Vol. 1, no. 39 Tuesday, November 26, 1996
Quick jumps: | This week's reports | Special Report: Enjoying some silent time in the woods of Southern Maine |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
Report format = Day, date, time. Location (Maine Atlas Map number) Report text. Initials of correspondent
Thursday, November 21. Columbia Falls (Map 25) Flock of 60-80 snow buntings on blueberry barrens, Columbia Falls. B.G.
Friday, November 22. Alfred (Map 2) I did see the small hawk again today about a 1/2
mile north from where I saw it the other day. A raven flew behind the hawk giving it hell
(or so it seemed.) At the same time a red squirrel was scampering across the rock wall
near me. I remember thinking: what if the hawk wasn't being hounded by the raven? Would
the hawk have seen the red squirrel, since they were in the same area at approximately the
same time?
I also came across some buck deer remains. Part of what was left had been eaten. I was
surprised to see the viscera still there since Saturday. I was under the impression that
the coyotes usually eat that stuff up pretty quickly. I know in the past other viscera
were eaten overnight -- everything gone -- coyotes, birds, etc. apparently feasted. J.L.
Saturday, November 23. Eddington (Map 23) Pileated woodpecker flew across Rte. 9 and landed on base of tree near road's edge, Eddington. B.G.
Sunday morning, November 24. T 10 SD (Map 24) Variably windy and cool day (28
degrees). While ascending Black Mountain I was surprised by the "hshuhhh!"
challenge/alarm snort of a buck deer, who quickly took off further into the woods. There
were few leaves and sticks on the trail and I was walking fairly quietly; but there was no
wind then to disguise my footfalls. How did I get so close? Soon after that I saw a ruffed
grouse fly out of the brush as I approached.
Descended the Western slope and bushwhacked through some fairly open woods, along a
mountain stream. While resting before my return ascent I looked up straight into the eyes
of a bull moose about 15 or 20 yards away on the other side of the stream. I promptly
decided against a snack and quickly put my things into my pack in case I had to depart in
haste. When I stood up the moose retreated into the woods. Again the question of how did I
get so close? Perhaps when I sat down and was quiet I merely saw what was already there. I
assume that, at some point, he may have followed me down the mountain to see what I was,
his movements disguised by my ungainly tread and lack of attention. F.W.
Sunday afternoon, November 24. Hancock (Map 24) About eighty Canada geese seen feeding in shallows and near-shore waters of West shore of Taunton Bay, near the "Singing Bridge" on Route 1. F.W.
Monday, November 25. E. Orland (Map 23) Toddy Pond near the dam: The first persistent ice appears along the southerly Pond edges and in coves this morning. 10-12 degree low temperatures and yesterday's winds must have assisted in this icing. Turf has been mostly frozen this last week. We're hoping the ground doesn't freeze too thoroughly too soon so we can dig and pour cement for 16 posts under our barn in desperate need of leveling (as well as raising). A few goldfinches still hung around last week. W.D.
Special Report: Enjoying some silent time in the woods of Southern Maine
Tuesday, November 19. Alfred (Map 2) This morning was absolutely
"wonderfully" quiet in the woods. There was no wind at all. That is nice when it
happens, which in the fall isn't too often.
I had another hawk fly by me today. This one was smaller than the one last week. I was
sitting on a rock covered with a leaf blanket. After sitting for a few hours I stood up to
stay alert-awake. Apparently this hawk was sitting on a branch about 40-50 yards away when
he flew down to investigate me? When I stood he was flying in my direction and all of a
sudden he started flapping his wings furiously trying to get away from me. If I had
noticed him there I wouldn't have stood up. Oh well. When he flapped his wings hurriedly
they made some noise, otherwise absolutely no sound was made while he was in flight. (Crows
do this a lot. They will be flying overhead and suddenly when they notice me they flap
like the dickens making quite a racket just to get away from me.)
I came across an area where a buck had rubbed on about 20 - 30 trees. There were rubs
everywhere, it seemed, all along the edge of a swamp. Some trees were 3-5 inches in
diameter. This tells me that it was a mature buck. It would be nice to watch this guy work
his area but he is off breeding with all his energy. On the other (East) side of the swamp
were some scrapes, some a few yards apart, apparently intersecting a doe trail (many
tracks); other scrapes all along an overgrown tote road. About 400-500 yards Northwest, on
the North edge of another swamp, a 1/2 acre area was all scraped up. There must of been
20+ scrapes in this area. It seems that maybe there is some competition to breed a few
does with all the scrapes.
White colored moths were flying all around me this afternoon. They would fly constantly
and just when I asked myself why they never landed on anything this moth lands on a tip of
a hemlock branch. A small spider dropped down to entertain me this morning while I was
sitting on that same rock I saw the hawk. It was freezing out and this spider didn't seem
affected at all by the cold.
The white oak acorns seemed to have all disappeared, obviously eaten mostly by the deer.
But there seem to be plenty of red oak acorns left. I have seen 5 or 6 gray squirrels
lately. They have quite a unique alarm call. Most of the time they aren't bothered by my
presence, until late in the season. The last two days I was chattered at by different gray
squirrels when I made any movement. J.L.
Thursday, November 21. Alfred (Map 2) Yesterday I was out exploring a "new"
area and come across some trees (about 20) where a moose had rubbed his antlers on a bunch
of trees anywhere from 5 t0 10 inches in diameter and 4 to 6 feet up off the ground. This
apparently is a bull moose's' home range. It was in the middle of a pretty large swamp --
large by southern Maine standards.
I also had another encounter with a coyote. I was walking the edges of this same swamp and
come across an old overgrown tote road. I decided to use it to travel on because there was
lots of deer sign in the tote road; and the road was covered with moss so the walking was
as close to silent as I could hope to imagine. I came to an area where there seemed to be
a very busy deer crossing so I stayed here for about two hours. I got up and traveled to
another section and when I came back about 1-1/2 hours later the ground near where I was
just sitting was all torn up. There was scat in the middle of the road and in the middle
of the dug up area (same place). The scat had no hair in it and was the length of my ring
finger and a little thicker at its thickest than my thumb. The prints in the freshly torn
up ground were large coyote prints. On my way out the coyote prints were all along the
path right up to my truck. Maybe the deer urine I had in the back of my truck attracted
him. Maybe not. The prints were very clear, with four toes, each with nail prints and a
good sized pad on the back of the foot print. Again the air was still and the woods were
quiet. A very enjoyable day in the woods of Maine. J.L.
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