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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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Wednesday, August 31, 2016



"spraint with a view"
Welcome to the vinalhaven sightings report – August 31at, 2016

Thank you to VLT and MCHT, for your continued support

 Four years gone. Miss you Dad! Wish you were here.

treasure
 

 

Highlights Solitary Sandpipers, Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow, great horned owls, tree swallows, otter dens, sand dollars, pinesap (the plant!), othere stuff!

 

Business - contact us! – vinalhavensightingsreport@gmail.com – with sightings, photos, questions and/or email

 


 





Tiit Trick – click on the photos to make them huge!

 

Thank you – to the folks who came by the town hall for the coyote talk the other night (8/22). It was fun for me to do.

and a big thanks to those who share sightings with us!

 

solitary sandpiper
photo by Rick Morgan
Sightings – Folly Pond – (8/15) - Rick Morgan took these photos of Solitary Sandpipers while paddling through. Rick also reports 6 wood duck, Canada Geese and about 10 Bald Eagles. Nice report and nice sightings! Folly pond is a place to be and it is great for viewing.

"not-so" solitary sandpiper(s)
photo by Rock Morgan





 




 
"one-legged geese"
photo by Jim Clayter
 Old Harbor Pond – Jim Clayter sent in these photos of Canada Geese in Old Harbor Pond.  Looking good. Thank you Jim.

 

In the bay – Seal Bay – MCHT Mount Desert Island Steward “ ’lil Dougy” McMullin spent a night in Seal Bay recently (7/25) and heard at least 3 Great Horned owls hooting it all up from lands around the water. Sounds like it was pretty cool.

 




female eider
photo by Rick Morgan


(7/24) Also in Seal Bay – Hay Island – Rick Morgan and his (and Arlenes!) daughter Julia were camping and cooking out when they were “serenaded by a Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow for 30 minutes”. Awesome to hear they are there and even awesomer that Rick knew what to listen for with the Nelson’s! Hot iron being dipped in water is the “song” described in Sibleys as “pl-tesh hhhhh-ush”. Catchy tune for sure!

 

this year's model
juvenile Black Guillemot

 

(8/23) Magic On the water – well. (Maybe the magic was more on the islands I visited). But I did paddle to the white islands last Tuesday and man was it magical. At least once a year I make a paddle out to the white islands, north westish of the hurricane island.  Highly recommend it! This is always a favorite trip of mine. Black Guillemot juvenile welcomed me to the archipelago.

"red tide pool" not red tide
 
more treasure



little white is nice
Little White Island was my first stop, as it is an island with a pretty strict low tide landing. Several sand dollars were there to welcome me ashore. Nice start…



mink den with washed out scat


osprey nest


 

…I started out from the north west “corner” (the royal “corner”) and went clockwise, a safe choice that lets one bound along a ledgey shoreline. I stopped by the osprey nest (osprey were around the islands, active and vocal),

close up of washed out scat






....and then checked out the mink den that’s been active over the last few years. It had an impressive pile of very “washed scat” (old pieces), but no sign of recent use.

 


little more active




 

Then I came across this second mink den, with multiple entrances (or exits really) that showed some recent use (more recent than that watered down scat at the first den!). good to see.

 

"5 dried spraints and a crack"


well-worn area by marshy spot

I made my way to “the marshy spot” (“TDC”) where over the years (the last 9 to be exact) an otter (or two) would mark rocks next to a marshy spot (the only marshy spot along the shore to be exact). The “typical 5 dried spraint on a rock” was to be found again this trip as it is pretty much every year.
 


old spraint skid marks



I stepped a few rocks over – as I have 9 years in a row – and came across the newly named “the stinky spot”. Newly named in honor of the strong aroma that came along with each photo taken – really close experiences to get shots of the spraints! Anyway…

so stinky
 


 

Thick, frothy, super fresh and four of them! Looked like mostly lobster in them, and we all know how lobster effects their digestive systems! Loosens and moisturizes (or “adds moisture” or however it is worded), and the runny streaks running down the edge of the rocks offer evidence of an overflow of moisture in the spraint. In my experience this added liquid is trypical of “otter spraints of lobster”.

 
every have one of those days....

…and so you see Monday (the morning before) it had poured, “Poured like the mother of dickens” (love that phrase). The fresh spraints were clearly laid (laid spraint!) after the storm, so likely Monday night/ Tuesday morning. So fresh that I would have quessed they were made that morning, potentially right before they ventured into a den.

 

I always picture the otters facing the "best"
view when "dropping spraint". I wonder if it
has more to do with direction of travel.
probably.

 





Adding to the fun were several old (or “elder”) spraints. Clearly older (at least older than the day before when it rained) it was apparent that “the stinky spot” had been marked multiple times recently.

 
otter run anyone?









There was a nice run from the “spraints in the latrine” (should have been the name of a Police album – would have most likely been the best part of the album!) that darted into some trees and behind a boulder. Closer examination showed a root system of a dead, leaning tree pretty much exposed and ready to be entered (if you know what I mean).
anyone home?
 

the den is under the tree leaning
behind the bolder




 





Anyway, I am willing to say that while the den may have been active in years past, there is no way I have missed this activity in years past. New den! I think number 11 for the year! Not sure.



raccoon scat with operculum



And so I continued to make my way clockwise, found a nice raccoon scat and it was made up mostly of crab shells but a snail operculum breaks the crab continuum. At least for a second.


sweet spot spraint
 


well-worn sweet spot
Back in the woods I was almost back to the beach with the sand dollars and my kayak. I had to pass by “the sweet spot” an area named for an historic abundance of otter spraint – maybe 40+ every visit.
 


Today there was one spraint – somewhat recent. Other than that the area looked well trampled, certainly marked in some ways, just not with spraint. A quick look down the bank had a couple of openings in the bank, below and in a tree’s roots. One had evidence of a dig out last winter maybe.

 

While not showing signs of currently being “active”, the den was possibly used over the winter, and possibly a female with young. Word is that there is no spraint close to den when young are in! But this is hefty speculation laid on here.

 
this bird had its brains eaten

The real story was two dens new to Kirk on an island I have visited many times. Great start to the day.

cool looking
 










spectacle island beach


A quick visit to Spectacle/White Island turned up a couple of otter latrines, a mink latrine and some nice rocks.

 

Continuing on….to Bald Island – which is a special one for me in many ways. One of course being the name. And the other being the awesome otter den in the fresh water marshy quarry on top. I checked on the three main trails to the den and found them to be thick with signs of use.
otter trail - straight shot
 

Otter trail, lined with spraint. Straight shot right to the heart of the matter
this is the gross gooey stuff
photo!
 

Otter slide – awesome and epic as always. Spraint along the slide and that gross white gooey stuff, that apparently can turn yellow over time.

 
top of the otter slide




look for the trail thru the cattails
across the way.




The best is the photo where you can see where the otters cross water (after sliding/running down) and then follow a well-worn trail through the cat tails. Very cool

 
this was stinky and in a new spot

Otter rocks. May be where the 4 otters had been hanging/focussed before heading over to little white. But who knows.

 
den # 3 for the day?
thank you very much!
And then I continued on…only to come across some stinky otter spraint in a spot I’d never smelled (nor seen) spraint before. And then there was a hole behind it that looked worn and visited. Den # 3 for the day – and I think #13 for the year (and its only august!). Quick easy and fun. Lovely day…and paddle….

I have a guess as to what animal uses that den and trail
 
 
 

On the way back I spotted this den when close to Crane Island (or one of it’s little pocket islands to the south). Not making any bets here…….

 
(8/24) bird walk – another nice morning, group and birds. Lane’s was sweet – Waxwing, Goldfinch and Purple Finch putting on nice displays on the tops of trees and the goldfinch posing on thistle.

 

State Beach turned up a pair of Greater Yellowlegs by the causeway (rough part of town) that were actively fishing and chasing (and eating!) tiny phish in the shallows. Common Loons, Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers, osprey from the causeway. Sweet looks….

 

Continuing on the group was entertained by a flock of 40-50 Tree Swallows that started out over the water circling and feeding and then came over to the group for a very low fly over. And then the process started again and went for several rounds.  Truly a remarkable experience. I haven’t see more than a couple dozen swallows (if that many) on Vinalhaven and can remember only one bird walk were we saw swallows and I think we saw like 4 total. Anyway, great wrap up to the bird walk. Fun for everyone.

 
this year's model - Herring Gull flavor

That afternoon I got to spend some time with some 1st year students from Bowdoin College on their 2nd day of school. We went to Huber and cut back the trail for a few hours with loppers. It was fun and the kids were cool.

 

pine sap is cool




We also found some pine sap and I took this crappy, out of focus picture of them. Pine sap is parasitic, as we know, and somewhat reminiscent of Indian Pipes but have multiple blooms on each stem. Anyway, I don’t find these too often on Vinalhaven, maybe one patch every few years or something.

 

old coral mushroom
Anyway. Some gallery photos……

 

 

 

afternoon delight
or at least a version of it
 

 

 

 

 


excited for some climbing
 

 

 

 

 
chillin' with the monkeys
 

 

 

 


calm like the Buddha













big fun at monkey c money do.












1940-2012
And some Leif stuff. Enjoy the day!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016





 
 
Vinalhaven Sightings Report – August 16, 2016

Brought to you by the Vinalhaven Land Trust and the Maine Coast Heritage Trust

 

Highlightsboat ride with minke whale and ocean sunfish, ruddy turnstone, shorebirds including a 7 shorebird day!, warblers, fungus, slime molds, birdies, a VNM orchid or two (but really only one actually), other stuff too …

 




Upcoming eventsthis week is island-wide (including both coasts!) “Margaret Wise Brown week”. Check out the Vinalhaven Land Trust website (  www.vinalhavenlandtrust.org   )for more details about outings all this week focusing on Margaret Wise Brown.

 

Next week - - Coyote talk – next Monday – August 22nd! Come and hear me babble on about coyotes in general and about the coyote that spent some time on Vinalhaven. 7pm in the town hall, school place up on the hill.

 

Bird walk next Wednesday (August 24th) 8am at skoog. Check the VLT website for bird walks through September.

 
Businesscontact us! vinalhavensightings@gmail.com

Tiit trick – click on photos to enlarge!

nice fin
photo by Rick Morgan
 
 

Sightings – (8/16) – lots of flickers around island today. Saw maybe 7.

mola,mola
photo by Rick Morgan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
On the water – (7/28) –in the bay and on board the “Neeve”, Norbert Leser and Rick Morgan reported some nice sightings (and photos). A Minke Whale and an Ocean Sunfish were the noted nature highlights and Rick got these sweet shots of the sunfish.


 

Some background stats - Minke whale stats - Measurements from the Audubon guide to marine mammals

“ At birth – (8’ 2” – 9’ 2”) about 710 lbs.. “

“Max length – male 32’, female 35’. Weight probably 20,000 lbs” 

ocean sunfish
photo by Rick Morgan
 
They are small baleen whale and there are lots of them worldwide.

 
On ocean sunfish, or the (Mola mola) from the national geographic website place…

 Sunfish, or mola, develop their truncated, bullet-like shape because the back fin which they are born with simply never grows. Instead, it folds into itself as the enormous creature matures, creating a rounded rudder called a clavus. Mola in Latin means "millstone" and describes the ocean sunfish’s somewhat circular shape. They are a silvery color and have a rough skin texture.”

 
 
this has nothing to do with
mola mola

The mola are the heaviest of all the bony fish, with large specimens reaching 14 feet (4.2 meters) vertically and 10 feet (3.1 meters) horizontally and weighing nearly 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms). Sharks and rays can be heavier, but they're cartilaginous fish.”

 

Cool stuff and cool sightings! Thanks for sharing Rick and Norbert!

 

John Drury reports Ocean Sunfish and sharks from an off shore adventures on the Skua! Thanks John

 
 
pair of eagles at old harbor pond
photo by Jim Clayter - thanks Jim!

 
Bird walks – bird lists(7/28) in the words of Pete Jacques…

Lane’s Island was very slow, just goldfinches in profusion and otherwise just distant songs or single sightings of alder flycatcher, yellowthroat, song sparrow.  Female eiders were unusually active at half tide in the cove, and a lone catbird shyly amused us.  We saw one cedar waxwing - they’d vanished temporarily - and one semipalmated sandpiper.  It was an odd morning there, and light fog didn’t help.

 

 

 State Beach was better: greater and lesser yellowlegs, common tern, raven, crow, osprey, song sparrow, blue jay, bc chickadee, black duck, common eider, robin, short-billed dowitcher

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
and the waxwings finally behaved like themselves.

 

Bird walk - (8/9) – another slow morning, lots of goldfinches, and highlights being 3 least sandpipers and a turkey vulture.  Beautiful morning.



 

ring0necked snake in steve's hand
Bird Walk – (8/16)Ruddy Turnstone, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Black-bellied and Semi-palmated Plovers. Bald Eagle, Osprey, Crow, Blue Jay. Black Guillemot, Common Tern, Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Herring and Greater Black-backed Gull, Common Eider. Hummingbird, Cedar Waxwing, American Goldfinch, Purple Finch, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-shafted Flicker, Black-capped chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, common yellowthroat, Song sparrow, grey catbird. Highlights – group of 6 loons chillin’ together, at times swimming in circles with each other. Ruddy Turnstone after most folks left, but any 7 shorebird species bird walk on vinalhaven is a good one in my book! 31 species? Felt good.

 
 

Also this tiny little ring-necked snake was found at the end of the bird walk. The garter snake is from North Haven

 

State Beach – (8/9) Short-billed Dowitcher, Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Semi-palmated Plover

Greens otter praint
 





Greens Island – (7/26) – lots of otter sign spotted sandpiper, lesser yellowlegs, semi-palmated plovers, common tern with young. Significant bloom of Tawny Grisette.
 
 
 
 

ragged fringed orchid
vnm! yeah baby!
 

Very cool  highlights – Common Tern adult leaving a fresh fledgling on the rocky shores of greens to fish off shore, the classic otter latrine

 

Unexpected plant VMN on Greens for me – Ragged-fringed Orchids (Planthanthera lacera)

 

and the tawny grissette bloom -  Here’s what Lawrence Millman had to say about them poetic the tawny grissette (Amanita fulva) in “fascinating fungi of new England”, a case of Larry going “descriptive poetic”.

tawny grissette
 





very handsome mushroom

 

“…long tapering stem and pale sheath-like volva.”

 
nice sheath-like volva
 
 
 
 
 

the absence of a ring (around the stem) disproves the popular belief that all Amanitas have rings

(I learned that there are such things as “popular beliefs” about mushrooms!)

 
We all know that the Tawny Grisette is my favorite mushroom, and to update it is “by far” my favorite at this point and time. What is your favorite mushroom?
for some reason the blog is turning some photos upside down
this is one of them. chanterelle!

 

 

Bike Ride – (7/26). Calderwood neck road – 3 chantrelle patches (nice ones) and a sharp-shinned hawk parent with youngsters sounding pretty fresh out of the nest. Both were highlights.

chanterelles are tasty
 
 
 
 





Starboard Rock – (7/26) really the first patches of the BlusherAmanita rubescens – an island amanita favorite of ours. Back to Lawrence Millman as he goes “anthropomorphic” about A. rubescens!

 
 
 
good and bad
the blush and the mold
 
“does the fact that it’s not poisonous make it feel like a wimp next to its toxic Amanita cousins?”

 

“Or is it embarrassed because it’s so susceptible to the designs of the Amanita mold? “

 

More on the mold/A. rubscens relationship… “The Amanita mold (Hypomyces hyalinus) turns A. rubescens into a phallic, chalky, pimpled mutation of its former self.”

moldy amanita
 

“The jury is out as to whether other Amanitas might be victimized because the host is so completely altered by the parasite’s sleight-of-hand.”

non-moldy amanita
 

“With A. rubscens, red dish stains identify the host”

 





blusher blushing









another blusher look











Here’s some more from the fungal photo gallery file.
painted bolete!

 



even with the toupee...
it's still a destroying angel!
red-pored bolete. after slugs...
red-pored bolete from below
bitter bolete




















































 



these indian pipes started out strong

Plant stuff - These Indian Pipes (Monotropa uniflora) have been having a rough go of it on the along an early stretch of the Huber trail. Not sure what the black stuff is, but they smelled pretty bad this last photo. Here’s what John Eastman has to say about them….

but never really got past this point
 












“Botantists of an earlier generation, convinced that nature had made a bad mistake, deplored this strange little perennial for its “degenerate morals”.” Botantists also used to think mushrooms were plants! Those were the days.

these are "kind of normal" indian pipes
 

“Indian pipe’s key associates, necessary to its survival, are the subsurface fungi by means of which it obtains nourishment.”

 

“Germinating seeds form mycorrhizal bonds, and several stems usually rise together in hooded “ghostly array” from a parent mycorrhizal mat. The plant always grows in shade, never in open sunlight.”

 
 
tapioca slime anyone?
 
 
 
 

Slimes – recent rains pumped out some significant numbers of tapioca slime along trails.

 
 
 
 
 
big patch o' slime
photo by Jim Conlan

 
 
 
 
 
Jim Conlan came across this 2x2 patch of a slime that has “gone to spore” as we say (the royal “we”). Could be tapioca, or severally bleached scrambled egg slime. Nice find Jim!

 




bagged doggy-doo in Tallinn
Things we find in the woods

 

Nice collection of recent “bagged doggy doo” photos – Estonia, Adirondacks and beautiful Lane’s Island!

baggeddoggy-doo in the adirondacks
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
lane's island picnic tables this morning!
 
 
 
 
Condom from the thorofare!

"one prophylactic - soiled"
quote from Frank Oz















archery in Estonia






with Nanni and family in Estonia














ready for mining







and the proud biker!













and leify stuff of course!

see you out there!