcons were seen flying along the smoke – wonder if chaos helps the peregrine hunt?
Aliesha Black - ranger in charge - happily getting things going

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
line of fire
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
spruce also burn
 
 
 
 
awesome day
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
portrait of a bald man watching a fire
photo by a guy named Tom
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(9/27) Lane’s – Blackpoll, Black and white, Yellow rumped (like a gagillion) warblers, Red Start, Cedar Waxwing, Phoebe, Song Sparrow, Goldfinch, Black-capped chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Great Blue heron,

 
 
 
 
 



 
gonna get you sapsuckah!

Armbrust Hill – loads of Yellow-rumpeds, many Red-eyed Vireo, Palm Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Greater Yellowlegs, Black-bellied Plover, Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Swainson’s Thrush, White-throated Sparrow, American Robins – three woodpecker trip to Armbrust – Sapsucker, Hairy and Flicker

 
(9/28) Armbrust hill – flicker, Robins, Blackpoll and Golden-crowned Kinglets

Lane’s - Yellow-rumpeds galore! Peregrine. (It was too hot that day)

 
 
 

the male one has the big tympanum/eardrum thing
Good Times froggin’Leif and I took advantage of the warm weekend and caught a few “keepers” at the pond by the Fox Rocks parking area. (9/28). I caught the female green frog and Leif caught the male. His first net to the bucket catch!
the male has the yellow throat

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

the happy boy has the smile
“Males generally have eardrums larger than their eyes, and yellow throats…female green frogs usually have white throats and eardrums the same size or smaller than their eyes” – lil’ Tommy Tyning – “Stokes guide to Amphibians and Reptiles”.

 

baiting chickadees =
problem chickadees
good times - we'll see you out there!




Saturday, September 20, 2014

we love these mudflats by state beach

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report
September 20th, 2014
Thanks to MCHT and VLT for years of support
“Maybe enough is *******uff and
they won't take you walking on their dens anymore”- classic BAJ
 

Highlights – Warblers featuring Cape May and Orange –crowned (hello California!), shorebirds, hawks, Monarchs, Dragonflies, Otter stuff, Red-throated Loon, Surf Scoter, Green Winged Teal

 

Upcoming Event“Off island” – we are taking our fungus show “Fungus Thru Binoculars” on the road (or at least on the ferry) – all the way to Camden! The kind folks at Coastal Mountains Land Trust (CMLT) are having us over first for a mushroom slide show at their office Friday October 3rd (7:00 – 8:30pm). The next morning, Saturday October 4th, we’ll head to CMLT’s Fernald’s Neck Preserve (sticking out in beautiful Lake Megunticook!) for a mushroom walk and some fungal tracking (9am- Noon). If you are on the mainland that weekend and can come to one or both please do! (that goes for mainlanders who might be reading this too!)  For more info/directions go to the Coastal Mountains Land Trust website - www.coastalmountains.org – and click on the events tab. Should be a blast, really looking forward to it!  

 

we took the 5th and 6th graders tidepooling
they were really good at it
Business – contact us if you dare – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com

 
Tiit trick – click on photos to make them big. If you want them to look big.

 
Asa comment – Amy shared a recent photo of super cute, eyes wide open Asa Casey Jones. Looking forward to meeting the little man! Congrats all around to the parents!

 

monarch - photo by Colleen Conlan
Monarch update – Colleen Conlan sent in these great shots of a Monarch in “her” Joe-pye Weed, apparently she is/was up to 3 monarchs this year…(9/7) had an 8 monarch day (yippee!) and have followed with 2 more bringing my yearly total to 26 (I think). Getting so high (the number of monarchs that is) it’s hard to count..

monarch in flight
photo by Colleen Conlan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


jaeger - photo by John Drury
SightingsWarblers and other birds -While few warblers have been seen at Armbrust Hill and Lane’s (what’s up with that?) John Drury has had his hands full of them (not literally) out on Greens Island! Here are a couple of reports he’s sent over –

 

From Greens Island – (9/6) Palm, Cape May, Prairie, Black and White, Magnolia, and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Red eyed and Philadelphia Vireos

 
pomarine jaeger - photo by John Drury

(9/13) Sharp-shinned Hawk, Kestrel, Scarlet Tanager, Warblers - Cape May, Chestnut-sided, Bay breasted, Yellow, Wilsons, Yellowthroat, Magnolia, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Northern Parula, Black and White. Also Blue-headed, Red-eyed and Philadelphia Vireos, alder flycatcher, goldfinch, waxwing, hummer, olive-sided Flycatcher, whippoorwill singing in the morning

great cormorants waiting to get eaten by bald eagles
photo by John Drury
 
Also from John - merlins, red tail, Owls daily roosting near my house

 
And john on the water - great “jaegering” (great verb!) in the bay late Aug….tropicbird on seal last seen Aug  30… lots of young terns and of porpoise out there (late august).

 

Thanks John – great report, glad to hear your yard is rockin’….

 

least sandpiper - "on the wood and weed"
31 Reach Road – (9/6) -  Philadelphia Vireo, Magnolia, Yellow-rumped, Black and White, Black-throated Green and Parula Warblers….(9/20) Nashville’s Warbler (seen more in my yard than at Armbrust!)

 
Solitary Sandpiper at Mack's Pond
Perry creek – (9/19) did hook up with a nice mixed species flock on the Orchard Cove loopRedstart, Black and White, Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Yellowthroat, Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned (!)Warblers, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Red-eyed Vireo, and lots of Swainson Thrushes – it was an ode to California with the Swainson Thrushes and the Orange-crowned Warbler, which was the first I’ve seen on Vinalhaven (VVNM!).

 

What’s around in numbers – loads of  Flickers, Great Blue Herons, Kingfishers, Sharp-shinned Hawks, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (seen like a gagillion hummers over the last few weeks – We heart hummers!), Loons, Goldfinch and (of course) Waxwings!
lots of Bonaparte's Gulls in the thorofare

 

ruddy turnstones from the thorofare
ListsState Beach – (9/3) Greater Yellowlegs, 6 Lesser Yellowlegs, 8 Semi-palmated Sandpiper, 6 Least Sandpiper, 6 Semi-palmated Plover, 6 Black-bellied Plover, 2 Turkey Vultures, 2 Loons, and lots of Black Guillemots….(9/5) 3 Red-necked Grebe, Surf Scoter, Red-throated Loon…Mack’s Pond (9/2) – Solitary Sandpiper….(9/10) – Green-winged Teal….Pleasant River –(9/9) Marbled Godwit (again!)…(9/11) 30 Lesser Yellowlegs, 6 Greater Yellowlegs, 27 Black-bellied Plovers, 2 Dowticher sp, 2 Least Sandpipers, 7 Semi-palmated Plover..(9/15) 20 Black-bellied Plover, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 11 Semi-palmated Plover, 15 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Dowitcher sp. …. Lane’s – (9/12) Swamp Sparrow, Gannets…paddle to Calderwood – 40 + Bonaparte’s gulls, 2 Ruddy Turnstones, Surf Scoter, lots of Black Guillemots and Common Eider….Ferry - Gannets

 

Folly Pond – (9/17) Wood ducks, Black Ducks, Mallard Ducks, Great Blue Heron….and Meadowhawks – a few VSRs back we mentioned how tricky it is to ID meadowhawk dragonflies (those cute little red buggers!) to species. But it’s not hard to see what they are up to and on this day it was laying eggs! This egg laying frenzy (post orgy consequences) was distinctly different than other dragonfly mating schemes we have watched this summer.
 
 
 
First off the males (bright red) held onto the females (the ones laying eggs) as they are laying eggs – as to not allow another male to come in and grab hold and mate with “his” female (well, he is holding onto her). But with everyone laying eggs in mass – there were dozens along the shore I was standing by – there was no sign of competition, no chasing, no lone males barging in to plant their own seed in the female’s eggs. Just a bunch (a whole bunch) of paired up meadowhawks, slapping their abdomens (female’s that is) into the mud. Yes mud! They were laying eggs in the mud! I feel like I learned a lot that day, mostly about how peaceful communal egg laying in mud can be. Not a lesson that I will act on personally, but still kind of cool.

 Here's a video with just a sample of the meadowhawk egg laying action



Ghost SpiderLinnell Mather sent in this photo of a female Goldenrod Crab Spider that she found in her kitchen. Here’s what we found out about them –

 

goldenrod crab spider - photo by Linnell Mather
“Although this species bites, its primary means of defense is camouflage. Individuals are capable of changing color over several days to blend in with their surroundings. Like all crab spiders (family Thomisidae). Goldenrod crab spiders do not rely on silk  to capture prey. Instead they rest on or under flowers and ambush visiting bees and flies, overpowering prey with their powerful legs. By delivering a bite that injects fast-acting venom, these crab spiders are capable of capturing insects much larger than themselves”. – Evans – NWF guide to insects and spiders.

 

the otter foot
Very cool! Thanks for sending in!

 

Otters and tweeters - White Islands – (9/18) – Spotted Sandpipers, Sharpies, Kingfishers, Loons, Guillemots, Great and non-great Cormorants. Otter, mink, deer, raccoon and red squirrel sign.

 

this was some stinky spratint
The real story – for me - no trip to the whites is complete without a visit to the Otter den on Bald/Spectacle Island. I’ve seen maps call it both names, but really – the otters don’t care. From here on out I will refer to the island as “BS”. Right in the heart of the old, overgrown quarry, this is an easy den to find otter sign around - spraint is “like” all around the perimeter of the island. But it also is one of the hardest dens to actually get to even when you are on the island already (why are we going to dens again?). The trees growing over the den have impressively thick limbs that are layered in a total “pain in the arse” kind of way for walking over (no chance for “around”), not to mention (but I will anyway) that you (me) are walking on sketchily arranged shrapnel and leftovers from the old quarrying days. Multiple ankles could break with every step (most likely no more than 2 ankles, but you never know). Just about every year I still manage to traverse the scene to get a feel for the otter activity out there – why? It’s what we do, we can’t help ourselves.
here's some of that white goo we love to find
comes from anal glands - smelled like it too

 

Anyway, from “surveying the spraint” and the hefty amounts of it on BS over the last 8 years we (it’s really just me!) have concluded that a female otter lives out there, and that she is “active” (wink,wink) and often has some little otterettes (not a real word) on island with her. Little otter spraints are so cute!

 

I do wonder if spraint is good fertilizer
Anyway, this year the amount of spraint was significant even for BS. And what’s more it was super fresh and really stunk! Like really bad, and strong like never before (in my limited spraintly olfactory history). When I got close to the den and caught that whiff – man what a whiff! – I thought to myself “this is when people get attacked by otters”.

 

And it does happen – a simple “something” search of “River Otters attack humans” gave us a recent one from August this year “Otter attacks boy, grandmother in Washington state river” -   http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/01/otter-attacks-boy-grandmother-in-washington-state-river/

 

or from last year –“Teens savagely attacked by wild river otter describe it as a scene out of 'Jaws'


check out that girl’s leg full of chew marks!
this is raccoon scat - full of snail operculums

 

Also found this quote -  They have been known to attack humans, and females with young are unpredictable.”   

 

Anyway, this is the second time this year where I felt like I had put myself in a spot where I had significantly increased the likeliness of my being attacked by an otter. The other time was back in May when I was standing on the “hobbit” den upstream from Mack’s Pond (Bilbo the otter lives there). Whatever, I had to keep going and I had walked all over this den many times (at least 4) before so what the h*ll, right!

I was on top of the tallest rock pile when I heard the otter
the den is under the trees to the left
there are many trees over the den that you can't see
 

Well, I went all over the den and everything was fine and then I climbed away from the den onto a pile of big ol’ boulders left long ago by the quarry-dudes. I got to the top of the pile and immediately heard a big splash directly below me. (Didn’t even realize there was water under there!). Needless to say it scared the spraint out of me and I dashed/hopped from rock to rock, breaking zero ankles along the way, to a “safer” zone maybe 20 feet away. While I was hopping I heard a couple of hisses from rock pile and finally a growl. The growl was cool, kind of a mix between the noise Perry the Platypus makes on Phineas and Ferb and the groan Tina makes on Bob’s Burgers (two awesome shows by the way). So I was “that close” to an otter and had to go back (because I don’t believe I will be killed by an otter and I am a fool). So I got out the camera and headed back to the pile thinking I might get a photo or two before the otter could get to me. Let’s face it a photo of a pissed otter would be awesome (right?). When I was about 5 feet away from the pile I heard the growl again, and but I had to growl back (I couldn’t help myself)! Well, that shut the otter up and got me thinking “what the …. are you doing?”.  I somewhat booked it out of there, and while scramblin’ over another pile of rocks heard another big splash underneath – two otters!  Needless to say I felt that I had had enough impact on these guys so I scrambled my way out past the stinky spraint and continued on my survey.

here's how the chicken wire gets on bridges
he's good for about two bridges
then its time to roll
 

Now, I have stood on many otter dens out here – these aren’t beaver lodges or anything that will collapse – they are usually under tree roots or piles of rocks or both. Many of you have probably stood on otter dens as well, and maybe didn’t know it. Many times in the winter I have stood on them when I knew for a fact that the otters were inside snoozing. I have never had problems or felt like I was impacting them, even though that is hard to judge impact when they are asleep underground. The problem here was that the otters were not in their den, but relaxing under rocks (don’t we all) outside their den. And even though this was certainly more impact than I wish to ever have on otters – I do love them you know– I have to believe that I am the only one who ever takes the route I take out there on BS island, and the 4 minutes I was impacting those otters is minimal in the grand scope of things. The only thing I feel (somewhat) bad about was making the otters jump into what was probably pretty nasty water. But from the smell coming from (and around) the den I don’t think they mind the stench at all.  It was an experience I will never forget. And I didn’t get to see them at all! I’ll let you all know if/when I get attacked, kind of a dream (not a goal) right now! Anyway…good times.
early September was good for swimming
and yes, he has shorts on
 
 
alrighty - see you out there!

"let's build!" - common call heard in our house