Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report – May 20^th, 2013

Brought to you by MCHT, VLT and U

Drury trifecta with 3 brothers reporting – Quadfecta with Elaine’s observations as well
Good times

shaggin' at fox rocks - mother's day
note the 3 shags flying over

 

there are plenty of these guys around these days

Highlights – Songbirds including…..Baltimore Oriole, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak (beauty trifecta!), Warblers, Otters (not songbirds), Swallows, pellets, raptors….man it’s all happening these days – butterflies… Tropicbird is back!

Email issues – The email lists have hit a snafu or something when I send out the reminder announcements for when a new post is posted Yahoo is not on the team currently. So you may have noticed things are coming from vinalhavensightings@gmail.com . That is probably the way things will continue to be sent.

i like black and white
warbler butts and i can
not lie

If you have sent in addresses recently they will be added...I swear! Got to get over the hump, so to speak, with yahoo first.

other issues - this one is a little thing on meat, but full of photos. there have been some distractions as of late. so it goes...
 

And a quick reminder – if you send in sightings to the vinalhavensightings@gmail.com your sightings will make it into the post for sure. If you send them to baldfulmar, they may get buried and never see the light of day again. These things happen. And have probably happened here…

Tiit Trick - don't forget to click on images to make them larger than life.

beautiful.
photo by sally.

Sightings …. So lots of songbirds coming thru these days – let’s start with Sally…

 
 

dude
photo by Sally

Skin Hill – Sally has a magic touch – first orioles of the season – or FOOTS – (5/14), as well as Ruby-throated Hummingbird – both genders!…..

 

here she comes
photo by sally

Lots of warblers stopping in her yard – Yellows, Yellow-rumpeds, Black-throated Greens, and this wonderful photo of a wonderful White-crowned Sparrow. Thanks again Sally!

 

white-crowned
photo by sally

Quick green’s Island Report from John Drury – (5/12) Blackburnian & Black-throated Green Warblers, American Redstart, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern Parula…..

(5/19) Blackburnian, Palm(er), Black and White Warblers, House Wren, etc – “etc” undoubtedly stands for a slew of warblers that coming thru in big numbers these days – “the regulars”. We love it when they are regular….

black and white singing

 

(5/15) Great Egret fly by on Green's headed for town.

 

And from Willie and Elaine – Indigo Bunting and Rose-breasted Grosbeak spent about 5 days at feeders…two males….what a beautiful sight that must have been….”they came together, and they left together” as Willie put it. Insert first comment that comes to mind here.

 

Armbrust Hill – it’s just right there, and yet it can be full of birdies. (5/8) Yellow-rumped, Parula, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-bellied Plover, Goldfinch...(5/13) parula, Black and white, Black-throated Green (BTG), Yellow-rumped, Common Yellowthroat,

philly vireo
soft face

 

Lane’s Island (5/17) – Philadelphia Vireo, Redstart, Magnolia Warbler, “etc”

Northern Parula - belting it out!

 

got your back
cool marking -
olive patch on a parula's back

Species focus – Northern Parula – Parulas are one of the top 5 breeding warblers on vinalhaven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

does this look good to you?

Makes a hammock/pendulum nest out of old man’s beard lichen in New England, Spanish moss in the south. Check out this happy couple checking out a bunch of Old Man’s Beard (not mine!) in the yard……

she isn't completely sold

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classic song – a rising trill with a firm drop off on the “shoot” - “ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,shoot” –one of our favorite warblers.

this Blackburnian Warbler is eating a winter moth caterpillar

 

And here’s something cool – kinda – I have seen 4 species of Warblers eating winter moth caterpillars. Black-throated Green, Yellow-rumped, Blackburnian and Northern Parula. In no way does this make the situation any better. But we do have the birds on our side.

sometimes black and white warblers
camoflauge with birch.

 

From the Ferry - Captain Pete Report –  (5/7- 5/13)  we had fog this week. Did not see much else…Migration - There were large flocks of ducks and cormorants.

Lots of Scoters probably Surf. On the 10th and 11th. We saw many flocks of 50 to 75 birds.

On the 11th the first Terns this year. We saw only 4-5 razorbills. I also saw Bonaparte’s Gulls.

Thanks Pete!

 

From me from the ferry – (5/7) – Barn Swallow trying to land on the boat in the fog. Trying. Red-throated Loon as well. Razorbill too!

 

injured, rehabilitated, and ready to go
photo by john drury

On the water… more from John Drury – 3 red-throated loon on rockland  to mutinous rock run, two nice summery looking

peregrine, Merlin, ww scot in matinicus roads.



three hundred gulls worming in the reach last week. (very cool, and very late)

(5/18) -Iceland gull at Matinicus Rock.

this moss is turned up by otters.

 

Around the island - ….(5/8) Poor Farm Road – Broad-winged Hawk (don’t worry – they don’t like to cross water), Parula, Brown Creeper…

 

3 otter getting ready to tear it up

Tip-toe Mtn area – (5/8) Golden-crowned Kinglet, Winter Wren, Black-throated Green Warbler….a nice Great Horned Owl pellet – full of Snowshoe Hare remains….and Otter Stuff.

 

snowshow hare in the form of a pellet
 



its all in the belly, its all in the slide

The otter rolling site has been expanded, and with the trail camera we are able to see that a group of three otters have been “turning up the moss”. Only one returns a few days later – all the tracks and trails in the snow this winter were from a solo otter. The group of three is a cool find.

 

 

got a pellet on my leg

 










Another owl pellet – from the long cove area – this looked more like a Long-eared Owl pellet – but very cool with a shrew skull in it!

 

and there is too much more to remember or report. and that's a good sign.

 

 

And then there is Leify. We made a quick run to Cape Cod a few weeks back (old stomping grounds for me). Best shots I have of the little man from May.

 

Enjoy, rock on and everything else good……

Happy Mother's Day!

Welcome to the winter moth action update – May 12^th, 2013

Not a vsr but still still brought to you by VLT, MCHT, & TFWM

“all I wanted was a cup of coffee,

and I left being told I was harsh”

 

This is an update as to where “we” (the royal “we”) as an island are as far as winter moth and management for the moth goes. This non-VSR originally was broken down into three parts – (1) The visit, (2) The verdict, (3) the news (which in itself is broken into 2 parts). But so much has been happened, and I don’t want to give away the ending -this has not a “pick me up” non-VSR to write- but let me just say that things haven’t gotten any better. So it goes, and here we go –

 

But let’s start with an emphasis and a warning– first the emphasis –and it seems like it should be understood by now– but plants should not be moved from town to other parts of the island. It should be assumed that every hardwood sapling, tree or shrub in town has winter moth caterpillars on them. Transporting plants from town is essentially planting winter moth around the island. The rest of the island doesn’t want winter moth. So don’t move plants. Sounds simple, right? Sometimes it can be hard for some folk and sometimes we make poor decisions. – but we can’t emphasize this point enough – “plants in town are contaminated, leave ‘em there gosh daminated”.

 

here's charlene , you may recognize her
as "Cyclops" from the X-men

Warning – there are a lot of words below; this was supposed to be a quickie, but sometimes the lengths we go to even surprise ourselves. Unfortunately, when the words are put together they combine to make this the one of the least positive posts posted where posts go on this blog. And there is some hideously censored fowl language (and I ain’t talking “quack”), but these stories need to be told, and if this were a scratch and sniff blog you’d be smelling something fowl by now – and it wasn’t me!

 

Anyway - The Visit – (5/1) Well, we had our annual “Winter moth check-up” also known as the “Operophtera brumata exam” on this fine Wednesday morning – Charlene Donahue (state entomologist and winter moth authority) came out with her Cyclops goggles to take a closer look at our springtime swelling of local buds (with the buds permission of course). Charlene, Pam Johnson and I visited several sites in town where winter moth activity was noted as “high” last year – focusing on an area we (the royal “we”) call the “brumata triangle” (the sands to high street/skin hill to pond street –highly contaminated).

this is a tiny caterpillar - photo by Pam Johnson

 

And so we were looking for tiny caterpillars – about the size of something really, really tiny. It’s the caterpillars that have just hatched are freakin’ tiny. But with space age, robotic goggles the tiny dudes get all big. And the caterpillars are getting bigger as well – 5 molts before they are ready to pupate. That’s huge!

you can kind of see silk around this bud.
photo by pam johnson

 

We were also looking (and you can too!) for strands of silk lightly waving in the breeze from buds. What’s up with the silk you ask? Good question – winter moth caterpillars will extend a loop or so of silk, extend it into the wind and then get a free ride in an action referred to as “ballooning”. Long stands of silk could be seen easily where caterpillars had ridden the wind waves to closer access to fresh tasty buds.  

 



trees were marked so charlene could find them

The visit was successful (in a few ways) in that Charlene made it out, she found caterpillars, and that she took samples back to the lab. You couldn’t ask for a more productive visit – the necessary steps were been taken/made – not skipped – lining us up for the parasitic flies! Really the only true heroes in the winter moth story…..

 

The point of the survey/yearly exam (turn and cough) was to see if we have enough moths to justify releasing these parasitic flies that are the answer to all our fears. The flies are the natural predators from Europe of the winter moth, and have been introduced in both British Columbia and Nova Scotia with no mention (nothing mentioned, huh?) of side effects on other plants or animals or most importantly – fungus or slime molds. Apparently Charlene has a permit to release the flies out here, but only if we have enough caterpillars/moth individuals for the flies to be able to establish themselves. And so we looked…..  

 

the clouds looked cool that day

And so….The Verdict – Survey Says… Yep, we got ‘em. And loads of them at that. Trees that were banded had just as many caterpillars as those unbanded. Apparently the ballooning is an effective method of dispersal. Charlene explained that it was consistent with what she’d seen in Harpswell and other hotspots along the coast – the caterpillars seemed to balloon as soon as they hatched from the egg. How much control a caterpillar has on a silken “balloon” is debatable (I bet it’s got none control!!!!).

 

And so the verdict was/is – that we have enough caterpillars to justify the releasing of a parasitic fly (once again – the hero in this whole saga is a fly!!!!! So cool). Congratulations everybody! High fives all around – we’ve got moths! And now for some shit*y news…..

 

#1) – we have enough caterpillars to justify parasitic flies. There is no two ways about it, this is not good. This is not new news.

 

#2) –  and now for the even shit*ier news  – we don’t get any flies. Yep. We qualify, but won’t testify about seeing any parasitic flies being released this spring – or the next one (2014) most likely. (Well, that sucks)

 

Why are we not getting flies? Because there just ain’t that many flies to be had. There is one lab in Massachusettes (or however its spelled) that raises these little buggers – but first the flies have to be caught in from British Columbia (Canadians – need I say more), raised by wolves and buddhas in the Rockies, and from there it’s a long labor intensive process and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, this one lab in Mass has had its federal funding cut and thusly has little to no flies to spare. The state of Maine however – thru the generosity of that one lab in Mass and a series of minor miracles was able to get enough flies this spring to release in two locations – and it was decided that Harpswell and Cape Elizabeth would be the locations. It was explained in an email sent to the vinalhaven winter moth group – not an official group – there is no secret handshake or anything like that….

 

Here’s the official word from Charlene…

 I am sorry to tell you that at this point Maine is receiving enough flies for two release locations. Although Vinalhaven has winter moth in sufficient numbers to warrant a biocontrol effort the flies are not available. Biologically it makes more sense to release them on the mainland first where they can affect a larger geographic area.

Hopefully in future years we can bring the flies to Vinalhaven. Thank you for your support in pursuing a solution to the winter moth problem and I will continue to work with you on it. It just will not be this year.

-Charlene Donahue, maine state entomologist

And yes, what Charlene is saying here is absolutely true. With limited resources mainland sites along the coast  make the most sense for establishing the flies in Maine (the moth has been seen thru mid-coast regions for sure). Potentially and eventually flies might be raised in Maine as stocks released this week take hold and can be manipulated – we are all about the manipulation but this further down the line, like a bunch of years. We don’t have time for that now.

And all that said, it still sucks for the hardwoods in town.

So now what? For now sending letters to Chellie Pingree with the general message – “we want that damn fly!” or something along those lines – is a course where our voices and displeasures can be heard/vented.  Tell your friends to write as well. It can mean a lot. If you don’t have any friends then tell someone of the street. And then be nice to them, and maybe you can have some friends

Here’s an example letter to Chellie:

Dear Chellie Pingree

We need that damn fly!

Yours truly,

Your name here. Vinalhaven maine

It’s just that simple.

Here’s Chellie’s digits, don’t forget to mention that North Haven has winter moth too!

Chellie pingree  - Portland Office –                                                                         
 2 Portland Fish Pier,                                                                    

 Suite 304, Portland, ME 04101                                                                                
 Phone (207) 774-5019                                                                                        
Toll Free 1-888-862-6500 Fax (207) 871-0720

Call, email, fax, swim to chellie, tell her in sign language that we need that damn fly! These are the kind of efforts that never hurt. How much they help is debatable.

Also, while you’ve got your pens out – drop a line to Patti Hirami (you remember little Patti Hirami who only wore jammies!) down in Virginia. Patti’s office dishes out the funds for labs, such as the one in Mass. We either need more labs making these flies (you know what I mean) or more flies being pumped out by this lab – Joe Elkington is the guy behind the lab, But he’s not in control of his funding. Wouldn’t that be cool, to be in control of your own funding. Anyway…

 

Patti Hirami

Acting Director, Forest Health Protection

U.S. Forest Service/Washington Office

1621 N. Kent St Rm 711

Arlington, VA 22209-2137

Desk: 703.605.5340

Cell: 202.384.7315

 Send some letters – it always makes you feel good. If you haven’t sent a letter in a while please remember that you don’t have to lick stamps anymore they come with their own glue – non hallucinogenic from what I’m told – so no “licky-licky”.

 

 

this is the only mention of ferns
or fiddleheads in this report.
so sad.

Welcome to the vinalhaven sightings report –

May 1^st(ish), 2013

MCHT & VLT sponsored

Powered by you, the people…..

and iceberg lettuce

 

 

Highlights – Woodcock egg,  fish crow, dead owl, raptors featuring merlins, a couple of warblers, chickadees excavating, vernal pools, otter trails, tidepools, vital signs….

 

 

snakes are shortchanged in this report as well

Contact us – if you must! To help us get organized please send photos and sightings to vinalhavensightings@gmail.com . also, if you know someone who you think would love (and we are not talking like here, it has to be love) to receive notice when new VSR posts are made then send those emails to that same email in blue just above these words. Makes the perfect gift – because its free! Some would say it’s a bit overpriced actually.

 

way too much energy is spent on these guys.
we know already! they are eggs.

Inside joke note – recently I was approached by a long-time reader of the VSR about a phrase we use often here at the VSR – “the royal “we””.  They wanted to know if this was an inside joke between me and my loved ones. Well, first off – we never joke here – and when I say “we” I mean the royal “we”. Secondly, when I mentioned the movie “the big lebowski” it triggered no memory points or anything. I guess the bottom line is that if you have not seen the Big Lebowski you should probably stop reading this nonsense here and watch it. There I said it – for the first time ever I am advocating going inside to watch something. It’s the Big Lebowski. Do we have to say more? Once you see it you will understand two more bumper stickers in town – “calmer than you are” and “the bums will always lose”. Calmer than you are is a good one.

 

Grackles are abound in numbers.
and they are beautiful
photo by Karen Oakes

PSA – “Share your buds!” - if spring isn’t spring for you unless you get your rocks off by looking at tiny buds developing and popping out (insert medicinal joke here) than you are a leaf popper – as opposed to a leaf peeper which is in the fall and wayyyyyy less exclusive and wayyy too easy to be. For leaf poppers there are many “share your buds” campaigns as folk document the opening of leaves up and down (mostly up) north America. Anyway – if you check out your trees and would like to share what you find (and we hope you do) go to the “Leaf out” website.  

http://leaf-out.fieldstation.net/

and post what you see. It’s good to share. And its even better when it sunny and you share.

 

 

 

 

 

Kid Stuff – Hanging with the Vital Signs crew –

documenting a salamander find

photo of a photo of a pair
of red-backed salamanders

“This speech is my recital, I think it’s very vital/

to rock a rhyme, that’s right on time/

it’s tricky is the title (here we go!)” 

 - RUN DMC

 

…. Anyway, the Vital Signs club at the school was kind enough to invite Leif and I to go tidepooling at Lane’s (4/30) , so we invited them to go check out vernal pools with us (5/2) – it was all Leif’s idea (this kid is gunna make me social yet). Anyway, the tidepooling was fun – 2 baby lobsters (right in the tidepools – go figure!), a huge clam worm, lots of Hermit Crabs, scaleworms, 2 blood stars, northern stars, and 1 brittle star was found. I think they were supposed to look for an invasive algae. Algae was certainly found.

 

some of the 188 egg clumps we found that afternoon

Vernal Poolin’ – so Leif and I took the crew to our favorite vernal pool that is not right by the turbines – Perry Creek’s legendary pool “ The Motherload”. You may remember that this natural vernal pool broke records last year by having 104 clumps of Spotted Salamander eggs – obliterating the previously document high (45 clumps) for natural pools. Well, apparently the Spotted Salamanders are still benefiting from whatever got them juiced last year as an incredible 188 egg masses were found (all spotted salamanders) with the Vital Kids!. Awesome to say the least – by far the most masses in a natural vernal pool (as opposed to the little quarries) I have found on Vinalhaven.

first eggs of the year are always special

 

So anyway, there are tons of egg masses out there these days – and if you love them (not like, love) do them a favor and don’t drink any water for 6 more weeks. Not sure how that would help them but it certainly should hurt them. The VSR does not advocate drinking water at all – there are better ways to get hydrated. Coffee & beer for instance. That’s all I can think of at the moment. Dehydration is completely psychological. I am a doctor of nothing.

 

 

 

 

leif trying to figure out how to get over to Jordan

 

Vernal pools in the Tip-toe area (or whatever you people call it – you know who you are and you know where I am talking about – or not) are looking good this year as well – 14 sites so far. Pam Johnson found some eggs out Calderwood Neck way.

 

look at all those clumps jordan is counting!
ahhh, to be able to count so high

Leif and I have visited some of our favorite spots – Turbines and Granite Island – where some eggs were confiscated. There will be impact. Anyway, things are looking good so far with the egg masses. Now if we could just get some rain…… I think we are already in the sightings, but here ‘s some more…

don't pay attention to the
kid behind the eggs

 

woodcock egg
photo and hand by Jim Conlan

Sightings - Woodcock egg - Jim and Colleen Conlan came across a roadkill Woodcock just by Rounbd Pond and then discovered this freshly laid egg just off the road close by. Incredible find, and a reminder that some of these critters have adaptations that are great in the wild - like sitting down completely still until the last split second - don't work so well on the roads. Careful of the woodcock out there folks! and remember the old Jersey saying entitled "when a woodcock sits in the road ahead of you" ...

 

"if it sits, go around the little s**t"

 

can't get any more to the point than that.

 

Warblers – Karen Oakes sent word from her yard of many Palm Warblers recently. Penelope Lord saw a bunch of Palm Warblers on Seal Bay Road (and Ruby-crowned Kinglets), Pam Johnson saw a Magnolia and some Palm Warblers in her yard in town! A few parulas armbrust hill (4/30)… Yellow-rumpeds are everywhere….

local merlin
photo by Karen Oakes

And so back to Karen Oakes – who had a funny story about photographing a Fox Sparrow in her yard (4/18 or so) only to have it removed (escorted if you will) out of her yard and off of her property by a sparrow eating avian predator. Karen said it happened so fast, no photos were taken to document – would have been incredible luck and incredible timing!

 

Not too long after Karen sent in this photo of a Merlin falcon perched in her yard. Merlins certainly eat songbirds (and shorebirds, and dragonflies and lots of things) and her photo jarred our memory as to the recently fledged Merlin youngsters we spotted on a elderbird outing last year – not to far from Karen’s property.

 

white-throated sparrows are singing these days
photo by Sally

And so it’s probably worth mentioning that its Merlins galore again! Merlin pairs are moving into a town near you – could songbird and other prey bird species levels at all be elevated with winter moth caterpillars appearing in numbers. Just thinking out loud, speculator going fully blast. Merlin pairs at Pumpkin Ridge, Reach Road, City Point, School yard, State Beach areas and more. Lots and lots

 

chickadee with a bill
full of cavity shavings

Singing – loads of Yellow-rumpeds Rumbleds,  Dark-eyed Junco, Brown Creepers, Golden-crowned Kinglet, handful of Parulas, Goldfinch, Purple Finch, Winter Wren, White-throated & Song Sparrow, American Robin, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Phoebe, Chickadee, Northern Cardinals,

 



Great Blue
photo by Sally 

Around the island- Snakes are coming out. Saw my first road kill snake – Ring-necked.

 

Sally has sent in some nice shots (as always) – Great Blue Heron, White-throated Sparrow and this osprey…

 

osprey by Sally

 

Osprey are around – radio tower, Huber, sands, all over the island.

 



turkey vulture - photo by Elizabeth Bunker

Vultures – town, Fox rocks, School yard, and these sent in from Elizabeth Bunker, almost to the thorofare on north haven road, scared up while eating something. Buts its ok North Haven, they don’t like to cross water.

 

Editor’s note – The Bunker sisters – Hillary and Elizabeth- are the first sister team to both send in photos to the VSR. Your family must be so proud.

 

Sharpie – in town, Kestrels abound…..

Ferry Logs – Captain Pete, Ferry Log #2 – (4/9- 4/15)

common eiders are very nice looking

 4/13 A male Northern Harrier in the area of Old Harbor mid-afternoon

4/14 Laughing Gull in Hurricane sound. Also 20 – 25 Razor Bill’s (daily total)

4/15 A Raccoon on Lawreys Island mid – afternoon, also an Osprey in that area.

not ready for love

 Captain Pete,  Ferry log # 3 (4/29) - Herring gulls, Greater Black Back Gulls, Guillemonts hardly any in winter plumage, Shags, sometimes a flock of 100 or so flying together.
More groups of Eiders. 20 - 30 in a bunch.
Laughing Gulls several individuals. Also one Ring Billed Gull.
We saw Eagles almost every day. Even the day that a Bald Eagle and 3 Black Backs were sharing the same ledge to roost on.
Lots of Loons. A Female Marsh Hawk in the area of Old Harbor.
Purple Sandpipers. Flock of 150 or so.
13 Brant in the water near Green Island (west of Lawreys)
Flocks of Surf Scoters, 2 White Wing Scoters and 2 Black Scoters.
The Yellow legs and some flocks of the same.

My favorite this week is the Canada Geese on Green Island. All week there were four or five up in the grass where the Black Backs used to nest. Before the Eagles drove them out.
Lots of Seals, spruce trees and seaweed, sometimes not so much seaweed.
Turkey Vultures over Rockland Harbor and Ospreys.

 

this is VLT steward Kerry Hardy bringing home treasures
from the other side of the Basin

Big thanks to Capatain Pete and everyone who’s been seeing and sharing – somewhat like peeping and spouting. Or Something like that. Regardless - Keep ‘em coming! That’s why the VSR is here. For you and your observations and photos and stuff.

 

 

Fish crow – Fish Crows look like the good ol’ red, white and blue American Crows, but instead of using a lot of sounds they seem a little stuck on saying “Uh, uh” over and over and over again. They are regulars of the further south (nice fragment, huh?) but have been noted in the rockland regularly over the years by friend of the VSR and all around good guy Don Reimer, who sometimes sends me (the royal “me”) photos of otters or slime molds. Here’s what Don says about them – which is better than from me if for no other reason than I don’t have to write as much –

 

http://freepressonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=68&SubSectionID=100&ArticleID=17076

 

not fish crow eggs

Anyway – these were my birthday birds as Leif and I bagged them (and then tagged them) from the car line at the rockland ferry terminal (4/28). Now I know what you are thinking – Rockalnd ferry terminal is not Vinalhaven and should not be included in the report. Well, take it easy purists! Anything that could be seen from the ferry counts baby! And these clearly could be seen (heard? I don’t think so) from the ferry. Anyway, take it or leave it. The VSR will take it! You can do with it what you want….

 

Fish crows in maine. Its not quite fish tacos in Pescadero, but it’s a distasnt second – so thank you for reading!

 

and so it goes

Owls – heard a great horned up perry creek way – then found these feathers (pretty dead)

another one bites the dust

These things happen. And old poop or last years young that didn’t get it? We are somewhat out of touch with the great horned scene at perry creek. We’ll see if we learn more. I learned from this that great horned body feathers are beautiful. What appeared to be Lomng-eared owl pellets were found at the big hemlock on the trail.

 

Saw-whet owls heard by angie and jack olson’s. I think.

 

And so much more that has been left out – fungus and flowers and insects and all. Incredible stretch of days.

 

And then there was leif. He’s been on fire lately. Favorite song today is “peaches” from the Presidents of the United States of America. He likes the ninjas in the video towards the end.

 

with tape

We’ll see you out there! Not if you see us first?

 

Take care!