Vinalhaven Sightings

Welcome to the Vinalhaven sightings report – July 31^st . 2018

Brought to you with the support of VLT and MCHT.

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Highlights – Winter moth parasitic fly is officially labeled “established”. Mushrooms, birds, seals, and all kinds of other good stuff!

Business –Contact us! – have your sightings and photos posted on the latest in cutting edge media – on a BLOG! This BLOG, the VSR! Send us your observations and reports at vinalhavensightings@gmail.com .

Tiit Trick – click on the photos to enlarge – fill your screen with seals, mushrooms and slime molds! All the cool kids are doing it…

surrounded by birds

Bird walks are on Thursday mornings – sometimes at 8, sometimes at 7, and they are always a great time. This week (8/2) is at 8am. Both VLT and MCHT offer many outings and talks – visit their respective websites for more information – vinalhavenlandtrust.org & mcht.org .

this photo has nothing to do with winter moth

Findings – HuGE NEWS! Success - Cyzenis albicans is here and we couldn’t be happier! – Word from parasitic fly guy Joe Elkington is that the parasitic flies (good ol’ C. albicans) that attacks those nasty (judgment) winter moths has been found 4 years after being introduced. What does that mean? It means that winter moth numbers should be showing effects of their intense parasitism and will, over time, lower in numbers to achieve a “non-pest” status for the island. Will swiss cheese leaves be completely a thing of the past? We’ll have to wait and see, but this find is the next step in the anti-climactic winter moth saga on Vinalhaven. Congratulations to everyone, even if you have no clue what we (the royal “We”) are writing about.

the red-billed tropicbird continues to be a crowd pleaser!
photo by John Drury

Sightings – Seal Island – Vinalhaven island is a treasure unto itself, but if you are serious about wildlife observation, and have an interest in sea life and sea bird nesting islands , there really is nothing like a trip to Seal Island. John Drury takes folks out for ½ day trips to the Seal (among other fantastic trips) aboard his boat “the Skua”. To make your reservations to see Puffins, Murres, Razorbills and maybe even the Red-billed Tropicbird visit John’s website/blog thing at - sightingsfromskua.blogspot.com .

common murre, bridled flavor
photo b y John Drury

Here’s a couple of great shots from recent trips! Thanks for sharing John!’

tropicbird flying over a hanging, dead black backed gull.
photo by John Drury

Bird walks – great stuff being seen on the bird walks recently. Pete told me of an adult Yellow Warbler feeding a fledgling one week and then spotted a Peregrine Falcon with “jesses” on its legs the next! Never know what to expect on the walks. Shorebirds are being spotted around island – least sandpiper and greater yellowlegs in the basin, short-billed dowitcher at lane’s – state beach is libel to be filling up any day. Does anyone know someone who has a pet peregrine on the island? Or, has anyone heard of someone who’s lost a pet peregrine.

Bird stuff – cedar waxwings may be the most numerous songbirds on Vinalhaven these days, listen for their high pitched whistles and then look at the tops of nearby trees – you are bound to find them! Beth Guilford reports watching an adult pair exchange and re-exchange a seed in a pair bond ritual we like to call “cedar waxwings giving it (a seed) back and forth to each other” . If we were to anthropomorphosize much we could almost hear them saying “no, you” and “no, I insist” over and over again. Finally one of the waxwings did accept the seed treasure, but not before much passing had occurred. Cedar waxwings are a sweet species, gregarious and seemingly giving and generous by instinct. They are fun to watch when you get to watch them! Gail Prunty’s bird!

how close is too close? listen to the seals on this one

The Basin – August is peak time for Harbor Seals in the Basin. And while they are fun to seesee, paddle up to, and often have a high tolerance to working boats and approaching kayaks its worth reminding people to keep an honest distance and to turn back at the first sign of agitation. In the grand scope of things scaring a bunch of harbor seals into the water doesn’t amount to much impact wise. But scaring seals makes you (the paddler) look like a tool and a fool and definitely uncool. So how about being cool and lessening your impact. Those seals are busy chillin’ on those ledges. They’ll swim later.

bitter boletes appear to be decomposers

The woods around the basin….have been full of mychorrizal and saprophytic mushrooms. here's a taste of some of the

those bitter boletes get big!

Nolanea murrai, aka Golden unicorn Entoloma!

yellow patches are turning up everywhere

caged Blusher amanitas or caged wisdom?

ahh, they are under the bridge

blackening russulas are around and
blackening as we speak

I believe this is Albatellus confluens, but whatever it is
it grows from its outer edge, which means leaves get surrounded
leaves, ferns and sticks become part of the mushroom scene!

some mushrooms are past prime already!

the most beautiful yellow patches amanita
I have ever seen

Huber Preserve – also lined with Amanitas, especially the Yellow Patches whom of which is having a banner summer. This yellow patches I call “the most beautiful yellow patches in the world” was about 100 feet down the trail – maybe more like 75!

found this red-spotted newt in the trail at Huber

Armbrust hill - frog catching and spotted salamander larvae snaggin'

spotted salamander larvae - with gills!

common bladderwort

Also saw some Common Bladderwort bladders and flowers up at the largest pool on Armbrust Hill. Here’s a column I wrote for the St George Dragon, highlighting the killer plant…

whirligig beetle

A quick paddle

fragrant water lilies come in two flavors -
pink

It was a simple plan - “a quick paddle to take some dragonfly photos”. Of course, I’d also “brake for damselflies” as they say, but the focus was purported to be on the other Odonata – the dragons. They were the goal, and that’s what got me on the water that afternoon.

and vanilla

A Broad-winged hawk escorted me (not so happily, if I may add) part way down the trail as I dragged my blue kayak behind me. When I launched my kayak in the Marsh an adult Bald Eagle took to the air and took off! I then reflected on the dozens of things I’d probably startled or scared as I pulled kayak on the walk in. Impact. It can be sudden, or so I hear.

bladderwort bladders

It didn’t take long to understand that taking photos of dragons was not in my immediate future. Odonata activity levels were high for sure, but the breeze just strong enough to keep reeds, grasses, and lily pads moving. Moving perches make dragonfly photographing tricky, or at least too much of a chore for this guy. And that goes for the damsels too! I’d have to “just” watch them. I can do that, twist my arm.

eastern kingbirds, with dragonfly in mouth

Even with Ospreys circling and screeching above and Eastern Kingbirds somehow snatching dragonflies from the winds, it was flowers (of all things) that demanded my attention. Both flavors of Fragrant Water Lillies (Nymphaea odorata) – white and pink – were in huge numbers – polka dotting the water surface with a colorful alternative to the classic nature greens and blues. Yellow Pond Lilies (Nuphar variegatum) were scattered throughout giving the lily scene a yellow undertone. Scan in any direction and 100s of lilies were there to inspire smiles.

The flower that hijacked my afternoon, however, was neither white nor pink and not a lily at all! Inbetween the lily patches and alongside the beaver lodges were 5-7 inches “stalks” poking out of the water. Groups of tiny, yellow flowers clustered on the top and along the sides of these “erect racemes” (sounds racier than it really is). These are the flowers of the Common Bladderwort (Ultricularia macrorhiza (or vulgaris depending where you look)) and with a “lower lip” petal feature they are rather striking when you take a closer look. The aesthetics of the yellow flowers was all fine and good, but for me the magic of bladderworts is what going on below the water’s surface.

Let’s begin with some Bladderwort basics - Lentibluriaceae is the catchy name for what’s referred to as the “Bladderwort family”. Ultricularia (Bladderworts) is one of three genus/genii in the family, with the two other being Genlisea (cork screw plants) and Pinguicula (butterworts). All the Ulticularia are carnivorous and they catch prey through the use of bladder like traps. Underneath the Common Bladderwort flowers for example are long branching stems called stolons which are covered with up to 600 of these bladder traps. When set, the bladder trap is deflated and a sugary secretion is released around the trap’s opening to attract prey.

this caterpillar was a real swimmer

When a tiny copepod, amphipod, or paramecium makes contact with one of several bristle-like trigger hairs a vacuum is formed as water and critter(s) are sucked into the sac until it is fully inflated. The trapping process takes less than 1/100th of a second, and once trapped the prey are dissolved in a bath of digestive juices and absorbed into the plant. All the while, water is being pumped out of the trap and once empty of water – takes about 15 minutes- the trap resets and is ready for the next meal. The traps continue to capture prey as the bladders fill with the remains of their victims. This plant’s a killer, don’t let the innocent flowers fool you - it’s pretty gruesome down there!

The presence of bladderwort in a pond environment indicates a rich abundance of life. It is estimated that a single bladderwort plant can have around 150,000 organisms in its bladders and while I didn’t count carcasses, the stolons I checked out from the kayak that day were lined with traps that were dark and full. To be honest, I can’t ever remember seeing a bladderwort stolon who’s traps weren’t full, which makes me not want to drink the water that much more! There’s a ton of critters in there!

When the Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus!) angrily escorted a Cooper’s Hawk across the marsh (making it an elusive 4 raptor paddle for me) and the Eagle returned, I knew it was time to paddle on and paddle back. The bladderworts were neither as large or as numerous as the water lilies around me, but once you got looking you couldn’t help but notice they were a lot of them….with millions of critters digested in there bladders floating below. Man there is a lot going on out there!

And that’s where we’ll see you – out there!