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go ahead, make my day
and yes, that is a merlin leg in its talons |
Welcome to the
Vinalhaven Sightings Report –
October 2nd, 2013
VLT and MCHT support is
essential in the production
of these reports
Thanks for reading, or looking at the pictures
or whatever you do with these reports
(I don't want to know)
Highlights – massive
broad-winged hawk flight, Migration, Fungus, and 1 monarch! (10/2). something else.
Tiit trick - click on photos to enlarge.
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spotted salamander getting tickled by moss
photo by Erin Creelman |
Raptors featuring a
spraintload of Broad-winged Hawks –
Tip-toe Mtn. (9/17) John Drury did a hawkwatch up at Tip-toe and came back
with the stunning total of reports a total of 551 raptors! Here’s the breakdown by species - 1 merlin, 3 kestrel, 1 coop, 4 red-tail, 43
sharpshin, & 500 broad winged hawks.
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this luna moth caterpillar will never be a raptor
unless a merlin gets it later in life |
You saw that
right -500 Broad-winged Hawks! This is really the
event of the season – a species that reportedly “doesn’t cross water”
kettling in the 100s both to the north and south of Tip-toe, getting ready to
cross over Western Penobscot Bay. Doesn’t get any better than that.
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gagillions of Broad-winged Hawks circling almost out of
the atmosphere. not really.
photo by John Drury |
So what the hell is kettling and
why does spell check keep want it to be spelled “kittling”? “Kettling” is a verb
in the bird word (just as “jizz” is a term for seabird flight patterns – true
story!) that can refer to groups of raptors catching the same thermal. The
kettling behavior is often seen during migration when multitudes of raptors are
moving great distances and are looking to take advantage of any free ride they
can get. Thermals and their lifts are as such considered “free rides”.
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sharpies are often the most numerous raptors seen on
a hawkwatch.
photo by John Drury |
To watch a raptor catch and ride a
thermal means you hardly see a flap (if any at all!) and your head starts to
spin as the bird goes in circles hundreds of feet in the air riding an
invisible updraft. Once a raptor has gone high enough they will slowly descend
and coast in their direction of movement. Moving miles with only the slightest feather
adjustments. Hopefully to catch another thermal at the other end, now that’s the
way to move.
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Vultures are not raptors.
photo by John Drury |
John reported that they were
kettling so high in preparation for crossing the bay that they might not have
recognized the bay as water – just look at the picture up there! They were riding the
big thermals way the heck up into the sky before taking the slow decline,
decent descent towards Monroe Island and Owls Head. May happen more often than
observed (how can it not!) – who the heck is looking way up there? John is.
Incredible sighting!
(9/17) Peter Drury, never one to
be shown up, reports that he saw 4 Broad-wingeds over Greens that same day. Not
to “stir the brotherly spraint” and all, but for those keeping score you will
note that it John 500 to Captain Pete 4. Had to point that out.
4 Broad-wingeds is actually a high
number for Greens, where I believe John has commented on how few Buteos
(Broad-winged, Red-tails, Red-shouldered Hawks) he has seen EVER even seen on
Greens (like 6 or something total). 4 seems like an epic day out there. So good
on ya Pete! And thanks for the info!
Patience and Tom Chamberlin has the other
report of kettling Broad-winged Hawks over Fox Rocks a few years back on a 29th
of September. Roughly 250 that day as well!
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bald eagle
photo by Karen Oakes |
Bald Eagle - Karen
Oakes sent in these shots of a Bald Eagle she photographed this summer out on
Greens. Look at those bands! This photo has been sent to the proper folks who
might have a catalog with band information in it to id this bird. My guess it
is a bird banded on Greens. We’ll keep you posted of any developments.
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Eagle leg bands
photo by Karen Oakes |
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| privacy please |
(9/28) Lane’s - And so
we had our hawkwatch out at Lane’s on a beautiful day. Lots of nice folks,
thanks to those that braved the sun to stand there staring at the sky.
Surprisingly low activity on the raptor front – 4 Sharpies, 1 merlin, 3 bald eagles, but the merlin put on a nice show catching dragonflies and perching a
few times. Flickers and
yellow-rumpeds galore, savannah sparrow and a few Great Blue Herons. Great day
to be outside whatever you were up to.
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| peregrine falcon |
Reach Road - Should
have had the hawkwatch on Reach Road – Sharpies reported several days in the
neighborhood recently by myself and Patience Chamberlin. Peregrine feast on the
road. (10/1) So I was heading out on my bike yesterday when I came across this
young Peregrine Falcon sitting just up the road from my house. It was
surrounded by feathers and had apparently been there a long time as it had
eaten much of a Merlin Falcon.
The Peregrine was young – that
could be told from the streaky chest and buff wash. The thin moustache stripe
and lightly colored forehead was of a “Tundra” Peregrine Falcon, a subspecies
of Peregrines that nests way up in the arctic but is commonly seen in the lower
48 in the “off season”.
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there are two species of falcons in this
photo. one is represented by a foot and
some bloody insides.
The other is a Peregrine |
Its behavior made me wonder if I
was the first person it had ever seen as he (I’m going with he masculine "he" here as it
seemed “kinda small”, or at least “not so large”) had no fear of me at all.
Maybe he was just really hungry. He kind of looks skinny in the photos, except that
it just ate a whole merlin. I figured I was the first bald guy drinking coffee
on a bike who happened to have a camera at the go in the crate right behind his
seat. Seemed like a safe bet. We hung out maybe 10 feet from each other for several minutes
And think of it – a Merlin is pretty
high up the food chain for a bird known as the “duck hawk”? And if this
Peregrine ate a local merlin that fed on local dragonflies that fed on local
mosquitoes that fed on local me, Amy, Leif and everyone else on reach road, then
we (the Reach Road “we”) are honored to “give” to the cause. We did our part
for this guy! “you're welcome”.
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female Common Yellowthroat
photo by Karen Oakes |
Migration - Every
Yellow-rumped Warbler in the world is
on the island no matter what anyone says. . If you see a bird it’s probably a
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Unless it’s not. Flickers,
Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Ravens (lots of Ravens these days), and
tons of Chickadees (like more than we have “regularly”)…. Greens - White- crowed Sparrow (Willie and
Elaine)…. Philadelphia Vireo and Prairie
Warbler (9/15) Tip-toe Mtn. spotted by John Drury…. Karen Oakes took this Palm
Warbler photo in her backyard I believe. Other Warblers - Many Parula,
Black-throated Green, Common Yellowthroat, Redstart, Blackpoll, Black and Whites.
Other songbirds – Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed
Vireo, Hermit Thrushes, Robins, few Cedar Waxwings and Goldfinches, White-throated,
Savannah and Song Sparrows, lots of Phoebes….
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palm warbler
photo by Karen Oakes |
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wilson's snipe
photo by Rick Morgan |
Shorebirds – (9/28)
Old Harbor Pond – Rick Morgan
took a paddle thru ol’ OHP and came home with photos of a Wilson’s Snipe. Probably more famous for not existing rather than
for existing (they do exist) Snipes are not a frequent sight out here. In fact,
I don’t think I’ve seen a one on Vinalhaven. Rick got some nice shots. Good
work and thanks for sharing.
Took a paddle with
Rick thru Seal Bay (9/17) where we saw no raptors at all I believe. Visited
Gid “the rowing guy”’s ledges and got some pictures. Tally for the shorebird ledges
off Huber (largely) and all of Seal Bay – 52 Semi-palmated Sandpiper, 12 Semi-palmated
Plover, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Lesser Yellowlegs, 7 Short-billed Dowitcher, 17
Black-bellied Plover. Great to be out there…..also that day – 100+ Bonaparte’s
Gulls, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Shags, Belted Kingfisher.
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there's one in every crowd
of Semi-palmated Sandpiper |
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| Black-bellied Plovers bravely face the wind |
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Sea Lavender is camoflauge for sandpipers and dowitchers
but they always seemed to be watching |
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bonaparte's gulls were most numerous that day
the white on the leading edge of the wings is nice
and one of them is ducking |
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| Bonaparte's are one of the "cuter" gulls |
Lots of yellowlegs photos turned up this round.
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Greater Yellowlegs
photo by Karen Oakes |
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dwarf wood stork
photo by Kerry Hardy |
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| king of the mountain - greater yellowlegs |
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shaggy manes
photo by Stevie Mesko |
Fungus – Shaggy Manes!
– the report is that Stevie Mesko
found these (and had at this spot a few years back!) and identified them and Linnell Mather took the picture. Regardless
of who did what, no one is talking about location of the fungus! And for good
reason – Shaggy Manes are one of our (the royal “our”) favorites, and many have
been consumed in previous Palmer-Gentalen household locations in California and
Alaska. I have seen 1 patch on
Vinalhaven – the famous “Lawson Quarry Road sign patch” of 2008 (remember
that one BAJ!). Hasn’t come back up since. Anyway, “Shags and eggs” was a
culinary connection I had in common with Janna Mendenhall out at Pigeon Point.
Not sure why anyone would care about that. Special species that you have to
find early, as they are an “inky cap” who’s tall, shaggy caps liquefies (or “deliquesces”)
into black, inky goo full of spores. Very cool!
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| black earth tongue |
Here’s a list for you fungus liters. Typical walk these days
– (9/25) Walk thru the Basin, round
Otter pond and Mack’s Pond – Jelly Tooth, Orange Jelly, Red-belted Conk,
Irregular Earth Tongue, White Coral, Red-yellow
Gilled Polypore, Eastern Rag Amanita, Golden Waxy Cap, Dye Makers Polypore,
Destroying Angel, Citron Amanita, Chicken Suillus, Lackluster Laccaria, Yellow
Patches, Red Milky, Scarlet Waxy Caps, Chocolate Milky, Cleft-footed Amanita,
Graceful Bolete, Blusher, King Bolete, Rosy Russula, Cinnabar Cort, Deadly Cort,
Salmon Unicorn Entoloma, Green Stain, Green Headed Jelly Babies, Birch Polypore,
Tinder Conk, Artists Conk, Mossy Maple Polypore, Black-reddish Russula, Scaley
Stalked Pholiota, Cinnabar red polypore, Chaga, Black Earth Tongue, False
Chanterelle, Honey Mushroom (first of the season for me!). Let’s talk about
Honeys for a bit
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we're here, we're honey, and there's going to be tons more
"what a killer" neil young |
Fungus of the month -
Honey mushrooms – October is Honey Mushroom month out here on Vinalhaven,
and as the last days of September trickled by the first honeys were starting to
pop up. Latin names don’t really work
with Honey Mushrooms because it is recognized as a “species complex” recently
recognized as at least a dozen species that are not easily nor reliably told
apart. “Armillaria” is the genus and has been historically followed by “mellea
complex” in reference to how many species are involved here.
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Honeys have a cool veil around their
stalky stipe to protect their gills |
Honey Mushrooms disperse by spores (that’s what the mushroom
is for, duh!) but are also great spread over large areas by cloning. In fact,
one cluster of genetically identical Honey Mushroom Fungus (the stuff that’s in
the ground) spread for thousands of acres and is recognized as the largest
organism. Now that’s cool – could all of the Honey Mushrooms on Vinalhaven
actually be only a handful of individual fungi? Trippy…..
Part of why a Honey Mushroom fungus (the stuff that’s in the
ground and roots) is the multiple ways it gets food to grow. Most Honey
Mushrooms are decomposers, going root to root and thru the ground. But
apparently when Honey Mushroom fungus gets plentiful enough in an area it can
become an aggressive parasitic killer of trees! Here’s a little from Paul
Stamets on Honey Mushrooms - Mycelium Running, pages 43-45
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Honey stalks are "pithy"
Pithy is one of my favorite words
to say on a hike |
“Honey Mushrooms (Armillaria ostoyae, A. gallica, & A.
mellea) will attack a tree, causing devastating root rot and hollow brown core
rot.”
“I have seen thousands of acres of forests in Washington,
Oregon, and Colorado that were killed by Armillaria fungi.
And from Gary Lincoff, in the “complete mushroom hunter” - “the
honey mushroom is also known as one of the most aggressive, invasive,
destructive mushrooms we have, attacking trees, shrubs, and even gardens,
causing a deadly root rot, and moving from plant to plant.”
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sorry, i just love these Tawny Grisettes
they are not honeys |
Wholly spraint, how did I not know this!?! The fungus is
actually adaptable enough to change over from parasite to decomposer once the
victim plant is dead.
Stamets talks about how the Honeys have an arsenal at their
disposal – chemical warfare to kill other fungus in their way - “..seceret the
antifungal antibiotic sparassol, or orsellinic acid… is produced by Armillaria
species”
Now – we do not have 1000s of acres of trees dead because of
Honey Mushrooms nor are any likely to be parasitic out here (not sure why). But
for those who might own land in the Pacific Northwest there are strategies to
deal with “problem honeys”. More from stamets –
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| "never get tired of seeing Turkey Tails" |
“as mycoforesters, we benefit from understanding how
mushroom species compete and cooperate, giving us new tools for ecological
management”.
“cauliflower mushrooms also secrete other antifungal agents
that all them to parasitize Armillaria mushrooms”. Cauliflower mushrooms
outcompete Honey Mushrooms, even in petri dishes, and is not a “problem”
species in Stamets eyes.
Cool to think about fungal strategies and that there are “mycoforesters”
out there. Also cool that Honey Mushrooms glow in the dark (right conditions)
but also make the wood they are decomposing glow in what’s known as “Foxfire”.
Cool glowy green, just in time for Halloween!
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| Pholiotas are very easy on the eyes |
And as if I didn’t just explain all this – this
in from “wiki”
-Honey fungus, or Armillaria or оpenky (Ukrainian: опеньки), is a genus of parasitic fungi that live on
trees and woody shrubs. It includes about 10 species formerly
lumped together as A. mellea. Armillarias are long lived and form
some of the largest living organisms in the world. The
largest single organism (of the species Armillaria solidipes) covers more than
3.4 square miles (8.8 km2) and is thousands of years old.[1]
Some species of Armillaria are bioluminescent
and may be responsible for the phenomena known as foxfire and perhaps will
o' the wisp.
As a forest pathogen, Armillaria can be very destructive. It is
responsible for the "white rot" root disease (see below)
of forests and is distinguished from Tricholoma
(mycorrhizal)
by this parasitic nature. Its high destructiveness comes from the fact that,
unlike most parasites, it doesn't need to moderate its growth in order to avoid
killing its host, since it will continue to thrive on the dead material.
In the Canadian Prairies (particularly Manitoba), the
term "honey fungus" is unknown to many; due to the large presence of Ukrainian
Canadians in this area, the fungus is often referred to as pidpenky (Ukrainian: підпеньки), from the
Ukrainian term, "beneath the stump".
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| there is nothing lackluster about seeing these |
The bottom line is you can eat them, they are complex, and they are
everywhere. Here’s the last word(s) on Honeys once again from Gary Lincoff, The
Complete Mushroom Hunter –
“Not only is it the largest, but it also seems to be one of the most widely distributed
mushrooms on the planet…spread itself across the land masses..since the last
ice age in the northern climes…(to) lands at the southern tip of the Southern
Hemisphere. With some justification Earth could be called the Honey Mushroom
Planet”.
Isn’t the land at “the southern tip of the southern hemisphere” Antarctica?
I bet there ain’t no honeys there…yet!
Anyway, keep your eyes open for more of this very cool species on a root near you!
Ducks – Around
here “fall” means “ducks” (among other things) and we
are starting to see waterfowl trickling in and trickling thru (story of my
life). Gets you a little excited for the late fall and winter “sea duck” scene.
