Vinalhaven Sightings

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report

May 11 2022

Thanks to VLT and MCHT for their continued support!

And thanks to you for reading!

Or checking us out – whatever you call what you are doing right now

Highlights – Warblers including Prothonotary Warbler, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Great Egret, Osprey, Merlin displaying, snakes, otter spraint, molting, songbirds, beaver action, and so much more!

salamander eggs have gone from this...

Business – contact us – we love it when folks write to us. That’s kinda what this whole site is about. vinalhavensightings@gmail.com is the place to send your photos, sightings, all things island nature based. ‘Thank you’ in advance!

....to this

Upcoming events – Vernal pool walk – this Saturday, 9:30am - ?. Join in the fun of visiting a vernal pool (or two) and check out egg masses and maybe even learn a thing or two. Not going to go into details, because we will go into details Saturday! Meet at Skoog! You do not need waterproof shoes, but you are free to wear them if you choose! VLT and MCHT sponsored!

Armbrust Hill spotted salamander egg mass
5/9 - monday

To get in the ‘vernal’ mood here are a few photos of spotted salamander eggs from Ambrust Hill Monday – two days ago! They were lit up in that beautiful sun-shiny day. See you there!

Warbler Walk – John Drury will be leading the VLT Warbler walk on Sunday the 22^nd from 7:30-9:30am on Lane’s Island. Lots of stuff showing up these days means the 22^nd has the potential of being huge! Check it out! Meet at Lane’s Island parking area – 7:30am sharp!

Tiit trick – click on the photos, make them big, honor my father!

whole bird, wing bird
photo by Banner Moffatt

Sightings – Banner Moffatt sent in this interesting photo of a dead bird and a wing from a separate dead bird. Hard to think of a cooler photo.

sphagnum

The songbird is a Prothonotary Warbler, and for folks who are not familiar this is a species (I) largely associate with southern swamp land – used to see tons back in my Georgia/Okee-fen-okee days – and when I lived on Cape Cod (mid/late 90s) there were stories of the Prothontary that showed up one spring not too long before I got there (early/mid 90s). Well, this is the first reported from Vinalhaven as far as I know. Maybe records from Seal Island, but that’s kind of unfair to compare to Vinalhaven Island proper.

blue-grey gnatcatcher

The wing was quickly identified as a Black Guillemot wing - white patch was the giveaway – a common ‘Alcid’ (Family Alcidae – puffins, guillemots, auklets, murrelets, etc ). Found not too close to shore, brought up by a Raccoon or Mink, guillemots are a frequent, year round sighting from the ferry. We love seeing Guillemots regardless of time of year or status of wing connection to the rest of body. Lots from the ferry these days!

blue grey gnatcatcher

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher – here we go – with John and Palmer as my witnesses I reported hearing Blue-Grey Gnatcatchers on Lane’s Island, Huber Preserve and the Basin, as well as in our yard in St George - but being that I was working/doing something I didn’t have the to track them down.

I ended up taking these photos in my yard, was more than fairly psyched to see it.

winter wren, macks pond loop

Then reports came in of a Blue-grey Gnatcatcher sighted on Lane’s! Must have been a wave of them or something. Haven’t heard for a few weeks – doesn’t mean they are not still around!

Dark-eyed Junco, basin platform

Who’s singing around island – Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadees, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Parula, Blue-headed Vireo, Black and white, Black-throated Green and Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song and White-throated Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Purple Finch. Carolina Wren in town.

Great Egret – Multiple folks mentioned seeing the Great Egret that has/had been hanging out on the Ballground. I happened upon it one day in April, when a Great Blue Heron came swooping in. Minor adjustments were all that was needed for the two to settle in and chill together.

At the shed - 31 Reach Road – Merlins flight display on full display.

Beaver on beach – Bill Alcorn was kind enough to send in a report of a Beaver on his beach on the east side of the island. Beaver dispersal is interesting around the island and Penobscot bay in general. Whether a local on the move, or a newbie to the area washed down river from some inland source, Beaver show up around the island at times. Pocus Point seems to be a hot spot, not sure if Bill had seen them before on his beach, but he certainly was excited! Very cool!

Pictures from a nice day in the Basin

ye olde-taled duck, molting

From the ferry…. Loons, Guillemots, and Ye Olde-taled Ducks molt is finished!

This is what a staring contest with an Osprey looks like. From the ferry...

Woodcocks at lanes – Had a chance to catch up on a little woodcock watching in April, and had an evening of it on Lanes. 4 males aerial displaying was wonderful to see, Lanes continues to be a hotspot

Owl Pellets – we love finding owl pellets and now is as good a time as any to look for ‘em! Came across a couple of saw-whet owl pellets recently one from Folly Pond….

… and then this one, under a tree on the Basin Platform loop trail.

Snakes – daily sightings on the trails. Hung with ring-neck on the Mack’s Pond trail….

.... till it disappeared...

revolution # 9

…and then this red-bellied snake on Lane’s. Don’t let the look fool you. I flipped this snake over when I thought it was dead. Not road kill, but trail killed. Like it might have been stepped on by someone. See the kink in the snake? Anyway, after I flipped it over to get some red bellied shots I realized it was still alive –(It is alive!) – I flipped it back over and then put it on the side of the trail. I walked on and then realized I should get a shot of it ‘right side up’ when I saw that it was gone. Hopefully it’s just a sprain and this one recovers.

Flowers – things are blooming. Or at least starting to bloom. Red maple blooms were nice

Lots of violets around as well.

cinnamon fern fiddlehead

And ferns and their fiddlehead ways going off right now!

lichen agaric

Lichen agaric ( ) is a classic early season mushroom, and like the name implies, it is the fruiting body of the fungus that is part of a lichen mutualistic relationship with an algae.