been chilly. from Clark Island
on the mainland
Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report – January 12 2022
Happy New Year!
Highlights – Snowy Owl, Animal tracking, Razorbill, Ducks and a little
bit more
Business - Tracking outing – Hey – this Saturday, Jan 15, at 9am – VLT in
ca-hoots with MCHT is/are offering an animal tracking outing. Folks will be
meeting at Skoog Park at 9am, but
the walk will be starting at Lanes,
so feel free to meet over there if that’s more convenient for you. Don’t think
they’ll be much carpooling. Anyway – We’re going to see what we can find for
animal sign out there in ‘the paradise
that is known as Lane’s Island’. If it’s not too cold they’ll be a bunch of
stories about stuff I’ve seen over the years out there as well. Alright – there
you have it & see you there!!!gannet working the rough seas
photo by John Drury
guillemots
photo by John Drury
Contact us –
this edition of the VSR literally would not have been possible without
observers sending in and sharing their reports and photos. See something you
think is cool? Send it in to vinalhavensightings@gmail.com and we’ll let you know it its cool!
Just kidding, if you think its cool its cool! Anyway, sharing is nice
a rather pale Great Cormorant
photo by John Drury
Tiit trick –
hey – click on the photos and they become jumbo
sized. It honors my dad every time you do! Just saying…
A request - Inspired by a photo sent in this round - and trust me, we never get inspired as a rule - we are making a request for photos of people (of all things!). For photos to be accepted the person or peoples must share the glory of the photo with a sign of an animal. Details below! Somewhere..
betula bird
The photos you see in this VSR post….some are throw backs to a great summer(ish) from John Drury, (sightingsfromskua.blogspot.com). Others by me have actually been taken ‘off island’ (yeah, that place), from mid-coast Maine to be exact. There is much overlap between here and there, things that could just as well be seen/photographed on island. Anyway – enjoy!
 |
| otter belly slide - going away photo by Dylan Jackson |
Sightings – Dylan Jackson was kind enough to send
in these photos of an otter trail with
slide up Zeke’s Point way. Snow makes tracking so much more enjoyable than
spending hours around a drying puddle (much of California tracking in my jaded,
biased experience), and Dylan spotted this trail on an evening walk.
 |
| bounding otter heading to belly slide photo by Dylan Jackson |
He mentioned that the trail really
stood out as the sun went further out of view, which I thought was a cool
observation. The tracks were obviously there during the day, but bright sun on
the snow can make for a little snow blindness, where angles and shadows of a trail
might be harder to see/notice.
Anyway, I (the royal ‘I’) was at
Clark Island in St George at the same time tracking three otters there and was
finding the same thing there. The trails
were catching shadows and were a downright pleasure to follow! Thanks for
sharing Dylan!
Snowy Owl –
Dylan also mentioned that he had crossed paths with a Snowy Owl up Zeke’s Point
way a few weeks ago. He mentioned being impressed with the owl’s size, of which
they are huge. Keep yes eyes out for ‘em, apparently this is a good winter for
snowies…..we are big fans and advocates of big winters for snowies even though
that usually means they are pretty hungry and in further search for food.
 |
| great 'capture' of classic raccoon alternating feet trail pattern waddle thing photo by Cay Kendrick |
Raccoon at Perry Creek! – Cay
Kendrick sent in a couple of shots of raccoon trails she followed up at North
Perry Creek (our official favorite place on island). Cay’s photos captured the
distinct trail pattern of the raccoon’s waddle. As ‘Big Al’ told me – ‘they move the legs on the same side of
their body at the same time. So you end up with an alternating pattern of big
hind foot and smaller front foot in the trail. Also, bald is beautiful, I wish my head would do that’. Well, dreams can come true! I think I was more or less paraphrasing there, rather than quoting. But we leave the quotes up!
 |
| classic raccoon trail photo by Cay Kendrick |
Anyway, the waddle pattern is obvious
from the photos. This is a good pattern to familiarize yourself with if you are
interested in learning about the animal trails on island. There isn’t a diverse
array of mammal species on island, so if you know deer, red squirrel, snowshoe hare and raccoon you are well on your
way to recognizing the majority of animal trails you might find in the woods on
island. Learn ‘em and become the master of your domain!
otter spraint in foreground
humans in background
photo by John Drury
more from John Drury report – (1/6) Greens - Razorbill in Highflyer cove foraging, Black guillemot eating what looked to
be a crab. Common Loon, Red-breasted Merganser,
black scoter, and Black-legged Kittiwake, also Ring-Billed Gull,
golden crowned kinglet
The Reach - Crows, goldfinch, bufflehead, Ye Olde-tale
Ducks
The Basin - Bufflehead, Red-breasted mergansers, olde
tales, loons, seal, crows, black guillemot.
Thanks for the report John! Sounds
like a great day!
boy breaking ice
And so here we are, posting the 2nd VSR in history where I don’t have any sightings from the VSR editorial crew themselves (or more correctly, from myself). Car issues held me back last week, but I’ll be on island the next couple of days but I also wanted to get this report posted soon in case anyone is interested in the walk this Saturday and may not have heard about it.
So there you have it and…
Anyway – I thank those who sent
sightings for this report – keep ‘em coming! There’s always plenty to see out
there, and we love to hear about what you are seeing!
And hey – see you out there!
