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| yellow warbler youngster |
Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report- June 30, 2019
Thanks to you and MCHT and VLT for making this happen
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| brown booby on buoy photo by Jamus Drury |
Sightings – Heronry in the whites, Brown Booby in the bay, Yellow warbler
babies on lanes, tons of Common Murres at Matinicus Rock, Thursday morning Bird
walk reports, butterflies and the
persistent Northern Mockingbird loitering by the Rockland Ferry Terminal, young
birds featuring yellow warbler and eastern phoebe, Nelson’s Sparrow,
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| silver-bordered fritillary on Northern Iris |
Business first –
contact us – great sharing this
round, even by those who didn’t send in anything (to share, there must also be
someone being shared with!). But if you find yourself in possession of a photo
or a story of something cool and not necessarily human based feel free to send
something to vinalhavensightings@gmail.com . Comments, concerns, and questions
we’ll get back to you…eventually or quickly!
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| fleeting parula photo by John Drury |
Tiit trick –
click on the photos to make jumbo sized.
Bird walks –
VLT’s Thursday morning bird walks are up and running – two in books and here’s
a little run down of highlights thanks to Rick Morgan (Thanks Rick!). Check
posters or the VLT website for times!
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| blue eyed grass |
(6/20) - …very foggy – just 3 of us. But
we clearly heard and saw the Nelson’s Sparrow at State Beach. Also a nice view of a female redstart at
Lanes parking area.
(6/27) - 23 species IDed. The Nelsons
were calling back & forth and were clearly visible. Hearing a winter wren
call was a treat, along with 4 warblers.
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| heron skeleton photo Linnell Mather |
On the water with Skua – there is so much to see around the “Vinalhaven city
limits”, and when we say city we mean the entire township, that we need (at
least) 2 nature blogs. For more info on sightings around Seal Island National
Wildlife Refuge, Otter, Brimstone and more check out John Drury’s awesome blog “Sightings from Skua” at ; http://sightingsfromskua.blogspot.com/ . Also a great spot to sign up for
your next tour on the Skua! Recent highlights: Murres, Razorbills with young, King Eider, Great Cormorants, more on
the heronry in the Whites. And so much more! Check it out – that is a
command! I mean, when you get a chance.
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| GBH in a tree photo by Pam Weatherbee |
And since we are talking Heronry…..
Sightings - Little Garden Island – There goes the
neighborhood! First reported by VLT staff, and later nesting confirmed by John
Drury, Great Blue Herons are now nesting on Little Garden in the White Islands
(or close to them, I don’t know many unwritten boundaries). Anyway and so cool,
i have not heard stories or legends of historical, local GBH nesting zones
around Vinalhaven. But John would certainly know more about that. Clink the
link in our business section above to access to John’s blog “sightings from skua”. For more photos and reports!
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| photo by Pam Weatherbee! |
Thanks to Pam Weatherbee for the photos. We want to remind everyone that
Great Blue Heron nesting colonies are sensitive to disturbance and to not land or approach the nests closely. in fact, be aware if you go to check it out from the water to see if the Herons seem skittish or are dealing with a predator. Don't be a harsser! this is super cool! let help the herons by keeping our distance!
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| so cool, Brown Booby! photo by Jamus Drury |
Brown Booby –
yep, you read that right. Jamus Drury and Richie Carlson spotted this Brown
Booby sitting atop the number 3 buoy. Just off of Green Ledge and in theory
could have been seen from the ferry! First Brown Booby reported to the VSR, and
looks like it’s the 3rd one recorded ever for Maine! “Mega-bird” is
the quote from Kristen Lindquist, the “official VSR Poet and Keeper of bird
quotes”. Great spot Jamus! Nice driving
Richie! Good reminder to keep your eyes open - never know what might show
up!
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| young phoebe photo by Banner Moffat |
Banner Moffat
sent in this great photo of a successful nest of Eastern Phoebes from up Crockett
Cove way. We have gotten word that the youngsters have fledged in the few
days since our receiving Banner’s photo! Super cool and thanks for
sharing!
Lane’s Island special – (6/18) found a small nest that was askew and tilted pretty heavily.
Figured it was old, but didn’t find it full of old seed or mouse scat. There
were two baby, hatchling birds somewhat hanging. Repositioned the nest and
watched the 2 youngin’s settle in a bit. Then looked for, and found a third
little one on the ground squirming. No sign of a fourth, might have been causality
to the event that inspired the tiltiness or maybe never hatched. Hard to tell.
Either way, the 3rd youngster was returned to the nest and the scene
was left quickly.
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| little wing |
A return trip 2 hours later had both
parents near the nest (Yellow Warblers!) and three little mouths begging for
food. I let them be….
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| grumpy |
..I will return this week to see how
they have fared with the storms and such. They only stay in the nest 10 days or
so – hold on little ones!
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| sleepy |
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| hungry and tired |
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| silver bordered fritillary |
Butterflies –
promised some last time, don’t think I delivered. Admission – some of these
photos were taken on the mainland, but all species were seen on Vinalhaven as
well. Go with the good shots I say!
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| common ringlet |
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| northern crescent |
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| peck's skipper, and daisy |
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| spruce cone |
Armbrust Hill
– Lady Slippers abound, going to seed in some cases. Saw maybe 30 plants, maybe
15 flowers during a picnic (and photo) stop. plus so much more!
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| this years lady slipper going to pod! |
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| bracken fern with unfurling issues |
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| close up of lady slipper flower "past prime" |
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| tree ear mushroom |
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| lady slipper pod close up |
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| northern flag iris |
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| mountain ash |
Saw this green frog as well. Good times!
Baby Spiders –
in the shed, on Bruce’s stuff so I paid it little mind. Little dudes,
apparently garden spiders but I have not had time to really get into this. Time
takes time I guess!
Off island – a quick photo series or two….raccoon youngster.
Robin fledgling – from the backyard in st George.
Eider young – Marshall
point lighthouse area.
Crab Spider – catching a Peck’s Skipper butterfly, which is impressive! I was trying to
get photos of them and they hardly stay still for a moment or two.
Brown Bullhead head – found on a visit to my fourth favorite otter latrine above
the beaver dam in the marsh.
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| brown bull head head |
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| eye of the bull head |
Broad-winged hawk “escorts” a bald eagle out of it turf. From the front yard in St George.
Limited edition – thank goodness for
Oreos and their never ending run of limited editions – is there a better way to celebrate the staged first moon landing than with a[inkish colored Oreo? NASA sponsored? rhetorical questions
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| we made it through our first comic con! |
Been having some wonderful times with Leif on summer break.
Battling at the Portland comic-con!
We did the radio show this week with a few of his buddies. Good times! They
will return! Sunday afternoons, 4-5pm on WRFR 93.3 Rockland, 99.3 Camden and on
the
And the Lego Stranger Things set was pretty awesome to watch come together! Looking forward to season three!
We will see you out there! Feel free
to say hi!
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| squirrel photo bomb and chickweed! photo by Linnell Mather |
