Maine Nature News
Vol. 6, no. 40, Tuesday, October 2, 2001

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Thursday, September 20. Caribou (Map 64) That the once-absent gray squirrels have extended their range over the last 50 years is always evident at our place in the fall, when they congregate to collect and bury and rebury the acorns from an oak tree on the front lawn. But another visitor on this date was not so much an indicator of extended ranges, as it was of unusual boldness. When my wife pointed out the kitchen window and could only say, "Look! Look!" I hardly knew what to expect, but I wasn't prepared for what I did see. There was a big, round, black bear about 15 feet from the house, snuffling in the grass for acorns! As I scrambled to get the digital camera, the bear came in the driveway, entered the back yard, crossed the lawn, and went down over the bank toward the brook. I never did get that picture, but I'd guess the bear would weigh well over 250 lbs. It looked fat, but I can't help wondering if it had been feeding on some bear-baiter's stale doughnuts and had come into town to find the bakery and get something fresh for a change! C.B.K.

Tuesday, September 25. Saco (Map 4) I have been eating winterberries (aka wintergreen) all my life. I have read that there may be some risk to children if they eat too many, but I have never had any ill effects! They are GREAT added to home-made bread in a bread machine! J.B.

Wednesday, September 26. Campobello Island, New Brunswick (Map 27) Report for the Week of September 17-23. This was my third consecutive year vacationing for a week here in September. Though every year I am successful in sighting marine mammals and Bald Eagles, this was my best year yet. Every day from Liberty Point, just across the international boundary line and channel from West Quoddy Head in Maine, I observed two Minke whales feeding in Grand Manan Channel. Sometimes they passed almost a mile away but at least several times a day I could see them less than 300 meters from shore. On Friday, when the sea was at its roughest of the week, I was able to watch the Minkes breach several times before I lost view of them as they rounded Ragged Point and neared Raccoon Beach. Nearly their whole bodies would leave the water before they crashed (usually over backwards) back into the waves. On Wednesday I saw my only certain Finback of the week as it cruised by, only a couple hundred meters off the headland. The locals told me that two had been seen frequently off the northeast end of the island. If the one I saw had company, I failed to spot it.
    I lost count of the Bald Eagles I saw during the week but on one occasion I saw five at a time. Two immatures and one adult were almost always present in the vicinity of Liberty Point. Also from the point I saw several seals every day. Most of them were Harbor seals but I also got a close look at least two Gray Seals (and a third Gray that floated in with the tide, quite dead). Every day except Saturday I saw at least a few porpoises swimming by. On Thursday I saw quite a large school; perhaps a dozen or more. Sometimes it was easy to see what the marine mammals were feeding on. Often I could see schools of mackerel plainly visible as they "boiled" out of the water in a feeding frenzy of their own or in an attempt to escape predators.
    One day while hiking the cliffside trail from Liberty Point to Herring Cove I saw a sight that certainly caught my attention. It was nearly high tide and in the narrow cove about 80 feet below the trail I saw floating in the swells and being driven against the rocks what I first thought was a severely bloated dead seal. On closer inspection I could see it was, sadly, a large dead sea turtle. Its carapace must have been nearly three feet long. It had been dead awhile; its tail and flippers were partially eaten and nearly half its head and neck were gone. The several ravens in the spruce trees bordering the cove complained loudly at my presence. Other birds I saw on the island included Blue Herons and Ospreys, various gulls, terns and ducks, and of course, cormorants. D.W.

Wednesday, September 26. East Millinocket / Dolby (Map 43) Out looking for mushrooms this morning in an overgrown apple orchard (what used to be a state picnic area on the original Route 11/157) I flushed four ruffed grouse and saw several piles of bear scat.  Most significantly though, I must report that the black flies (!!) were biting and earned a rating of at least 2.  It was the most black flies I've been bothered with in several weeks. Last night's rain must have "brought them out."  D.W. 

Monday, October 1. Holden (Map 23) A first-year White-Crowned Sparrow appeared at the Fields Pond Nature Center among a flock of White-Throated Sparrows. It is always a treat to see a White-Crowned; one only sees them in May or October as they migrate through in small numbers. J.K.M.

Monday, October 1. Freeport (Map 6) Today, while sorting through some cardboard boxes in an old building converted to offices, I had my first encounter ever with a House Centipede. It was crawling rapidly over the exterior of the box. Over the years I've seen many of the 1"-1.5" brownish-red centipedes that are commonly found under rocks or in rotting trees, but had never seen this kind. I knew right away what kind of creature this was because there's a picture and description of it in the Audubon Society Field Guide To New England on page 194. The field guide says it belongs to the genus Scutigera and some species can grow up to 4" long! It is distinguished by its very long legs which move in a "wave pattern" as the creature moves. Its pair of antennae and its posterior pair of legs are exceptionally long. The body is striped lengthwise and the legs appear banded. My specimen was only 5/8" long (not including the legs) but it did have 15 pairs of legs which means it's an adult; the young are born with only 7 pairs of legs and more are added each time they molt. I should note that centipedes are neither insects nor arachnids. They form their own class within the arthropods. A.R.S.