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| feel free to blow the brains out of every squirrel you come across. |
Brought to you in part with the support of MCHT and VLT
“There is an awakening in the otter dynamics, can you feel it?”
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| 7 years today. |
Happy birthday Leif! 7 years! Time just keeps getting better! My favorite
sightings are with Leif.
What a treasure!
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| beaver lodge in marsh, tenants harbor |
Highlights – Goldfinches and Crossbills, otter
sign, ferry ride comparisons, three other things…and a last minute winter moth
report
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| this is a fox. that open area is out back yard. |
This one is kind of all over the place and from all over the place. It is
what it is.
Tiit trick – click the photos to make them larger
than life! Or at least as big as your monitor! Nice monitor, by the way.
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| saw some split gill mushroom in upstate New York over Thanksgiving. Always reminds me of my dad. |
Remember Winter moth? I just heard from Linnell Mather (12/1) that the winter moth
scene has been slow so far – as reports go – on Vinalhaven, which very well
could be a good thing. Then tonight (12/2)
on the mainland (Tenants Harbor) we had
about a ton of winter moths buzzin’ around the windows and the one outside
light.
Linnell then
confirmed that (12/2) was a “good” night for moths in her neighborhood. Two
other reports flowed in from the pumpkin ridge area about impressive flights of
moths, including Adam White
mentioning, in his own words…
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| "orange mock oysters" are a fall/winter classic on birches around island. what a beauty! |
“all
over windows and around lights last night coming in the door when coming and
going, plus up on hill last night.”
Nobody likes it when moths enter a
house under any circumstances (even if they were invited!). But what does this
mean for your weekend? Not much probably, we are currently in the 10 year or so
holding pattern, waiting to see if the parasitic flies take to the moth and
mack on them enough to lower winter moth numbers to a negligible place. Time will
tell.
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| "false chantrelles" seem to be in numbers around the island |
But I do know if you have a winter
moth sighting and need to get it out of your system the VSR is the place for
you! Send in your winter moth info and sightings - no questions asked! Send in
your confessional if you think you brought the little buggers (literally) out
here in the first place.
Sightings – Loads of Goldfinch! Here and on the mainland Goldfinch have been a staple of
every walk and bike ride. The difference on Vinalhaven has been the White-winged Crossbill groups tossed
into the mix. I have heard/seen small groups – maybe 3-5 individuals – of
Crossbills on my bike rides up island, especially up North Haven Road past
Folly Pond. We dig those crossbills, hopefully a taste of more to come!
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| kittiwakes are one of the numerous avian benefits of a winter ferry ride or two. dark wingtips, a little ring around the collar and the pure yellow bill can't remember why I love them so much but it was a good reason or two. |
November tends
to be a slower month for reporting sightings, largely due to rifle season and a
limited number of eyes (non-hunting eyes that is) out and about and looking.
That said there are (like) a million beautiful things to observe outside on
Vinalhaven every day, so at times we almost can’t help but nail sightings, or
we can’t help but notice how things are a little different….
Comparison 2014-2015 – November ferry rides – “Spoiled” – I probably don’t need to bring this
up but we were really spoiled last November on the ferry. Cold and snowy,
something was in the air last year…take a look at these numbers…
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| we love those Bonaparte's gulls. fly like terns, white leading edge, there can be hundreds seen from a single ferry ride, just not this year. |
(11/12/14) 116 Old-tail Ducks, 98 Common Loons, 79 Black guillemots, 13
Bufflehead, 6 Bonaparte’s Gulls, 6 Black Ducks, 2 Red-breasted Merganser, Surf
Scoter, Black Scoter, Bald Eagle,
Red-throated Loon, Red-necked Grebe, Purple Sandpiper, Great Blue Heron, 27
Harbor Seal, 4 Harbor Porpoise
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| and the Bonaparte's gulls are pure white below. dark underwings could mean black-headed gull |
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| eiders (and most ducks) starting some displaying. |
Let me be the latest to moan about
the mild fall we are having (we don’t deserve this)! Very bikable for sure. The
tallies from this fall’s ferry rides are shocking. (11/30/15) A dozen old tails, maybe 20 loons, and 20-30 guillemots, and
a single (or two) of kittiwakes. In fact, each weekly ferry ride this November
was a bit “slow” to say the least – handful
of Kittiwakes and maybe a few more Bonaparte’s Gulls has been the norm. Beautiful
yes. Maybe if (IF!) things cool down more stuff from the north will be pushed
down and fill up the bay – December is the best month for bird watching from
the ferry! May the kittiwakes and razorbills soar by your windows this
December!
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| otter latrine and map in same picture! life is good |
Otter sign –
“there is a shift in the dynamics of the island otters, can you feel it?”
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| basin spraint |
Basin – hadn’t
been on the platform trail in weeks,
if not more (or less), the trail is full of memories both past and present (and
future present I guess) and at the first junction I was welcomed by a fresh,
new otter latrine.
That’s right, right in the trail in
front of the map! Not to be ego centric or anything but I know that this was a
message for me. What it was, was awesome – just the thought of otters using our
trail system fills me with the urge to smile and hug!
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| long cove sprainting activity |
Old harbor Pond
– I visited my personal favorite otter latrine (in the world!) and have to say,
there has been a shift in the spraint numbers – lower numbers, maybe from use
of one or two individuals. The “gang of four” days may be gone. Maybe – the
camera is up, we should have more info next VSR!
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| basin latrine. nice view. |
Long Cove – I
visited my favorite otter latrine on Long Cove and found it to have
significantly more spraints that my historic experience. Like 10 spraints
instead of 5, probably still an individual otter, but it appears to be spending
more time in the area. Always a good a time to find some spraint.
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| this is a great blue heron, the one I propped up on a tree. in tenants harbor. |
Three things - #1 – here
is something to consider, something we can all pause and reflect on. Botantist
and longtime supporter of the VSR and good friend Javier Penalosa recently finished up some moss survey work for the
island and found some cool ones at Mack’s
Pond. Here’s penalosa in his own words-
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| this is a super fat/phat raccoon that makced on the dead GBH for a night or so |
“I just finished identifying my 2015 moss specimens and two more
peatmosses turned up: Sphagnum angermanicum and S. pulchrum, both from Mack's
Pond. These are new records for Knox
County. This brings the number of
peatmoss species on Vinalhaven to 22, making it the most species-rich plant
genus on the island (the sedge genus Carex is runner-up, with 20 species.)”
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| it pulled off some meat, but didn't stay long in the grand scope of things |
Did you
think Carex would be the runner-up genus for peatmosses on the island? Of
course you did, no brainer even. Very good. And a “good work” and a “tip of the
hat” goes out to Javier for getting low and looking and sharing. 22 Sphagnums on island. What a
country!
And what
does “Sphagnum angermanicum” really mean. Sounds like some pissed off moss.
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| this stupid deer (judgment, albeit a correct one) was more focused on sniffin the camera than smelling the decaying great blue heron behind it. |
#2 RIPhipps Ranch, Pescadero California. Phipps ranch and its
wonderful riparian zone was a huge part for much of the 5 years before Amy and
I moved to Vinalhaven. Known for their heirloom beans (recommended in the
Deborah Madison veggie cookbook) and fields of strawberries, Phipps was also
the best migrant trap around (don’t tell trump). And we are talking about birds
of course - we saw lots of “east coast” warblers and lots of good stuff in
general there. It was usually our first stop in the morning on bike rides and
on at least a few occasions it was our overnight stop as well. Sleeping by the
pescadero creek, ain’t nothing finer.
Here’s Big Al Jones with the report - in his
own words.
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| this might be a good time to remind "readers" that if you click on the photos you can flip thru them and see the trail camera stories unfold in a more "legible" manner |
“I woke up early and went up to Pescadero
today with the Hot Corner in mind, drove Cloverdale without seeing any bobcats
or coyotes, took that cutoff past the high school, turned back on Pescadero to
park at Phipps and encountered a dry and dusty husk of a building--no signs, no
nothing---it's gone! I had no idea. Maybe it's been like that for years, but I
don't think so. It's all posted with no trespassing signs at all the entrances,
effectively cutting off the Hot Corner unless you cross the riparian zone from
over on Cloverdale, I guess. It felt weird.” BAJ
I moved to
Loma Mar California (from Cape Cod and Harriman State Park) in September 1999
to work at an Environmental Education center in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I met
Amy and big all jones there, so it’s a very, very special place for me.
After my
first week of training (9/99) I had my first weekend and first free time in the
area and I wanted to go to the pescadero
marsh and see what the bird action was. I had my scope but I didn’t have my bike yet – UPS still did! I got
up early and started to walk the 9 miles to the ocean and marsh hoping I could
maybe bum a ride before too long.
After like a
half an hour a car came zooming up from behind and so I turned and stuck out my
thumb. I felt like my prospects were low but sure enough the call pulled over
and the woman driving said “I picked you up because of your scope”. Not the
first time my scope had shown some magic, some gravity.
Ended up she
was the president of the local Audubon chapter and she was going to join a bird
walk being given at somewhere called Phipps ranch. She was kind enough to
invite me to the walk, but I had my heart set on the marsh (afterword I was
going to hitch to Santa Cruz to stay with David and Elizabeth) and I wasn’t really
ready (ami ever?) to meet the local bird people so I declined. By the next
weekend my bike was there and Phipps was my first stop and a Magnolia Warbler
was one of the first birds I saw there. Phipps quickly became the first stop of
most bike rides to pescadero, and breakfast at Duarte’s was the second stop for
sure.
Of course
none of this matters. The birds will still be there, probably more now with the
farm action turned to inaction. Glad I was living there when it was what it
was, Phipps will be missed. Thanks for the memories…
here are some new local memories, a fox macking on our GBH...
#3 – the gift that keeps on giving… Tenants Harbor - I was
recently given a freshly “hit” (hit and run apparently) and killed Great Blue
Heron (GBH) and it wasn’t even my birthday (April 28th for those
keeping track). What do you do with the dead great blue heron you are given?
Reminds me of that old Estonian saying “when life gives you dead herons, turn
them into bait!”
So we (the
royal we) propped up my fresh/limp GBH to be a mascot along the 2 minute trail
that Leif and Amy take to school each day. Having a dead heron propped up along
“our” (the royal “our”) trail led to the expected bursts of laughter as the
ludicrousness of a heron mascot caught us off guard for weeks and weeks. And
then one day Leif and I noticed that one of the GBH legs was missing. And so we
slapped the trail camera onto a tree across from the “unintentional bait” and
were excited to learn about our neighbors…
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| GBH and zombies |
... First up
was this fat raccoon. Like really fat, looked almost too fat to climb up the
tree to get to the GBH. This dude spent just one night nibblin’ on the open
wound from where the missing leg had been tugged. The open wound was nasty and
just getting nastier and so it was no surprise when it attracted these…
…Two
zombies! I really shouldn’t be surprised about the zombie pictures, especially
since I am one of them (the fuzzy one on the right)….but after the zombies
left….
…this cute
(judgment) red fox showed up and began his/her/it’s leaping ways as the fox
needed to get completely airborne to reach the nasty open wound of the GBH.
Leif named the fox “tiny tim” as it was so much smaller than the raccoon and
could be heard singing “tip toe thru the tulips”.
On the first
night the fox spend the better part of 20 minutes jumping and pulling on our
“carcass in the trees”. It must have tasted so good, truly irresistible, and the
fox returned the next day (mid-day) to continue the pushing and pulling (I won’t fight, if you want to push and pull
with me all night). We like it when the animals show up on the trail camera
during the day. It came back that night, and then another several days later as
the GBH began the slow process of looking more like mush than a GBH.
When I wrote
to the gift giver that the GBH had attracted wildlife I got the response “I knew
you would put it to good use”. Which I think we did. It’s still up on the trail
but the camera is back on Vinalhaven. Nice taste of what’ in “our” woods and
what to look for once the snow begins. I have never found a fox den before and
I still haven’t. We’ll keep you posted on developments…
…and it
should be no surprise that with the hefty amount of family traffic that passed
the GBH there would secret messages left behind. The biggest laugh was inspired
with this message Leif left me as he walked to school with the beautiful Amy
palmer. What a punk!
Hope everyone
has had a great fall and that winter treats everyone kindly.
See you out
there!
