Maine Nature News
Vol. 6, no. 5, Tuesday, January 30, 2001

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Monday, January 22.  Orrington (Map 23) I saw a large flock of about 20 robins in the trees along the bank of the Penobscot River in South Orrington. They were chirping robin calls (but not singing). They flew off in a group heading the north.  P.S.

Saturday, January 27.  Lubec (Map 27) On a Maine Audubon day trip to the Lubec area I got a chance to see some new (to me!) bird species.  In the sea below Quoddy Head Lighthouse there were 5 greater cormorants sitting on the offshore rocks, a few male and female eiders floating and diving, a black guillemot, a black duck, 4 long-tailed ducks (formerly named oldsquaws), a female red-breasted merganser floating and occasionally flying short distances, 2 bald eagles, a few herring gulls, and about 15 purple sandpipers.  Unexpectedly we saw a harbor seal swim by, a fun sight.
    Later, as we sat at snowy picnic tables for lunch near some cliffs edged with alder, birch and low spruce, we saw a flock of robins roosting.  Soon, a bald eagle flew by and suddenly dived and snatched a duck.  Quickly the herring gulls mobbed the eagle, probably trying to get it to drop its catch. In the adjacent forest we heard ravens calling and flying about. 
    A little further along the road  a hawk came by an harassed robins roosting in some alders.  We proceeded another mile and stopped where we could observe the West shore of an inlet.  Scores of herring gulls and black-backed gulls were sitting there. Careful, experienced observers showed us (through telescopes) an Iceland gull in their midst.
     Then we went to the Lubec Harbor Spit, a gravel bar.  A long shallow area of sea separates the Spit from the shore to its South.  Hundreds of herring gulls and black-backed gulls were sitting on the sand and the ice there. Careful, experienced observers showed us an Iceland gull in their midst. Occasionally a large number of the gulls – not all – would suddenly stir, and there would be a great graceful commotion (if those two words do not contradict each other!) in the air. 
    Finally, observing from the Cutler town wharf, we saw 3 bufflehead ducks and a common loon.  F.W.

Monday, January 29.  West Cumberland (Map 5)  Just watched a mixed flock of birds feeding off a wild rose bush in my  back yard:  robins; at least four bluebirds; and a resident cardinal.  Last Thursday, I observed at least two grackles on a drive down into  Harpswell. Will we have an early spring?  I have a Cooper's hawk, female I think,  periodically hunting pigeons in my barn loft.  I also have a juvenile goshawk slowly reducing the ranks  of my free range chickens -- four so far.  
    One juvenile raccoon from last  summer's litter periodically pops out from his den in the loft for  visits-he still has a pretty heavy layer of fat. He definitely does NOT like going out in the snow. Chickadees are singing their spring song; and I have a pair of English sparrows who look suspiciously like they're checking out nesting spots. I feel they're being a bit premature, but maybe they're a lot better informed than I am.  L.P.

Monday, January 29. Detroit (Map 22) Cross country skiing has been great again this week.  I continue to see tracks of all kind of wild life.  There seems to be a good population of rabbits in our area this year.  I saw a brown creeper and a hairy woodpecker, which I hadn't seen before this winter. I also saw five or six white breasted nuthatches.  I usually see more of the red breasted ones.  J.B.

Monday, January 29. Fort Kent (Map 68) Little Black Lake. Before reporting on my sojourns in the local fields and woods in my ongoing efforts to learn more about wildlife tracks, I must mention a story my neighbor told me a couple of days ago. As he was coming home with his pickup in the dark a few days earlier, his headlights disclosed a pack of five coyotes on the road ahead of him not far from our place. Responding to his wife's plea not to hit them live with the remark that they really "don't do anybody any good," he tried to run them over and managed to kill two of them. I assume the coyotes were unable to get out of the way and escaping into the woods because of the high roadside snow banks and their fear of slowing down while ascending those banks. Apart from placing a low value on Canada geese, raccoons and coyotes, my neighbor is the best neighbor one can wish for, so I shall leave this account without further comment.
    In my wildlife tracking endeavors while enjoying daily snowshoe hikes with my wife, I have noticed several interesting phenomena this past week. The most striking one was a most beautiful impression of both wings of a grouse as it had landed in the snow next to our snowshoe trail. The print was so clear that one could see the individual feathers at the end of the wings. The wing marks were followed by an about ten foot long trenchlike trail as the bird had plowed through the loose snow before stopping to dig a hole and caving out one side of it for a protected resting place for the night. Apparently it had had a good meal, because before departing the next morning, it deposited a pile of five soft brown scats shaped like little sausages in its resting hole. It then jumped out of the hole and took wing, leaving a shallow depression but no wing marks about a foot from its resting hole.
    Another interesting observation was a number of round holes in the snow found at different locations where our trail traversed hay meadows. They were about one inch in diameter, angled down for the first few of inches, and then continued straight down, I presume all the way to the ground surface. There is little doubt in my mind that these are vent holes created by animals, most likely meadow voles, living under the snow and breathing air trapped in pockets under bent-over herbaceous vegetation. I assume the reason the top portion of the otherwise vertical hole angles down is that the snow surface shifts under the force of the wind, causing the vent hole to bend. If I were a fox or coyote, I certainly would know one good place where to dig for my meal. What I, being a human, do not know is exactly how the holes come about. Are they dug by the rodents or do they result from a group of animals occupying a nest or using a tunnel, their warm breath rising to the highest point of their snowy cave and melting a hole there that gradually reaches the surface. Inasmuch as the snow surrounding the holes was completely undisturbed, the latter seems more plausible. And then again, all my hypothesizing may be wrong and the holes may mean something totally different. Digging up the hole with a shovel may be the approach I will have to use to solve the puzzle.
    Last week we also started to snowshoe on the ice along the shoreline of our lake. Except for three homes and an equal number of unoccupied camps, all clustered near the lower end of the 51 acre lake, the shores are in a relatively undisturbed natural condition. Thus it came as no surprise that we encountered numerous animal trails, most skirting the lake, some crossing it. When a couple of days later we later retraced our steps, we found that two moose had really "done a number" on a small portion our trail, pockmarking it with deep holes. We also noticed where the moose had browsed a cedar leaning over the lake, with twig stubs showing that they had been able to reach a height of as much as 7 1/2 feet.  Finally we observed that as soon as the moose had come out of the woods and entered the lake, they had got involved in some activity on the snow-covered ice near the shore that had created a trampled circle about 30 feet in diameter. There was no vegetation allowing us to surmise that they had been feeding. So what were they doing? It is too late for mating  and there seems to be no reason for fighting this time of the year. Thus I have one more reason to choose the title "Mysteries of the winter woods" should I ever publish my reports in book form.
    One mystery I was able to solve was a set of tracks arranged maybe a foot apart in a straight trail in deep snow. Each track was about 4 by 3 inches in length and width , with sharp drag marks, each about 1/2 inch in width and about 3 inches long, projecting from both the back and front. I could find nothing like that in my tracking guide. The puzzle was solved when a day or so later I saw the same tracks coming down the road bank and then changing when traversing the plowed road in the previous night's thin layer of snow. The strange-looking tracks had been made by a red squirrel moving in jumps and leaving the three drag marks with its paws and tail both when landing and taking off.  E.T.

Winter sky observations?

    In winter the Sun sets early and some striking sights begin to be visible.  One of these occurs on evenings with cold, clear air.  If the upper air is especially turbulent, even if the air near the ground is calm, one will see a strong twinkling effect for just about every sky object (note the exceptions if you see this).  
   Also, Venus and Jupiter are now prominent in the evening sky. In fact, until the moon interferes in a few more evenings (New Moon on January 24) you can look for this surprising and charming effect in the early evening...  Find a location away from stray light where you have a good view of Venus (now moderately low in the West).  This planet is so bright that you can look for shadows of nearby trees, fences, etc. cast on the snow by Venus' bright light. (It is the third brightest celestial object, after the Sun and Moon).   Finally, this is a good time of year to look for phenomena around the Moon caused by high clouds containing ice crystals.  The notable "moonbow" is one example.  
   Please share your observations with the Maine Nature News.   E-mail:  menature@maine.edu   Thank you.