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| ovenbird on classic habitat - seaweed photo by John Drury |
Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report – May 18, 2020
Brought to you with the support of VLT and MCHT – Thanks to both
organizations!
Contact us –
with all the observable nature stuff going on around Vinalhaven it feels good
to have a safe place where you can unload and share your sightings with other
humans (not your dog!). Send your photos, sightings and whatnots to
vinalhavensightings@gmail.com . The place to ‘be’ really, and the place to
share.
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| spotted turtle |
PSA – Hey –
What a couple of months, 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 – Check it
out!
https://www.townofvinalhaven.org/home/pages/covid-19-resources
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| atlantic puffin photo by John Drury |
For exercise of the mind and body,
many folks are hitting the trails both on island and on the mainland. At the
same time, social distancing practices are encouraged/requested when crossing
paths with others on the trails. It’s highly unlikely anything would come of
hiking on the preserves, washing hands after a hike – that sounds so funny – is
a good idea. Always a good idea?
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| male King Eider photo by John Drury |
As for my MCHT work on island - I
will continue replacing bridging on the Basin Platform Trails and at Huber this
spring. I am also shifting into the first round of weedwacking trails to knock tick
habitat back. 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 or a hello in a
parking lot. I am also prepared in case I cross paths with hikers on the trail.
I’ve been training for this exact event for years.
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| ravens nest photo by John Drury |
Sightings – this
just in from John Drury – as we were going to press two days ago….
Recent trip to Seal Island turned out
to be super productive. Harlequin Ducks,
Great Cormorant, Atlantic Puffin, Raven Nest, Ovenbird on the seaweed. King Eider is a sweet sighting! Would be cool
if it hung out for a stretch….or summer! Quarantine!
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| Harlequin Ducks photo by John Drury |
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| great cormorant in flight photo by John Drury |
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| Nashville warbler photo by John Drury |
And then from Greens – Nashville Warbler
and Pileated Woodpecker. John also reports loads of Parula, which can be
easily confirmed if you walk outside your house. You are bound to hear lots.
Thanks for sharing John! These are
great!
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| pileated woodpecker photo by John Drury |
Lane’s Island – (5/13) Blue grey Gnatcatcher, Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Northern Parula, Northern Flicker, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Common
Yellowthroat, Purple Sandpiper.
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| blue grey gnatcatcher |
Windy is a good word to describe
Lane’s on Wednesday. Good word for most days as of late actually. Time was
spent largely exposed on the windy trails, but lunch and coffee were made in
the parking lot and it was there I heard a bird call with a raspy-ness that
went beyond Ruby-crowned Kinglet (and that sure is raspy!). Sounded like a Gnatcatcher
to me, and moments later sure enough a Gnatcatcher popped into a shrub in front
of me. That was fine, but I continued to hear the original Gnatcatcher off to the west. Sure enough,
moments later a second Blue-grey Gnatcatcher was in the shrub in front of me.
Out of their ‘range’ but fully appreciated, these two were the only birds I
would look at all day on the preserve! Good fun!
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| northern parula takes flight |
Songbirds –
are coming through, each morning brings a whole new potential to your yard, the
woods next door or the preserve down the road. So go take a look, jot down some
highlights and send them in! A couple of highlights from my yard in Tenants
Harbor this week include : Nashville’s
Warbler, the daily visits of the Red Crossbill family, Wood Thrush (5 days now),
and chipmunks – which are not songbirds but are much cooler than red squirrels
from my perspective.
Vernal Pools –
Spotted Turtles (Clemmy guttata) - couple of notes – first off – one of my favorite scientific
names.
Jim Mack’s Pond vernal pools - You can stop worrying, the island’s spotted turtle
population appears to be doing just fine. Probably the easiest place to look
for spotted turtles, is from the Jim Mack’s Pond lollipop loop. It’s the only trail
on island known to have spotted turtles spotted from, as far as I know. On a
sunny day in May there can be handful to several on the moss and shores along
the mighty Mack’s Creek (I think I just made up that name).
I had been working in the area over
the course of a few weeks, and had kept an eye out for the turtles. It took a
few visits before I spotted this group -
now I know where to look and where to look from! Let us know if you have a
favorite place to see spotted turtles.
Here’s a little more about Spotted
Turtles in Maine, from Maine.gov
‘Description
- Many consider the spotted turtle to be Maine’s most attractive turtle. It
shares its yellow-polka-dotted motif with the spotted salamander, which shares
many of the same vernal pools’
‘Turtles emerge from hibernation in April and disperse to vernal [pools
and other wetlands used by breeding frogs and salamanders. The turtles eat
amphibian eggs and larvae. This abundant food supply is critical to the
survival of turtles because they likely consume much of their annual food needs
in May and June.’
‘The spotted turtle was state-listed as threatened in 1986. It is
believed that only a few thousand spotted turtles occur in the state in a
highly fragmented landscape.’
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| hiding under a branch |
And so it’s cool that there is a spotted
turtle population on island. Most sightings reported to me are of individual
turtles crossing roads. Another species that’s out there, but can fly under the
radar.
The session with the turtles was
cool. Two were mating – off to the right in the photo. This mating was
confirmed by spotted turtle mating expert Trevor Persons. Good to have one of
them around.
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| 4 spotted turtles |
A 5th individual was
spotted in the water. I took this series of photos of it. It was cute how the
turtle would hide under branches in the water. I think the shot with its head
out of water is one of my favorite photos I have taken. The ripples on its back
are cool.
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| these two were working on the next generation of spotted turtles |
Anyway. One of the original four turtles
spotted from the trail had buried itself in moss. The turtle did not move upon my
approach. In fact, I eventually stood directly above it, was able to take some macro
shots of its dots but refrained from touching it. Wasn’t even a temptation if
we are being honest here. Trevor mentioned that this was not an uncommon
behavior. The thought is that the turtles are sunning while protecting
themselves against predators by burying in the moss. I guess that made sense. I
am going to assume I could have pulled that turtle up and eaten it if I had
wanted to. A raccoon could have too. Maybe the burying makes the turtle harder
to spot in the first place. Maybe. It didn’t really matter anyway.
Anyway and so, it was fun to see and
the turtles were fun to see swim.
Spotted Salamander eggs – Here’s an excerpt from the most recent – some would even
go so far as to call it “current” – posting of ‘Nature Bummin’’, which can be
found at mcht.org/nature-bummin . Symbiosis between algae and salamander. So
classic.
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| spotted salamander eggs - orginal flavored |
“One noticeable change was an
increase in the presence of green algae within the eggs. Once the embryos started to open, or go into
the “happy clam” stage, algae quickly replaced the bluish tint of egg masses a
greenish wash. I did not know how cool this alga was, or that algae could be
cool to begin with.
It didn’t take much research to find
out that this algae is known as Salamander algae, or ‘Oophila amblystomatis’
wherever old Latin is spoken. The scientific name can be directly translated to
“loves salamander eggs”. No foolin’, cross my heart and all that. You see,
Oophila amblystomatis is only found with spotted salamanders. And not just in
the eggs, but in the salamanders themselves! There was a lot going on in that
alga!
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| embryo is in 'happy clam' phase |
Identifying a critter or mushroom or
plant is great, but it’s also enjoyable to go beyond identification. Be it
predator and prey, a parasitic flower, or symbiotic lichen - finding signs of
natural relationships are fun. We especially like seeing symbiosis – an
interaction between two different organisms living in close physical
association, typically to the advantage of both. In the case of the Oophila
(egg lover) and the salamander there are two types of symbiosis going. It’s a
win-win-win-win!
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| unfurling - little algae |
The alga and embryo sharing the eggs
is an example of an ‘ectosymbiotic’ relationship, where the symbiotic organisms
share space. Nitrogen-rich waste released by the developing embryo acts as
algae fertilizer, and the algae provides the salamander with oxygen and sugars
(classic photosynthesis!). Everyone benefits, as well they should in all good,
symbiotic relationships. Things get a little different from here.
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| continued unfurling |
The alga enters the embryo’s tissues
and will remain within the salamander cells after it hatches and goes through
metamorphosis. The relationship continues to be symbiotic but with an
‘endosymbiosis’ dynamic as one symbiont lives inside the cells of another other.
This essentially turns the Spotted Salamander into a photosynthetic animal, and
is the world’s only known endosymbiotic relationship between a vertebrae and
microbe! Cool, huh?
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| getting closer, getting greener |
In full disclosure, much of the algae
within adult salamanders is stressed do to a lack of sunlight and thus turns to
fermentation for energy. This a less efficient strategy than photosynthesis,
and for a stretch – maybe for several years – the algae is doing little more
for itself than surviving. But surviving it does, and if the name of the game
is passing on genes, it is successful as freshly laid salamander eggs contain
encrusted algae cells! The next generation of Oophila dependent on and thriving
in vernal pools! Algae rocks!
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| purple sandpiper |
I easily could have missed the news,
but I am not familiar with societies or conferences created in the name of
algae. There undoubtedly is a ‘Friends of the spotted salamanders (or vernal
pools)’ but where are the ‘Friends of Oophila amblystomatis’? We might have to start our own group down the
road, but until then it was fun to see and learn about the tale of the algae
and spotted salamanders. When we protect habitats we protect more than we
intend and often more than we’ll ever realize. And that is a cool realization.
The Friend of Oophila amblystomatis are happy.’
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| not the proper way to wear a mask. funny though, there was no one for miles! |
And there you have it! Enjoy the
space and we’ll see you out there! Sooner than later I hope!
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| and with salamander eggs |
