Vinalhaven Sightings

spotted salamander egg mass
photo by Banner Moffat

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report – April 19, 2020

Brought to you with the support of VLT and MCHT –

Thanks to both organizations!

mack's pond

Highlights – River otter videos!, Spotted Salamander stuff, Northern Harrier, half a shrew, red-backed salamander, Hermit Thrush, and so much more!

seal bay

Contact us – with all the observable nature stuff going on Vinalhaven, it feels good to have a safe place where you can unload and share your sightings with other humans. Send your photos, sightings and whatnots to vinalhavensightings@gmail.com . The place to ‘be’ really, and to ‘share’ really. Your yard may be a hot spot, time to become a legend.

Tiit Trick – click on photos to enlarge! And Enjoy!!!!!

violet plant thing

PSA – Hey – What a spring, huh? While many of us have been practicing “social distancing” for decades, there are many behavior adjustments one can make to decrease the chances of being exposed to or exposing others. The town has been posting daily Covid-19 updates and information on the town’s website –

https://www.townofvinalhaven.org/home/pages/covid-19-resources

For exercise of the mind and body many folks are hitting the trails both on island and on the mainland. Be aware that certain points on preserves - picnic tables, benches, kiosks – are points of contact for hikers and follow social distancing practices on the trails. And while it’s highly unlikely anything would come of hiking on the preserves, washing hands after hiking – that sounds so funny – is a good idea.

skunk cabbage so robust these days!

As for my MCHT work on island - I am replacing bridging on the Basin Platform Trails and at Huber this spring. These were scheduled projects for the safety of trail users. I stay with my truck for entire ferry crossing, then head directly to the trailheads and into the woods. I bring my own supplies and have been interacting with no one other than a wave on the road. I am also prepared in case I cross paths with hikers on the trail. At the end of the day I head off on the last boat(s) – not hard to get a line number these days – and will no longer be staying on island overnight for work.

Sightings – Erin Creelman was kind enough to share these videos and photo she took of a recent River Otter visit to the small pond right by her house! Erin mentioned the lack of frogs calling from the pond this year, and this may be the reason!

aftermath. spotted salamander tail!
photo by Erin Creelman

If you have a pond with water in it in mid-coast Maine, river otters know of it and visit it. On this particular visit the otter was macking on Spotted Salamanders! As Erin put it – they don’t like the tails!

Erin’s proximity to the Basin, Long Pond, Mill River and Folly Pond– all well established/documented River otter zones – puts her pond right in the “Otter Triangle”, aka “Otter Polygon” and makes the likelihood of an otter visit that much greater.

gang of woodcocks
photo by John Drury

Awesomely incredible footage Erin! Thanks for sharing!

(4/19) This just in – just above Old Harbor Pond – John Drury spotted a family of Woodcocks crossing the road! Yep, it’s that time of the year again – “Drive Slowly, Baby Woodcocks are out!” – classic PSA.

the big one is the leader
photo by John Drury

Anyway, the adults have been back for a month and a half, and looks like they didn’t wait around to get going on the next generation! Cool to see and a cool reminder that even while many birds that breed locally aren’t even close to being here yet (mid-april is peak songbird migration in coastal Georgia) there are many species around that start early. Great Horned Owls, Bald Eagles, Ravens and Crossbills have probably also been ‘at it’ for a bit as well! Cool to see!

male Northern Harrier
photo by John Drury

Greens Island – More from John – John was kind enough to send in photos of a male Northern Harrier hunting the fields on Greens. Great sight and great shot! Raptors are showing up, passing through and many are still on their way! Always good to have an eye on the sky, as well as an eye on the pet guinea pig you are walking! Don’t always see that many male Harriers – treat to get photo of one!

bald eagle on nest
photo by John Drury

Huber – Pat Lundholm spotted a Pileated Woodpecker on a recent visit to the preserve. Pileated sightings have been on the rise for the last five to 7 years – they are big, they are loud, but they are not always that easy to spot. Always a treat to see one.

spotted salamander spermatophores

(4/15) Spent the day at Huber. Hermit thrush, Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Dark-eyed Junco, Golden-crowned Kinglet, spotted salamander eggs with spermatophores nearby. Mourning Cloak Butterfly, Garter Snake, other stuff

The story here was with the spotted salamander egg masses and spermatophores. Things were super fresh, and it looked like the timing matched the vernal pools I have been watching on the mainland. A 2^nd, more robust round of Spermatophores were placed Monday night (4/13). Egg masses were laid Tuesday night (4/14). And then Kirky got to see them Wednesday (4/15). The trailside ditch pool only had one mass – it is a pool that fluctuates between 0-7 I would say. Maybe a third round this week?

With time constraints I only ventured to off trail to one historic pool. This particular pool is part of a treed wetland complex where an uprooted tree pulled opened a pool in the mossiness that surrounds. I counted 46 masses in the photo – give or take I would say – which is typical for this pool. In 2008 we came across this well-established pool, and while the branch had probably changed over time, it’s always wonderful to see a submerged limb covered in eggs. How many salamanders have emerged from this pool over the years?

The flip side is that many salamanders don’t leave this pool – life can be like that. While fish are not established in the pool system there, caddisflies apparently had no problem overwintering in the muck. The activity of the 9 or so present made the egg masses a lively spot. the caddisfly is the critter dragging along a protective casing they build around themselves

The outer matrix of the salamander eggs is to protect the eggs from drying out if the pool goes low, and also acts as a deterrent to critters like Caddiflies who like to feast on their eggs.

And apparently some get distractedby/feast on spermatophores. A lot of protein I guess?

this video was supposed to be horizontal.

The caddisflies may get a few eggs, fungus will get others, but many will survive to hatch and swim around with gills as larvae. Good luck youngsters!

(4/17) Basin – Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagle, Ravens, Crows. Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, White-throated Sparrow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, half a shrew, red-backed salamander.