Puffhead eruptus
click on photos to enlarge
Tiit Trick!
Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings
Report
May 16th- May 31st
, 2026
Big Thanks to Maine Coast Heritage
Trust for the support!
These posts would not happen without
MCHT!
‘She calls the shots’
common murres
Highlights – Songbirds and migration,
Flower things featuring Lady Slippers, Baby snakes and ducks, Trip to Seal
Island featuring Great Cormorants, Red-necked Phalaropes, Puffin things; Otter
clips, and so much more!
Business: vinalhavensightings@gmail.com
oak fern
Calling all sightings! – Got some sighting/nature reports you’d like to
share but just don’t know where to start? Why not send your sightings here,
to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report (VSR) and let us do the sharing work for
you? Send your stories, your lists, your photos, your ‘whatnots’
to the email above and then bask in the glory that is only known as ‘that
feeling when you shared something’. Sharing is good, good sharing…
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black duck with chittlins
Get on the list! – we have an email list that we send an email to whenever
there is a new VSR post. Recipients are ‘Bcc’d’ and within this exclusive email
is a link to the latest blog entry, and nothing else! Send your email to
the email above and get on this list! It’s where the cool people are! (or at
least some cool people – ha ha!), we’re waiting just for you!
That ‘Bob’ thing - If you are pleased by the feeling you get from looking at
this post and are looking for more of that ‘VSR vibe’, well, there are
links to old VSR posts from over the years at the bottom of this post. And
there’s a lot of history captured there, so yeah, it’s a big bottom, (the
bottom of this post), and it drives me out of my mind, how can I leave this behind?
(Spinal Tap reference for yah!).
razorbill in flight
long beech fern
Support local captains – don’t forget to get out on the water– Cap’t Oakley
Jackson tours out of the Thorofare area (and beyond!) on his Osprey
Adventures – Contact Oakley by email: ospreyadventuresme@gmail.com.
Or phone: (207) 701- 1815.
 |
| aboard the Skuq photo by John Drury |
The ‘Skua’ (boat, not bird) and Cap’t John Drury (nice guy) - taking people to nesting sea bird colonies on Seal Island and Matinicus Rock, as well as to other hot spots. John’s been leading trips not ‘since the beginning of time’ per se; but ‘for a while now’. Yeah, that sounds nicer. Contact John by email: at Johnbdrury@gmail.com .
murres and razorbill
bridled murre up front and
to the right
Sightings – (5/27) And setting sail (metaphorically) aboard
the Skua seems like a great place to start. John was kind enough to have me
join a trip he was leading to Seal Island, which is part of the Maine
Coastal Islands NWR. Seabird nesting islands are always exciting to visit,
and this day was nothing but exciting.
this Great Cormorants digestive
system seems to be working
First we stopped by Little Roberts Island to see if
there were any Great Cormorants hanging around. Sure enough Great Cormorants
were there and from the sight and smell this wasn’t the first time the Greats
had hung out there.
raft of razorbills
Common Terns and Atlantic Puffins were spotted as we approached Seal,
but the story really kicked in once we pulled up alongside the island. A few ‘rafts’
of Razorbills were floating in the water, with a healthy number of
razorbills on the rocky shore as well.
three murres in the morning
Common Murres were also in good numbers, lots of Black Guillemots
were floating around and squeaking up a storm.
Atlantic Puffins (also known as the ‘4th Alcid’) were ‘more
than numerous’ and Puffin sessions (after Puffin sessions) were so prevalent
as we circled the island that I lost count quickly. Let’s put it this way –
there were ‘Puffins galore’.
arctic tern
Arctic Terns were numerous close to the island, joining the Common
Terns in announcing predators and unwanted visitors (Eagles, Peregrines) to
the colony. Common Eiders were abound, and spotted sandpipers
could be seen on the rocky shoreline as well.
harbor seal with pup
Both Harbor Seals (some with youngsters)
Grey Seal
And Grey Seals were observed as well.
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great cormorants
Rounding the southern point of Seal one can’t help but be
mesmerized by the Great Cormorant colony there. Lots of Greats in
breeding plumage (lookin’ Great!) – this is the largest remaining colony in
the US of A.
John is a vocal advocate for the Greats and has been ‘since
the beginning of time’, arguing for better protections and more attention paid
to this species. Fun to be on board with John when Great Cormorants are around,
he gets quite animated.
From Seal, John navigated the Skua to an underwater ledge
(on the surface above the ledge) that can be productive for birds due to upwelling
and the bringing of nutrients to the surface that is inspired by the ledge. I
don’t remember the name of the ledge so I will just call this ledge, ‘ledge’.
female Red-necked Phalarope
It was above this ‘ledge’ that 5 Red-necked Phalaropes
were working their magic. ‘I’ve never seen such small birds over the ocean’
was the comment from one of the Sams (there were two Sams on the trip). And Sam was right – these were by far the
smallest birds that were seen sitting on the water.
male Red-necked Phalarop
To make things even cooler (how can that be?), the Phalaropes
were a mixed gender group, with the more brightly colored females standing out.
Phalaropes, and many shorebirds, are polyandrous – with one female
mating with one (or multiple) male(s) and then letting him/them incubate
and raise the young. Polyandrous is a helpful mating strategy when breeding
season is so short that there really isn’t time for having consecutive nestings/broods.
With Polyandry the female may have multiple males raising young and then the female
has her own nest that she cares for. Or not – sometimes it’s just the dudes doing
the raising. ‘She calls the shots’, when it comes to Phalaropes.
male Red-necked Phalarope
red belted conk guttation
As would be expected, the richer, 'robuster', and more brightly colored female Red-necked
Phalaropes do the displaying – courtship and territorial – in hopes to
attract males and keep other females away. If there were shorebird reality
shows one might be ‘the phalarope house husbands of northern Canada’ - that’s
how cool Polyandry is!
On the way back John took us by Brimstone Island and
the archipelago found there and spotted a male Harlequin Duck chilling on
a ledge. In winter Harlequins are numerous around local ledges and islands –
laregest overwintering population of Harlequins on the east coast of the US of
A is found between Vinalhaven and Marshall. Anyway – that’s winter, seeing a Harlequin
in late spring/summer is a cool bonus.
Harlequin Duck
Harlequin Duck face to face
Anyway – thanks for having me John and I can’t recommend this trip enough. ‘Knock your
socks’ off kind of stuff and you never know what you or John just might
find out there. Reserve your trip today!
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Chestnut-sided Warbler
photo by John Drury
grey catbird
photo by Claudia Dengler
Warblers: Blackburnian, Black and white, Blackpoll Black
and Green,
Yellow, Yellowthroat, Redstart, Nashville, Tennessee, Magnolia
Myrtle (yellow-rumped), Chestnut sided, Bay breasted, Ovenbird,
Red-Eyed Vireo, Solitary vireo, Warbling vireo,
Waxwing in apple blossoms
quite the pleasant combo
Black-billed cuckoo, Hermit thrush, Swainson’s thrush,
song sparrow, White throated sparrow, Bluejay, Raven, Crow,
Chickadee, Least flycatcher, Phoebe,
Borad-winged hawk, Kestrel, Merlin, Osprey, Eagle, Nighthawk,
Whip-poor will, Timber doodle.
Loon, DC cormorant, Eider, Black Duck, Mallard, Canada goose,
Laughing gull,
common tern, Herring gull, Blacked back Gull, Black Guillemot,
Razorbills,
Good Times on Greens and across Vinalhaven as well! Thanks
John!
lanes island black ducks
Baby stuff – Harbor Seals and babies (pups) are a classic, 2nd half of May observable ‘offspring action’ and we’ve (the royal ‘we’ve’) been lucky to cross paths with other youngsters in late May. Like this Black Duck with youngsters that was out at Lanes (5/27).
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oh heck yeah
Also at lanes – 5/27 – 2 Baby Smooth Greens snakes
– tiny and too fast for my slow camera style.
female wood duck leading her youngsters
To make matters better (5/28) – I was cruising down
North Haven Road, and while passing the Folly Pond view I noticed this female Wood
duck with 4 youngsters below the beaver dam.
wood duck chicks - Folly Pond
Quick shots and a protective mother wood duck resulted in
documentation level photos. Fun to see, fun to know they are out there!
Around the island (Vinalhaven that is) – (5/27) – Barney Point
– Black throated Green & Black-throated blue warblers, Ovenbird, Northern
Parula, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blackpoll warbler, Yellow
Warbler… Basin – Red Crossbill, Ovenbird, Black throated Green warblers … Huber
– Red Crossbill, Ovenbird, Lady Slippers
mourning cloak
Planty things – Yes – go to Huber to see the Lady Slippers – you don’t
even have to leave your vehicle, but getting out is encouraged. Donate blood
now at Huber! Also -
bunchberry
Bunchberry flowers are about lately..
Canadian Mayflower
Canadian Mayflower getting going…
starfower
Starflower as well…
look for the 'big three' leaves
of the Jack in the pulpit.
This ain't no Poison Ivy
Javier in his natural habitat
Good friend, Botanist and longtime VSR backer, Javier
Penalosa sent in a photo of a cool find or ‘path’s crossing’ he’s had in
his recent explorations. And it was of a lichen no less! Here’s what Javier had
to say.
Brown Beret Lichen
photo by Javier Penalosa
‘Baeomyces rufus, the “Brown Beret Lichen,” loose soil
on a blow-down root plate by the Wharf’s Quarry Road. Occasional here, otherwise not very common on
VH. The pink (not really brown)
structures are the spore-producing apothecia’.
Man, I could read Javier’s lichen words all day. How about
you?
Thanks Javy! Lots more from Javier coming up – and we are looking
forward to it!
So this may be a safe place to wrap post up.
Hope you’ve enjoyed and have a most enjoyable time!
See you out there!
Oh yeah – some clips of otters from April ...
and the such….
