Please e-mail Frank
Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu Vol. 4, no. 42, Tuesday, October 19, 1999
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You are invited to report on any aspect of Nature in Maine
Please e-mail Frank
Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu
Report format = Day, date, [time]. Location (Maine Atlas Map number) Report text. Initials of correspondent.
Sunday, October 10. Wyman Township/Dead River Township (Map 29) There was some snow still remaining in the woods at high altitudes on Bigelow Mountain. R.G.
Wednesday, October 13. Orono (Map 23) Students in a University of Maine field ecology class found 13 Leopard Frogs in a meadow near a cat-tail-dominated beaver flowage at the Taylor Bait Farm. J.K.M.
Thursday, October 14. East Millinocket (Map 50) This
afternoon, beginning about 2:00 pm, we got our second ground cover of snow this season.
Large, wet flakes fell (more accurately were driven by gale-force winds) for about 40
minutes. The temperature by that time had fallen to 40 degrees F. Enough fell to blanket
the ground, autos, roofs, etc, completely white. Though most of it subsequently melted,
early Friday morning there were still unmelted patches of it. Its depth a mere couple of
centimeters.
Also, I was in the Katahdin Ironworks area the other day looking for
the White Brook Trail up White Cap Mountain when a tremendous squall surprised us with
hail and sleet. D.W.
Friday, October 15. Orono (Map 23) Early this morning I heard Canada geese and went outside in time to see them flying high above, about 15 birds in a straight line formation, going Southwest. F.W.
Sunday, October 17. Bar Harbor (Map 16) Dorr Mountain. On
the Canon Brook Trail we saw a medium size (about 20") Eastern garter snake, lying in
the trail. Instead of slithering away from us as is usually the case, this one
coiled itself up and thrust itself forward several times in a defensive action. I
don't ever remember seeing this fangless, non-poisonous snake perform this action. When I
reported this to someone in Orono they said they had recently seen a garter snake do the
same thing.
On the mountain there were numerous black-capped chickadees, calling
and flying within the tree branches, avoiding the strong winds that afternoon.. Streams
and a vernal pool were full from the recent rain. We saw a varying hare flee into a
copse of stunted jack pines near the summit, still in its brown summer coat. F.W.
Monday, October 18. T15 R9 WELS (Map 63) I
would like to report my most unusual finding in this year of unusual weather. On September
21, I was doing my annual Nature sessions with the area 7th graders at Perch Pond in the
Deboullie area as part of their Deboullie experience. They ask me to do flora and any
incidental fauna. There are several patches of Epigaea repens. There were two small
patches in full flower on September 21, each patch about 2' across. It was amazing!
I wonder if they will have their flowering cycle disrupted enough to bloom in the fall
again next year, and for several year? I checked the same species in two places in
Fort Kent. Found many fat floral buds, but only two blossoms on one plant out of many.
There were many whirligig beetles swimming in schools near Perch Pond's
shore. They were the larger type, a Dineutus species.
Been snowing here most of the day, but none has stuck, as it did last
week. The Tamaracks are beginning to turn gold, and the low-lying islands of the St. John
are rosy red with the fall color of the " beachplums," Prunus depressa. G.F.