Vinalhaven Sightings

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report – January 7, 2020

Brought to you with the support of VLT and MCHT – Thanks to both organizations!

Another in the series of blips

There should be another blip coming soon.

I've said that before

Highlights – ferry ride, red and white-winged crossbills, winter mushrooms, sunset at lanes. Everything really

favorite otter latrine photo series
in the basin, clothing optional rock

Contact us – with all the observable nature stuff going on around Vinalhaven it feels good to have a safe place where you can unload and share your sightings with other humans. Send your photos, sightings and whatnots to vinalhavensightings@gmail.com . The place to be really, and share.

surf scoter getting the heck out of the way

Tiit Trick - click on photos to make them jumbo!

Sightings – ferry ride – 1/2/20 – 10:30 from Rockland

these are kittiwakes in here

Due to scheduling conflicts beyond my control, I (had to/was forced to) settled on the 10:30 to Vinalhaven for observing. Everyone knows the first two boats are the best, but the 10:30 is probably the third best. A distant third. But there’s nothing wrong with bronze and there was nothing wrong with the 10:30 this day. Overcast and warm, low wind. Nice conditions in 2020!

white-winged scoters

Many of the classic winter ferry ride seabirds and ducks were out and observable – 31 Common Loon, 1 Red-throated Loon, 11 Black-legged Kittiwake, 3 Razorbill, 2 Great Cormorant, 4 Purple Sandpiper, 6 Red-breasted Merganser, 15 Old tailed Ducks, 23 Surf Scoter, 5 White-winged Scoter, 22 Common Eider, 2 Bufflehead. Harbor Seals as well, a very satisfying boat ride.

lots of loons and their feather maintenance

purple sandpiper and red-breasted merganser
bull rock

white-winged crossbill

In the woods – Basin (platform and wharf quarry areas) and Huber –

red crossbill

Birds – Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Hairy Woodpeckers, Raven

Golden-crowned Kinglets have been especially low these days, and the juncos have been in impressive numbers.

The big story in the spruce forests is, and has been, Crossbills. “Incessant” is how I described their persistence. A continual chorus, a fine mixture of Crossbill chatter and song. Warm winter days, lots of the cones and days getting longer! Who isn’t in the mood! Crossbills are known to breed whenever and wherever they find enough cones to raise a brood. There are a lot of

There were many fly overs and an impressive amount of feasting sessions. The feasting parties I observed were mostly made up of Red Crossbills but I did get a “good enough for ID” shot of a white-winged mixed in a group of Reds near Mack’s Pond. Groups of white-winged were seen in flybys.

Mushrooms – Red-belted Conks – Basin Preserve.

Huber has always been a favorite place to see Red-belted Conks, but lately the ones in the Basin have been drawing the attention. Between the Crossbills and the Red-belted Conks, the Basin trails were full of distractions on the 2^nd and 3^rd.

So I decided to document some of my favorite conks in the Basin. Do you recognize any of these? Some people recognize a trail by a view, or a land mark, or plant thing. Cool to recognize a trail by its conks.

Huber - Huber still has its share of Conks, don’t get us wrong.

We do miss Roger though, that was a special mushroom.

Anyway, Red-belted Conks are fruiting on a couple of snags along the Huber Loop, in the stretch furthest away from the water. These snags have been used as “dining tables” over the years by local Great-horned Owls.