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| birch polypore. the bottom of this one makes leif laugh. |
Welcome to the vinalhaven sightings report
January 16th, 2016
All this and more, brought to you by MCHT and VLT…
“Often an activity enjoyed when one first wakes up” – Estonian riddle
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| some sort of Xylaria, "carbon fingers" group. always great to see an Ascomycetes, these are hard at work |
Highlights – otters: sign and anal slime, American
woodcock, white-winged crossbill, red-necked grebe, kittiwake, great horned
owl, northern harrier, razorbill, and so much more…
Contact us – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com – send in your otter stories from anywhere. sightings photos. we love any attention.
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| may have interrupted a Saw-whet even before he/she got to tear into this frozen morsel. |
Tiit Trick – click the photos to see the pictures jumbo sized. You don’t really get that anal
Upcoming events
– for the Great Maine Outdoor Weekend
(http://www.greatmaineoutdoorweekend.org/)
VLT and MCHT have joined forces once again to offer a night and a day of tracking stories, slides and…well,
tracks (hopefully). We’ll start with a showing of the slide show “Owls are easy, otters are easier – year
round tracking on Vinalhaven”. The evening of Feb 12th (Friday) at 7pm at the Washington school. The
next morning – 9:30am on Saturday
February 13th for those without a calendar – we’ll be meeting at
Skoog to go to where the tracking is good (or at least doable).
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| probably a raccoon. at what point in decomposition does something become something else. |
What’s more…mid-coast Audubon and
MCHT are teaming up the next week as well for a version of the “Owls are easy…” slide show at the
Mid-coast Audubon February meeting
(and that is your local Audubon group) (the royal “local” society)…Thursday February 18th, at 7pm
(maybe I think) – at the Camden library
in lovely Camden, Maine. Will be a good ol’ time.
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| this is where a fox slipped on the ice on the marsh in St. George. |
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| phat Great Horned Owl pellet |
‘Round the island - Lots more Juncos around. A small
group (5-7) of (small) White-winged
Crossbills consistent along Long
Cove. Also at long cove - Great
Horned Owl hooting at sunset.
Great Horned Owl – Tenants Harbor – on a tracking walk from the house (fox focused) I found my
first great horned pellet (and
lovely scat) in St. George. This historical event got me asking my neighbor and
landlord Johnny when he had seen a Great Horned before (he had mentioned) when
he excitedly told me about seeing one just a few days before not too far away. I
told him about the pellet and scat. It was a nice connection. I think he got
the better view.
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| scat on tree |
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| phat pellet and fresh scat |
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| 3 otters and one human photo by John Drury |
Otter sightings, otter trails, otter tracks – here,
there and everywhere. As some of you may know, River otters are the current “personal favorite animal” (“PFA”) of mine and have been for some time now. I think we are going on 7 or 8 years, which is the longest continual “PFA” for me, the previous record being 4 years for Bobcats. (None of this is important in any way).
there and everywhere. As some of you may know, River otters are the current “personal favorite animal” (“PFA”) of mine and have been for some time now. I think we are going on 7 or 8 years, which is the longest continual “PFA” for me, the previous record being 4 years for Bobcats. (None of this is important in any way).
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| big foot. photo by John Drury |
And anyway – John Drury sent in these photos documenting the trail of 3 otters
over on Greens (1/4?ish)….John reports the three were taking the short cut across “Ma’s
point”, an historical and traditional crossing that may have been used for
multiple generations. Very cool. We do love the “creature of habit” thing.
These trails and latrines are goldmines for information.
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| anal slime photo by John Drury |
A few days later (1/6), and a full 9 days
after the snow, I had myself a walk on Vinalhaven and visited two otter
dens within walking distance of the terminal.
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| hoping to turn this into a mathematical symbol pretty much an "n" - frozen anal slime |
Carver’s Pond
– the rock pile by the side of the road,
also known as “Elaine’s den” showed
sign of recent activity. Compared to sign found in years past (both in scats and total mass of scats (the “ol MOS”
as they say)) it all seemed low when compared to the 4 otters that were
often there over those couple of years. Felt more like maybe from one or two
otters, the scats were laid over time, if you are into aging scats that is….no
snow to track, no sign of trails over the ice.
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| a little older, a little crustier. |
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| in years past this rock was "covered" with spraint. beautiful sight. |
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| fresh on like the one |
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| raccoon latrine - carver's pond |
Old Harbor Pond to the sands - When I first walked the road I did not notice any otter
crossing (from old harbor pond to sands cove). After leaving the road I decided
to check the “traditional**” spot along
the sands shoreline (by the rock) where the otters have entered and exited the
cool, soothing waters of the sands. Mixed in with a ton of other tracks –
humans, dogs, deer – were two sets of
otter tracks. 4 going and 3
returning. Didn’t look like the same night, maybe a few between. (** - “traditional” referring to generalizations
based on observations from the last 5 winters of the original gang of 4
crossings)
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| "returning 3" |
The returning 3 had used the “traditional”
exit spot from the sands, but instead of following the “traditional” path to the road and then
crossing, the otters ran close to a nearby house and even went under this guy’s (his name is Bob) porch.
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| the returning three snuck under this porch. |
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| classic entry/exit to the sands. by the rock |
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| when the 4 left, they went this way |
When the 4 left they slid more (than the returning 3) when the snow was deeper and still being blown
around by the wind. The tracks had filled in a bit and re-frozen. This group
crossed the road by “hugging” the house, similar to the 3, but did not go under
the porch (re-iterate - so cool).
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| down the deer trail |
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| and further down the deer trail |
Both groups went through the wetland on the north side of the road, rather than the woods just up from the wetlands as they had done “traditionally”. The group of three even opted to use the deer trail that I follow to the latrine rather than hop into the water through ice, which they have done every time I have tracked there. Maybe 10 trails.
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| traditional access and trail |
The returning three made it to the latrine and then to the den - fresh
dirty activity from the night or two before found. No sign
of the trail or tracks of the homecoming crossing they made over the ice. No paper
trail. Like they went under the ice.
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| from the latrine, directly to the den the four left, but first stopped to relieve themselves. |
The 4 that left left an amazing trail across the ice. No slides (what’s
up with that? - windblown maybe?) but some of those classic tracks where the
trail may have been made on a warm night or in fresh snow. I love these kind of
ice tracks, bounding as they were over to the latrine. Straight line from den to latrine. “Often an activity enjoyed when one
first wakes up” –
What does this all mean? Jack-spraint for sure. Pure speculation and questioning - makes us wonder though about what otters are making up this group. Any of the original 4? Is there a surplus of food and no territories? Once otters go out on their own do they ever go back? What happened to the 4th otter? Whatever.
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| I love to find trails like this |
What does this all mean? Jack-spraint for sure. Pure speculation and questioning - makes us wonder though about what otters are making up this group. Any of the original 4? Is there a surplus of food and no territories? Once otters go out on their own do they ever go back? What happened to the 4th otter? Whatever.
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| mud room |
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| den entrance |
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| what an otter trail. latrine by the shore clark island |
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| "have you ever sniffed anal slime? - personal quesion a bit fishy this one was |
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| bunker hill otter photo by Don Reimer |
Don Reimer
sent in a couple of photo of otters he spotted (or at least watched) during the
“Bunker Hill” Christmas Bird Count back
in December. No one is really sure where Bunker Hill is, at least no one I
asked. But apparently there are otters there, and if they are there they are
everywhere!
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| bunker hill otter photo by Don Reimer |
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| open seal photo by John Drury |
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| open seal and friends photo by John Drury |
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| bill waving is funner on video. the hairy on the right kept its head bobbin' left and right. |
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| tail spread |
Anyway, this went on for 15 minutes or more. They froze postured when cars went by or when I walked far. When the coast was clear or I stopped moving they returned to tail spreading, wing-raising and bill waving. Very active, easy to see.
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| still pose is not that exciting. they will sit still for an extended period of time. |
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| a little "V" wing aggressive encounter |
Anyway, this went on for 15 minutes or more. They froze postured when cars went by or when I walked far. When the coast was clear or I stopped moving they returned to tail spreading, wing-raising and bill waving. Very active, easy to see.
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| red-necked grebe |
Ferry Ride –
regulars who have enough time and interest and something else know that I have
been a tad bit whiney about the ferry rides this winter. That’s all in the past
as just a few days ago (1/15) I rode (like a buckin’ bronco – not really) the
245 – that sweet ride to Rockland and was pretty stoked on what I saw. It was a
classic ride and the best one I’ve had this season. Thanks Pete!
some silhouettes from a distance...zoom in on these!
some silhouettes from a distance...zoom in on these!
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| kittiwakes shillin' |
Regulars and multiples – old-tails, Bufflehead, Eider, Black Guillemot,
common loons…5 Kittiwakes, 6 Razorbills, 3 Red-necked Grebes, 7 Great
Cormorants, Bald Eagle, red-breasted merganser, harbor porpoise, (annoying)
harbor seals.
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| it's always butts up first, flapping second when it comes to alcids. |
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| young razorbill - immature even. |
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| and more cousins! mia and ryley |
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| at ease! we'll see you out there! |
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| Asa questioning stropharia photo by UBAJ |
Quite the murder - 150 Crows on Pole
island (1/15) reported by Peter Drury
