 |
| Columbus day bird walk photo by Norbert Leser |
Welcome to the Vinalhaven sightings report – October
24th, 2016
Thanks to MCHT and VLT for their unconditional support
“You are the guy who holds all the gross things!” – Olivia
Philbrook, youngster
Highlights – pileated woodpecker, northern goshawk,
herring up bay, gannets, otter dens, sapsuckers, butter butts and ruby crowned
kinglets, juncos, mushrooms, salamanders, spiders, and some cool pumpkins…
In honor – Lois Day passed away recently and our thoughts go to Lois’ family and friends, and especially Walt . A long time VSR supporter, regular
contributor and wonderful person, in my mind Lois is legendary for sending in
more Praying Mantis photos than anyone else and for a great laugh. She is missed already.
 |
| spider game, very serious. |
 |
| Tapioca Slime trail....on one of my bridges! so cool.... |
Contact us! - send us your sightings and photos! You
will be loved for it. vinalhavensightings@gmail.com
!
Tiit Trick – click on the photos and they will
fill you screen and your mind. Unless you are thinking about something else.
 |
| thanks! those were mine! |
Thanks – to whomever put
my sunglasses on the Basin Preserve sign on Wharf Quarry Road.
 |
| chillin' with some of my favorite people photo by Alice Bissell |
Kid Stuff – (10/18-19)
– Perspectives afterschool program. Had
a great couple of days with a bunch of the elementary school students exploring
the woods, a dugout and a couple of school walls for spiders, salamanders and whatever else we could find.. So much fun.
 |
| red-backed salamander photo by Alice Bissell |
The highlight of these days was Aiden saying he’s made a new friend (not me, a new
student at the school). New friends are great.
 |
| spiders and gutters photo by Alice Bissell |
There were spiders with egg
sacs in their webs along the gutters on the school….
 |
| Araneus spiders with active spinnerettes photo by Alice Bissell |
 |
| at the dugout photo by Maddy Gates |
This one was particularly awesome, and very patient
with me and the group. Actually, that last sentence was me anthropomorphizing, because if spiders can feel fear or terror
that is certainly what this one was experiencing rather than patience. Quite possibly
this was the first time in its life that it has been hassled, and that’s all
this really was., a momentary hassle. Less than a minute total, but I digress…
 |
| Dudes and a salamander photo by Maddy Gates |
And then we hit the woods for
a lot of salamanders one day….
 |
| Abby found this snake. Ronin was into it photo by Alice Bissell |
…and then a few salamanders
the next day and a snake!
Thanks to P.I.E., VLT, MCHT, Vinalhaven School, ARC,
the USO, HBO, and the late, great Sonny Bono. The beat goes on. Looking forward
to the next time!
 |
| John Drury and bird walk group on Lane's Island\ Photo by Norbert Leser |
Sightings – Lane’s
Island – John Drury led a VLT bird walk on Columbus Day (just like Chris would
have liked). Windy and cool, Rick Morgan shared a few highlights from the day…
Myrtle warblers (lots & lots),Bald eagles dive bombing each other over Greens I., Loon flyover above Lane’s meadow, 4 Gannett sightings at the opening to the Reach, White-crowned sparrow, Merlin, Northern harrier
 |
| really wonderful fall for colors and warmth |
Greens Island – more from John…John Drury recently reported a Pileated Woodpecker and Northern
Goshawk from Greens Island. It
is assumed they were not together. Readers with "information recall" will recall
that Patience Chamberlin recently
reported a Pileated at Huber Preserve.
Pileateds are not reported too often on island – wonder if this is the same
bird or maybe a little flight of these jumbo woodpeckers are coming thru!
John also reported Ruby-crowned Kinglets singing. Nuthatches, Chickadees, Brown Creepers, and
Golden-crowned Kinglets all have been singing as of late. Warm days can
inspire! Remember when it was warm last week?
Around the island – Yellow-rumped Warblers
(butterbutts) are thick and numerous these days, just like they should be!....Basin
– lots of Greater Yellowlegs and White-winged Crossbills heard on every visit…Merlin
over 4 dinosaurs ….
 |
| Huber Parking with leaves |
Crockett Cove - male Northern Harrier, Yellow bellied Sapsucker
On the water – Northern Gannet – I bumped into Walt
Day by the microwave tower and he mentioned “lots of Gannets up bay” chasing little Herring. Ever since Walt innocently
mentioned that factoid it seems like everyone is mentioning seeing the largest regular seabird visitor to our
region.
 |
| young Gannet |
With its six foot wingspan Gannets are being regularly
seen close to the ferry these days, seen from Lane’s, and seen just about
anywhere you can see an expanse of open water.
Little Herring – now I am no fish major, but the day after I saw Walt I kayaked out to
Leadbetter and I was escorted by these little jumpers for good chunks of the
way. Later I was informed that these were probably little herring being chased
by Mackerel below and not the Great White Sharks that I was hoping to see. Check
out this video.
or this one...
They were quite loud at times….loons
and guillemots were also seen. No gannets in Hurricane Sound that day that I saw…..
Leadbetter –
OTTERS ARE EASIER! - The real treat
for me was landing at a new spot on Leadbetter and finding otter sign almost
immediately. There was a lot of “if I was
an otter I would spraint here” kind of thoughts that turned out to be what
otters were thinking as well.
 |
| significant latrine and brown out |
In all about 10 new latrines,
but the hugeness of it all was the three dens that I found in the first in
being on the island for 45 minutes. The dens were flying very quickly – no den
taking more than 5 minutes after finding a new latrine. It was one of those
mornings. I can’t imagine a more efficient session with finding otter dens.
 |
| entrance to den #1, #15 of the year |
From the amount of spraint it
is appears that a group of multiple otters is using the first two dens. For
whatever reason – well, the obvious is to mark their turf – river otters love
to spraint at latrines where freshwater creeks, trickles, drippers cross trails
close to shorelines. Which is great, because those kinds of “trail and trickle conditions” are found
all over the Fox Islands.
 |
| there was also plenty of raccoon scat to be found |
The first two dens were along
the immediate shoreline with a clear, short path from the shore and den opening
to the latrine. The first den also had a series of “runs”, or trails that the
otters appear to use.
 |
| latrine, brown out and trail |
 |
| entrance to den #3, # 17 for the year is somewhere in there |
After finding a hefty latrine
along a trail I will also look to see if there is any trail heading away from
the shore. The third major latrine I found that morning had a clear trail
heading up island, and I realized I had followed that trail several times
before, I had just never approached the latrine from the south before!
Anyway,
this time I was more disciplined or “otter instincts” kicked in, but I found
where I had lost the trail – or been tricked by a raccoon I presume! – And the
otter had taken a quick left. And left a clear path to the den which had
apparently been used for years! Amounts of spraint pointed to a single otter
using this third den that was up and off the trail, the freshness of the
spraint said that the single otter used the den less often – or at least less
recent – as the group.  |
| also found this green snake on leadbetter |
Super fun and super fun. This
was done by 10:15 that morning. Meanwhile the afternoon before…..
 |
| spraint |
Orchard Cove/Perry Creek – at about 1:15pm the day before kayaking – after seeing
about a million Butterbutts I came across this otter latrine in the trail. I may have seen this last year, but was
with other folks and didn’t explore for some unknown reason – otter instincts
failure – but this year was totally different and better and all that.
 |
| orchard cove latrine |
The latrine being by a bridge
tells you that both criteria – tickle and trail conditions – were met and sure
enough the latrine showed a healthy amount of spraint. I scanned from the
latrine for a trail and quickly found a well-worn path going up the trickle
bed, so I followed it maybe 60 feet to a series of seriously leaning trees. The
roots of these trees were being raised, but were still covered with earth,
making it a perfect spot for an otter, or otters (“oohhhh”) to have a den.
 |
| otters tore this up |
And of course all paths led
to three openings and another couple latrines on top and along the sides. Too
easy!!!!!!!
For those folks keeping
score, these 4 dens in 21 hours (I love my life!) are numbers 14-17 for
the calendar year of 2016. The goal was 5! Now its triple digits. I bet with a
little effort we could. A real “Big Year”, not that silly bird
movie/book/lifestyle. Anyway, this is my second 3 otter den day this year (last
three months in fact). One could say we are in a groove.
And speaking of grooves…
 |
| this is what 5 bucks worth of cotton candy looks like |
I have often wondered what
exactly people did with those huge freakin' pumpkins that take up most of a
garden and almost all of the nutrients from a neighborhood. In Damariscotta
they paint them, which was very cool….
 |
| this one is for nanni - with the horseshoe crab |
 |
| first hit |
 |
| it was nutty |
 |
| hard to believe this boy would probably tell you his favorite musician is Weird Al these days. |
 |
| be careful out there photo by Leif Gentalen |
what a world
will have to do another one on mushrooms, out of time, out of mind on this one....
makes me sad - but see you out there doesn't!
See you out there....
