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| what up? humpback style photo by John Drury |
Welcome to the Vinalhaven sightings Report
September 1st, 2013
Underwritten with the gracious support
of VLT and MCHT
“The sound of fungus doesn’t do it for me”
Highlights – hummingbird
fledgling, whippoor-will, ocean sunfish, Whales and the off-shore excursion of
the Skua, Jaegers and Bonaparte’s, finchy eye goo, fungus especially Amanita
featuring Grisette discussion, phantom crane fly, wood ducks, plus a Big announcement
Welcome newbies and
oldbies – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com
is the place to send sightings, photos and other things pertaining to natural
events in and around the Vinalhaven region. Writing something up about your sighting is encouraged - "in your own words"
If you would like to receive an email whenever a new VSR is posted then send in your email address and we’ll do an extensive background check and if you are extremely lucky you will be put on the list right away. More likely it will be eventually.
Thanks to all those who sent in this round!
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| bottom half from the inside - 50 cent |
If you would like to receive an email whenever a new VSR is posted then send in your email address and we’ll do an extensive background check and if you are extremely lucky you will be put on the list right away. More likely it will be eventually.
Thanks to all those who sent in this round!
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| nice fluke photo by John Drury |
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| not just winking at you photo by Sally |
Lovingly referred to as House
Finch Eye Disease, this particular conjunctivitis is “caused by a unique strain of the bacterium Mycoplasma
gallisepticum, which is a common pathogen in domestic turkeys and chickens” - damn chickens!
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| i think i like them better with their eyes closed photo by sally |
Anyway, several members of the Finch family (Finchydae) have
been document suffering from this here particular conjunctivitis. Here’s a link
to a blog post (warning – it is from Canada) called “Goldfinches can get eye
disease too!” - http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/birds/?p=3135
And now for some sound
advice! - “If a sick bird comes to your
feeder, minimize the risk of infecting other birds by cleaning your feeder area
thoroughly. If you see several sick birds, take down all your feeders for at
least a week to give the birds a chance to disperse. Remember that prevention
is the key to avoiding the spread of disease. Regularly clean your feeders even
when there are no signs of disease.”
“Don’t you ever wash that thing?” – FZ….
So hey – here’s a novel
idea- clean your feeders! Not just the ones on Skin Hill either. Sally has
confided in me that she cleans her feeders on a regular basis and is still
impressed with how dirty they get! So if you got feeders – clean ‘em! Or build a
robot to clean them, or hire the gig out – it’s good for the economy!
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| sweetness photo by Terry goodhue |
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| lesser purple fringed orchid so very striking photo by Beth Guilford |
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| what up? ocean sunfish style photo by John Drury |
Many folk are mentioning Ocean Sunfish these days, as these oddballs from off shore have
been spotted up into the bay. I think
the picture says it all. Nice one Johnny!
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| tres amigos - looks like a little one at the end photo by John Drury |
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| touch of grey - on this Red Phalarope photo by John Drury |
“I saw these whales Aug 6 off shore, also red phalerope and
2 pomarine jaygar”. Later word came in of a Sei Whale sighting on the trip….
and enough Humpbacks to walk across their backs to get to
the other side….of the humpbacks.
John figures he’s got 4.5 Humpback Whale fluke shots that
day, and I believe that’s enough for John to start his own catalog and whale
naming program. I bet alot would be named after soccer players
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| two flavors of phalaropes photo by john Drury |
Or he could send in these shots to “Allied Whale” a whale
research group out of the College of the Atlantic over there in Bar Harbor.
These “Allied Whalers” as they are known are one of the keepers of the master catalog
of identified Humpback Whale flukes in the North-west Atlantic Ocean. Or at
least in the Gulf of Maine. We’ve all heard it before – the pattern on the
undercarriage of a humpback’s tail (fluke/big flat thing that pushes them
through the water) is specific to each individual, kinda like fingerprints on
people (even though I swear I’ve met at least two people who had the same
finger prints as me! No foolin’!). Anyway, Allied Whale and other whalers have
been keeping track of sightings of identified whales and some of the ones first
identified (labeled with a name not of
their choice) back in the 70s are still kickin’ around. Check out more
at http://www.coa.edu/allied-whale-microsite.htm
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| pele? photo by John Drury |
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| palmer-eened jaeger photo by john Drury |
Sounds like an awesome day! Thanks for sharing.
Insects we trust –
Get a Room!!!! - Bob Delsandro sent
in this photo of a little Great Spangled Fritillary friction action in the lumber
yard – ***this “get a room” sponsored by
the Tidewater Inn – “for when you need a room!”****
….Butterflies in general seem
to have calmed down over the last few weeks....
tons of caterpillars these days…Leif loves the Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar…. Time constraints have limited the
resource known as “time” to research on species and habits of caterpillars. But
we are still diggin’ all the caterpillars except the invasive and gross ones.
We hope for more next round, “time”’ that is.
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| love is in the air at the lumber yard photo by Bob Delsandro |
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| white admirals are abound |
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| tussock moth going thru the metamorphosis |
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| leif really enjoyed watching the tusscok moth make it's coccoon |
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| unidentified crawling bug photo by Niall Conlan |
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| U.C.B. photo by Niall Conlan |
Scarab Beetle –
keeping with the Egyptian theme, Leify was “attacked” by an out of control Hermit Beetle (Osmoderma eremicola) on Poor Farm Road. Hermit Beetles are
members of the family Scarabaeidae, or
Scarab Beetles. Scarab beetles are
featured in hieroglyphics and are
represented in many amulets and figures associated with Egyptian mummies. I
type all this as newly acquired knowledge for me within the last three months
as Egypt and mummies are the current passion of Leif. So it only goes to figure that he had the Hermit Beetle fly crazily at him
and land next to him on a rock where he was pointing out a boundary pin to my
mom, Carol, Nannie. Anyway, I’ve never seen a Hermit Beetle before. It was
cool.
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| the hermit beetle was huge |
And speaking of mummies….Leif and the Squirrel….The neighbors had a couple of trees taken down and within a few hours we had this baby squirrel running in our yard.
I think the record of my
distaste for squirrels speaks for itself (for the record – “I have a
distaste for squirrels”), but moreso for “potential pet reasons” we (the royal we) opted not to
point out this little dude to Leif.“It will be over quick for the orphaned squirrel!!! Ha, Ha, Ha!” barked the sinister naturalist. There was no way that critter was surviving the night!
Well, about 24 hours later Leif, our 4.74 year old, spotted
this very hungry, very desperate baby squirrel hanging in one of his climbing
trees, “hanging on by a thread”.
Things escalated
quickly – went from “maybe we
shouldn’t touch it” to “it jumped
into my hand!!!!” to “please can we
keep him!!!!!” way too fast. The baby rodent never tried to nurse Leif’s
hand, but almost immediately slid into position, ready to suckle if an
appropriate nipple dropped (as opposed to those inappropriate nipples) in front
of it.
What could we do?
– get the dropper, give it some milk, make it a bed in a crate and the next
morning it was dead. Saw that coming a mile away.
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| please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Squirrel mummy - Leif
didn’t miss a beat though – “Let’s get some salt! Let’s get a hook and pull its
brains out! let’s wrap it up!”... needless to say the squirrel is covered in
salt and drying as we have started phase 1 of "squirrel mummy making". We’ll keep you
posted as things develop in this classic story….
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| osprey nest photo by Niall Conlan |
Raptors – Lots of
Harriers/Marsh Hawks being seen
around, Greens Island, Bald Island,
State Beach… Broad-winged Hawks
– So many Broad-wingeds that Blue Jays
are mimicking them - Reach Road,
State Beach, Lawson Quarry, and others….Merlin fly by at state beach…Bald
Eagles & Osprey are everywhere…Cooper’s Hawk along the Reach…
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| we be seeing more and more loons |
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| nothing "least" about this least sandpiper |
Birdwalks – we ended
with a bang – (8/29) 3 Red-necked
Grebe showing up early at State Beach. Great looks at Bald Eagles, Osprey,
Cedar Waxwing, Semi-palmated Plover, Black-bellied Plover, Greater and Lesser
Yellowlegs, Merlin bombing thru the scene hunting shorebirds … (8/22) Willet on the beach. And all the
“consistent regulars” mentioned above for both days. Great groups, and
great looks.
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| we love state beach, or whatever this place is called |
Fungus….”I’m an
Amanita man”….how I wish that was a palindrome, but its close enough. Only the
“t” is not repeated….
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| the blusher is a beauty of an amanita |
So I have used the old clicker to click off Amanitas along a couple of trails and on some islands, where Amanitas account for over 50% of all mushrooms seen. Overall findings - high numbers of Blushers, Yellow patches, Grisettes, Rhopalopus, and smaller numbers of (but still regular) Tawny Grisette, Fly-Agaric, Cleft-footed, Citron, Destroying Angels, and booted & Cecliae Amanitas… Here are some click tallies - Huber (8/24) – 23 Amanitas along trail….(8/23) walk to Greasy Monkey via Otter Pond – 83 Amanitas!....(8/26) Basin platform trail– 25 Amanitas…. Paddle to the White Islands (8/27) many Ceciliae Grisettes (A. ceciliae), tons even.
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| thw whites were loaded with Amanitas |
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| Destroying angels would be cool even if they didn't kill you |
Diversity is a big
part. I know what 5 of you are thinking - seeing 83 trees or plants of the
same genus is easy out here. But find 83 plants of a genus with 10 species
(minimum) represented and it gets trickier. Alright, so Goldenrod is close, and
mosses don’t count (why the hell would they?), but you see my point here. Do I
have a point? Amanita diversity and numbers are rich in the woods these days.
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| Tawny Grisette. Look at that striation! Look at that sack or "bag"! |
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| Two Cecliae Grisettes Same species, different looks nice striation... |
“the combination of
deeply striate gray to gray-brown cap, white gills, absence of a ring, and a
membranous sack or “bag” at the base of
the stem typifies a group of Amanitas collectively called A. vaginata…. Several
color forms of A vaginata have been described, some of which are now considered
distinct species. One is A. fulva”
Many species of mushrooms, both the poisonous and the tasty,
are actually more than one species. These groups or “species complexes” are groups of essentially identical species (for
our purposes) that can’t be told apart in the field and maybe even not so
easily in a lab, but overall all taste
the same or have the same poisons
(except for Chicken of the Woods on eucalyptus – don’t eat that one) and have similar niches in the ecosystem and
the such. For the vast majority of humans these complexes might as well be considered
a single species, and that’s cool. In reality their diversity represents adaptation,
speciation and evolution over time that continues to occur,(and most likely will
for the entire holiday weekend!). “Species complexes” remind us about how
little we know, how much more there is to learn, and how old my mushroom book
is.
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| coral mushrooms are not amanitas, nor are they Mychorrizal. but they are fun to look at |
The symbiotic
relationship (Mychorrizal) the
Amanitas have with our trees is an ancient one - relationships alone that demand respect for the Amanitas. Overly simplified - the
fungus gives a tree nitrogen and phosphorus (among other stuff) and the tree
gives the fungus sugar – everyone wins! Amanitas have this relationship with
many kinds of trees – and one would think that different species of trees could
influence speciation. What about the soil? Maybe different Amanita species
excel at absorbing and transferring nutrients and thusly connect with certain
species of trees? Enough questions! I’ll see if I can dig up some answers…..
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| several folks mentioned this dye-maker's polypore at Huber. Nice decomposer - folk dye wool and dogs with this particular species (or complex maybe). We tried dying my beard a few days back but i think it only got greyer. |
Here’s what David Arora says in Mushroom Demystified about
the Grisette’s edibility -
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| poisonous pigskin puffballs are not true puffballs but rather are earthballs with dark spore mass in the middle why anyone would eat one of these is beyond me |
“ Edible when cooked,
and fairly good…prized in France…one of the safest Amanitas for the table”
and our woods are loaded with them!
But don’t get Arora started on fear of eating Amanitas.
Check out this rant from Mushrooms Demystified, page 264.
““I for one do not subscribe to the wholesale
philosophy (as expounded by many mushroom mentors) that Amanitas should not be
eaten under any circumstances. In my humble fungal opinion it is just as easy
to carelessly overlook the volva and mistake a deadly Amanita for an edible
mushroom of another genus as to mistake a deadly Amanita for the corcorra (A.
calyptrate) or Grisette (A. vaginata). True, it is sheer stupidity to risk your life for the sake of a single meal,
however delectable it may be. But the key word here is risk – and in the case of a few species such as A. calyptrate, A. caesarea, and A. vaginata,
I don’t consider it a risk for discriminating amateurs to eat them, provided
they become thoroughly familiar with the characteristics and those of their
lethal counterparts.
Simplistic slogans or
catchwords such as “Do not eat-a the Amanita” often accomplish the precise
opposite of what they intend. Rather than encouraging people to use their eyes and
nose and the gray mass between their ears, to approach each and every mushroom
with discrimination, intelligence, and respect, such adages reinforce people’s
desire for expediency by fostering an unhealthy, mindless reliance on shortcuts
and glib generalizations. Those who need simple rules should learn to play
dominoes or Scrabble rather than eat wild mushrooms”
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| boletes in the genus Leccinnum are referred to as Scaber Stalks. They are yummy |
Relax Arora! That must
have felt good to write.…And so the Grisettes break the “Amanita barrier”
by being edible. We love those species that break traditions, and this is a
bold one to make. I have eaten Amanitas out west – Corcorras – and even with
100% certainty of their identification I still had in the back of my mind – “Holey
spraint! I am eating an Amanita”. I’m sure eating a Grisette would be a similar
thrill.
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| ...but sometimes you have to ask if they are worth getting poison ivy for. |
Anyway, there are many other reasons to love the Grisettes, but enough has been written here.
Hats off! Happy Labor Day! And just think of all those
mushrooms getting ready to “pop” with this rain! Lots more to report on the fungal front - including a couple patches of Gypsy Mushrooms - Rozites caperata - The patches were at Fish Hook and in the Basin.
Gypsys are members of the Cortinariaceae, or Cort family. The Cortinariacae is one of the 4 fleshy fungal families (mushrooms that look like mushrooms) that makes up the majority of mushrooms you find growing out of the ground in our woods. The other four once again are - Boletaceae, Amanitaceae, and Russulaceae. Learn to recognize those 4 families and you are well on your way to being familiar with most of the fleshy fungus (the mushrooms that look like mushrooms) of Vinalhaven. Have I said this before? Does it really matter anyway?
Anyway, finding Gyspy mushrooms takes me back to Haines Alaska. I believe these were the 3rd and 4th patches i have found on Vinalhaven, have seen down east as well. It's been a few years for sure.
Here's what Arora says about the Gypsy - from Mushrooms Demystified once again....
"Edible, and in my humble fungal opinion, the best of the Cortinariaceae. It is especially good with rice after a long, hard day of backpacking." He is full of humble fungal opinions today isn't he. Nice visual with the rice and backpacking though....
....so i looked for recipes on line and I probably could have found some, but I was more dazzled by all the references to a Gypsy Mushroom extract that is recommended for dealing with cole sores and herpes. Like one of the top recommendations - at least in the publications I went to. Medicinal uses for mushrooms, got dig anything that helps ease the pain.
saw another new one for me - in the Basin in the pitch pines - Bankera violascens as far as my field guide is concerned. A toothed fungus, the Bankera (as I am calling it) has neither gills not pores, but instead lots of spear like "teeth" covering its undercarriage.
This guy was close to the patch of Orange rough-cap Tooth that was another "new" toothed species for me this summer. Both are along the loop trail above the platform in the Basin.
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| this is a very handsome Gypsy Mushroom |
Gypsys are members of the Cortinariaceae, or Cort family. The Cortinariacae is one of the 4 fleshy fungal families (mushrooms that look like mushrooms) that makes up the majority of mushrooms you find growing out of the ground in our woods. The other four once again are - Boletaceae, Amanitaceae, and Russulaceae. Learn to recognize those 4 families and you are well on your way to being familiar with most of the fleshy fungus (the mushrooms that look like mushrooms) of Vinalhaven. Have I said this before? Does it really matter anyway?
Anyway, finding Gyspy mushrooms takes me back to Haines Alaska. I believe these were the 3rd and 4th patches i have found on Vinalhaven, have seen down east as well. It's been a few years for sure.
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| band of gypsys |
"Edible, and in my humble fungal opinion, the best of the Cortinariaceae. It is especially good with rice after a long, hard day of backpacking." He is full of humble fungal opinions today isn't he. Nice visual with the rice and backpacking though....
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| Bankera violascens looked cool from above, taking over the reindeer lichen a bit. |
saw another new one for me - in the Basin in the pitch pines - Bankera violascens as far as my field guide is concerned. A toothed fungus, the Bankera (as I am calling it) has neither gills not pores, but instead lots of spear like "teeth" covering its undercarriage.
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| from below it was all teeth |
This guy was close to the patch of Orange rough-cap Tooth that was another "new" toothed species for me this summer. Both are along the loop trail above the platform in the Basin.
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| the red mummy. |
