Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report – April 28th, 2016

Brought to you in part by VLT, MCHT and U (meaning U!)

Happy birthday me!

 

Highlights – Wood ducks, woodcocks, Osprey, Yellow-rumped and Palm(er) Warblers, Phoebes, Green-winged Teal, Belted Kingfisher, long-eared owl, visit to Calderwood Island, some things about Frenchboro.  Lots of amphibian eggs. And finally will I remember to post some early mushroom photos?

 



there are two people picking up trash in this photo



Business - Basin clean-up revisited – Good to see folks and good to clean up the Basin. Here’s a few random shots

best team award goes to Mia and Dylan
photo by Gabe Peter Harp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

checking out the stuff collected

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

spotted salamander eggs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contact us – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com . we’ll take just about anything.

 

Tiit trick – click on the photos to make them bigger

 

black jelly roll!
"ain't nobody gunna steal my jelly roll"

Congratulations – to Cheap Trick on making it into the rock and roll hall of fame. Was never a fan at all, but still – what an accomplishment. The Tiit trick segment was inspired by that band.

 

 

Upcoming events –check the VLT website – www.vinalhavenlandtrust.org -  and the MCHT website – www.mcht.org – for a vast array of walks and talks being offered this year!

 

springtails have been especially springy this year

Sightings – Who’s singing – Brown Creeper, Chickadee, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Winter wren,

On the ferry - Walt Day told tales of a pair of Wood Ducks that were spending some time in his pond behind his house. Never a bad sign to see Wood Ducks in your yard…Walt also talked about seeing his first osprey of the season (4/11). Several more have been reported around the island.
 

lane's island bridge

 

 

 

Speaking of woodcocks – Danny Ames mentioned finding a woodcock nest up on Zeke’s Point. Woodcocks are ground nesters (all ground nesters are extra bad-ass) and a female woodcock sits tight on a nest before bolting, almost until stepped on in some cases.

 

Danny said there were 4 eggs in the ground nest and it wasn’t the first woodcock nest he has found. I would love to see one someday! Good work Danny!

a boy and his nests

 

Mr. Ames also mentioned some Canada Geese in the Basin and old harbor pond being active. Goslings not too far off.

 

John Drury reports Yellow-rumped Warblers singing out on Greens since (4/19).

Chuck from the ferry mentioned seeing his first Green-winged Teal (VVNM) over by Indian Creek. It was apparently hanging close to a mallard couple, which is the obvious sign of nothing.

long-eared pellet from lane's

 

Lane’s Island –Fresh Long-eared Owl pellets found April 9^th.

 

From the ferry – Old-tail ducks – molted and looking good, many surf scoter, red-breasted merganser, bald eagles, black guillemots, common eider, red-necked grebes, horned grebe in breeding plumage.

this kangaroo skeleton was on Calderwood

 

Calderwood – (4/4) – Oldtails in breeding plumage, surf scoter, red-necked grebe, downy and hairy woodpecker, brown creeper, red-breasted nuthatch, deer carcass, tree climbing, otter latrine still active! That is now 8 years (at least) with this active latrine.

and some other places.....

frenchboro is another beautiful island

 

Frenchboro -  (4/13,14) – red crossbills, palm(er) warblers, red-breasted nuthatch, golden-crowned kinglets, phoebes, red-backed salamander, put up trail camera at otter den, confirmed 2^nd otter den, belted kingfisher, sculpin, merlin falcon flitter flight display,

in case you were wondering this is the way
to rich's head

 

this nice otter trail and brown out
led to....

 

this trail covered in spraint

and then to this crevice

where when you looked down ...

where you saw the latrine with hefty use,
undoubtedly the opening of a den.
this was cool

this is Douglas at the other otter den we know of
on Frenchboro. together we are kirk douglas

this sculpin was fun to catch

one shrew and one mouse skull in this
pellet. hungry owl

The marsh -  green winged teals, osprey, bald eagle, Canada geese, wood ducks, great blue heron, belted kingfisher, mallard, spotted salamander and wood frog eggs in vernal pool, otter latrine.

the beginning of the bridge to the lodge

 

(4/23) with the girl scouts – barred owl pellets with both shrew and vole skulls in a single pellet. Very cool.

Rockport - been checking out a property. great vernal pools -

wood frog eggs

spotted salamander eggs

and a lot of owl pellets. 15 so far.


. plus turkey, pileated woodpeckers and sapsuckers. hard to argue with that.







had a great trip upstate in the new York - chittinango falls




biking the creek

and mine shafts!

crossing the rip van winkle bridge...












































learning about minecraft and fishing with uncle tom and aunt linda!

leif and newt

hope everyone is doing well - hope to see you out there!

 

 

Welcome to the vinalhaven sightings report – April 1st, 2016

Thanks to VLT and MCHT and their continued support

 

Highlights – crossbills, Pine siskins, kittiwake, razorbill, woodcocks, phoebes, springtails, mink, wood ducks, early mushroom stuff and of course – owl and otter stuff

 

skunky!

 

 

 

Business – contact us with sightings, photos, questions, concerns, criticisms (we are not listening by the way) ….. vinalhavensightings@gmail.com ….

 

Click on the pictures to make them bigger – the ol’ Tiit trick!

 

 

 

Upcoming Events – 4/9 – Basin Clean-up – we all love the basin so let’s show it (our love) this Saturday – April 9^th – 9am at Skoog. Bring some work gloves, a good attitude and we’ll see you there!

 

4/9 – Woodcock walk – after a nice morning of cleaning up the Basin, nothing comes close to taking that edge off than an evening of woodcocks.  This Saturday April 9^th, 7pm at in the lane’s parking lot. Bring binos and warm clothes – woodcock walks are not strenuous.

 

The two activities above are VLT/MCHT co-sponsored. Thanks!

 

Sightings – And speaking of woodcocks – Colleen and Jim Conlan report hearing Woodcocks (not sure why that is capitalized) a week or so back at Lane’s Island. People from all around the island and throughout mid-coast Maine are reporting woodcocks, and I seem to scare them up on most explorations these days. (4/4) spent a frozen crepuscular on lane’s

MINK! - Gabe Peter Harp reports seeing a mink out on Lane’s while exploring with his two favorite small naturalists Mia and Dylan. Here’s a picture of a mink coming out of a den I got recently at Lake Megunticook which is very close to Camden.

mink coming out of a den

 

Basin – (3/29) – (singing) Brown Creepers, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Song Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadees, Red Crossbills, Pine Siskins, American Goldfinch, Ravens, Robins…

 

Others singing around island – song sparrow, phoebes, juncos,

red crossbill
photo

 

John Drury reports Red Crossbills in Moyer’s boatyard. Red crossbills also seen regularly Long Cove way and heard at Huber.

 

Ferry Ride – (3/21 – HBAP!) So we caught a nice little snow, hope folks got to take advantage of it however you take advantage of snow…

 

 (3/23) 5 Razorbill, many Long-tailed Duck, Kittiwake, molting Black Guillemots and Common Loons (not together), otter sign… - this was nice after the bonus snow on the first full day of spring (?) – otter slides from the ferry – Lairy’s Island – historic den appears to still be in use with trails and slides easily viewable from the ferry.

where the otter entered the sands

                                                                                                        

 

Otters – Old Harbor Pond – (3/22) It didn’t take long for me to “meet” the new otter (same as the old otter? Apparently not) in my favorite Old Harbor Pond den. It also didn’t take long for the new otter to let me know that I am not welcome there. After years of standing on, over, and in front of this den - maybe 3 dozen times, many times when multiple otters were inside - and now I was finally growled at.

the otter would be coming right at ya.
nice truck!

 

I heard nothing when I approached the den site. I could see last night’s otter trail in the snow leading away from the den – and eventually across Sands Road to Sands Cove. The signs told that only one otter had spent the previous night in the den was no evidence of the otter returned. This is the first time of finding evidence of a solo otter in this den after 5 winters of tracking multiple otters there.

follow this back to the den

 

 

 

 

“It started out as a low growl” – I was standing about 5 feet from the entrance of the den when I started to hear a low rumble. I thought I might be a sound that my new phone was making – it shakes and beep when it wants to – but I recognized quickly that the sound was coming from the den. After a few seconds it started to get louder and then there was a splash. I learned that there is water under the den, and undoubtedly an underwater access option for the otter. I didn’t stay to check it out, message received and understood, there wasn’t enough room for me and the new guy.

 

while taking this photo I heard the otter growl

 

 

 

“Well, it’s official. You are not from here anymore” Jamus Drury summarizing the underlying energy of this encounter. Not that I was ever from here, but catching spraint about it from an otter hit home!! I didn’t have to look for a deeper message because the message was clear – you are not welcome at the den. And I shall not return anytime soon. Gotta respect the growl.

I was standing on the den when I took
this photo

 

And so the dynamics have changed at den # 5 since the fun loving gang of 4 lived here. And with change comes a plethora of questions. Who is this otter?  A remaining otter from the gang of 4 maybe? A matured one – possibly a male (or a female) – with different hormones pumping through it (literally)?

 

Probably not a nursing female as from what I’ve read, and if what I’ve read is true, nursing females do not mark by the den with young. Makes sense, who cares if you draw attention to your den when it is empty, but when the helpless little ones are there probably a good idea not to attract too much attention. This den had plenty of spraint around it. It may be one of the gang of 4, matured and calling the shots. Regardless, there is a changing of the guards in the dynamics at old harbor pond. And this otter was a very good communicator.

nice spraint! - latrine associated with OHP den #5

 

…more otters…. There is a place called the Acadia Center for English Immersion 

(www.acadiaenglish.com ) and they contacted me about a student of theirs that was coming from Barcelona who was interested in wildlife and conservation. Would I be interested in spending an afternoon with Oscar and a teacher?  Once I found out he wasn’t a soccer fan I said “sure”.  For convenience sake we decided on Fernald’s Neck out in beautiful Lake Megunticook. And so I did a little otter tracking there and found 6 latrines and a place to put the camera up.

 

look at this beautiful scene - brown-out hump to the left
another spraint zone in the center and den opening

The first latrine I found was so classic and beautiful it almost made me cry. A nice mound with a brown out on top and spraint sliding down along its sides, maybe 20 plus spraints in all, and the fresher ones looked to have been laid (?) at different times. (Do you “lay a spraint”, like one would “lay a dookie”?).

 

"brown - out" is my favorite new otter
sign term/phrase. where they spraint and mark
so much that all plant life dies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was right alongside an entrance to what had to be a sure fire otter den. I mean there was no other scat around- we are talking pure otter spraint my friends. So I put up the camera and got these shots of a big ol’ male river otter visiting the brown out (which was unfortunately outside of the lens view of the camera).

 

here's a photo gallery of the male visiting and marking the latrine area

notice that the tail is wagging
this dude is marking

look at that back foot - so webbed.

4:30 pm visit

just heading to the brown out

What’s equally as cool (kinda) was seeing a mink while putting up the camera. And then learn that the den in the photos in actually a mink den! The otter literally spraints all over this mink’s home! The pictures show the mink coming out of the den and sniffing where the otter had been marking.    

photo gallery - mink

coming out - same as above

sniffin' the spraint



sniffin' and lookin'

 

Had a good time exploring with Oscar from Barcelona and Brian from Camden, we found 10 Barred Owl pellets as well, to go along with the 15 or so pellets I had found on the recon mission to set up the camera. That’s a lot of pellets! Safe to say owls call some of shots out there at Fernald’s Neck!

 

apparently there is a lot of love
on fernald's neck

Bald eagles also nest along the raging shores of Megunticook… and Kerry Hardy watched the local couple get cozy on the ice not to far back. Here’s a shot of the pair a few steps away from each and a few moments away from cloacal kissing! Smooch city!

 

business time
photo by Kerry Hardy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

she and he eagles
photo by Kerry Hardy

 

Otters in the Marsh….and now on to Tenants Harbor where I took the extra hour from the first day of daylight saving time (extra hour of light later in the day I mean), added it to a bunch of other hours and walked around the main section of the marsh north of the big beaver dam.

the marsh

 

this is an otter mound

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this is an otter mound with spraint on top

All in all it was a 4 hour stroll looking for sign along the shore. 13 otter latrines, 3 mound areas (mounds with no spraint) and possibly 2or 3 new dens to go along with the 5 latrines and 1 active otter den I had found previously this winter. I also found two highly used otter trails heading off into the woods connecting the marsh to the ocean! To top it all off I saw an otter at the end of the walk, which made it an official otter walk.

this is a series of mounds with spraint
maybe 5 or six

 

the mounds were thick and wonderful around
the marsh

the cherry on top of mounds
is spraint

and of course there was this stuff

nice mound

why all the mounds? border between two male territories?
but there are three otters living in marsh? at least
never seen so many
 

leads to this

wide trail coming out of the water



Beyond the otter scene the local beaver folk have awoke and their phat trails coming out of the water led to some tree carnage evidence.



and this

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wood duck and wigeon
photo by Linnell Mather

 

Goose
photo by Linnell Mather

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whatsmore… A great thing about the marsh is its geese. Paired up, spread out and making a racquet, the geese are always up to something. Here’s some geese pictures Linnell Mather took recently. These are Seattle geese, not Canada or Canadian or French Canadian

 

 

 

 

knockin' leif around

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 

 For some reason the blog wont let me put pictures in the next section. associated photos are a little below(er). but it will let me put some leif photos here. kickin' ass!

Amphibians – as we know, Amphibian movement is often earlier than we realize. Spotted Salamanders migrating from wintering burrows to vernal pools often have to cross snow and deal with freezing temperatures in late March and early April (typical time frame for salamander migration on island).

 

This year however things warmed up and got moist early – and on the mainland here Wood Frogs and Spotted Salamanders moved on the nights of March 9^th, 10^th and 14^th (at least many did). Vinalhaven conditions were similar, and undoubtedly salamanders have made their way to pools around island. This means that since migrating they have had to deal with snow and freezing temperatures that freeze the pools.

 

leif can handle it

and takes charge.

We’ll keep you posted on vernal pool status and numbers as the season goes and eggs are laid. Found wood frog eggs yesterday! Too bad Vinalhaven doesn’t have any of them.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Until then here are a couple of shots of Leif and his buddy Isaiah holding a pair of Spotted Salamanders I rented for the season (found on the road).

 

Rock on and keep it real!

 

See you out there!