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| colors photo by Kristen McClelland |
Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report –
September 12, 2017
Thanks VLT and MCHT for their continued support! And You!
“I prefer chanterelles” – Leif Gentalen, age 8.
After trying giant puffball for the first time.
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| palm and yellow-rumped warbler in bait bags photo by Josh Clayter, may 2017 |
Highlights – Mixed species flocks, raptors,
mushrooms, shorebirds, crane flies, gannets, otter dens and sign, so much more!
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| harbor seals in the basin photo by Mary DiMatteo |
We’ll start
….. with a photo gallery of shots largely sent in from photographers around the
island. Keep sending them in! People love to see what you are taking photos
of…. Thanks Mary DiMatteo, Kristen
McClelland, Jim Clayter, Rick Morgan for sharing these…
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| north haven mink photo by Rick Morgan |
Business – share you stuff – photos, sightings,
finding, epiphanies are all excepted (epiphanies are vetted thoroughly) – share
and become famous – send your goods to – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com – also send addresses to be added to
the email list! It makes a great present
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| lane's island deer photo by Mary DiMatteo |
Tiit Trick –
click on the photos to enlarge. Miss you dad!
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| a first day of school gift - giant puffball and the flash |
Upcoming events
– of island – this Saturday (9/16) at
10am at the Jackson Memorial Library in Tenants Harbor I will be leading a
mushroom discussion/slide show followed by a mushroom walk on the nature trail
through the woods to the marsh. If you are on the mainland and have some time
it should be fun. Good folks down here in St. George. Info on the sign.
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| more Basin Harbor Seals photo by Mary DiMatteo |
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| monarchs photo by Rick Morgan |
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| golden rod is goldeny |
Or…if you are in the Rockport area on Saturday, September 30th
and are looking for something to do, I’ll be leading a mushroom walk on the Erickson Field preserve trail. We did a
mushroom walk last year there and it was super fun. 10am at the route 90
parking area, less than a mile on the left is you are coming up from rte. 1
(junction with the market basket – a weird establishment that the VSR does not
endorse nor condemns, but proudly uses as a land mark). Nice trail and more of
hardwood/mixed forest.
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| northern gannet |
Other writings
– with many good years under the belt here at the VSR (and many years more to
come!) someone was bound to read it and think it might be a good idea if I also
write for another publication as well (it could happen). Anyway, that day has
arrived. The St. George Dragon, (providing the St. George peninsula with local
news and info every other week for years), asked me if I wouldn’t mind writing a
nature column once a month or so and I said yes as long as it can be called
“nature bummin’ with Kirk Gentalen”. Here are some of the first links,
including an interview with me. May be of interest to few, may be really boring
for most….
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| tapioca slime photo by Jim Clayter |
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| close up as it goes to spore - notice the black photo by Jim Clayter |
Sightings – Slime molds – Jim Clayter was
fortunate enough to have this large Tapioca slime mold (Brefeldia maxima) “going
to spore” in some a newly woodchipped birch pile. We are fortunate enough that
Jim has opted to share these nice shots of the changing mold, they don’t call
them myxomycetes for nothing. George Barron refers to this species as having
“massive fruiting body (aethalium) a giant amongst the slime molds…young
aethalium is white to off-white, with the texture of semolina pudding.” Sounds
yummy! Good job spotting, photographing and sharing.
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| merlin photo by Rick Morgan |
Rick Morgan sent
in these photos of a Merlin he and Pete Jacques spotted at Folly Pond
recently. Lots of raptors funneling south along the coast.
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| lesser yellowlegs |
(9/12) Ferry Crossing – lots of Harbor Porpoise & Harbor seals. Surf
scoter, 10+ Common Loons, many Black Guillemots – with adults molting into post
breeding plumage, Northern Gannet.
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| solitary sandpiper. notice the grey legs and circle around its eye. slightly smaller that the lesser |
Mixed species flocks – alrighty and let’s face it – post
breeding songbird migration is here (has been for a while) and booming. Even
though this migration in straight up numbers is (most likely) a larger overall
movement than the northerly spring songbird migration (considering all the newbie offspring making
their first fall run) the fall often goes
“underappreciated” when compared to that pre-breeding movement a few
months ago. This is a total judgment
based on little to no data, just
personal observations and attitude.
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| coral mushroom looking corally |
definition - "newbie" in this VSR refers to songbirds born in the last few months who are making their first migration southward.
Or maybe I should say – we can see
how easily this movement can go underappreciated as birds aren’t singing, football
season arrives, school starts, mushrooms demand all our attention and the
leaves are changing color. Throw in phrases like “confusing fall warblers” (top
ten least favorite nature term/phrases) and a whole bunch of bland, quiet newbie
birds and you can see were folks may be distracted and loose focus on
songbird movement in the fall. Which is too bad, because it can be really fun
in its own way.
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| scrambled egg slime |
With birds not singing, and some being
downright silent when passing through Vinalhaven one might be pressed to even
find these “4.5 inch nuggets of pure bliss” (copyright that phrase to describe
warblers (because songbird migration really is biased towards warblers no matter what anyone says). This all is
part of the fun.
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| same patch a few days later |
For me it’s all about "checking in with the chickadees" and then “picking apart
the flocks”. I find this activity really fun and have been doing it each
fall/winter since the winter of ‘94 I lived in Santa Cruz, California. I was
just starting to bird watch full time, and learned that if I wanted to
see Townsend’s Warblers in winter (and who doesn’t want to see Townsends Warblers) I
should find the flocks of Chestnut-backed Chickadees. They always seemed to be
hanging out together, and sometimes the Townsends outnumbered the Chickadees by
4 to 1! I got into the habit of paying
close attention to the flocks of Chestnut backed Chickadees, that was a good
lesson.
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| orange scaber stalk - another mushroom that Leif got to eat and he macked the whole thing. he likes the way boletes taste. so do I! |
Only later was I to learn that what I
was observing was an actual thing (and not particular to the Forest of Nisene
Marks) and comes with a name in print and everything – “mixed-species flocks”. It had a nice ring to it, so I decided to
look for them other places. And so, for every fall/winter since ’93 part of my
terrestrial exploration routine is to listen for chickadees, whichever species
is local to where I happen to be living. Chickadees
are always appreciated for what chickadees are – cute (judgment for sure,
but a correct one), gregarious, and very very vocal. The fact that they hang
out with a diverse crowd is a lovely bonus, bonus for them (safety in numbers?) and bonus
for me (big smiles). Needless to say, mixed species flocks on the east coast
can be impressive.
Locally it’s about the Black-capped Chickadees
of course. I came across 3 Black and
white Warblers in a flock with Chickadees and Red-breasted nuthatches at
Carrying Place.
In my neighborhood bike ride I have a
couple of chickadee flocks that I’ve been paying attention to. One flock had for warblers : Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, Black and White, Yellow, Tennessee
& Bay-breasted Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula and American
Redstart. Blue headed and Red eyed Vireo, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hairy
Woodpecker. also represented. Not a bad couple of trees.
But my favorite – and the point of
these is to mention that it is a good time to go out side and listen for
chickadees – that’s the point of all this – but my favorite recent group was
right up Watts Ave from me – 3 Cape May
and a single Bay-breasted in the same tree. The last time I saw both
species on the same day was the fallout at Fox Rocks ’05. Both species were in
the parking lot that day – good day. Anyway, check your chickadees if you get a
chance. Never know what might turn up.
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| happy trail to the otter den |
Otter sign –
Perry creek – otter den found in 2016
active in 2017! great to find one finally in Perry Creek - great to see it in use again.
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| can you find the opening of the den? |
Raccoon scat –
winter harbor (9/12) few nice piles, recent sign for sure. Not overwhelming…
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| this raccoon scat was not overwhelming |
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| how is a white russula (Russulacae) different from a white Russian? I only know of white Russian the drink from the Big Lebowski |
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| Blackish-red Russula - Russula xerampelina |
Mushrooms –
even with the recent downpours the woods feel rather dry. Russulas seem to be doing alright.
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| rosy russula |
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| olive russula, and sluggy friend |
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| Jack-o-lanterns. the poisonous alternative to Chanterelles. there is no reason to ever get this confused with Chanterelles. |
Mainland - And
this jack-o-lantern popped up down the road, up the road from our place.
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| Cirton amanita - smells like raw potatoes |
Citron amanitas
have been the amanita of choice, but…
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| this slug seems to have enjoyed its destroying angel meal |
There have been more destroying angels….
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| this destroying angel was left in the trail by a squirrel interrupted? or was the taste too strong. |
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| nothing phallic here. but you can see where the squirrel shaved off some of the bulbous base. the next day it was gone but that means little to this story. |
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| all smiles with the giant puffball |
First day of school - A teacher I worked with last year was kind enough to bring over a giant puffball (Calvatia gigantean) before
school started! It was mammoth.
And we ate some and shared with
others – Leif’s comment “I think I prefer chanterelles”. Mushroom snob!
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| 8/28 |
Also checked out this Purple Spored
Puffball (Calvatia cyathiformis) over a week or so on a ride I like. Mushrooms
by bicycle is a nice way to go. Anyway, cool to see it change over the 8 days.
I went back a few days later and it had been run over by a lawn mower. might actually be a puffball's dream.
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| 9/5 |
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| 8/29 |
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| nice abdomen on this American Pelecinid |
just a reminder
Insects as well -
some favorites -
American Pelecinid females use that long abdomen to lay eggs in soil inhabiting beetle larvae. in the ground! very cool.
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| ain't nothing wrong with being regular. Crane fly.... |
2 flavors of Crane Flies these days - regular (but still cool)
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| phantom crane flies are pretty cool though, totally based on appereance |
and phantom......
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| flash going to the first day of 3rd grade |
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| leif and rosy our neighbor |
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| bumper cars |
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| kayaking with friends |
And some of leif of course!
hope to see you out there!
