Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report – June 15th,
2016
…with the support of VLT and MCHT
“Think of how many eels it took to make a trout that
large” – trout woman from Tenants Harbor
Highlights – plants, ants, moths, state record
rainbow trout, woodpecker nesting reports, flower stuff…
Business – Don’t
forget to share! The vinalhaven
sightings report works best when folks send in photos and sightings and
whatever. Send them in – unless they are complaints about the blazes on the
trails! Those you can kindly keep to yourselves…. Anyway here’s the email – we
check it about once a week or so at this point – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com
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| can you hear the baby woodpecker begging? |
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| marasmius and its favorite habitat |
http://outthere.bangordailynews.com/2016/06/09/fishing/state-record-13-pound-rainbow-trout-caught-in-vinalhaven-quarry-pond/
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| these are not fish |
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| carpenter ants digging it photo by Banner Moffat |
Trout still are not bass.
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| male on top! photo by Banner Moffat |
check out these osprey getting cozy! watch those talons mister!
eventually the male will twist its tail and wrap its lower parts around the females tail and will preform the "cloacal kiss"! hot action
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| winter moth caterpillar poop |
One-eyed Sphinx
– staying on the mothy topic, there are “moths
other than winter” out there. Leif and I were walking home from school the
other day when Leif stopped to stare at a tree (not that “out there”). “I see
something awesome” he called to me – and voila – there was a super cool
one-eyed sphinx moth hanging on the side of a pine. “One-eyed” is a funny name
for this species (that’s what the book said) as moths have like a gagillion real
eyes (hard to keep track of?) and have those cool fake eyes on the top of both
hind wings, which would make them 2-eyed. Either case cool moths are out in the
night and the day! Go find yourself a few!
Butterflies
– while we are at it the diurnal moths
– also known as Butterflies – have
been putting on a show as well. Tiger Swallowtails seem to be everywhere except
in front of my camera! But I did manage to snap a shot of this American Painted
Lady as she/he was taking in some of the lovely sunshine (thank you sun!) recently.
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| pitcher plants photo by Anna Poe! |
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| star flower photo by Banner Moffat |
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| the heather stuff is in bloom on the Williams trail |
PSA –
someone (“flower hugger”) was kind
enough to put a thing in the Wind that mentioned people and dogs staying on
trails when Lady Slippers are in bloom, which seems like a good idea. They even
mentioned Huber Preserve by name, as
this is the best trail to see multiple Lady Slippers from and it can be quite a
visual – I counted 120 Pink Lady Slipper
plants along the trail last week (not all in bloom). Anyway, this of course is a great idea – the
staying on the trail – so the orchids (and other plant like things) don’t get
crushed under foot – but probably a good idea when the Lady slipper’s aren’t in
bloom as well. Lady Slipper leaves continue to photosynthesize and collect
energy for next year’s bloom long after this year’s flower is gone.
As a mushroom lover I
understand I recognize that staying on
the trail is impossible, but being aware
of what you are stepping on and hopefully around is not impossible. Be aware
people and treat lightly.
As a naturalist I do need make
sure correct information is out there and mention (and I apologize if I offered
whomever put the blurb in the Wind) that
Pink Lady Slippers are not endangered in Maine and are also not the orchid
endemic to North America. They are vulnerable
to picking or collecting – don’t try it! Transplanting lady slipper does not work – and probably shouldn’t be stepped on. They are worth
appreciating. Protecting and certainly should not be trampled but for reasons
other than endangerment or endemicness.
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| the nest is/was in the tree with the poison ivy crawling up it! |
Now, and we are being honest
here, I had hefty doubts about this right from the beginning. The Fox Rocks
area in my mind is famous for woodpeckers and their nests, usually made from
the Hairy or Downy flavors of Woodpecker. Three-toed Woodpeckers are (in Maine
and in my mind) the rarer cousin of the already somewhat rarely seen
Black-backed Woodpeckers which visit Vinalhaven most winters (regular in small
numbers rather than rare I would say) but are seen by few. That said, I did not
want to be the guy who “blows off the
three-toed woodpecker report only to find it turned out to be true and the
coolest thing up at fox rocks since the Harriers bred up there”. No one
wants to be that guy, and sometimes that kind of motivation is enough to get me
out there.
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| lots of activity at this nest. the parental woodpeckers tail feathers have worn a mark below the nest opening pretty cool. |
Anyway, the tree was easy to
find because those dang baby woodpeckers make such a begging racket the last
week or two before fledging. I found a cozy spot and waited for the Hairy Woodpeckers I had been hearing in
the area to swing by and feed some offspring. It took about 5 minutes before a female Hairy showed up, spotted me
and started the harassment (who’s harassing who?).
All in all it was a very cool
nest, and over the course of my 30 hour stay on the island I heard/found at 6
active woodpecker nests. Those babies are soooo loud I couldn’t have missed the
nests if I had tried!
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| we are big fans of the little marasmiuses same picture? |
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| marasmius are everywhere |
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| water clubs are cool, but not exclusive |
And I think that’s what we got for this one! Hope everyone is enjoying the late spring and has a wonderful summer! We will be back and rolling along in July!
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| ready to fish and scoop at the beaver dam |
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| had a great baseball season |
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| this porcupine was not on vinalhaven leif likes this photo |
See yah out there! thanks to those who shared this round!
