Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report

March 21, 2023

 

molted loon - let the dance begin

Kind support provided by VLT, MCHT, USA, YYZ, DFA, SOAM, and U

 

‘Stop being so pristine!’ ‘Anonymous’ Al Jones

 

Happy Birthday Palmer!

 

Highlights – this one is for the birds

PS – there will be another for non-birds

 

'non-birds

Business – Contact us – We love to hear from you – and it can be about anything. We love the messages that say ‘I miss Pine Siskins’ and the ones that say ‘The ‘L’ was from a mink’- we’ll take the observations, contemplations, and emotions. Heck, we’ll even accept pictures of food! Never thought I would say that before! Picnics in the ‘wild’ or venison meals at home, you know, outside eating or eating the outside inside. Inside out, outside in, outside out. Inside In – now there is a perfect album.

 

Anyway – anything goes with the VSR – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com – that is the address to send photos, reports, stories and random commentary. In some cases the more random the more appreciated. Some cases.

 

Tiit trick – click the photos to enlarge. Click again for shrinkage.

 

Sightings - Birdies – where to begin…

 

What’s happening now! – Woodcocks! Hey – stake yourself (not literally) by a field or open space on island during the Crepuscular times, maybe bring a warm(ing) beverage or two (coffee is always the #1 option), kick back and relax. Listen for that ‘Peent!’ and then watch for the fantastic aerial display of the male American Woodcock that has him circling and rising hundreds of feet in the air (admittedly bad as judging distances and heights) only to freefall/zig zag back down to earth making some crazy  buzzing sounds with his wings. I’ve scared up a few woodcocks around but have not seen the display yet – but people are reporting. Good through April!

 

lavendar at best sandpiper

This just in – John Drury reports woodcock displays on Greens Island (3/17) . Lane’s Island is great to watch the display. My plan is to be at the picnic tables tomorrow evening – (3/22) – after sunset until its dark. All are welcome to join me. Impromtu woodcock walk, except I’m not leading spraint! I’m there to watch and enjoy with you.

 

Raptors – John also reports a Sharp-shinned Hawk on Greens and a Red-tail hawk that may be hanging around on Greens as well. Or it may be multiple red-tails over several days, just passing through. Things on the move though!

 

Also, Killdeer on Greens – 3/17.

 

the 'purple' i learned in new jersey was
different than this purple

Other shorebirds – Purple Sandpipers were recently and officially voted ‘not purple at all’ by the entire VSR team - and so it is with great pleasure that we announce, that from here on out the species formerly known as ‘Purple Sandpiper’ will be referred to in the VSR as ‘Lavender-at-best Sandpiper’, or ‘LABS’ or ‘LAB Sandpipers’. They are being seen from the ferry in acrobatically flying flocks and sometimes just chilling or searching for prey on exposed rocks and ledges.

 

dunlin

A winter into spring specialty that warms the heart as well as the soul (not sure if either one of those statements are true), LAB Sandpipers can also be seen ‘closer than far away’ on the Rockland breakwater, which technically isn’t Vinalhaven – but can be seen from the ferry and is made from Vinalhaven granite so you get what you get. Or something like that.

 

Here’s a few photos of LAB Sandpipers on the Rockland Breakwater from February – you could see them from the ferry!

 

dunlin

Dunlin – With a ‘keen eye from the ferry matched with a typical birder’s questionable level of truthiness, honesty and morals’ you may have been able to spot the couple of Dunlin sandpipers that spent the winter on and around the Rockland Breakwater. 3 shore bird species in a winter wrap up VSR! Now that is exciting!

 

Here’s what one looks like 'not tucked in'.

 

coot

Another one from the ferry – (3/3) American Coot – that’s right, an American Coot in salt water. This little rascal was hanging out by the Ferry Terminal in Rockland first thing that legendary Friday morning. Never seen one in Salt Water before, never seen one from the Ferry before – but neither of those statements mean much. I mean, there are a gagillion+ ferry trips each year I don’t go on and lots of salt water out there that I have never looked at. Anyway, it was a surprise and was the first bird of the day – nice to get the Coot out of the way early. One less coot to worry about seeing! More from the ferry in a minute…

 

butter butt

Songbirds – (2/9) – Lane’s Island – Yellow-rumped Warblers have made Lane’s Island – in all of its Bayberry glory - a home base for another winter. I spotted a small handful (doesn’t mean 5 tiny Butter-butts) of these rascals on this particular day, even got a crappy photo or two of one of them.

 

eye of the butter butt

This guy laid low and gave me the eye just long enough. Happy winter warbler!

 

vulture

(Non-songbird mentioned) and also that day at lane’s – 2 Turkey Vultures were cruising (?) around. More like floatin’ around. Vultures in winter!

 

red crossbill

Back to songbirds – While there were several species of songbirds overwintering in the woods of Vinalhaven, in my winter ’23 experience on island it all comes down to two species - Red Crossbills and Red-breasted Nuthatches. Are you getting tired of hearing about them? Well, we’re not getting tired of seeing them….so deal!

 

Red Crossbills have maintained their ‘dominance in numbers and loudness’ in the highly competitive field of ‘maritime spruce forest songbird presence in winter’. It’s hard to call them a ‘winter finch’ at this point– even though they are a finch and its winter – since they have been here since June ’22.

 

Anyway, every walk I’ve taken this winter on island preserves – with the exception of Lane’s Island which has been more like ½ the visits– has been interrupted by Red Crossbills flying over and chirping, or sitting at the tops of trees feasting on conifer seeds and chirping. Lots of chirping!

 

And recently the chirping has morphed into more of the Red Crossbill song which, in theory, should lead to pairings up, mating and an overflow of fledglings in May. We’ll see what happens, but for now here is a video or two of Red Crossbills vocalizations.

 

They are from the mainland but are the same – if you know what I mean.

 

not the best siskin photo

Pine Siskins – a second ‘winter finch’ (or is it the first winter finch?) from the winter ’23, Siskins have been around in lower numbers than Red Crossbills this winter but have been reported from feeders around town. 

 

and neither is this one

Who’s singing – Brown Creeper, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Northern Cardinal

 

 

razorbill - non-non-breeding plummage

Back to ‘From the ferry’ – Razorbills are a winter favorite from the ferry, and a major part (a 1/3^rd) of any decent, respectable ‘winter tri-fecta’ of highlighted species observed from the ferry. Anyway – last Thursday (3/16) was two days after the most recent ‘nor’easter’ and with such a storm pelagic birds (birdies on the ocean) get tossed around and blown around while ‘ridin’ the storm out’ (shout out to REO Speedwagon!)

 

Well, this particular boat ride started out as innocent as any other – with a handful of Razorbills flying by the ferry when we were closest to Monroe Island. Before we were even into the Bay the razorbills had tallied 28, which by all standards is a fine day for Razorbills from the ferry.

 

razorbills and monroe

Well, things went dry for much of the Bay (March is sometimes internally referred to as the ‘doldrums’ by sleepy nature observers on the ferry) but then picked up maybe ½ way or so across as small groups of Razorbills were first seen ‘on the aqua’ (as the punk kids say) and then ‘on the wing’ (also as the punk kids say). Groups ranging from 5-15 could be observed in flight from a fair distance.

 

It doesn’t take too many groups of 10 for the Razorbills to start adding up, and sure enough the count passed 100 easily, with much bay still to pass through. Having mentioned this, it should be noted that there are no ‘records’ for seeing the most of something from the ferry. Instead, we talk about the ‘most’ of something we have seen from the ferry. May sound like semantics, but ‘records are meant to be broken’, where the ‘most I’ve seen of something’ is what it is. 116 Razorbills is ‘the most’ I had ever seen on a single ferry ride and that was back in ’06 or ’07. Hadn’t seen over a 100 on a single boat ride since. And last Thursday there were still groups to be counted.

 

Who knows what the count would have been if I had just sat in a kayak or on a raft or in a barrel and stayed watching, but the ferry keeps moving (hopefully) and when all was said and done the tally of Razorbills I saw that morning was 175. Not a record, but the most I’d ever seen from the ferry for sure. Come to think of it – possibly the most I’ve ever seen in a day anywhere, definitely the most Razorbills I had ever seen in 40 minutes or so. Thank you Nor’ easter!

 

funky loon

Moltin’ – Common Loons and Black Guillemots and their molts are easy to observe from the ferry in the second half of Winter, and this year season was no different.

 

Lots of views of changing looks over the last two months, and lots of preening/working by individuals observed.

 

black guillemot

See what you think of the changes.

 

black guillemot

Here’s a few other species regularly on the scene – and still will be for the next month or so -

 

red breasted merganser

Red-breasted Mergansers – good year from the ferry, now starting to see males doing the classic ‘head pointed straight up, lean chest into water’ display. Cloacal kisses can’t be too far behind.

 

ye olde tailed ducks 
not the best light

Ye olde-tailed ducks – lots of em and in big groups in Hurricane Sound and Rockland Harbor. On the lookout for these guys molting – they look sharp all winter and then look even sharper come ‘cloaca season’. Looks aren’t everything though. Or anything really.

 

common eiders

Surf Scoters – Plenty around all winter. Rockland Harbor, Hurricane Sound, Old Harbor.

 

Bufflehead – winter classic – Rockland Harbor and The Reach,

 

horned grebe
g-r-e-b-e

Horned Grebe – Rockland Harbor was consistent for them this winter.

 

Bald Eagles – Lairey’s narrows area has been particularly good this winter.

 

 

Limited editions and some that should be!

 

epic

Leif doing something,

 drumming! that's right

Palmer’s birthday! What a day!

 

See you out there!

 

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report - March 10, 2023

VLT, MCHT, and U!

Thanks for your supportive reading,

And the supportive viewing of photos –

Thanks for being here and thanks to you for being you.

 

‘Snow cone’ - ‘Big’ Al Jones

 

Highlights – Otter edition part 2

 

Business - Contact us – So you want us to beg for you to send in photos, sightings, reports, questions, concerns (feel free to keep some of these to yourself), and comments to the VSR? Whatever it takes! I can beg or I can dare you to send in your stuff – like the guy with the batteries on his shoulder – Robert Conrad, right? I dare you to send in stuff to the VSR! Here’s where - vinalhavensightings@gmail.com

 

Tiit Trick – click the photos and they get big. The only way to examine estrus photos is full screen – you are going to want to click!

 

the letter 'L'
photo by John Drury

Sightings – John Drury was kind enough to send in this photo after ‘Otter edition part 1’ was posted yesterday (or days back at this point, maybe). It’s of an otter belly bound trail where the otter slows down to a walk and redirects itself from the direction it was heading by about 90 degrees – making a backwards ‘L’. Through the magic of computer technology we are able to spin the photo on it vertical axis and now it’s has a classic ‘L’ appearance. ‘L’ in the biblical sense of course. Not sure what that means.

 

Anyway – since we are talking about animals making letters in their sign – are they trying to send us a message? – this is the official VSR call for photos of alphabet letters in animal sign. Here’s another example – letter ‘A’ in otter spraint.

 

spraint is totally tubular! at first at least

Spraintly things – let’s start here -  so over the years several to a dozen of you-alls have let me know you were ‘surprised’ (amongst other words) to find out I did not make up the word ‘Spraint’. I’ve been surprised at the surprisedness that people have shown here – like I’m creative enough to come up with a word like that! Here’s an official definition from Dictionary.com – enjoy

 

but it breaks apart quickly
exposing all the treasures within

Spraint - / (spreɪnt) / noun. (often plural) a piece of otter's dung.

 

I love that it is ‘often plural’. I don’t know if I have ever just a single piece of spraint.

 

like eel skeletons and fish scales

Did you know that in the language they speak in England there are at least 15 words for ‘dung’ (including ‘dung’) but that Spraint is the least offensive of them all (my judgment but definitely true)? It’s the perfect word for those looking to clean up their language a little and there are plenty of opportunities to use the term to keep the colorful banter going without going too far. Here are a few examples of phrases you might want to use at parties, at the water cooler, or on the boat – ‘There was a spraint-load of guillemots near the ferry today’, ‘Spraint for brains’, ‘Take a shower, you smell like spraint’, ‘Frankly my dear, I don’t give a Spraint’ , ‘don’t be such a Spraint-head’, ‘We G.A.S. - Give A Spraint’, and the classic  ‘this spraint is cold’.

 

bucket of webs
so innocent, so about to die

Lane’s Island (3/3) – While we’re talking about Spraint – it’s out there and ready to be found and analyzed (maybe ‘thoroughly examined’ would be better wording here). So like I’ve mentioned too many times already, I was on Lane’s Island last Friday (3/3) removing Brown Tailed Moth webs from along the trails (‘you’re welcome’ to your non-rashy skin this summer). Towards the end of the day I headed to the water to do the traditional ‘web dump slaughter’, always the perfect way to end a day of clipping. Webs and salt water don’t mix, and the massacres are silent.

 

bucket, lopper, sun, ocean

Anyway, I was by the most southerly spot on the outer loop trail, looking out at Matinicus and decided it looked like as fine as any place to dump (not in the spraintly way, of course). I did the deed (the web dump) and I was on my way back to the trail – and back to the ferry - when I came across a ‘spraint on the rocks’. That’s right – an otter apparently thought it was a nice place to dump at as well!

 

the letter 'C'
lane's 3/3/23

Then I spotted another and another. Wasn’t an overwhelming amount of them, but they also were on rocks low enough to be wiped clean during any raging winter storm. There had undoubtedly/most likely been many there before. Either way it was in a new location for me - a ‘Latrine at the point!’ as they say.

 

the latrine is right by this rock
not a bad view for a dump

Being the end of my day, I was gunna have to boogie to make the ferry – and since I had to leave a few minutes for any afternoon interactions I might walk myself into while cruising through town – so I didn’t take too close of a look. Fish bones and scales, and there were a few crab exoskeleton spraints. I’ll give more time another time.

 

…so I left the preserve and while walking on the road I remembered that back in 06 or 07 there was an otter trail that followed the little ditch/waterway in the lane’s island  marsh. It leads to the culvert (I think there is a culvert there!) right by the harbor. I looked to my right and – BLAM-O! – there was a fresh otter trail right where it had been and right where it was supposed to be!

 

you can see the road from here

Same trail as 17 years ago - amazing. Especially when you realize River Otters only live ‘up to 12 years’ in the wild, and really ‘most don’t live to 9 years’. Begs for a question to be asked - how many generations of otters have used this path? That’s a nice thing about otters – they are such creatures of habit that once you learn something about your local otters – be it latrines, dens or trails – you may be ‘set for life’! I mean – as long as otters still thrive on Vinalhaven these same areas will most likely be used and years of entertainment are within your grasp. Now that is getting to know your neighbors!

 

Anyway – so the otter had crossed the road – I have never seen an otter trail on Vinalhaven where an otter (or otters) went through a culvert – and then dipped down onto the ice in the ditch that runs along the marsh. Needless to say - those minutes I had stashed away for socialness were sacrificed immediately. Imagine if there was enough time in the day to talk with people and track otters? In a perfect world I guess.

 

Why did the otter cross the road? To get to the other side…of lanes -.Years ago when I had time to follow the trail through the marsh (did I even have a job back then? #nevergofulltime) I had hoped the trail would take me to a den – cuz  we know it’s always a good time to find a den. But it didn’t, which is fine too. What the otter did was follow ditch along the edge of the marsh and into the ‘main open section’ of the Marsh. It then crossed Bickford Road/Lane and went into the old lobster pound. That Otter may have had a den in the lobster pound, sure, but I didn’t see nothin’ like that. With that in mind I presently determined that I would inspect this section of trail (and use up my minutes) and then catch the ferry. Following the entire trail was tempting but not an option. Things had to be lickity-split like.

 

So I was pumped – as anyone would be. Like mentioned in part 1, the slushy conditions of the ditch thing must not have met this otters’ travel standards, because shortly after it leapt onto the ditch ice it leapt back out and into deep snow. And like that it went from slush to working the belly bound. Things can change quickly out there.

 

back to the ditch

The belly bounding section eventually returned to the ditch at a section that was not in the direct sunlight so much, and must have met the established high travel standards this Otter demands. Of it got tired of bounding in snow. ‘Too Tired To Bound’. Anyway – the otter continued on and ducked under some conifer boughs and that’s where I left it. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

 

belly bounds by the 'gang of four'
old harbor pond - circa 2014?

Belly bounding is a way of life. The feedback from the otter edition part 1 has been wonderful and I appreciate it. Nice to know people out there are enjoying, thank you. Anyway enough of that.

 

belly bounds mixed with belly slides
gang of four + one - OHP Circa 2013?

More than one reader mentioned that, at times, they personally adopt a belly-bound travel pattern (we’ve all been there). Some hadn’t actually tried the belly bound yet, but were looking for new kicks and were thinking this style of movement might just be what the doctor ordered. And that is wonderful – tap into your inner weasel…..and bound….

 

(3/3) Ferry rides – After John sent me the photos from Greens Island (see previous VSR) on Wednesday I was psyched to do some otter tracking from the Friday ferry. I would be looking along shorelines for otter trails in snow. South facing shorelines were pretty much melted so it was a south facing day for me – and by that I mean the north facing shorelines still had snow. And so that is what I looked at and for me to see this I had to look south from the boat so it was a south facing day for me. Nailed it!

 

Which worked out good with the wind – and good with the birds (that’ll be in the next of the marathon VSR posts) – and so I was out of the chilly wind with the sun was beating down. No reason to get cold on the way out if you are going to be outside in the snow clipping BTM webs. No – topside south was refreshingly cozy for being outside on the ferry the first week of March.

 

no moose, but there is an old belly slide in there

Passing the Owl’s Head shoreline brought back memories of the Moose that spent one winter in and around the Lighthouse State Park there. One day that winter after it had snowed the Moose was standing right about at the high tide line, possibly looking to eat rockweed. That day from the ferry the Moose was quite obvious – it’s shape being a silhouette in front of the fresh snow on the shore. Then I thought to myself – why haven’t you ever scanned the shores of Owl’s Head for otter slides before? When will I ever learn.

 

these are not otters

It took about a second or two before I spotted an otter slide that crossed a snow covered Owl’s Head beach to the ocean, right about where that Moose had once stood proud (or confused). The boat ride was off to a good start… (otter sign from the ferry #1)

 

sign of otter action at Lawry's or whatever

Lairey’s/Lawrey’s Island is located south of the ferry route and right across from Leadbetters Island. That’s all nice, but it also happens to be the most classic spot to track Otters from the ferry (in my weaselly opinion). There is an Otter den on Lawry’s along the closest stretch of shore to the ferry route and it has been active for at least 15 years. And I say ‘at least’ since that’s about as long as I have known about it – undoubtedly was used for years before that.

 

Anyway – it’s a spot I check from the ferry whenever there is snow (and even when there is not) and sure enough there was sign that looked of multiple otter passes (the snow had been there for days, remember). (otter sign from the ferry #2).

imposter. crack slide

 

I scanned stretches of Greens Island shoreline where I had seen belly slides in years past. No dice today – I guess they were all over at John’s. What I did see was this imposter slide! A close(ish) look reveals that what looks like an otter slide or two is actually from a pair of cracks in the rock. So that’s the camouflage thing with slides – they blend in with snow on cracks in rocks in the wild. The lesson here is that there are otter slides and there are crack slides .What a world. ‘Won’t get fooled again!’.     

 

talbot slides

As the ferry entered the Reach, we were passing cute, little Talbots Island and there were a pair of Otter slides clear as day – no binoculars needed! Two slides through the snow (not cracks! I should have never told you!) and into the water. New spot for me to see, certainly they have been there for years. Let the learning continue! (otter sign from the ferry #3)

 

I scanned a few more historic spots as the ferry meandered through the Reach and no sign was to be seen. And that’s the way it goes.

 

potato island otter sign
they crossed a crack slide!

Making our way into the Harbor now, Potato Island deserved and demanded a quick scan, and a quick scan was all it took – Otter activity once again leading to the water. Another new spot for me (otter sign from the ferry #4) but this was also maybe the first time I have scanned the shore there. Why does it take so long to catch on that I should be scanning all snowy shores from the ferry? For some people it just takes a little longer to catch on – I know my assignment now. Look how it crossed an imposter ‘crack slide’. Ain’t nothing like the real thing baby.

 

But it wasn’t over! There is an even littler island in the harbor, right behind Potato island (and behind the ferry when docked) with a couple of trees that often have Bald Eagles in them. On this day there were no eagles but there was an otter trail in the snow that came from underneath one of said trees mentioned in the previous sentence! Pictures turned up out of focus for some reason – couldn’t be the photographer – but the sign was there regardless, no doubt – (otter sign from the ferry #5).

 

I’m not going to say that was a record, because there really shouldn’t ever be a ‘record’ for otter sign from the ferry. But I am pretty sure it’s the most otter sign I have seen from the ferry on a Friday (Personal Ferry Friday Best!). Add on the otter belly bound at Lane’s and you can see why the day was an otter day above anything else. Otters are active around island! See what you can see!

 

Estrus talk, we are all adults here – So what’s up with Otters? Or better yet - What’s up with Mustelids? Well – it’s March and they have their own kind of madness – I have a new Nature Bummin’ post coming out that explains this a little – it’s being edited (how dare they!) so its legible and readable (makes sense) – and it’s called ‘March Madness Means Mustelid Mating in Mid-coast Maine’. Lot of M’s there. This would include Otter and Mink on Vinalhaven. Anyway – back to Otters.

 estrus in da latrine

 

Here’s the address … if you dare - https://www.mcht.org/story-tag/nature-bummin/ - may not be posted until next week

 

 

dollop of estrus 

Here’s the gist of the situation - Sometime towards the end of Feb/beginning of March pregnant female Otters in mid-coast Maine give birth to a bunch of youngsters called Kits. They are born in a den and the den is in the ground and if you see the little kitlins in March then something went wrong. They stay put for a while. The mother stays and nurses and cozies up with the youngsters, and then after a week (or so) she will go into ‘Heat’ (good/decent movie), which is also known as ‘Estrus’. For 6 days (or so) she will be receptive to mating with male otters. That’s it – that’s the window for otter fortification action. Sounds like ‘6 days of bliss’ you may chuckle to yourself (you are so bad). If you chuckled that then clearly you have not watched otters mate. Hard to see much enjoyment there, much less the slightest sign of ‘bliss’ - but that is for another post.

 

estrus art - extreme close up!

Anyway, with such a small window for mating a female otter has to get the word out and thusly she marks ‘like crazy’ (might not be the right description) so local males and maybe even males ‘passing through’ will know. And where does she do such marking? At latrines of course!

 

Estrus marking can be and is done with the use of scent glands and urine – sign of both happen to be hard to see in snow. (I wish there was a fancy English term for otter urine. How about ‘Uraint’? That also happens to have been my nickname in high school…). However, the bodily fluid associated with estrus that is ‘easiest’ to find (in my experience) is blood. There, I said it. It’s time to look for blood.

 

 

 

 

not sure what this is
but it was next to the blood
so estrus marking

Estrus Is the Reason For The Season -

 

So I have not found anything specific about the blood female mustelids use to announced they are ‘estrusized’. Things like where it comes from, how much, how often – it only seems to be mentioned in passing where I have seen it even mentioned at all.  Heck, I haven’t even seen any other photos on bloody estrus anywhere – but in my Google search history I now have ‘bloody estrus’, ‘bloody estrus photos’, and ‘mustelid bloody estrus photos’. Apparently I had already searched ‘river otter bloody estrus photos’ at some point in history. In all honesty my searching was done with little more than the minimal google effort which often is (and really should be) always enough!

 

(3/5) Clark Island Preserve (mainland). That all said, I did find some bloody otter estrus at the Clark Island Preserve in Spruce Head (?) Sunday. Okay, so I don’t know what town I am in when I am at Clark – which is typical for me when in any woods anywhere on the mainland – but that’s not the point. Finding the Estrus at one of my favorite latrines on Clark is like a dream come true, and is the reason for the season. Here’s a picture or two of what I saw. Too bad photos on the internet aren’t scratch and sniff, am I right?

   

 

So this is the heads up – the somewhat time sensitive stuff I mentioned way back at the beginning of part 1 the other day. March is the time to look for bloody estrus when walking through the woods. Snow is essential, capturing and cooling the blood for all to see. I imagine the blood changes to a brownish color as it is exposed to the elements. So look for red and brown spots at your favorite otter latrines.

 

Me, Leif, & bloody otter estrus
march 2018

But Kirk, you said female otters only have a 6 day window and you found this on Sunday, so the window is up right? Well, you are right – day 6 for this otter would be today (Friday) if Sunday was the first day of her window or earlier in the week if she started earlier of course – like last Saturday for example. Well, that’s fine and well for this Otter, but as we know nature tends not to be super structured or static (there is no such thing as ‘balance’!) and there certainly can be/are differences in timing between individuals within a species and between years even. Here’s a photo of a huge bloody estrus mark – was about 6x6ft in snow overall - Leif and I are checking out in St George back in 2018. March 17^th to be exact. 12 days after the 5^th, which was Sunday.  It’s always a good time to look for bloody estrus….in March.

 

So maybe it’s over for the Clark Island female but it might just be starting for others and maybe for some it hasn’t even started yet! Maybe the Clark Island female is just a go-getter and got ahead of the game. Or maybe she didn’t give birth this year – some females skip years – and they apparently can have multiple 6-day estrus stretches within the season. Who knows? I don’t.

 

Different kind of blood – Usually when I find blood in the woods it’s connected to a kill or a wound or a scrape or a battle. There can be blood associated with births, but I have never found that. This otter blood I found was not discharged as a result of an egg not being fertilized. No – this blood was discharged in hopes (okay - with the purpose) of leading to an egg or two (or 3) getting fertilized. And that is a cool use of blood. 

 

mink estrus
lanes island 2015

I mentioned above, and I know this is not from an Otter – but March is also the month when Mink mate, and dem mink being mustelids go through estrus and mark accordingly. I have seen bloody Mink estrus twice – 2005 and 2015 – both times on Lane’s Island, both in March. The first time was little drops of blood interspersed with an amazingly hefty amount of mink tracks, trails, and rolls. Basically the field and the shrubbiness up through the southernmost hill – that entire area – was mink tracks and disturbances. ‘Rolling and tumbling’ (some courting &) mating had happened overnight (where kids play and grandparents picnic no less!) and it was clear that they shagged like minx. I have not pictures of this and I am no sure why I don’t. I think my camera may had broken or something.

 

estrus 2015

The second time (2015) was also in March, but this was more of a ‘hot bloody mess’ rather than a few drips. As the story goes - a female Mink was bounding through the preserve and she marked as she bounded. Take a look at these photos – good long, strong bounds saying she was not carrying anything in her mouth (those bounds look like a struggle) – and then mid-bound ‘splooshes’ were heard.

 Kinda looks like it was involuntary. I mean –the mink didn’t hesitate, didn’t miss a step and it was kinda at a random spot (remember 2015? When there was so much snow yards weren’t seen til May?). The open areas were covered with such deep snow that I was literally snow shoeing over bayberries (which were admittedly smaller back then) following the Mink. I mean maybe it was bounding directly above the well-used (and buried under snow) trail network that the Mink have on island. What is for sure is that the blood was on the trail she was making, and any male following her would find this and then, well, ‘let the dance begin’ (Viagra catch-phrase). Anyway.

 

hellbender carving in NC- not an otter

So March is the time to look for bloody Mink estrus as well – as if the month couldn’t get any cooler!

 

no better way to celebrate 
'women who rock' than 
eating berry pebbles

It’s an exciting time out there - And that’s what it’s all about. Keep your eyes open for blood in snow (‘snow cone’ – ‘Big’ Al Jones) for the next few weeks. And if you find any blood take some photos and send them in to us here at the VSR – I am begging you and daring you! Be the first to send in mustelid estrus photos!

 

Non-otter editions coming up shortly. with more limited edtitions

 

Thanks for making it to the end. You deserve something. Not sure what