Welcome to the vinalhaven sightings report – April 29th, 2012

Big thanks to VLT and MCHT

Highlights – Baby Woodcock photos!, Eagle stories, palm(er) warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Rufous-sided Towhees of the eastern United States, Merlins, brown creeper, butterflies! Salamander eggs, otter scat,  Blue-headed Vireo, fiddleheads pokin. and much, much more! 

apologies to things left off..get 'em next time, for the guppy.

Folks are sending in sightings and the world is a better place. -Here’s how you can contact us with all your Vinalhaven sightings/photos/questions/videos (10 second max please) and comments -sightings@myfairpoint.net. The cracker-jack and crispy VSR team checks this email at least 4 times a month and welcome every and all sightings and almost all questions and some if not most comments. Don't be shy, share.

Business - if things look a little weird - text being squished between photos or the similar - that is not our fault here at the VSR. or maybe it is. we are non tech savvy, but what we, here see when we save and publish doesn't always hold true to reality (what the?). anyway, not our fault.....

Upcoming events- Armbrust Hill Bird Walks, May 2012 - Spring is here, there’s a lot to see, and  what better way to welcome the month of may than to start ‘er off with a nice birdwalk - Tuesday May 1^st , “Rabbit, Rabbit” and the such– begins our Tuesday morning bird walks (VLT/MCHT) up at Armbrust Hill. 7-9am. (The next Tuesday morning birdwalk will be on Thursday, may 10^th, 7-9am.) We’ve seen a lot of great stuff on these walks over the last three years (didn’t see much last year in the rain though) and we look forward to some more great walks this year. We’ll meet at the parking area behind the medical center. Please walk/carpool/crawl/ ride a bike as much as you can to help cut down on parking space pressure (psp). See you there or some other place unless I see you first….

VLT Warbler Walk, Saturday May 12^th 8-10am – Local favorite John Drury will be leading this outing to experience as many warblers (and great cormorants) as the group can find. Meet at skoog park to carpool. Should be a fun morning!

proud mama
photo by Bob Candage

Sightings – Favorite picture of the year (at this moment) – Bob Candage shared these photos of Woodcock babies with Skip and Carol Thompson who reluctantly (not at all really, they sent them unprovoked) shared them with me. Robert’s Harbor – (4/19). Super cute and small, fresh from the nest…….

Here’s what Donald & Lillian “widely recognized as America’s foremost authorities on birds and nature (recognized by whom?)” Stokes has to say about this stage of Woodcock development “Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior III” 1989, page 61…

Nestling phase - “The young hatch over a period of about 24 hours and stay in the nest, brooded by the female, as their feathers dry. Soon after that they leave the nest and move about with the female.”

Fledgling Phase – “After a day or two, the young can feed in the same manner as the adults by probing the soil with their bills. Before that they live off the stored food reserves with which they were born. The female and  young usually remain in damp areas where they can easily probe the soil for earthworms (non-native) and look for insects.”

..at about three weeks they can fly short distances….
…after about 4 weeks they young can fly well and are about the size of adults….”

photo by Bob Candage

Let’s do some math….1 day in the nest and 3 weeks incubation puts these guys as being “laid as eggs” at the latest March 28^th (that would be assuming they are a day old in the picture).

So these youngsters are young. And fresh and cute and we thank Bob and Skip and Carol (not necessarily in that order!) for sharing these.

Trapped Towhee
photo by Jim Clayter

Pumpkin Ridge feeding station – (4/24) Jim Clayter had a pair of Eastern Towhees at his feeding station, hopefully they will remain, (4/25) Jim also had a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak his feeder. Jim got these sweet photos of his recent visitors!

female Red-breasted Grosbeak
photo by Jim Clayter

More songbirds on the go….word has it that Drew Noyles saw a Palme(er) Warbler along a road on this very island!...(4/28) Old Harbor Pond – Blue-headed  Vireo, Yellow warbler singing (not with each other). Black-capped Chickadee excavating cavity! ... seems like if the incredible westerly winds ever stop   more songbirds will be seen. More will be showing up regardless….(4/25) Terry Goodhue reports a spotting a Veery on his porch this morning. Veeries (Verrys?) are a wonderful thrush not commonly seen out here (first I’ve heard on vinalhaven proper) with my favorite thrush song. Good spot! …..Here’s a video of a Yellow-rumped warbler singing and stretching out on lane’s (4/29) in between wind gusts

Raptors – Broad-winged Hawk – Poor Farm Road – Dylan Jackson and Adam White report watching a Broad-winged Hawk catch a rodent in one of the Stone Farm fields …(4/26) – Broad-winged(4/29) Lane’s – pair of Sharp-shinned Hawks chasing each other over the field and thru the parking lot towards Armbrust Hill…

“Must be a good year for Merlins” – Merlins continue to fill the skies with flutter-flights and chatter as they perform their courtship displaying around the school, Reach Road, Old Harbor Pond and Pete Gasperini’s house. 4 sets of Merlins within a mile of town, now that’s pretty cool….possibly/probably more merlins around the island that have not yet been reported!

Owls- Great Horned Owls – Angie Bunker reports waking up to the soothing hoots of a pair of Great Horned Owls several mornings in a row. Nice way to start the day! -….(4/20) on a midnight (or so) stroll to return a library book (“there ain’t no late fee at midnight, baby” popular Estonian pop song circa 2004) I heard a pair of Great Horneds behind Pumpkin Ridge hooting it up for more than 20 minutes and realized they were call/responding with the Greens Island pair so it was a 4 Great Horned hooting walk, now that’s a midnight stroll….Saw-whet Owl – reported from the Stone Farm area

downy woodpeckers are all over the island.
so are  hairy woodpeckers and flickers

Let’s get this out of the way – these are the birds that can safely be implied with, most if not all of the sightings (and/or trips to the woods) in this report - Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pine Siskin, Yellow-rumped Myrtle Butterbutt Warbler, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Winter Wren, Downy Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Hermit Thrush –

mack's pond wood duck

Wood Ducks – Folly Pond – Terry Goodhue reports seeing Wood Ducks by the beaver dam on a few drive-bys over the last week….Mack’s Pond – (4/18) 5 Wood Ducks were seen along with 3 Black Ducks.

we love seal bay

Huber preserve ––Seal Bay  in April is legendary as a Surf Scoter and Eider staging area  (4/18) 62 Surf Scoter, 52 Eider, 21 Bufflehead, 6 Red-breasted Merganser, Old-tailed duck, 6 Harbor Seal…(4/19) Osprey at nest!....(4/25) 97 Surf Scoter!, 3 Bufflehead, loads of eider...

this pool could use some
water

Salamander Eggs at the Huber– (4/18-25) – As mentioned (ad nauseum) in recent VSRs, Spotted Salamander egg masses have been laid early (is there a better way?), in seemingly not-so-many masses in pools visited over the years and the vernal pools have been pretty low with water. The recent rains, especially that Monday downpour, have changed the dynamics increased water levels in the pools (at least for now). In a surprise twist to the whole egg drama I found about a dozen sets of eggs (4/18) in an area where historically I had never found more than 5. Some of which were being preyed upon by a Caddisly larvae, or at least the caddisfly was trying to weasel its way in. Here’s the best video I got of the caddisfly trying to get in some dirty eggs (eggs covered with dirt) – please turn down the volume on this video before watching – in my excitement to video this I started the video before I did my exhale associated with squatting (squatters know what I’m talking about) which is not the most comfortable position to be videotaping from. Anyway that’s me breathing at the beginning.. I won’t forget again and that’s the caddisfly with leaf bits and needles on its back…

the embryos in this photo are still curled up

“Caddissfly larvae – the insects who build those impressive houses around themselves – also feed on the eggs and embryos” – Thomas Tyning – guide to amphibians and reptiles page 127

 

Thanks for confirming Tommy!

 
It’s the Double dutch – “ohhla-ohhla” so a revisit to a pool up on Armbrust Hill (4/28) turned up 15 spotted salamander egg masses, where just two weeks ago there were none. The eggs were fresh, probably laid after Monday’s rain, and the salamander embryos are still curled up into little balls. The eggs we stole from Huber 3 weeks ago are fully uncurled and look to be ready to start twitchin’ any day now (damn twitchers). This will inspire revisits to other previously visited pools to see if there might be two differently aged sets of eggs in one pool! Can you think of anything crazier?  

Butterflies that overwinter as adults have been in numbers throughout the woods and neighborhoods. Spending the winter in cavities and under bark, adult butterflies seem to have done well with the mild winter. Loads of Red Admirals, Mourning Cloaks, with a few Question Mark, American Ladies as well. Spring Azures (little blue jobbies) are also starting to be seen. Certainly more butterflies to come! Here’s a red admiral video…

huber mourning cloak - open

This Mourning Cloak butterfly has been defending a turf at the Huber preserve for over a week (assuming it’s the same butterfly – might be a big assumption) and had incredibly serious and fun battles to watch as it chased off any other mourning cloak that flew by.  

huber mourning cloak - closes

Eagle Stories – thanks to Jim Clayter for sending in this eagle photo from Old Harbor Pond – (4/13).  Both of the following stories are 3^rd generation oral history……

”A friend of mine was walking across his land from shop to trap pile yesterday
when a 13 inch flounder fell from the sky, "almost hitting me on the head", he said.
Apparently an eagle threatened an osprey enough to have it drop his catch.
It's in my fridge now.” –Jim Clayter

 

&

Apparently an eagle nailed a common loon (who cares, they are common) at the end of Crockett River road. The eagle could not lift the bird out of the water and started to swim to shore with its meal. On the shore the eagle found that distraught witnesses (who had apparently grown fond of the loon over the winter) of the attack were waiting to pry said loon loose with a lynch mob mentality (embellishment?). Not sure how the story ends (or if I care to know) but it does raise the question of when will eagles learn that they are only allowed to catch salmon in Alaska and that they should leave cute little bird babies and local favorites alone. Or just stick to dead eiders. Come on baldies!

about as good as a creeper photo as
i've ever gotten.

In respect to Creepers…..Brown Creeper – (Certhia americana) – Brown Creepers are cool. One of the coolest species around. I have never anyone who didn’t like creepers (to be honest – I haven’t met many folks with an opinion on Creepers). Creepers cling to the trees like clingy things, camouflaged to the "T".

Creepers have been singing in the woods out here for weeks and have only gotten a passing mention in these reports – red squirrels have gotten more press than these beauties... Many of these singers will be passing thru or how it seems. At Huber the other day I was able to catch a few shots of a male creeper as he worked his way up a spruce…

that's a creepy back

Creepers are the only North American member of the family Certhiidae, – one of 7 or 8 species (depending of “tree-creepers” found throughout Europe and Asia with “the greatest diversity (of creepers) occurs in the Himalayas” – sibley guide to bird behavior.

royal fern is one of our
favorite Osmundas

Anyway, they've been singing for weeks and haven't gotten the respect they deserve here at the VSR. I watched a Creeper at huber the other day collecting nesting materials (old man's beard lichen) . They make a hammocky like nest between a tree trunk and peeling bark, and they are doing this all over the island as we speak. hey are the only songbirds (in north america) to molt their tailfeathers like woodpeckers - keeping the strong central tail feathers while the rest of the tail feathers are exchanged.

Native, invasive, and cute when their little

fertile cinnamon fern

fiddlehead pokin' - soon the fern fields will be green and lush, they are just gettin' goin' at the moment... here's a few we've liked recently....




Violets -

...with so many flowers on the way, nice to have trails lined with violets these days.

some are colored violet. some are white....

it rained one day







and some are super heroes. and some are wooly bears...

and then we stopped writing.

hope everyone is doing well.

 

Welcome to the vinalhaven sightings report – April 15^th, 2012

Big thanks to VLT and MCHT

“I love salamander eggs” - leify

Highlights – salamander eggs, merlins return!, red-bellied woodpecker, coyote scat, woodcocks, otter stuff, white-throated sparrow, finches, ducks, new arrivals, dead shrew, baby crossbills,

Looking to send in a sighting or two? - then look no further! Here’s how you can contact us with all your sightings/photos/questions/ and comments - write to us at  sightings@myfairpoint.net. The cracker-jack and crispy VSR team checks this email at least 4 times a month and so surely will get back to you as soon as possible about your sighting. think of it - your name could be mentioned in the report and then when someone (most likely you) googles your name the VSR will show up! you will be an instant celebrity with yourself. or with your bad self. either way we welcome every and all sightings and questions and most comments. don't be shy.

Upcoming events – Tuesday May 1^st – begins our Tuesday morning bird walks (VLT/MCHT) up at Armbrust Hill. 7-9am, met at the parking area behind the medical center. Please walk/carpool/ ride a bike to help cut down on parking space pressure (psp). See you there or someplace else….

sunset from "middle" tip-toe

couldn't have asked for a nicer, more polite moonrise

Past events - Tip-toe mountain – VLT’s “sunset, woodcocks, and a big ol’ moon walk” went off without a hitch on April 6^th. The goal of the hike was 3 fold (and clearly stated in the title) – a sunset, a woodcock, and a full moon rise. A beautiful and comfortably (numb) warm evening made for a fun social sunset, a quieter woodcock watch, and a wonderful moonrise coming out of the trees as the close the show. The ultimate trifecta (along with any Puffin, Wood Duck, Harlequin Duck day). The heller field woodcock, lovingly nicknamed “what”, appears to have survived for another round of mating. This is now the 5^th year of our (the royal “our”) collective knowledge of this particular woodcock and its predicable behaviors that give him the honor of being known as “the most user friendly woodcock in the world” – the world being vinalhaven of course. And sure enough “what” performed his “peenting” magic out in the open for clear scope views of the dude. Thanks to those who came out and we hope to see you on the next one.

Basin Clean-up – (4/14) about a dozen people (i was never good at counting) helped haul about 2 truckloads of trash out of the basin and along granite island road in a beautification effort that keeps on giving. Always a good way to spend a Saturday morning. Big thanks to those who came out for that one.

microwave tower osprey have returned!

Sightings – Returners, Nesters and those who are singing/displaying over the past two weeks– Eastern Phoebe, White-throated Sparrow, Winter Wren, Northern Gannet, Double-crested Cormorants, Turkey Vultures, Pine Siskin, Purple Finch, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Woodcock, Osprey (at the tower (4/15)), Great Blue Heron, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Flicker, Song Sparrow, Belted Kingfisher, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Chickadees…

(4/7) (The lovely) Amy Palmer spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker just past the Galamander towards the school.

(4/14) word from John Drury is that the school yard Merlins have returned! John has been hearing the pair making a racket pretty close to his place (which also happens to be close to the school) for a few days now at least. Must be 4 years ago when that the merlins were first heard from the schoolyard (at least first heard on Wednesday afternoons), but they have historically nested within a ½ mile of the school for several years now. Good to have ‘em back

spotted salamander eggs
count the black dots - there is close to 80 of them

Salamander Eggs - (4/7) John Drury also dropped off the hottest tip since the infamous “my husband saw the coyote across the pond” email from Kris Osgood last year. It was about finding some spotted salamander eggs in a local vernal pool – saying something along the lines of “got eggs in the pool”.

And with this news it’s safe to say that the salamander eggs are early this year (eggs laid 4/6) – 12 days earlier than last year (4/18/11), 9 days from the year before (4/15/10) and 3 weeks before the two years before that year (4/30/09 & 4/28/08). In other words they are the earliest in the last 5 years (the limits for our data) – or maybe 08 and 09 were “late”. (Should be noted that the spotted salamanders emerged roughly the same time each year (late march)). Anyway, if theories hold true, the low water level of the pools is what motivated the salamanders to breed so soon after getting to the vernal pools. 2010 was another dry spring, where we saw eggs laid early.

Anyway, there’s been a buzz around my house since john’s egg report and that buzz has led to plenty of egg searches in some of our favorite pools – Leif often leading the charge. And holding every egg mass he can get his paws on. Here’s what we’ve noted

this guy has salamander egg fever

foggy white egg mass

(4/9) – Granite Island Preserve – quarry by the trailhead. 3 egg masses (tough glare – might be a few more, but doubtful) out in the middle in the deep zone. No access…. (4/9) Armbrust Hill – no egg masses found in two pools of historic significance. Garter snake found though (and stepped on – “I stepped on a snake”) by the swings. We moved it to the juniper and then it snowed. Bad day to be cold blooded… (4/9, 12, 15)) Turbines- closest ditch to the gate – 3 egg masses.  Currently Leif’s favorite vernal pool. Loves those white masses. We have gone there enough (3x this week?) to note that the salamanders in one of the masses have uncurled already within the egg (4/15). We haven’t found that in any of the other masses this year – so it seems a little advanced. John Drury also reports finding eggs in another pool in the turbine area.

the whole mass was hanging or
masswholehanging

vita's drool was lacking moisture

We also visited 2 island vernal pools that are legendary – Vita’s Drool and the Motherload - here’s what we found– (4/12) Huber preserve – “everyone’s favorite vernal pool” - you know the pool I’m talking about – the rectangular hole right along the trail about a ¼ of the way to the water. The pool was officially named “vita’s drool” by the advanced outdoor explorers group of 2008 (these were 9^th grade boys remember). The name was based on an inside joke that of course wasn’t necessarily good enough to merit a name, but was pretty funny all the same (kinda had to be there). Anyway, photos from May 4^th, 2008 show a partially full/partially empty vernal pool (measured 8x 18ft of water). There were seven egg masses found that day in May, and plenty of water to go with them. This year in early April the pool is dry and a single spotted salamander egg mass was hanging by a twig on April 12^th (2012). (With a long warm, dry stretch coming we opted to take the eggs home, as they most likely weren’t going to survive in the wild). Low numbers and low water to say the least, rockin’ the vernal pool world.

motherload revisited
most of the lower horizontal branches "should" be under
water for all of may and april

North Perry Creek (4/15) – The motherload - an annual outing to the largest (non-quarry) vernal pool I’ve seen on the island.  In 2008 the pool was measured at 21x 48ft. – when there were 43 egg masses (May 11^th, 2008). The vernal pool was named “the motherload” by Joey reidy and I because it was the only vernal pool we found that year that had 30 egg masses, much less 40. I have returned each year since (thus the “annual outing” comment above) and have found anywhere between 25-35 masses per year, with no year having less than 25.  

Today (4/15) Leif, Amy and I visited the pool found an extremely low water level that had five egg masses in it. Here, I’ll type that slower for our New Jersey readers– FIVE EGG MASSES TOTAL. The pool seemed puny, (yet still impressive) but many of the branches that were covered in water (and egg masses) over the past 4 years were several inches above the closest water.        

So the theme this year for vinalhaven’s pools is low water, early egg laying, and low numbers of egg masses. Now, it’s still early in the season (which season exactly?) and we could get a bunch of rain yet this spring and all the pools fill up. I’m not convinced that all the salamanders have even moved yet – it has not been the best year for salamander migration, conditions just haven’t come together. So if some still are to make their way to the pools (soon) it will be interesting to see if it’s not too late for them to breed. We’ll keep tabs and let you, cuz that’s the kind of people we are – curious about the reproductive behavior of salamanders. Man do we need a hobby or what!?!

basin rain - as pure and innocent as any other rain

And then we did get some rain, and it felt good. I found myself in the basin getting wet, but was rewarded with a seeing a double rainbow over old harbor pond. That rain doesn’t seem to have helped the salamander scene any, but it certainly didn’t hurt. So it goes.

there are two pots of gold in old harbor pond
or at least some kind of pot is there

Finches – They are here, and in force. Purple Finches, Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, White-winged Crossbills, and Red Crossbills have made the dream of a five finch vinalhaven day a reality – ok only on 11^th, but anyway. Here’s a story associated with the finches….

(4/11) First day back with my binos (binoculars) after a month with borrowed ones that were not mine (they were borrowed). Those binos were fine, just didn’t feel right to me. Anyway, I was wondering what I’d been missing, not having the binos to be searching with, and my first day searching turned up something I’d never seen before. In the basin I looked up hearing white-winged crossbills in a tree above me and so I slapped some ultra clear, ultra clean glass on the crossbills to find 3 juvenile and 5 adults! I’d never seen juvenile White-winged Crossbills before (VNM) and while breaking a smile another group of crossbills flew into the same tree. In this group there were 10 Red Crossbills -5 juveniles and 5 adults. I’d never seen juvenile Red Crossbills before (VNM). The breeding this winter in the crossbill world may be unmatched by any other species (we’ll see how many humans give birth in October/November) and is just as impressive as it is fun to see.  

 

Basin – 4/3 winter wren, purple finch, ww crossbill, American goldfinch, pine siskin (4 finch walk) otter scat…4/4 shrew, ww crossbill…

this goo is white, came out of an otter,
and is somehow connected (literally or not)
with its butt

4/8 otter white stuff, comb jelly, skunk cabbage wtsparrow, coyote scat….

Now, we’ve been thru this before with otters and that white goo that they sometimes leave behind.

 
“otters also secrete a white, gooey substance that some believe is the intestinal tract and others believe is from the anal glands.” – mammal tracks and sign. Mark elbroch

“some biologists believe that the anal gland secretes this substance, others that it comes from the intestinal tract.” Tracking and the art of seeing. Paul Rezenedes

 

we love turkey tail.
especially cuz its not connected with the white otter goo

I don’t care that they have the same quote pretty much, but two people told me once that when two people say the same thing is when that “same thing” becomes a fact. (I smacked them both). Either way, this stuff is like the grossest stuff I’ve ever found in the woods (that is not decomposing), be it dead or alive. It’s like the goo in the beer bottle that was left on the side of road months ago that you empty out to put in your car or bike only to put it back on the ground, cuz you just can’t have that goo on your bike or car. I don’t care what part of the body it comes from (“there is a fine line between intestines and an anal gland” – old Estonian saying) it’s gross. So hey – here’s a picture of the latest otter goo found. Right outside of otter den #3. Needless to say the camera has been moved.

turkey tail and woodpeckers - perfect together

Turkey tail and Woodpeckers – many of us have contemplated the relationship between woodpeckers and fungus. Woodpeckers often peck openings into trees that create access for fungal spores to all that heartwood (nirvana for polypores). Fungal decomposition of trees can create habitats for many woodpecker meals (those yummy grubbies in the decaying wood).

Anyway, (with this in mind or not in mind) I found this birch log at fox rocks (4/9) with a turkey tail fungus that found woodpecker-pecked openings in the birch bark perfect to flower thru. It seemed kinda cool; you can be the judge of that. Please keep your judgments to yourself.  

Shrews – "just try and tame us…. - alright, shrews are a group  of mammals  that everyone digs cuz you never see them and in general no one knows anything about them.  once or twice a winter I'll find shrew tracks and trails between two tunnels in a snow, and think for a few minutes a bout how cool they are. a few quick things about shrews - VSR fast shrew facts - VSRFSF - lifted from Peterson guide to mammals (Reid 2006) answers to questions we have made up in our heads...

1. no, they are not Insectivora- (come on - its been at least 6 years - get a field guide!), they are currently thought to be in, and so are considered to be found and placed in the order Soricimorpha - Shrews and Moles. as far as Fiona  Reid is concerned they (shrews and moles) are connected and close relatives as they are both "small and have long narrow snouts. They have 5 digits on the front and hind feet". alright -  so the Soricimorpha is cool, to be teamed with moles is alright.
does anyone every think of these mammals?

2. no. its actually echolocation, like sonar or radar, that some shrews are believed to use so they can find enough food to "constantly" eat. shrews are crazy little mammals.

this shrew is dead

3. shrews usually - a. don't climb, b. swim, c. nocturnal, d."the smallest mammals in North America"      this is not a multiple choice question.

4. here's a quote - "They are well known for their nervous and high-strung behavior as well as for their legendary consumption of food. in captivity many species will eat two or more times their own weight in food each day and may die of starvation or stress if food deprived for a few hours.

5. lifespan is usually a year or less.

anyway, so i found this dead shrew in the Basin. It longer tail kind of narrows down what species it is. Apparently to figure out shrews "to species" you often have to look at their teeth. i didn't do that.

The apparently taste bad, some even have poison, and are killed by predators sometimes and then left to rot as not even the scavengers will go after them. this one very well could have died of a heart attack. so it goes...

 

Skunk Cabbage photo gallery – we’ll have a more thorough commentary on “how’s the skunk cabbage coming” hopefully in the next report. Until then here’s a few photos to give folks a feel for

 

leify likes to point out skunk cabbage

and a few of leify

vernal pooling is dirty business