Please e-mail Frank
Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu Vol. 3, no. 48, Tuesday, December 1, 1998
Quick jumps: | This week's reports | Special Thanksgiving Day Nature report | Prior weekly Nature reports | Prior black fly reports | Editor's special Nature report - Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire |
You are invited to report on any aspect of Nature in Maine
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.
Monday, November 23. Fort Kent (Map 67) As for loons, I
did not notice them staying any longer than normally. Our lake has been frozen over for
about a couple of weeks.
As for snow, we have had snow on the ground continuously since Nov. 13. The maximum depth,
after the last significant snowfall during the night of Nov.19/20, was eight inches, but
it has gone down since then to perhaps 4". (I certainly have had plenty of exercise
clearing snow from our large parking/driveway area with my scoop.) Except for a
drizzle-type cold rain on the 20th, our precipitation has been in the form of snow since
Nov. 11, when I recorded the last regular rainy day. E.T.
Tuesday, November 24. Fort Kent (Map 67) After sending you
[a report] on the frozen ponds and small lakes, I visited a friend on Sunday who lives on
Square Lake. If you look at your map, you will see that Square (in Northern Maine) is an
8,000 acre lake. It is not frozen. During my visit on Sunday, he mentioned that Saturday
night he had heard loons on the lake. Therefore, there is still a remnant population
around.
I saw more Robins on Sunday and a few yesterday. They were hopping across the snow. D.R.
Sunday, November 29. South Thomaston (Map 8) We still have pansies and snapdragons blooming here. We have not had what is referred to as a "killing frost" yet. Lawns are still green also. D.S.
Sunday, November 29. Bangor (Map 23) Scat of Otter and Coyote were found on the historic train line that goes through the marsh of the Penjajawoc Stream near the Bangor Mall. J.K.M.
Sunday, November 29. Holden (Map 23) Sun Dogs were observed from Maine Audubon's Fields Pond Nature Center at (presumably) 22 degrees east and west of the Sun, at 3pm. J.K.M.
Monday, November 30. Phippsburg (Map 6) Here are some
specific observations, all in the Small Point area, during the past week
Thursday, November 26. - Found a new fungi (for
me). This is a small puffball growing in the sand (Buried Stalk Puffball), Head Beach,
Small Point, ME.
Discovered, not a partridge in a pear tree, but a pair of porcupines in an apple tree. (!)
Friday, November 27. - High winds, rain ending.
Saturday, November 28. - Hiked the shoreline out to
Small Point where I picked a bag of cranberries - too late for Thanksgiving, but they will
be strung for Christmas decoration.
Gulls had dined on Quahogs, sucked out of the sand by heavy seas.
Sunday, November 29. - Back to the ocean beach to
do more beach combing. Dozens of Moonsnails were washed up, those that had been alive
where pecked by gulls. A dead seal was also pecked by hungry birds. (Probably crows and
gulls).
Monday, November 30. - Found a very small,
roadkilled, bird. The legs and feet were definitely owl-like. The size and color suggested
it was a Saw-Whet owl. This was on the old Bath-Brunswick road. R.K.
Special Thanksgiving day Nature report
by Ronnie Kamphausen
Correspondent from Phippsburg, Maine
A THANKSGIVING WALK ON AN ISLAND…
How about taking a walk and gathering the wild cranberries for your feast? Sounds good, but I found the animals had already harvested the berries for their own nourishment. The Red Squirrels were dining on a hearty repast of spruce nuts, leaving the empty cone husks and piles of scales everywhere. Two Porcupines were sleeping in an apple tree, awaiting their meal at a later hour. (I was out in early morning!). In the ocean, Loon, Mergansers and White-Winged Scoters were diving to satisfy their appetites. The Herring Gulls, as usual, were out for crab appetizers. A pile of bird feathers bore witness to a raptor’s capture. A dead mouse lay on the trail, perhaps dropped by its predator.
I found two bird nests to add to my growing list. These two, however, were filled with red rose hips and berry skins left by a hungry rodent. The nest-cups were filled to overflowing! Another large nest, about 8 inches in diameter, was well anchored in a large Barberry bush. I rattled the shrub, but nothing stirred. Who made the nest, and will it survive the howling wind? The Hawthorn did not have anything impaled on its spiked growths. Perhaps, if the Northern Shrike was about, his catches did not extend beyond his immediate need. One of these days, I hope to prove to myself that these birds leave their prey on the thorns, ready for satisfying hunger at a later date.
I celebrated the day, since the tide was low, by paying a visit to Starfish Cave. What would I find on this late November day? What would you think? Yes, there were several dozen Sea Stars, mostly small ones of about an inch in diameter. I had to hunt high and low for a Sea Urchin, and found only one. There were about a dozen beautiful Anemones with their wreathes of tentacles seeking food passing by in the tide pool. Several were stranded by the outgoing tide and hanged like jellied globs. The last time I passed by the cave, the tide was high and surf was pounding on the rocks. Today, these animals are surviving and plying their trade of survival in a winter tide pool.
Further on, as I picked up the trail leading Northward, I spotted a deer – the only one I saw, with a few days left of the hunting season. As I had been walking, I noticed there were more deer tracks than those of human beings. When the tracks pointed off the island, I wondered at their survival. On the way over to the island, I had passed hunters in orange outfits and carrying rifles. I think they were out for more than cranberries…..
I circled back, checking the beaches on this Thanksgiving Day. I pocketed a few Sanddollars, and threw a few live mussels overboard that had been left stranded on the sand. The cracked carapace of a red, Rock crab, and scattered claws caught my eye – all the color of cranberries. The wind blew sand over my tracks and covered my trail. It was time to share the holiday tradition and give thanks for this beautiful day – devoid of sun with threatening skies, but full of the subtle color and shape of plant and animal life forms.
Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1998