Welcome to the Vinalhaven sightings Report

June 18 2021

 Brought to you , in part, through the support of Vinalhaven Land Trust

 

And Maine Coast Heritage Trust

 

Highlights – Flowers, Slime Molds, Pond Chillin’, Turtles, stuff….

 

scrambled egg slime

Business: contact us – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com

 

Tiit trick – click the photos, back them

jumbo

 

 

Matinicus Rock raven fledglings
photo by John Drury

Sightings : Word from Skua – Sooty Shearwater, Willet, Harlequin Duck at Brimstone

 

Raven fledglings at Matinicus Rock.

 

Thanks John!

 

Pink Lady Slippers are mostly fading – I spotted this still bright one by the parking lot at Huber Preserve on Tuesday.

 

Last time we talked about the lady slipper plant symbiotic relationship with a fungus in the ground. Now take a look at this close up and think about what it would be like if you were a bumblebee. Irresistible.

 

this is neither a bee or a orchid
just a reminder to do a tick check

‘The insect-flower symbiosis reaches its peak of development in the orchids, whose sometimes bizarre flower anatomies attract insect pollinators and all but prevent self-fertilization. Lady slippers enclose their bisexual flower parts within saclike balloons projecting from the base of two smaller petals. The insect enters from a tongue like sterile stamen at the top (or, in the case of C acaule through the infolded cleft in the in pouch). 

consider this a double reminder
all the ticks in photos have been
'rehabilitated'. 

Fine, slanting, nectar bearing hairs on the smooth-walled inner surface nudge the insect toward the sticky, overhanging receptacle (stigma) at the stem end, a constricted passage from which it cannot backtrack. The only way out is by squeezing through the passage and so brushing against the antlers, which smear the insect with pollen form the next sac it enters. ‘ John Eastman, Forest and Thicket

 

Anyway – they are cool.

 

blue flag - dorsal view

And so are Northern Blue flag Irises – (Iris versicolor) – state Flower of Tennessee and provincial flower of Quebec. Meanwhile Maine’s state flower is pinecone.

 

While aesthetically pleasing, please enjoy this species without chewing – here’s why!

 

is this tempting to eat?
fight that temptation

‘The species has been implicated in several poisoning cases of humans and animals who consumed the rhizomes, which have been found to contain a glycoside, iridin. The sap can cause dermatitis in susceptible individuals.

 

Both the leaves and roots are poisonous and can cause stomach and intestinal inflammation. Consuming the plant can be fatal to calves.’

 

The iris has been used as magical plant, with people carrying the root (or rhizome) to get 'financial gain', or it was placed in cash registers to increase business.’

 

golden heather

Golden Heather (Hudsonia ericoides) is in bloom along the Wharf Quarry trails in the Basin Preserve. High up on the rocky ledges - Check ‘em out!

 

Slime molds – Myxomycetes! Mini bloom session with some of the minimal rains as of late – here and gone in a flash – Scramble Egg Slime –

 

wolfs milk slime

Wolf’s Milk Slime –

 

not sure what happened to this wolf's milk
but it looks like a gummy bear with a parachute to me

Visit to Armbrust Hill – after a day on the trails its nice to not go very far but still get to check in with some local wildlife.  Last week I found myself at the main pond at about 6:30pm.

 

Green Frogs – banjo strings were pluckin’ away. This one adult was particularly unstealth-like.

polly wog

 

Tadpoles/pollywogs – Green frog youngsters going through the changes. ‘Nice legs!’ Doc Hopper, The Muppet Movie

 

chalk-fronted corporal

Dragonflies – classic Chalk-fronted Corporals were taking breaks on the rocky wall that makes the eastern shore. Felt early, and lowish number of dragonflies but more to come no doubt!

 

But the best thing though was the Painted Turtle that was making her – I assume it was a female returning from laying eggs – way to the pond. Let me explain.

 

I had been there for about ten minutes, returning to the picnic table to give the frogs and dragonflies a break from me. Kinda felt like someone was behind me, so I turned quickly and there was this turtle, right in the middle of the trail that I had walked down once again, no more than 10 minutes prior.

 

I started to approach, and she retreated into her protective shell. So, I backed off, went back to the frogs and actually forgot about her. What a jerk right?

 

Not sure how long, but before long I was back to the table and remembered the turtle, turned, and looked and she was gone. Well, she had moved, closer the pond, and closer to the table. I took this photo then – and I call it ‘the most beautiful shell in the world’.  

 

I backed off again, but this time kept an eye on her. A few minutes later she booked her way to the pond.

 

Turtle boogie down to the shoreline and submersion!

 

Fun to watch and fun to get out of her way!

 

launching a double

Leif is having a great year at baseball,

on High Island in Tenants Harbor

we got flamingoed. 
maybe its a 'they' kind of situation

and Amy of course

and both

nice to see so many tiger swallowtails

see you out there!

here's looking at you

 

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report

June 9 2021

Happy Birthday Big Brother Erik!

 

white admiral

Brought to you, in part by the kind support of Maine Coast Heritage Trust

And Vinalhaven Land Trust

 

Highlights – Warblers!, Woodpecker nests!, Lady Slippers and other flowery things, Butterflies,

 

common yellowthroat

Business – contact us – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com – send your photos and nature what nots in and we’ll share them with others and you will be a legend in no time!

 

Tiit trick – click the photos and jumbo size them

 

red squirrel lower mandible

Don’t forget to check out our ‘sibling’ relation blog maintained by Captain John Drury. Taking people to see great cormorants since before I can remember. Check it out!

 

www.blogspot.sightingsfromskua

 

and www.mainseabirdtours.com

 

 

 

 

red-eyed vireo

Sightings – Warblers and other assorted songbirds …. Red-eyed Vireos seem to be in good numbers ..

 

blackburnian warbler

Lots of classic warblers around – Yellow and yellowthroat on Lane’s, Ovenbird at Huber, Black throated green, black and white, yellow rumped and magnolia at most, if not all preserves near you. Seems like a good year for Northern Parula as well. Redstarts around.

 

pink lady slipper
photo by Pat Lundholm

Pink Lady Slippers – Cypripdium acaule – we called for photos and you responded! Well, one of you did (this is not a cheesy attempt at a guilt trip, just looks like one), Pat Lundholm sent in this beautiful photo of a Lady Slipper from up at the Fox Rocks Preserve . Thanks Pat!

 

We mentioned in the last blog post that Lady Slippers can be found on just about all of the preserves on island, with some like Huber, Fox Rocks, and Armburst Hill having particularly robust populations (?), stands (?) of them.

 

bunchberry in bloom

There was a question about dispersal and connectedness that reminded me that repetition is a great way to learn things (movie quotes especially) . Pink Lady Slippers, for all their fancy looks and aesthetic grace, are dependent on two symbiotic relationships for survival and pollination, aka the creation of the next lady slipper generation.

 

The bumblebee/flower symbiotic relationship is interesting for sure, but I tend to focus/think about the plant/seed/fungus as ‘the meat’, or ‘the spraint’ as far as interdependency goes. I get that interdependency is interdependency, all are equally necessary. But I just dig the fungus, please hold it against me.

 

close up of bunchberry blooms

Anyway, and so we have posted this before, but here’s what John “Little Johnny’ Eastman has to say about this plant/fungus relationship, starting with Lady Slipper seeds. From ‘The Book of Forest and Thicket’…

 

starflower

‘Elongated fruit capsules split to release hundreds of thousands of powdery, wind-dispersed seeds – among the smallest seeds of any flower. Only a very few (VSR editor note – what is a ‘very few’?) of these seeds ever find the right combination of habitat, microclimate, and symbiotic fungus to thrive. These seeds contain no food tissue for the seedling plant. When a seed germinates, it produces a mass of cells called a protocorm,  which must be joined by a mycorrhizal fungus (Rhizoctonia) before it can absorb soil nutrition. This pregrowth may require two years or more, and the growing perennial may take another few years to produce a flower. Often, a plant will produce leaves but no flower in any given year. Seeds may remain viable for eight years or long in a cool micro-environment.’

 

Hairy Woodpecker female feeding nestling

Woodpecker nests. – The last few weeks have been great for locating woodpecker nests.

 

The youngsters have hatched and grown large enough to make consistent begs noises from the nest cavity. The only world they have known.

 

Check this video out – turn up the volume to hear the begging calls of Hairy woodpecker nestlings…

 

sorry - the videos wouldnt upload. they were fun and not that interesting. i will try to add again with the next VSR. 

… and then check this video out to see the ride they were taking on a windy day last week in seal bay….

 

By this time, they should have fledged… be on the lookout for young woodpeckers – being loud and not so stealth – but away from the nest!

 

 

harris' checkerspot underwing

Butterflies – they are out and about in numbers – Tiger Swallowtails abound, though hard for me to get photos of for some reason. I did get a cool shot of a Harris’ Checkerspot under hindwing.

 

white admiral

And had a nice session with a White Admiral.

 

white admiral underwing

Butterflies are fun. Send in your butterfly photos now – this is a not-so-subtle subliminal message…

 

red squirrel upper palate from below

Dead Squirrel – Not saying I was happy about this find, or any happier than I am whenever finding any skulls in the woods. I just don’t find red squirrel bones very often unless they are in a mummified or severely dried skeleton in some gross cabin out in the woods. Other than then, its very seldom actually.

 

Anyway – this was a cool find.

 

Big eyes.

 

sweet liner to right for a double

And here’s some of Leif. Baseball.

 

Runn

running whatever a 5k is – turns out it’s not $5,000. False advertising.

 

with Amy!

Hanging with a backyard turtle. And Amy!

 

Anyway and good day – hope to see you out there!