Vinalhaven Sightings

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report

January 1^st – 15^th, 2026

With the support of MCHT and VLT

‘Human nature is like second nature to me’

Highlights – more Owl stuff, Snow Fleas, Animal tracking – including Beaver, Otter, Mink and Pheasant, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Black-legged Kittiwake, and so much more ….

Business – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com

Share gosh darned it! Hey – people are doing ‘it’ and that’s great. What’s ‘it’? ‘It’ is sending photos and sightings and email addresses to the email above of course! Doing ‘It’ is keeping ‘it’ real. And that is ‘special’.

guillemot

Here’s a hot take - If you do ‘it’, you could actually be helping people! It’s 100% true that this could be true! Turns out people like to see photos and hear about what others are seeing! (This thought is based on word-of-mouth feedback I’ve received from 1 or 2 people), and so, people are saying that the VSR (kinda) keeps them ‘regular’ (paraphrasing). Keeping people ‘regular’ while actively being ‘special’, how freakin’ humble is that! Humble and real – that’s all I ask of friends. And co-workers. Shouldn’t be too hard.

harbor seal and purple sandpiers

So, take that for what it’s worth, but it is fun (for me/us/you) to digest what folks are seeing around the island and I/we/us hope it is for you too! Sharing gives everyone hope! Do the right thing. Lots of people shared for this VSR – and ‘we’ (the royal ‘we’) appreciate that immensely. Gives hope.

Tiit trick – click on the photos and see what happens, I dare yah!

crossbills in the Basin

Sightings – Quick shoutout/mention to/on winter finches – Pine Grosbeak, Pine Siskin, Common Redpoll and Evening Grosbeaks have been reported/seen around island. (Plus Purple Finches are starting to stack up along the coast). Along with the ‘year-round’ finches – Red Crossbill and ‘merican Goldfinch - the woods and feeder systems around VH are alive with Finches at times (or at moments – these finches are fidgety). More on this next VSR (in other words, this one is full enough), but a note to keep yer eyes and ears open for ‘em in the meantime - then report 'em to the email address above.

Red Crossbill 'in flight seed exchange'

Seal Island Snowy Owl
circa 2012? maybe?

Snowy Owl – Middle Mountain. Danny Ames hit me with a classic question the other day in the parking lot. He asked - ‘Have you been seeing Snowy Owls around?’ or something like that. My answer was ‘no’, but I knew when I asked him back if he had seen any snowy owls the answer would be ‘yes’ and I would be thrilled to listen. I love owl stories.

Snowy Owl scat
on Fox Rocks kairn

So, Danny saw a Snowy Owl at Middle Mountain back in November. Middle Mountain and the larger Fox Rocks area is kind of a ‘legendary Snowy Owl’ spot (and owls in general). ‘Legendary’, in this case, means a ‘higher chance’ or a place where you are ‘slightly more likely to see a Snowy than other places’, but that’s enough for me!

snowy owl scat
on Fox Rocks kairn

If you go and don’t see a Snowy (‘slightly more likely’ often/usually means ‘zero’, but a big phat ‘ZERO’ at that!) take a moment to look at the silly kairn piles for Snowy sign. Scat and sizable pellets – made up of mostly snowshoe hare parts – on and at the base of the piles tells a tale of recent snowy activity. And that’s a good thing. I think. Maybe not for snowshoe hares…

snowy owl pellet
large and loaded with Snowshoe Hare parts

Meanwhile…. Short-eared Owl at Lanes! – John Drury was kind enough to take a break from a wonderful tiny person to mention that he’d seen a Short-eared Owl on Lanes in ‘late December’. Thanks John!

long-eared owl pellet 1/13/25

Long-eared Owl pellet – one so far – and maybe it was a quick visit, or maybe they are still around, but this marks 22 winters in a row of crossing paths with Long-eared Owl pellets (or LEO pellet in this case!) on Lanes. 22 winters in row (at least) of LEOs using Lanes – that’s some sweet LEO Juju.

While on Lanes – Yellow rumped warblers (at least a handful) are making a stab at overwintering and it’s all about the Bayberries. So many Bayberry berries to go! Good luck butterbutts.

Down Tree!
photo by Patience Trainor

Beavers in winter – Allan Hayes and Patience Trainor were kind enough to send in comparable/playfully competitive photos of Beaver sign from up Calderwood Neck way.

beaver tracks
photo by Allan Hayes

Leave it to beaver(s) to (freshly) chew through and take down a Birch tree, leaving beaver chips to be covered by snow. And also leaving loads of beaver tracks and trails in said snow – including this ‘Beaver Highway’ as Patience described.

beaver tracks
photo by Patience Trainor

Beaver are active all winter and will often keep openings in the ice ‘open’ (known as ‘Ice-holes’, or ‘Fargin’ ice-holes’) for them (the beavers) to access food stuffs. For the most part though – and certainly during cold stretches - they (the Beavers) will tap into food cashes (is that different than ‘stashes’ – other than spelling?) they can access under the ice.

Here's a link to a thing last year about ice-holes - https://www.mcht.org/story/destination-ice-holes/

Down Tree -Different Angle
photo by Allan Hayes

For the most part they will (the beavers) ‘stay in’ – or ‘hang out’ – in their well insulated lodges, twiddlin’ non-opposable thumbs (no one in their right mind would oppose them!) and chillin’.

beaver highway
photo by Patience Trainor

In other words (and from personal experience) - Beaver tracks and trails– you just don’t necessarily see them a lot in winter, and certainly not every year. I think these may be the first beaver track photos sent to the VSR – so a nice Beaver VNM to boot! Thanks for sharing you two!

pheasant imprint and trail
photo by Pam Grumbach

Pheasant imprints – Red-necked Pheasants are around and active and Pam Grumbach snapped this shot where one Pheasant in her yard stretched their wings and took to the air!

And while we (the ‘royal we’) here at the VSR are on the record as ‘not being the biggest fans of Pheasants’ and would be given a ranked vote for the ‘Lamest state bird’ (South Dakota? Ring-neck Pheasants? Really? Ugh?) – their feather imprints in snow are quite lovely – which nobody can deny. Well, some people could deny probably. Deniers = haters.

And in conclusion - Thanks Pam!

Raccoon Trail
photo by Cay Kendrick

Raccoon trail – Cay Kendrick sent in this photo of a raccoon trail that captures the ‘true essence’ of what makes a raccoon trail a raccoon trail.

We’ve all watched Raccoons move – be it them running away at top speed or maybe one taking a slow saunter up to a nice bird feeder loaded with those tempting, tasty sunflower seeds. And let’s face it – and not to judge too harshly – but they walk kinda funny. Their strolling style is called a ‘waddle’, and why it looks funky is that when they step, they move both the front and back (arm/leg) appendages on the same side of the body at the same time. Very ‘un-salamander’ like, if you are looking for a statement like that.

This waddlin’ style results in a trail pattern that essentially is a series of paired individual tracks. In each pair there is a large back foot imprint, and a smaller front hand print next to each other. And with each successive paired tracks, the placement of the large and small prints alternates – so the larger back foot might first be on the right side of the paired tracks, and then on the left side in the next pair. Cay did a great job clearly capturing this pattern, and it’s a pattern that is distinctive – so no ‘counting toes’ or ‘measuring track length’ is necessary for identification (although those are good fun). Raccoons are the only ‘wild waddlers’ on island – insert snarky comment about human waddlers here – and following their trails can lead to some cool discoveries. Anyway – thanks Cay!

mink belly slide
photo by Claudia Dengler

Claudia Dengler sent in a photo of a cool Mink belly slide! For the longest time Mink were referred to as the island’s ‘other mustelid’, ‘tiny otters’, ‘wannabe otters’, or ‘dinky otters’. With the somewhat ‘recent’ arrival of Short-tailed Weasels (‘Ermine’ to some, or ‘really dinky otters’ to others), Mink are now the ‘middle child of island mustelids’.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t know how to make a sweet belly slide when conditions call for it. Thanks for sharing Claudia!

River Otter print from the Basin

Continuing with the mustelid theme – Mustelidae being the ‘weasel family’ of which Mink, Ermine and River Otters are all members of.

quality pile of spraint
photo by Oakley Jackson

Oakley Jackson sent in some River Otter sign photos – slides and spraint – just like we like ‘em!

From the ‘east side’ of the island - (the tougher side? That’s up for debate) – Oakley spotted trails that led to/fro an active Otter latrine full of spraint.

otter slides and trails
photo by Oakley Jackson

Oakley mentioned the spraint had lobster exoskeleton pieces in it (shhh! Don’t tell anyone the eat lobsters) and in at least one shot there appears to be intestinal worms that got ‘sprainted out’. That’s what we call back in the ol’ country as ‘some good spraint’.

lots 'o otter activity
photo by Oakley Jackson

The latrine Oakley crossed paths with was a classic latrine spot (not spot). A point of land (VH) sticking out into a body of water (ocean) – a place where any wandering river otter would stop to ‘find out what’s happening’ with the local otter scene. Rollin’, sniffin’ and spraintin’ – those are the approved actions that go down at an otter latrine, and no doubt they’ve (the actions) have been happening here for a long time.

life at the spraint pile
worms in the spraint?
photo by Oakley Jackson

How do we know that this has been happening for a long time and isn’t a ‘new latrine’? Cuz I used to visit that exact spot (not spot) 13 + years ago to ‘see the spraint’ – and who knows how long it was active before 2012? Historic latrine, one that has been used by multiple generations of otters – with otter life expectancy in the wild is around 9 years. River otters are such creatures of habit – and that is partly why ‘otters are easier’.

Thanks for the report Oakley!

sled tracks in the basin

Otters in the Basin – Clearing some downed trees (thanks for the heads-up Cay!) in the Basin I swung by the shoreline for a moment or two, to check up on an otter latrine I’ve been visiting for 20 years. And ‘sure as spraint’, action from previous evenings had been temporarily ‘captured’ in the snow.

latrine with a view

This is another ‘classic’ latrine, but classic and different. This particular latrine is not located on a ‘piece of land that juts out into a body of water’. Nope, not at all really. Instead, it’s located where a small, freshwater stream meets the salty Basin waters. ‘Where different bodies of water meet’ - is a great description of a second place where otters typically leave messages in the form of spraint and gland goo. When looking for latrines – which I assume we all do, all the time – junctions where streams, creeks or trickles meet larger bodies of water are worth a closer look. Or looksie.

spraint in snow

otter claws/nails

Snowshoe Hare – one animal whose tracks were hard to avoid that day (and all others since) was Snowshoe Hare. Some years are good for Snowshoe Hare numbers; others are not so good (low). This year is a good year – or at least it is everywhere I go! Huber, the Basin and even Lanes. Gunna be some well-fed owls!

snowshoe hare scat
looks like tasty little burger buns

Snow Fleas – you know it’s a warm day in the winter when Snow Fleas (Hypogastrura nivicola) are up to their hopping (springing?) antics on the snow! This particular day (1/7) they were searching between icy snow balls/flakes for grub – fungus and detritus (we are fans of detritus eaters). Check out these videos…

So, snow fleas are an insect that have an anti-freeze-like protein that allow ‘em to operate in sub-zero environments. Word is that ‘There are hopes that similar proteins may be useful for storing transplant organs and for producing better ice cream’. Better ice cream from studying Snow Fleas? You go Flea! Sign me up!

Here's what Wiki says about their springing abilities and form

‘Snow fleas (springtails) move by jumping with a unique, forked appendage called a furcula, held under their abdomen and released like a spring to catapult them great distances, often up to 100 times their body length, for escape or movement; they also crawl, and some have sticky tubes (collophores) that help with grip and possibly direction.’

Love it! Thanks Wiki!

red-necked grebe running start

Ferry Rides – (1/7) – 100+ Olde-tailed Ducks, 50+ Common Loon, 50+ Black Guillemot, Purple Sandpipers, Red-throated Loon, Razorbill, Surf Scoter, Bald Eagle, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-necked Grebe, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Common Eider, Harbor Seal and Grey Seal

red throated loon

Story here – Red-throated Loon – the ‘other red loon’ - early in the ride, low light and in flight – always a fun one to see from the ferry. Smaller than Common Loons, and with a smaller bill, different feel altogether really. Pretty soon Common Loons will start their molt and will be flightless for a bit – if they haven’t started molting already! Looking forward to the molt!

grey seal on the side

Grey Seal on the ledges – kinda mixed in with the Harbor Seals, and kinda off to the side of the Harbor Seals on the ledges outside of Lairey’s narrows. Grey Seals are all over Seal Island these days – doing their birthing and breeding stuff way out there! Heck – there is even a live cam out on Seal to show the action –

ye olde-tailed duck
can you hear it?

https://explore.org/livecams/oceans/seal-pups-cam?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21074212451&gclid=Cj0KCQiAg63LBhDtARIsAJygHZ7vhBapx8InfosjiHuhyWUM6HLSV3z4NLTrvvc1HVY-0Gz6KLVhuvQaAh60EALw_wcB

common loon
big honkin' bill

Grey Seal antics/strategy – group of females birthing and nursing, males patrolling and taking names - kinda reminds me of the Elephant Seals out at Ano Nuevo on the Pacific Coast. And that would make this particular Grey Seal – so far away from ‘the action’ – a ‘non-breeder’ or – as they were called in the Elephant Seal world (this sounds a little rough but isn’t me talking) – a ‘loser’. On ‘loser’s ledge’.

surf scoter

A ‘loser’ in the sense that its genes are probably not going to be passed on this year (join the club!). But not all hope is lost – maybe its not too late this year – I mean, Seal island is not that far, maybe it can sneak in for some side action – wouldn’t be the first! Or maybe it’s young and there is always next year. Or maybe it was just looking for a place to rest. And it found one – right along the ferry route.

black legged kittiwake

And Black-legged Kittiwakes – sucker for those from the ferry in the winter.

So, hey – this VSR is long enough and it’s time to post –

whoa
photo by Amanda Devine

Here’s a ‘interesting edition’ food-like product sent in by Amanda Devine – and it comes with this question – what frame of mind would you have to be in to eat these? Out of frame?

and other assorted distractingly packaged food products...

with positive messages!

thank you Confetti Cherrios! sprinkled with fun they and tells us nice things!

And another thing - what the heck happened to Fruit Loops?

When I was a child Fruit Loops was the only honest cereal, They had the toucan birdy thing critter - the only mascot anyone could relate too - take that Dig 'em!

And now Fruit Loops sweethearts? Spread the love edition? Loops has taken the Hallmark Holiday path - poor Toucan Sam. Is nothing sacred?