Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings
Report
October 1, 2026
Big thanks to the Maine Coast
Heritage Trust!
 |
| Sea Pickle or Glasswort photo by Linnell Mather |
‘Slap Some Orange on’
&
“Müllerian mimicry’ or ‘All
Boletes Are My Favorite’
Highlights – Bear
Stuff, Trip to Seal, Pileated Woodpecker, Mushrooms!, Insects featuring Large
Milkweed Bugs, Otters and Otter holes, Mourning Cloaks and so much more!
Business: vinalhavensigthingsreport@gmail.com
Hey! Where should you send email addresses and nature
sightings? To the
email address directly above! Share and be shared with – all from the comfort
of wherever you are right now! We do hope you are comfortable!
But wait - ‘It’s only October’ you say, to which we reply
– yes you are right! Bowhunting for deer has already started, muzzleloaders
are up next and things only get busier and louder as we slide into firearm
season.
Do yourself (and the hunters) a favor and ‘slap some orange on’
when you walk in the woods these days – a hat, a coat, a visor,
gloves, undies, anything! I shouldn’t speak for you or anyone else but – no
one wants to shoot you, and you don’t want to get shot. That aint the way to go
– so put some orange on for crying out loud!
scrambled egg slime
photo by Linnell Mather
Sightings! – Thanks to Linnell Mather for sending in a bunch of
photos that will act as an accompaniment to some of the stories below. Thanks
Linnell!
Bear Sign – well, by now most folks have heard about the Black Bear that
made its way to Vinalhaven earlier this summer. If you haven’t seen the
clips of the bear from a trail camera in the White Islands here’s a
link to the VSR with the clips! -
https://vinalhavensightings.blogspot.com/2026/08/welcome-to-vinalhaven-sightings-report.html
Well, with a large, yet shy visitor such as this it’s worth a
‘look around’ to see if you notice any ‘bear sign’ near you – never
know what you might find. Leah Creelman did just this – looked around
and found some bear sign (LAFSBS)! 
'bear-ded jug'
photo by Leah Creelman
Twice in fact – Leah found this jug in August
and joked that a bear might haven bitten it…
…only to find this bait bucket with ‘puncture wounds’
in it in September!
'bear-ded bucket'
photo by Leah Creelman
‘Fresh sign’? or ‘ol’ news’ (not ol’ news at
all!)? The exact timing of when the bear ‘attacked the jug and bucket’
is not known, but these were found in the Round Pond area, which is not
necessarily close to where the bear had been previously spotted. Leah did
mention that her dog had been very reluctant to walk in the area at all
this summer.
Thanks for sharing Leah! Cool stuff!
pitch pine
And no one is saying that the bear is still on island, just
the same as no one is saying it left - but it will be interesting to hear if
any hunters cross paths with it this fall. More to come…. or maybe not….
Atlantic Puffins!
Photo by Gillian Lobkowicz
Seal Island - Gillian Lobkowicz was kind enough to send in some
photos from an August trip to Seal Island aboard ‘Skua’ with
Captain John Drury.
Grey Seal Heads
photo by Gillian Lobkowicz
Quote from Gillian – ‘Saw a great Sunfish and tons of dolphins
but wasn’t able to capture them on film’.
Sounds like there was a lot to be seen that day and that a
lot of it was seen! Thanks Gillian! Fun photos and report!
wilson's storm petrel
photo by Gillian Lobkowicz
What a great summer for Wilson’s Storm Petrels and for
seeing pelagic wildlife in general. Looking forward to getting back
around Seal next summer. In the meantime, the fall/winter/spring ferry rides
will do! More to come here…
Colleen Conlan was kind enough to send in these clips of a Pileated
Woodpecker she crossed paths with. On a tree!
Or on a stump!
young cardinal
photo by Linnell Mather
So, it’s true – Pileateds are wonderful to see on both
stumps and trees! Either way it is so cool and thanks for sharing! Thanks
Colleen! Fun videos!
large milkweed bug
photo by Linnell Mather
Large Milkweed Bugs – Linnell Mather has been having fun watching a
population of Large Milkweed Bugs. A little more about these rascals!
‘Oncopeltus fasciatus, known as the large milkweed bug, is a medium-sized hemipteran
(true bug) of the family Lygaeidae. It is distributed throughout North
America, from Central America through Mexico and the Caribbean to
southern areas in Canada. Costa Rica is the southern limit of its
range.’
‘… have a red/orange and black X-shaped pattern on
their wings underneath the triangle that is typical to hemipterans. This
feature makes the bug easily seen, acting as an aposematic warning to
predators. O. fasciatus exhibits Müllerian mimicry and is noxious
to predators. The ventral side of the fourth abdominal segment bears a
black band in the male and two black spots in the female. Juveniles are born
mostly red with black antennae and a few black spots; throughout growth the
black spots are developed as well as wing pads. The eggs are bright orange and
easily detectable.’
large milkweed bugs
photo by Linnell Mather
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| Large Milkweed Bugs! photo by Linnell Mather |
‘…goes through incomplete metamorphosis, exhibiting small
changes throughout development such as coloration changes, development
of wings and genitalia. O. fasciatus begins as an egg and
experiences four nymphal stages over 28–30 days before moulting to adulthood.
Females become sexually receptive within a few days of adulthood.’
Good stuff! Milkweed patches are legendary for the diversity of
life that visit!
mourning cloak
from below
Mourning Cloaks – Mourning Cloak butterflies have a special place in
many people’s hearts – and for probably for a variety of reasons – but for me
they are the first butterfly I see in spring and that is cool. Like in April,
when it’s not necessarily that warm.
lounging Mourning Cloak
Adult butterflies in Maine in April, that’s neat-o - and it is! Mourning Cloaks overwinter
as adults in tree cavities, under bark, and sometimes just on the
ground. They are good to go once it’s warm enough.
Monarch Chrysalis
photo by Linnell Mather
Since they overwinter as adults, ‘one’ would think there
would be a noticeable ‘flight of Mourning Cloaks’ in the fall/September.
And ‘one’ would be absolutely right! Even so, and with the understanding
that sightings have a lot to do with luck and timing, in the past I have
seldom seen more than one adult in September. In fact, many years I won’t
see any in the fall, whereas I’ll always see around 5 each April.
Well, this September felt like a massive wave of M. Cloaks
passed along the coast! Between Vinalhaven, St George and North Haven I ended
up seeing 8 adults! Massive. Janet Ghores saw a couple on VH, as
did Kristen Linquist on Monhegan Island, and Kat O’Connor in Southern
Maine. I snapped some shots of this particular individual lounging on a branch on
North Haven. So fun to see so fresh in the fall!
bayberry
Here’s a couple of other fun things about the Mourning Cloaks
-
‘Nymphalis antiopa, known as the mourning cloak in North America and the Camberwell
beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North
America. Other older names for this species include grand surprise and white
petticoat.
 |
| gem-studded puffball |
Jack in the pulpit
‘L. Hugh Newman likened the butterfly's pattern to a girl
who, disliking having to be in mourning, defiantly let a few inches of a bright
dress show below her mourning dress.’
Well, there you have it – I love the Japanese name for Mourning
Cloak and L. Hugh Newman might have been a little creepy. So
much to learn here!
Turkey Vultures or Something Stinks over here! – While retrieving a barrel (video
of retrieval not included) on Lanes I couldn’t help but notice the low
flying Turkey Vultures.
 |
| juvenile Turkey Vulture |
3 of em, consistently (or constantly?) flying close to the tops of the bay
berry, only to pass on and return in loops!
Something must have stunk on the shore as the Turkey Vultures
have been spending a lot of time there. Easily seen from the ferry terminal!
Mushrooms – Not the biggest September for shrooms in the mid-coast, but September
kinda redeemed itself towards the last few days – more to come with that
awesome rain last week - hopefully! Here’s a few spotted along the trails in
the Basin.
yellow red gilled polypore
Yellow-red Gilled Polypore (Gloeophyllum sepiarium) – here’s one that is adding color
to logs and stumps around the island. New, brightly colored fruiting bodies
(heavenly bodies?) are growing and becoming more obvious with the rains.
yellow red gilled polypore
Don’t forget to look at Yellow-red Gilled Polypore
undercarriages – the gills are cool and not really what you might expect to
see under a ‘shelf mushroom’. Well, now you might expect the gills!
chrome footed bolete
Chrome footed Bolete – (Harrya chromapes) We dig the boletes with pink caps and bright
yellow base. Nice color and the slugs enjoy em!
birch scaber-stalk
Birch Bolete/Birch Scaber-stalk (Leccinum scabrum) – another favorite
Bolete (all boletes are my favorite), mycorrhizal with the trees,
helping them grow, while popping up a cool fruiting body every now and then.
false chanterelles
False Chanterelles – (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) – arguably the most numerous ‘mushroom
that looks like a mushroom’ I’ve seen along the trails (but that would be
arguing with myself), adds some color from a nice spectrum that covers subtle
oranges to light orange – the coveted spectrum!
More on False Chanterelles - Genetic analysis has confirmed
that it belongs to the order Boletales and is more closely related to boletes. (Wait - what?)
Austrian naturalist Franz Xaver von Wulfen described the
false chanterelle as Agaricus aurantiacus in 1781, (first time it was given an
incorrect Latin name!)
Couple more incorrect Latin names there – that makes me laugh about mushroom
people who insist on scientific names being used. The Latin of many, if not
most mushroom species that I am aware of and learned ‘back in the day’ have changed
in my lifetime! Some multiple times – but the common names have stayed the
same. We are learning so much about fungus and fungal relationships and have
much more to learn. I look forward to seeing how wrong the information that
currently is considered correct will be. Ha ha!
Anyway – Martin-Sans added that it could be confused with the chanterelle by the inexperienced, but that its true nature was very different; in contrast to its edible lookalike, he described it as "kind of pernicious".
Kind of pernicious? Anyway – if you are seeing an orange mushroom in the woods
these days there is a fair chance it’s a False Chanterelle.
shaggy manes
photo by Stevie Mesko
This just in! Stevie Mesko – the Stevie
Mesko – sent in these photos of Shaggy Manes (Coprinus comatus)! Shags
are members of one of the coolest groups of mushrooms – Inky Caps! These shrooms
disperse their spores via ‘deliquescing’, or the liquifying of the cap.
..and sometimes edibility! Shaggy Manes are a favorite morning
shroom – Shags and Eggs! – but you gotta get em before they
deliquesce – then it gets a little weird to eat them! Ha ha!
 |
| river otter photo by Doug Fincham |
Doug mentioned he hadn’t seen this one using the ‘undershed’
before and thought maybe it was crashing for the day there and got startled by
the noise of chickens and geese Doug had sent ‘free ranging’.
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| Rivere otter photo by Doug Fincham |
Thanks Doug! Fun shots!
otter dig
And finally – we wrap this post up with a couple of shots from
the Basin where the otters have been digging holes in the marsh for
years. It’s not for food, most likely for marking as the mounds made from
the dug muck is topped off by spraint! Maybe its fun too. I don’t get it.
Still haven’t found a good explanation for this behavior, and
it’s not very common from my limited experience. Whatever the case, the result are
‘holes with a view’. Beautiful spot!
Limited Editions galore!
cookies!
Been working on senior portraits with Leif.
And finally caught an Iron Maiden show (with Leif). And yes –
it was fantastic.
Okee duke – see you out there and see you next time!
