Vinalhaven Sightings

Jessica Day and Magnolia Warbler friend
photo by Ken Day

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report – June 1^st, 2013

Brought to with the help of the VLT and the MCHT.

“Did you see the whale in the Reach today?” – Chad King

Pup smooch

Highlights – Whale from shore, Slime mold and mushrooms (we could stop right here), Songbirds including Yellow-throated Vireo & Summer Tanager, Owls, Insects, Turtles, on the waterfront – including “our” Tropicbird, other things….

Lady Slipper's abound
145+ abound at Huber

PSA – Parasites and Predators – Mosquitoes, Black Flies and Ticks (both deer and dog flavors) have been found on me or on people I know recently. Lots of Black Flies & Mosquitoes, 2 ticks.

Good things to be aware of….be prepared…don’t let them win!

Big thanks – Sightings, conversations and concerned emails are being received over at vinalhavensightings@gmail.com and that’s a good thing, helps with organization and any help with organization is good for me. So thanks again, enough emails are going there that I am actually checking it more often. Not saying much…

Northern Apple Sphinx
looks like a skull on its back

don't forget the Tiit trick - click on any photo and they get bigger. almost too big.

Sightings… and this is one of those VSRs where we ask….exactly should we begin?....Whales trump…..(5/30) Dyer’s Island - Chad King was working on a house (details sketchily provided to protect the innocent) when someone’s sister told him to look out not too far into Hurricane Sound – there was a whale! Not only did they see the whales back a few times, apparently they saw and heard it spout! Too bad they didn’t smell it – snargged! Anyway, seeing a spout makes the whale not a Minke, so most likely it was a Humpback or Fin, and we’ll go with Fin as that is Chad’s kid’s name. We hope the next one that pops out for them (Chad and Sarah) is named Orca. Now that would be cool. Cool sighting!

magnolia warbler not on
a hat

Songbirds and migration… “I had to move, really had to move…”.. Little back ground – the majority of songbirds migrate at night, by the stars (have we talked about this before?)…..this was shown a long time ago by a silly/unnecessary experiment that included a planetarium, an ink pad, an indigo bunting and probably a bunch of beer…one spring the bunting was put on the inkpad (forced!), the planetarium was turned on (off planetariums are lame and weird), and it was shown that the bunting hopped a lot to the north star and the north direction. It was spring. To mess with the bunting the sky was reversed within the planetarium and the bunting hopped the opposite direction, towards the North Star and the north direction. Which were really south. The world was a better because of this knowledge….

Blackpoll Warbler - long distance warbler champion
photo by Sally

And so we have it….birds migrate by the stars…but what about all that hopping?....during the experiment it was observed that the birds hopped mostly towards the north direction even when the planetarium was not on (“off”) and dusk was simulated (I may be combining experiments, but I don’t care)…. Apparently birds know when it’s time to leave (hormones will do that, length of daylight influences too!), but they have to wait for good weather or conditions to happen so they can “leave”, or “migrate”– like the planetarium being turned on (not “off”) or stars coming out. They get all excited and hop and face the direction they want to go. This anticipatory excitement is referred to as “migratory restlessness” – they can’t help themselves and can’t hide their excitement. In a way it’s cool that this was discovered/first observed and related in a place called Germany because now we have this cool word called “Zugenruhle” – which means migratory restlessness but sounds way cooler and may not be spelled right here. I like to pronounce it “zoo-gen-RULE!!!!!!!” with a loud emphasis on the rule that makes the word kind of annoying to hear, but exciting to say. Use a German accent and receive 5 extra bonus points! We’ve all experienced “Zugenruhle”, some of us more often and more recently than others…but I digress…

"are you sure we are heading north?"
magnolia warbler checking the map
photo by Ken Day

And so we have birdies in spring getting all “hormoned up” (don’t we all) and wanting to migrate at night. Well, what happens if you are a bird in Cape Cod or – heaven forbid – New Jersey! – and you take off on a clear night and fly – I don’t know – 100s of miles in a night (maybe?) – and when morning comes you can’t find a place to land, to take a rest, to get a bite to eat because all you see is fog! Maybe you hear terns and gulls on some random island, but maybe there aren’t many terns in the area yet. You flutter & flitter and search, exhausted you find nothing but ocean. And then you hear an engine! A lobster boat engine! You and your other lost buddies are stoked (official term of a songbird that finds a boat), and when you find this boat you plant yourself on the railing, the bow – hell how about someone’s hat? (see awsome photo above).

Common Yellowthroat female
catching a ride
photo by Ken Day

Well, the scenario described above is exactly (somewhat) what happened the week of May 20^th. Meg Day was kind enough to share some photos her husband Ken took on his lobster boat. Apparently there were a few days in a row where the birds keep zippin’ around the boat – thanks for the pictures Meg! John Drury had similar experiences that week on his new boat “The Skua” – Magnolia Warblers riding the bow and a Northern Parula landing on his shoulder, apparently looking for bugs that might have drifted out of his hair.

3 star star flower

And while action on the water was super cool, action on the island was hot as well. (or cool as well?). Many of the lost and wandering birdies found their way to Vinalhaven proper. As Patience Chamberlin put it – “crappy weather sure makes good birding as long as they are not all drowned or frozen”. I prefer my warblers to be room temperature, but Patience had an “epic” few days out here – here’s her report….

May 24 Yellow-throated Vireo --1 near Todd's garage with warbler flock RB Grosbeak hanging around the boat lot all weekend…

black-bellied plovers are not
songbirds, but have been
coming thru in numbers

May 26 – walk between Reach Road and Basin – 14 Warbler species - Common yellowthroat, Black-throated green, N. Parula, Magnolias, Am. Redstarts, Black and Whites, Yellow-rumps, Chestnut-sided, Blackpoll, Nashville, Yellow, Wilson's, Blackburnian, and a Bay-breasted 1 gorgeous male - best looks ever - opposite Shore acres drive. Plus Least and Alder Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireos and a Blue-headed Vireo……Awesome and thanks for sharing. Of special note – the Yellow-throated Vireo is the first document/mentioned for Vinalhaven. And Bay-breasteds are seldom seen, and to get an incredible view is….incredible! Congrats to Patience on some sweet sightings…..

wet yellow warbler
photo by Sally

Greens Island – John Drury was kind enough to send in this update on songbird sightings from over there….piles of red eye vireo (frozen or drowned?), and for warblers…redstart (lots),
magnolia (lots),chestnut-sided (lots),black and green, black-throated blue, black and white, black poll, blackburnian, yellow, yellowthroat, canada, yellow-rumped, overnbird and Nashville’s… plus female scarlet tanager, 2 male indigo bunting and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. John also recently showed me a hot picture of a female Summer Tanager, which I believe is also from Greens. Thanks for sharing and

seeing double grosbeaks
photo by Sally

Skin Hill Sally – well, to continue with the theme of the last gagillion VSRs – Sally is hooked! Hooked on birds! And all in her yard! Not only did Sally send in this sweet shot of a Blackpoll Warbler, but her yard has been hopping with Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, Yellow & Chestnut-sided Warblers, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-eyed Vireos and, of course, Baltimore Oriole. Thanks so much again to Sally for sharing these sightings and photos. Her photos are sprinkled about….

indigo bunting
photo by Sally

Around the island….(5/27) Martha Reed reported an Eastern Bluebird from somewhere on the island. An Eastern Bluebird spent the same day in our yard on Reach Road as well…Armbrust Hill (5/23) a dozen species of warblers, (5/27) 10 species of warblers, Philly and Red-eyed Vireo…Fox Rocks – (5/27) Turkey Vulture, Oven Bird, Lady Slippers, Predacious Diving Beetles, Lots of tadpoles, Hairy Woodpecker nest….

why did the turtles cross the road
photo by Erin Creelman

Turtles – Its spring and that means its turtle time – keep your eyes peeled when passing Round Pond and Folly Pond – eyes on the road I mean. But if you pull over take a close look at the rocks and logs in the water for sunning. Erin and Gil Creelman sent in a series of photos they took of a Painted Turtle sunning itself on the side of North Haven Road just past Round Pond (I told you to keep your eyes on the road!).

Anyway, they took the liberty to snap a few shots of its underside (we don’t advocate that, but appreciate it!) which let us and now the world know that they had found a male! Long front claws and a thick tail where the cloaca is located “relatively close to the tip” are the giveaways that this is a male. To my knowledge these are the first turtle cloaca photos (or any other cloaca) received at the VSR and we have to say – it’s about time!

so i was crossing the road, minding my own business
photo by Erin Creelman

For those who aren’t familiar, cloacas are “where the action” (reproductively speaking of course) is for turtles, salamanders, snakes, birds, & undoubtedly spraintloads of other critters. When copulation occurs, and both cloacaled (I made up this word) partners actually touch cloacas its known as the “cloacal kiss”.

His cloaca is the circle thing
just below the pink on his tail

Anyway, check out this dudes cloaca!...Marthena Webster and Anna Poe (Anna Poe!) also spotted a Painted Turtle crossing North Haven Road and reported it was a female, most likely looking for a place to lay her eggs they thought. No cloacal photos were sent in to confirm this. I’m thinking of a new photos contest……

On the water – Captain Pete’s turn….Ferry Rides (5/21- 5/27)

look for mums and pups outside the narrows

Cold rainy fog until Monday the 27^th….Lots of Laughing Gulls…Frequently saw terns, often standing on navigation buoys…Flocks of Cormorants feeding in the Reach….A large flock of White Winged Scoters, 50 or so birds…Many mother pup pairs of seals on the ledges at Lawreys Narrows…One adult Gannet on the 25^th…very cool and thanks so much Capt. Pete! Interesting note on the Cormorants feeding in the Reach. To go along with the whale spotted in Hurricane Sound, many remember last summer (and many don’t remember last summer) and the summer-long feeding frenzy of Terns and the huge bait balls around Leadbetters and the Red Sea….well, maybe we are up for another frenzy. Or not. We’ll have to see….

3rd year eagle, changing into a 4th year.
not really a pretty transitions

From the Fluke, excuse me, The Skua! – and so Captain John has a new boat and has been making runs to Seal and Matinicus Rock and as noted above has had warblers land on his boat already. Loads of Razorbill, Puffin, and Terns to be seen and the Tropicbird is back. Other mentionables – Leach’s Storm petrel in the fog, Albino Black-backed Gull, and Dunlin at Seal. Don’t forget to sign up for a boat ride with John to see the birds and whatever else you can find this summer – 596- 1841. “It’s like riding on a different boat”, mostly cuz it is.

building a nest

not looking my way

hot action in the Great Cormorant colony
panting, preening and that dude facing
up is looking for the action

Counting Cormorants – (6/1) – I got to ride along on the Skua and headed to Jericho Bay to count Great Cormorant nests and the total was 45. That’s it – 45 for the Gulf Of Maine & the USofA. Readers will remember that just a few years back the number was in the 80s. Apparently in the 90s the number was over 200. So it goes, or so it seems to go. Too bad they aren’t cute, then maybe folks would help ‘em out. Anyway, so it goes.

razorbills are cool looking

puffins are cute

The ride was a smooth one (even I got to drive!) and we saw lots of Harbor Seals with young, and a surprising number of Razorbill and even a few Puffins, which are a cute species and thusly get a lot of attention and funds even though there are tons of them in the Gulf of Maine and were never re-introduced to the Gulf of Maine cuz they were never extirpated in the Gulf of Maine (can anyone guess who I’ve been hanging out with?). Be that as it may, we saw some cool stuff. Here’s a few photos….