Vinalhaven Sightings

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings report – December 8th 2014

Thanks to VLT and MCHT for their continued support

“Otters are so easy”

awesome eagle shot
photo by Sally Conway

Highlights – Baltimore Oriole, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Bald Eagle, Tree Sparrow, Kittiwake, Red-throated Loon, Great Cormorants, Horned Grebe, otter stuff….

Last peeper of the year (so far) that I’ve heard – (11/25) on Reach Road.

yes, it's otter time again!

Business - Contact us – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com . send us your sightings, your photos, your comments and your email addresses (one per person should be fine). We don’t always check things right away, or get back to people in the timeliest of fashions -an acknowledged flaw in the VSR system – but sometimes we do. This last month or so has been a particularly difficult one for the VSR and the internet. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Should be all good now.

Upcoming event – owl’s head Christmas bird count – just to let folks know I will be on the 7am ferry on December 20^th if anyone is interested in checking out birds and stuff from the ferry. The last stretch of our route to Rockland is within the boundaries for the owl’s head bird count but we will be checking things out from the beginning. Get your thermos, binos and some warm clothes and be there! Lots of breaks to warm up if needed.

A 2015 winter snowshoeing schedule is being figured out outing. Let us know if you are interested!

this deer was an easy catch for the eagle
photo by Jim Clayter

Updates - Winter Moth Update – So it’s that time of the year again, and with thanksgiving having come and gone you know it’s just winter moth time. We have had a few significant snows, some pretty damn cold days, and yet if you time things right you may see the flight or have your house covered in moths. We refuse to write more than necessary about these bastards, so please go back to Winter Moth updates in the VSR archives – fall/winter of 2012-2013 should be about right for more information than wanted about our local invasive who at this point in the cycle wants nothing more than to mate and procreate on your deciduous trees (that’s right – YOUR deciduous trees!). Gross, I know.

Bald Eagles appreciate deer hunting
photo by Sally Conway

A well respected and pretty reliable source that “they” (the winter moth “they”) were seen around Thanksgiving. No mention about flights or number of moths.

(12/6) when returning from Lane’s after a big, phat zero (zeroes mean so much) on the owling circuit I drove thru some notably noticeable groups of moths both on Lane’s and along Armbrust Hill. Came home to Reach road to find male moths on the windows. Seeing a bunch on the road probably means there were more in the woods.

twas listening to my favorite Bob's Daughter song
when I popped this photo of this pipit

Word has it that homes in the library neighborhood had a good night (for moths) – with one house reportedly being “covered”. There are many definitions of “covered” of course.

So the first question was (as it was then) for you (the royal “you”) as follows – have you seen any moths? Probably. What you been seeing for moths?

otter spraint (get used to looking at it!)
looks like a gunnel backbone on top of the mound of scales

Big thanks - Thanks to those who sent in photos and stories this edition. And for the record, the phone is not an efficient way to contact the VSR staff, we acknowledge and accept full responsibility for our lack of timely phone message checking. In line at the store is a better way to get my attention.

Baltimore oriole at feeder
photo by Alice Bissell

Sightings – Baltimore Oriole – So Alice Bissell from over ‘Round the Mountain Road way had this young Baltimore Oriole visiting her feeder recently. As far as “Sibley’s” is concerned it’s a “drab first year female” – she’ll grow out of it, just a phaze. Or so I think….

“Has made quite a home of the feeder” implying it has been there for an extended period of time.

Seems a little late for Orioles (don’t it?), and Alice got some nice video too!

Baltimore Orioles are often considered a welcome sign of spring (as well as a sign of baseball mediocrity) and are not often thought of this time of the year – especially after a few early snows have come thru. A check in the charts in the back of “Vickery, Pierson, Pierson (and palmer)” has the Baltimore oriole listed as a “rare” bird for the state of Maine for 2^nd half of November and then for all of December. Rare in this situation is described as follows…

”averaging 1 to 4 present annually in the state during the period”

Which gets us to the second question – have you ever seen Baltimore Orioles at your feeding station this time of the year?

hot female red-bellied woodpecker action
photo by Sally Conway

Red-bellied Woodpecker – Skin Hill Sally got this beautiful shot of a female Red-bellied Woodpecker on her feeder recently. The male showed up not too long after. Always a treat to see, Sally is the only one reporting these that I have heard. Question #3 – have you seen any Red-bellied Woodpeckers lately? Official mascot of the high ropes course at Camp Muskingham on Leesville Lake wherever the hell that is….

a young Baldie gettin' in on the action
photo by Jim Clayter

Eagles – Skin Hill Sally and Jim Clayter took to the basin recently (not at the same time I think) and got some sweet eagle shots from the bridge. The basin bridge is a classic carcass dumping area for leftovers after a deer has been processed, and from the looks of the shots Jim got not much of that deer was used!

Anyway, lots of eagles around – and lots of deer leftovers for them to eat!

youngster on the wing
photo by Sally Conway

Other birds – Green’s Island – John Drury reports a Red-tail and a woodcock – not together….Reach Road – Creeper, Woodcock….State Beach – Pipit…

Otters – They are easy? Really? - There’s no better way to reconnect with things after hunting season is over than to visit your favorite otter latrine. “The message board etched in spraint” is the true essence of what a latrine is. Such a regular and reliable (pretty reliable I’d say) part of an otter’s lifestyle - sniffing and poppin’ poop out - if you find a latrine out here you can be entertained for years.

My favorite latrine is in old harbor pond and is perfect in many ways. It’s an especially big one, with 50+ mounds from multiple otters giving their “2 spraints worth!” It’s the local latrine associated with an established den that has had regular use for the last 4 years, and of course it’s likely that it was used for many years prior.

The latrine has been used by the infamous “gang of four” otters for at least two of the last three years and from what was seen on two trips the 4 may still be together (What?). (11/22) – A pre snow visit found the latrine loaded with spraints (70+ mounds), and scattered with the white stuff released from their anal glands. (That is so gross - sorry about that – I only type that because I have to.) Clearly spraint from multiple otters. A visit to the den area showed recent use - Spraints in smaller numbers (maybe 20) and (at least) 3 active den openings being used.

"white stuff"

(11/30) “Normally” I hold my complaint about missing the first good snow for tracking for after the Christmas holiday (tis the season!) but I am happy to announce my recent disgust at the first “good” tracking snow happening over the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving was great, don’t get me wrong!

not sure exactly what's going on in this picture
but it definitely came out of an otter!

Anyway, we (the royal “we”) saw what was coming (warm rain) and was able to check out the old harbor latrine and local den in the snow before any evidence was melted away. And so we (the royal “we”) only had one shot at tracking with the thanksgiving snow. This was going to be fun.

The local latrine was freshly marked, with amounts only a multitude of otters could leave (or at least a handful – give or take).

snowcone

Brown snowcones, and interesting shapes and patterns found in bodily extracts frozen in snow leave were some of the highlights.

this is the route the otters take to get to
sand cove. notice the muddy snow in the
lower left part of the picture

The waterway that really wants to connect old harbor pond to sands cove also showed fresh (night before) mud and movement of what looked to be at least 3 otters - possibly more, too hard to tell from the mud on snow. Cool trails marking a reliable route the otters take to the ocean. The same rocks at sand cove that have been marked for the last 4 years were marked again. You can’t tell me these otters are not “tooooooo easy” – Flight and Willie – “white men can’t jump”.

and "there they go", muddy snow telling
tales of otter passing thru

closer view of muddy trails
ends up it was 4 or 5 otters

how cute are these muddy feet?

this otter's "undercarriage" was a bit dirty
cool tail and back feet prints

A visit to the den turned up more information. Mud in the snow told us that the dens were pretty moist these days. One thing that turned up was that it was actually 5 otters moving from the den area, 4 in the “main house” and a 5^th in a “guest cottage” just down the way – maybe 100 feet off. First use I have seen of this “guest cottage”.

three entryways into the main den

For VSR regulars, finding evidence of a group of 4 otters in old harbor pond should be no surprise. We (the royal “we”) have been monitoring groups of otters in old harbor and carvers pond for the last few years, believed to be the same group. It had been assumed that this group of otters was a female and young. Here’s a quote from “Elbroch and Rinehart” mammals of north America” –

“Throughout their range the most persistence social unit is a mother and her young, although other social groups are possible”.

dirty hole

These “motherly” relations last 9 months to a year or so. This group has been running for possibly three years at this count. So what’s the big deal?….well… here’s more from “Elbroch and Rinehart”

“In coastal Alaska male otters in particular are highly social, with most forming groups and only a few remaining solitary. There groups can be quite large and last for multiple years and they appear to improve otter feeding opportunities rather than provide protection from predators. I northern California male foraging groups along the coast consisted of 6 to 8 males that stayed together year-round. They hunted together, shared food and dens, and played with and groomed each other”.

otters are our favorites, but we don't play favorites

Alright – so we are not in coastal Alaska or California, but you get the idea – “the gang of four” might be a “gang of dudes”. The main den might be a “man cave”. We lost track of them last winter, but a den located between mack’s pond and cedar pond showed evidence of use last winter (200+ spraints found in last spring at the den).

Anyway, the coolest thing about otters being easy is that it’s only to a certain extent. We will never know what the genders the members of the “gang of four” are “aligned with”, and how could we? Otter sign is reliable, but only so much information is really shared. Get ready for lots more pictures of otter poop! Tis the season!

great corms - this one is for john

Ferry Rides - We were spoiled in early November with the impressive numbers of birds seen along the ferry ride. As of late I have been on some pretty tame rides - tame bird wise I mean, with early November in mind especially.

I have made several trips and I have some lists, but lists are boring. Not exciting. Highlights from the ferry rides – (11/25) – Horned Grebe, Black-legged Kittiwake, 6 Great Cormorants, 40 Buffleheads, 7 bald eagles…..(11/18) small number of Bonaparte’s gulls, northern gannet, black scoter, surf scoter, bufflehead, surf scoter, old tails….have not seen a razorbill yet, might need to ride the ferry more.