does anybody remember fog?
Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings report
September 1, 2021
Thanks to MCHT and VLT and You!
Rabbit, Rabbitt.
Highlights – trips to seal, mushroom craziness, yellow-crowned night
heron, gooseneck barnacles, shorebirds, other stuff
Business – slightly delayed due to technical difficulties that were fixed by the 'computer god' herself, who shall go nameless (but knows who she is and gets a big, huge thanks!). anyway, this was 'finished' a few days back or more, and so if you sent in something more recently, even if it has something to do with a sighting in this post, it (the thing you sent in) will be front and center in the next
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| bird walk - photo by Patience Chamberlin |
Big thanks to those who have shared some mid-summer nature highlights, photos and sightings, and to those that have attempted sharing but maybe technology or sleepiness got the best of you.….. Sharing is the soul/sole purpose of this blog, and the VSR is at its best when multiple voices are heard/views are seen/and experiences are shared. So thanks!
ghost pipe, all pollinated up
And so …. Contact us – hey – we aren’t begging but we also are ‘ain’t too
proud to’ – what makes you comfortable enough to send in
sightings/photos/stories works for me. vinalhavensightings@gmail.com is the official VSR email address.
Don’t settle for cheap imposters! Send to the original, the OC of vinalhaven
nature sharing, the VSR…..
Sightings – how iconic is this? Linnell Mather sent in this photo of one of the majestic, one of the noble, one of the regal male Red-necked Pheasants recently re-added to the island’s ‘actively found’ animal list.
State bird of South Dakota (need we
say more?), Red-necked Pheasants currently fall into the ‘why are they here?’
file. And the answer is – to shoot. And it can’t happen fast enough for this
observer!
gull and eel
photo by Rick Morgan
Rick Morgan
was kind enough to send in a series of photos of a Herring Gull eating locally and getting a
mouth full (and throatful/gizzard full} of eel. Great moment to capture, thanks
for sharing!
Yellow crowned Night Heron
photo by Rick Morgan
Yellow-crowned Night Heron – This adult Yellow-crowned
Night Heron was first spotted by Pete Jacques by the Lane’s Island Bridge.
Photographed by Rick Morgan, Yellow-crowned Night Herons are not a common
sight, but becoming more frequent (more frequenter?) – Great find, great photo!
barnacles and dog nose
photo by Banner Moffat
Banner Moffatt sent in these photos of what appears to be gooseneck barnacles on Rockweed.
Gooseneck barnacles are more of a
pelagic species, not often found in the intertidal and along shorelines, rather
seen on flotsam and other such fouling opportunities further ‘off shore’ (‘more
off-shore-er’?).
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| great greater shearwater photo! photo by Patience Chamberlin |
Seal Island Trips – Patience Chamberlin sent in this photo
of a Greater Shearwater checking out
what is up with the Skua on a recent boat trip with John Drury to Seal Island,
part of the Maine Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
Here’s the list Patience sent in - Aug
8. A
mola mola, plenty of puffins in the water, a bunch of Gannets, and G
Shearwaters. One paddled up to the boat
and went after John’s hand.
Elizabeth Andrews sent in a list of sightings from a ‘more recent-er’ trip with John on
the skua – impressive what there is to be seen out there! Seal Island (8/19) on
‘the Skua’ here’s her report - Tons of
both seals, 2 Minke whales, great and double crested cormorants, a leucistic
great cormorant, Wilson’s petrels, puffins, razorbills, guillemots, gannets,
peregrine falcon, bald Eagle, red-necked phalaropes, harlequin ducks,
semi-palpated plovers, ruddy turnstones, sandpipers, eider ducks, porpoises
several times, seagulls galore, a deer swimming the harbor to Lane’s Island!
northern gannet from the ferry
shag won this race
What a list! Elizabeth promises
photos of the leucistic great cormorant, she’s never lied to me before! We’ll
post once we receive.
spindle-shaped yellow coral
photo by Cay Kendrick
Cay Kendrick
sent in these mushroom shots
Spindle-shaped yellow coral is a beauty.
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| Painted Boletes photo by Cay Kendrick |
Mushrooms –
the summer of shrooms continues – looks like it’ll be a photo gallery mixed in
with a recent nature bummin’ column I wrote about Teeth Mushrooms. Enjoy!
Long in the Tooth
red-juice tooth, bleeding tooth
Yeah, so it rained. And then it got
foggy, and then it rained more, and then it got sunny, and then it rained
more….. . That is my non-meteorologist weather assessment for the summer. Some
of the rains have been significant, and that has significantly
influenced/impacted the scene and the energy in the woods. And as I mentioned
in the previous Nature Bummin’ column, the mushrooms in Mid-coast Maine
responded accordingly to these weather patterns making this a mushroom summer
to remember!
juice or blood, your call
When we (the royal ‘we’) find
mushrooms on our travels, our minds often go directly to whether it’s edible or
poisonous. (So human-centric we are.) Lately I’ve been hearing comments about
the colors that mushrooms have been adding to the largely green forest world.
The reds of Waxy Caps, the oranges of Chanterelles and Jellies, the blues of
Corts, and the ‘everything else’ that’s out there, mushrooms can fill in the
gaps of what’s missing from the forested spectrum.
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| hedgehog, dorsal view |
What (I suspect) most people don’t think about is spores, (and if you do think about this I hope it’s not because of allergies or anything). Bottom line - a mushroom’s job is to disperse spores. It’s not there to feed us, kill us, or thrill us. It’s there to disperse spores, as a spore dispersal unit, and mushrooms are really good at it. Spores are reproductive units that could be compared to eggs in animals or seeds in plants, but are often simpler and single celled. Light weight and usually wind driven, spores are carried in hopes of finding the right spot to grow a new fungus. Chances are slim in finding that perfect spot, so releasing a lot of spores increases your changes. Add in the fact that there are many critters and slime molds that ‘feast’ on fungal spores and it pays to release even more spores in hopes of replacing the mother fungus (fungus have no gender). What that means is, in reality, that whenever you walk outside, be it in the woods or to catch the bus or whatever, you have spores landing on you. At all times you are spore carriers! (Maybe not so much in winter, but you get what I mean). Part of the overall fungus team! Do you feel important yet?
hedgehog spikes
There are many strategies for spore
dispersal in the fungal world. Puffballs disperse by pressure (you know the
smoke bombs), cup mushrooms disperse by forcibly ejecting spores into the wind
(so forced you can hear them), and stink horns attract flies to a ‘horrible
stench’ where the curious insect is then layered in gooey spores wherever it
may touches the mushroom. Many mushrooms have gills where spores are produced
(store bought buttons for instance) and some gravity release spores via pores –
Boletes and Polypores. Another such strategy that often goes overlooked (or
underappreciated) is spore dispersal via ‘teeth’.
lots of dye makers as of late
While there are a handful of
polypores and at least one Jelly mushroom that use ‘teeth’ to aid in spore
dispersal, finding elongated points
‘hanging’(?) down on the underside of a mushroom cap most likely makes your
mushroom a member of the family Hydnaceae (Teeth fungi). And ‘toothed’
mushrooms are partaking in the ‘summer of mushrooms 2021’, popping up in big
numbers, or at least larger numbers than I have seen in my limited 17 years of
watching mushrooms in the mid-coast region. Long in the tooth indeed.
Black Trumpets on Starboard Rock
first i have heard of on Vinalhaven
Thanks to Kerry Hardy for the hot tip!
For those fungal fans who immediately
look to mushrooms as potential food, Sweet Tooth or Hedgehog mushroom (Hydnum
repandum) is the Hydnaceae mushroom for you! ‘Edible and choice!’ says David
Arora in Mushrooms Demystified. I’ve come across patches on the Huber Preserve
on Vinalhaven lately and Hedgehogs never cease to impress with dramatic
difference between dorsal and ventral views. Unassuming and somewhat funkified
on top, Hedgehogs aren’t necessarily the most inviting mushroom to take a
closer look at. The cap is often
tweaked and misshapen, giving an observer the impression that the mushroom grew
under branches or roots or was attacked by slugs. A closer look at the
mushroom’s undercarriage reveals a coral landscape world of spines. Take a look
at the photo – what a world of stalactites (or stalagmites depending on how you
look at it) – which are not present for our visual enjoyment, but rather to
increase the spore producing surface area for optimal spore production and
release. Man ain’t that pretty (judgment).
fading scarlet waxy caps with
olive earth tongue and slug scat
Where sweet tooth is what I would
call a ‘mushroom that looks like a mushroom’, many of the Hydnaceae that have
popped up this summer look similar to stalked polypores rather than traditional
mushrooms. One species that stands out is Bleeding Tooth or Strawberries &
Cream (Hydnellum peckii), with its ‘bright red droplets that cling to the
surface of the cap in moist weather’ making ‘this a striking and
easily-identified mushroom’ (once again David Arora, Mushrooms Demystified).
There is nothing like finding a Bleeding Tooth as you walk a trail, but this
August Bleeding Tooth seemed especially ever-present (and prevalent) along
Vinalhaven trails!
Full disclosure and in an effort to
be completely honest (how refreshing is that), before this year I probably crossed
paths with maybe a dozen Strawberries & Cream mushrooms, but this summer
has doubled that at least. Their beads of red juice shine like jewels and
rubies, but are way too delicate to touch. I could take photos, but couldn’t
find it in me to pick any to inspect the teeth structures below. If I am not
picking for personal/family consumption, I am leaving for others to see, and
Bleeding Tooth is a different mushroom altogether without the beautiful
(judgment) beads of red, so I refrain from touching if I can help it. Does that
make me human? Makes me me I think.
zonate tooth teeth
great summer for my fav
Tawny Grissette
In summary, a mushroom’s job is to
disperse spores, pure and simple.
Whatever humans experience from their fungal encounter – be it tasty
food, aesthetics, or spiritual gains – is a bi-catch compared to a mushroom’s
main goal. And that includes an appreciation of the form and function of Teeth
Mushrooms, and respect for the colored water beads that bedazzle a rather plain
looking (judgment, and a bad one at that) mushroom into something untouchable.
These are important bi-catches, ones that may bring an observer a little closer
towards connectedness and/or at least increase of appreciation/awareness. And
there is nothing wrong with a little more connectedness, appreciation, and
awareness. So thanks Hydnaceae for a good summer, looking forward to what you
have to pop up next!
not a shroom, but i think
i really like seaside golden rod
And there you have it. What a month!
Also – we went down east for a quick visit to the bold coast. It was fun. Here are some photos….
quoddy head light
and we'll see you out there! looking forward to it!
