Vol. 1, no. 37 Tuesday, November 12, 1996
Quick jumps: | This week's reports | Reports from the press | Downeast Birdline -- discontinuation announcement | Meeting of new group: Greater Portland Naturalists Forum | Publication announcement: Biological Diversity in Maine: An Assessment of Status and Trends in the Terrestrial and Freshwater Landscape |
You are invited to participate. Your reports are always welcomed!
Please e-mail Frank Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu
This week's reports
Report format = Day, date, time. Location (Maine Atlas Map number) Report text. Initials of correspondent
Friday, November 8. Camden (Map 14)The sea birds are coming down for the winter and there are actually still some dragonflies still around (Sympetrun and some Aeshna) although I haven't been out looking for them much lately. B.G.
Saturday, November 11. E. Orland (Map 23) Toddy Pond near the dam: This is the second day of 60 degree temperatures and high winds. Downdraft winds the size of the footprint of a large house hit the water several times here, on the rebound taking a large house's size of water droplets into the air. This was literally wind whipped spray, not winds just picking droplets off easy mark wave crests. Only a finch or two, in bad hair day condition, came to the feeders on these days. They held tight to the feeder wind hung at a 30 degree angle. Chickadees returned only after the winds subsided. W.D.
Sunday, November 10. Monson/Elliotsville (Map 41) Mostly cloudy, humid, 45 to 49
degrees. Streams full after two days of rain. Ground soaked. Moss and lichen looked gorged
with water, green and vital, in contrast with the bare look of surrounding deciduous
trees.
Possibly eleven species of birds noted. The problem of identifying bird species is quite a
bit different for the hiker than for the observer watching bird feeders from a window at
home or for field observers who remain stationary. For positive identification, clues
other than straight visual identification are often needed: habitat where seen, presence
or absence of other individuals of the same species, calls and other sounds, flight style,
avoidance distance from observer and other behavior, season and time of day. Blue jay,
ruffed grouse, hairy woodpecker, chickadees were identified positively, but seven others
eluded me. But I've set this as a challenge to myself, especially since some people insist
that there is "no wildlife" to be seen while hiking!
Moths were still active despite the lateness of the season and the chill. F.W.
Monday, November 11. Columbia Falls (Map 25) Observed a flock of about 50 snow buntings in the blueberry barrens. B.G.
Tuesday, November 12. Orono (Map 23) Further on the spider saga (see July reports and
September 17 report). On October 1 the town of Orono put up "the boards"
(customized wooden wind screens about six feet by six feet) on the West side railings of
the Ferry Hill Bridge on Main Street. It seemed a bit early for this (we dread "the
boards" as a first sign of winter!), but it provided an opportunity for a
"controlled experiment" on whether openness of space attracts spiders to build,
or other factors.
As reported earlier, there were hundreds of webs visible on the West side each morning,
most made the night before. The night after the installation of the boards, the spiders
wove webs, as before, despite the drastically reduced open space. Within two or three
days, only the largest continued to build. However web building continued on the East
side, even with advent of colder weather. Now, with temperatures dipping into the high
20's some nights, none are built on the West side at all. Some webs are still being built
on East side, but only on the positions where the corners of railings meet the railing
posts, possibly for the security that having four major anchor points provides. The webs
look a little different in some subtle way, that I can't put my finger on -- perhaps a
slightly more open weave?
As I've said earlier, these creatures continue to provide new surprises! F.W.
From the press
_Bangor Daily News_ Monday, November 4, 1996 page B4
"Deer population up, license purchases down as '96 hunt
begins"
by Wayne Brown
" ...About 200,000 licenses were expected to be sold to both resident and
nonresident hunters this year, according to Jon Gulliver of the Department of Inland
Fisheries and Wildlife.
Gulliver said that the number is down from last year when 217,183 licenses were sold. The
1995 figure also was down from the previous year.
While the number of licenses purchased is down, the number of deer in the state is up.
Fish and Wildlife officials estimate the size of the deer herd this year at about 250,000.
That is an increase from last year of about 20 percent, when the herd numbered about
210,000.
The increase in the size of the herd had been attributed to mild winters over the last two
years as well as restrictions on the number of does that can be shot ."
_Bangor Daily News_ Monday, November 4, 1996 pages B1, B5
"Scramble for scallops underway; Marine Patrol officials keep close
eye on draggers in Cobscook Bay on opening day"
by Letitia Baldwin
" A the crack of dawn, under a violet- and orange-streaked sky, engines roared and
scores of scallop boats fanned out Friday to fish South Bay and the myriad other coves and
inlets in Cobscook Bay.
Maine's 1996 inshore scallop season, which opened at sunrise on Nov.1, drew scores of
scallop draggers lured by the prospect of making as much as several thousand dollars for a
day's catch of the pearly-white marine creatures. ...
Undersized scallops was the main fishing violation found on more than a dozen fishing
boats boarded by [Maine Marine Patrol Officers] Dent and Mosher by early afternoon. Some
of the juvenile mollusks discovered were as small as a silver dollar.
Commissioner [of Maine Department of Marine Resources Robin] Alden said the multitude of
juvenile scallops bodes well for the 1997 scallop season.
'The abundance of undersized scallops is a good thing.' Alden said. 'If people stay off of
them, they'll be there next season and worth a lot more money.'"
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