Vol. 1, no. 44 Tuesday, December 31, 1996
Quick jumps: | This week's 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
Saturday, December 21. Otis (Map 23) We had very brisk, but bright sunshine for the
Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Orono area. We had the northern Bradley/Milford area
to Baker Creek. We had a great time being outdoors, but not many birds. We had no
woodpeckers, only one person had evening grosbeaks, no redpolls were reported by any
counter; only one immature bald eagle. I don't believe that means anything bad about bird
populations... just not a good day to see our feathery friends. No one saw a great blue
heron, but the person who did the fish bait area by the Orono dump, spoke to a person
working there who said there were two great blue herons there on the day of the bird
count.
Dr. Judy Markowsky, organizer of the Orono area count, later told me that although it was
a slow day for me and for the majority of counters, there were many highlights including
sightings of twenty snow buntings. (See J.K.M.'s report below) B.G.
Saturday, December 21. Orono (Map 23) and other locations. Highlights of the Orono Area
Audubon Christmas Bird Count were (from the North): 1 Iceland Gull, 2 Gray Jays, 1
Northern Shrike, and 8 Barrow's Goldeneyes. Southern Residents extending their range
north: 3 Tufted Titmice, 17 Cardinals, 2 Mockingbirds. Late Migrants: Hermit Thrush, 2
Great Blue Herons, and a Lincoln's Sparrow, an obscure and hard-to-identify sparrow, most
of which winter in the Southwest. High numbers: 696 Black-capped Chickadees, 530
Goldfinches.
Mammals incidentally seen by birders on Dec. 21: 2 deer, 2 foxes, and 6 otters. J.K.M.
Thursday, December 26. Orono (Map 23) Trees up to 3 inches in diameter freshly cut down, with the familiar "sharpened pencil" stump: signs of beaver activity along the still ice-free Stillwater River. F.W.
Thursday, December 26, E. Orland (Map 23) The 2 weeks or so of warm weather up to the 24th had left this end of Toddy Pond open until yesterday, when most of the larger part of this end appeared ice covered. Today the northerly winds have cooled this last northern couple hundred yards to ice-covered. In one night the open water became covered with 3/4 inch of ice. W.D.
Friday, December 27. Bar Harbor (Map 16) Ponds starting to refreeze on Mount Desert Island. F.W.
Sunday, December 29. Orono (Map 23) I found a dead shrew in a field. It was very tiny & I thought it may have been a Pygmy Shrew. But when I measured its body length & tail length carefully, the measurements were more consistent with those of Masked Shrew (Body & head length 2", tail length 1 5/8"). That is a very common shrew. J.K.M.
Monday, December 30. E. Orland (Map 23) Toddy Pond: Except for a quarter acre slab of ice stuck at this northerly end there is no ice visible for a mile upstream on this lake. It melted in the warmth and rain of the last couple of days. No ice fishing houses here, on the surface. Today's strong, below freezing winds out of the north may freeze the lake by evening, or, more probably, by tomorrow's dawn. The lake's water level is at low medium, drained off by the out-of-state, water rights owners. W.D.
Tuesday, December 31. E. Orland (Map 23) With the heavy north wind of yesterday and a dawn 2 degrees below zero temperature, I anticipated a complete ice-over this morning. I didn't want to be surprised by a complete ice-over at dawn as I was by the last one a couple weeks ago. Instead, though, I am surprised that First Toddy Pond is only about 50% iced-over this dawn. Most of the ice appears to be just a skim. W.D.
From the Press
"Fishing season on thin ice; warm weather keeps lakes from
freezing"
Bangor Daily News Monday, December 30, 1996
Maine's unseasonably warm weather has ice fishing enthusiasts wondering whether the ice
will be thick enough to hold them when the season opens on New Year's Day.
Although some lakes have skim coats of ice, forecasts of temperatures approaching 50
degrees Sunday raised doubts about whether surface ice will thicken by Wednesday to the 4
inches needed for safe fishing.
"I don't think anybody's going to be out fishing New Year's Day this year -- not on
the big lakes, at least," said Art Lester, a meteorologist at the National Weather
Service in Gray.
Wardens conducting recent checks have found open water as far North as Ashland in
Aroostook County. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will likely scout lake
conditions before issuing advisories at the beginning of the week.
"Places that are fishable right now might not be after this weekend," said Peter
Bourque, the Department's director of fisheries and hatcheries. "It doesn't look very
promising."
At James Smelt Camps along the Eastern River in Dresden, co-owner Sharon James fears that
she won't have any fishing shacks in place on opening day.
It's not looking very good right now, but there's nothing we can do about it," James
said. "We've got to have a good week of zero or below weather before we can put any
camps on the river."
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