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| Black throated Green warbler collecting nesting materials |
Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report –
May 24, 2021
Brought to you, with the kind support of
MCHT & VLT
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| baby robin head |
Highlights – Red Billed Tropicbird, Great Cormorants, Island
reports including Seal, Warblers, Red belted Conk, Tamarack, Harbor Seal with young, Baltimore Orioles,
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| hackmatack, tamarack |
Business – contact us – its free, painless and a great way to share your sightings.
Send your nature observations, photos, attitudes, and stories to
vinalhavensightings@gmail.com . You won’t be sorry you did – or at least you won’t be
sorry for long.
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| upside down Northern Parula |
Tiit Trick – click on the photos and have them fill your screen, your
life, your reality….and then click them again and you are back to the new
normal!
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| Red-billed Tropicbird photo by John Drury |
Sightings - Outer islands – offshore, on the water – from the deck of Skua
– Check out the latest about Captain John Drury’s adventures aboard the
at …. https://sightingsfromskua.blogspot.com/
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| osprey pair |
Seal Island – (The return of the son of the) Red-billed Tropicbird!
That’s right ladies and gents, the tropical seabird from the south has returned
for a record 17th summer in the Gulf of Maine. People are
flocking (bird joke) to see it, and really the best way to increase your odds
of actually getting to see the bird is to sign up for a tour with John on the
Skua. Trips are filling up fast – go to his blog to find more details on how to
reserve your spot today!
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| clear view of male's cloaca |
Also, on Seal Island - Excellent news – hopeful news -
40 Great Cormorant nests on Seal, with 85 adults. Last there were 25
nests, so at least at the moment things are on the upswing out there for
everyone’s favorite ‘threatened’ cormorant in Maine.
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| Common Loon in surf |
Also….Atlantic Puffin, Razorbills, Black Guillemot, Common
and Arctic Terns …. The list goes on for Seal Island!
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| Purple Sandpiper in breeding plumage |
Little Robert’s – Harlequin Ducks Otter Island - Coopers Hawk
Pat's Oriole
Baltimore Oriole at Pat’s House – Pat Paquet has been more than kind
(and patient and tolerant) with my staying in her ‘out building’ weekly for the
last, well, years at this point. So, I want to make sure I give a big ol’
public Thank You to Pat!
A treat this last week was this male Baltimore Oriole that
sang and serenaded us as we sat on Pat’s awesome new porch
chesnut-sided warbler
Warblers out and about – Ovenbird, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue,
Black and white, Yellow-rumped, Yellow, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart,
Northern Parula, Nashville’s, Magnolia, Blackpoll,
yellow warbler
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| female Northern Parula scatting |
common yellowthroat
song sparrow
Others - 'warbler by-catch' - winter wren, brown creeper, hermit thruch, dark-eyed Junco, Blue-headed Vireo, song and white-throated sparrow,
Feeding fledglings - Golden-crowned Kinglets
In the Basin – well, around the Basin – revisited my current favorite Saw-whet
owl pellet spot, and sure enough fresh scat…
Fresh(ish) pellets … full of feathers
And feathers….
white-throated sparrow head
Was trying to figure where to start with the ‘dead bird
that a saw-whet ate’ identification when I found this head. White-throated
Sparrow! In three states of death – carcass, regurgitant, and scat. What a
world!
A mushroom (nick)named ‘Mick’ – Red-belted Conks are cool
mushrooms. The fungus – a great/major decomposer of trees – both coniferous and
deciduous (and all the rest!) – around island. The mushroom – temporary landmarks
whose presence along trails can be hard to miss, even those that suffer from
‘mushroom-blindness’.
There was one on the Huber Trail, was there when I moved to
Vinalhaven in ‘04 and was there when we went to St George in ’15. I called that
one Roger, but it was more of a personal pet name than an officially recognized
identity.
Basin Platform Trail – Well, there is a new, current favorite trailside Red-belted
Conk for me. It has an interesting growth form, off its previous growths –
same mushroom, just years later, changing all the time.
The resulting form created a circular red-belt (well – kinda
round) that, if it had a big red tongue sticking out of it would be pretty spot
on with the Rolling Stones symbol thingy.
Anyway, it will be fun to document this one down the line. Landmark!
salamander embryo
Huber – Vernal Pool update…
Well, its been a dry stretch, which puts the ‘vernal’ in
vernal pools. Not really, but a lack of rain does make for lower levels in
vernal pools. This then results in the spotted salamander egg masses to tap
into their adaptations for dry spells. Or tap into the resources that their
adaptations have provided.
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| spotted salamander egg mass |
These photos are from the trail side, human dug pool that’s
maybe a ¼ of the way down the trail on the right when you are heading out.
spotted salamander egg masses
The masses are exposed, but the embryos look to be doing
alright.
The green is a symbiotic algae that is only found in spotted
salamander egg masses and spotted salamanders themselves.
spotted salamander embryo
Hoping for some rain and blessed relief for these masses…
one of the main pools on the preserve
Meanwhile, other masses are doing well, if not covered pollen…
In Bloom – flowers are out or close to it. Bunchberry, Lady Slippers, Jack in the pulpit and
the rest waiting to be pollinated.
This is the call for flower photos. Feel free to send in!
The Lady Slippers of Huber are up and growing. Last week
they were white, but we saw these bright pink ones on the mainland this weekend
– so soon enough if not already there! Take a look!
jack in the pulpit
Every preserve has Lady Slippers, so keep your eyes peeled! Also, look for the state flower of Maine – the eastern pine pinecone. What a beauty.
northern cardinal nest
Nesting birds – its nesting time, and while I tend to stay mostly, pretty much,
often focused when on island, I am easily and readily distracted by nests in my
yard on the mainland.
upside down chick
Amy found this Northern Cardinal nest, and it was (key word
here is ‘was’) one of the most exposed, out in the open nests I have ever seen.
And sure enough I was fortunate to see the first egg hatch
and the little cardinalette struggle to get rid pf the piece of eggshell stuck
to its head.
It was sweet, and by the end of the day everything was swell.
An early morning check in the next morning, and things looked
good.
But a late afternoon drive by – yes, this nest was right on
the road – showed evidence that the nest had been discovered and aggressively
delt with.
Not too much of a surprise that once the chicks could make
noise that it was found. Crow? Blue Jay? The way of the corvid.
American Robin nests – the yard robins on the other hand have gone that extra mile
this spring and really made their nest hard to find.
I watched the parents associated with this nest remove fecal
sacs for days – over a week even – right from where I stand and type in the
clubhouse. And yet, could not see a thing!
the youngsters feel asleep while I was there
Ends up I was looking too high, and was possibly leaning on
branches that leaned on the chicks in the well-hidden nest just feet from where
I would stand to peer in.
And then I found the nest…
And then they were gone. Day or two before fledging.
Amy and Leif kayaking on Mother’s Day.
rocking the breakwater
hiking with friends in the Camden Hills
upright (1)
Three shades of Frank
ventral (2)
We have changed our mind about what percentage of Frank is
pig.
dorsal
We now recognize he has a fair percentage of harbor seal in him.
harbor seal mum and pup
Oh yeah – crappy/not the best photo – but the Harbor Seals have birthed their
pups.
This is from the ferry – they were pretty far off, definitely
seen them closer.
Still fun to see…
And will be fun to see you….
… out there!
