Maine Nature News

Vol.  10, no. 16   Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Quick jumps:  This week's report | Editor's Column | Home page

Saturday, April 9, 5:35 am. Franklin (Map 24)  Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) singing. This little fellow returns each year to a shelf on the side of my house from his wintering grounds to build a lovely mud and grass cup with his mate. I must go out and clean off last year's nest this morning.  
    6:40 am:   While loading up my car for the weekly trip to the recycling center I heard a Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) gobbling in the field behind my house.  Many neighbors had wondered if any survived the winter and the coyotes.  I now have the answer.
    3:11 pm:  Heard wood frogs (Rana sylvatica).  Went out to the small vernal pool behind my house and laid on my belly for 3 hours in the mud trying to get a photo. Never had one float near enough to get a picture. Also saw several Giant Water Bugs. Easily the size of my thumb. I dare not hazard a guess as to the Latin species name!  On my way back from the pool I found some scat.  Looked an awful lot like coyote scat. Very dried out. Took a piece back to look at more closely and discovered that it was absolutely riddled with these strange looking "bugs."  Not sure what they are. Parasites in the coyote or in something it ate or are they actually something the coyote ate!?  Or, maybe it wasn't coyote scat at all. Then whose scat might it have been?  Hmmmm...  B.G.

Sunday, April 10, 8:48 am. Franklin (Map 24) Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) just flew into my yard and checked out the house it used last year. Two brown headed cowbirds on feeder. Grackle feeding on ground.  B.G.

Monday, April 11.  South China (Map 13) I saw a Buck and two cottys fitting in some bush about 25 yards done a hill in front of me.  D.G  
    4: 23 pm:   I saw a Buck and two cottys fitting in some bush about 25 yards down a hill in front of me.  D.G.

Tuesday, April 12,  6:34 am. Franklin (Map 24)  I can hear the deep almost inaudible sound of a Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) drumming. A wonderful "felt" sound. Drumming logs are most often found in stands of dense saplings that afford protection from predators while the male is drumming.  B.G.

Wednesday, April 13,  6:07 pm. Franklin (Map 24)  I saw two Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) today. Might have been the same bird in two different but nearby spots.  B.G.

Saturday, April 16, 10:24 am. Franklin (Map 24) Pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) calling and then flying overhead. B.G.

Sunday, April 17. Orono (Map 23) Wood Frogs were singing in several vernal pools, and very newly-laid eggs were found in one vernal pool. Also a few spring peepers were singing too. J.K.M.

Sunday, April 17,  4:05 am.  Franklin (Map 24)  Just discovered that a Black Bear (Ursus americanus) has been here. What is interesting about this is that it is a year TO THE DAY that it was here last year for the first visit of the spring! The pole is leaning at a 35 degree angle and the feeder is over in the brush pile. I wish the feeder had been completely full. Too bad s/he didn't get a good payoff for her work.
    Winter wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes) are singing. Found the Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and got to see him all puffed in his glorious display and pumping his wings to make that lovely deep basso drumming! He is using a boulder for his drumming "log." In case folks don't know, the bird doesn't use the log itself. The drumming sound comes from the pumping of air through its wings. Sort of like lightning forcing the air apart and causing thunder.
    9:05 am: Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) are back in my yard after more than a week's absence. 2 Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) birds and a red squirrel are eating on the ground near the bear spill. A Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapilla) has been in and out of two of my nest boxes. A second (probably female!) Eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) is in the yard has come to the yard.
    11:04 am: Just spotted an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flutter-hovering over the bay. My neighbor up the hill said he saw an osprey fly over his house yesterday. The smelt or alewives must be about to run. I know the fisherman here has put up his fyke nets to catch elvers. (The American eel (Anguilla rostrata) spawns in the ocean and migrates to fresh water to grow to adulthood. As adults mature, they leave the brackish/ freshwater growing areas in the fall and migrate to the Sargasso Sea to spawn during the winter.)  B.G.

Sunday, April 17.  Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor (Map 16)  In the coolest, most shaded spots there is still a bit of snow on the hiking trails at Acadia national Park.  But because of this week's fair skies, wind and dry air, the terrain is otherwise surprisingly dry.  Everything seems in early spring mode.  Above Champlain Mountain several ravens could be seen in a slow spiral ascent  of an updraft.  Below them an adult bald eagle circled without much altitude change.  A pileated woodpecker could be heard hammering a tree.  Winter wrens warbled their long melodious song.   The sounds of crows, gulls, robins and black-capped chickadees added to the aliveness in the air. 
    As we walked away from the Tarn at the foot of Dorr Mountain I was puzzled by the direction of flow of an adjacent stream and resolved to look more carefully on our return.  Sure enough, according to my altimeter there was a slight rise in the terrain, the peak of which served as a "continental divide".  Everywhere North of there the streams flow away North.  Immediately south everything flows into Otter Creek and into the ocean.  It was really neat to see this watershed phenomenon on a small enough scale to comprehend and appreciate it.   F.W.

Monday, April 18.  Orono (Map 23) Tonight I paddled in the Ayers Island channel in Orono among the flooded silver maples. Two noisy beavers were smacking the water with their tails. A Muskrat and 3 Wood Ducks joined the party too.  J.K.M.

Monday, April 18, 5:58 am. Franklin (Map 24)  Hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus). Saw 3 and heard about 6 in different areas around the fields of my road. Discovered a Black Bear (Ursus americanus) track in the sand on the road side not far up from the entrance to my driveway. It's perfect. You can see the pad, the toes and the claw marks (outlined in yellow to aid visualization)!
    About 9:00 am: While my neighbor and I were leaning on his truck in my driveway after showing him the bear track I heard an American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and looked up to see it mobbing a Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)!
    9:36 am: I just went around the side of my house to scatter bird seed. (Remember, my feeder is a twisted mess until my neighbor get it to his workshop!) I heard a scratching sound and saw an American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) climbing one of the spruce trees!  B.G.

Monday, April 18.  Pembroke (Map 27 ) There are about 5743 species of amphibians known worldwide. Of these about 1856 are threatened and 122 have disappeared in the wild since 1980. The largest amphibian is the Chinese giant salamander, which grows about 6 feet long.  Amphibians ( frogs, toads and salamanders) are useful as indicator species. They absorb some of their required oxygen and water through their relatively delicate skins. Amphibians also tend to absorb any chemicals that are in the environment, and this may be part of the reason for their decline worldwide. 
    With this in mind and also for the sheer fun of strolling along the homes of the amphibians, we held two casual surveys of our 9 species of frogs and 9 species of salamanders. The first walk was at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge (Map 36) on April 15th. It was a beautiful starlit night, but too cold and dry to excite our target amphibians. Our group of about 30 people (mostly kids) heard wood frogs and a few spring peepers and got a fleeting glimpse of two mole salamanders. We saw no egg masses. That part was a little disappointing, but we enjoyed the night and heard woodcock 'peenting' and a barred owl calling. 
    The second walk was in South Pembroke (Map 27) on Leighton Point Road on April 16th, with over a dozen participants, about half of these kids. Again the evening was too cold and dry to excite our amphibians, and we only found one blue spotted salamander and saw an Eastern newt. However many wood frogs were seen and heard, dozens of egg masses were noted, and a few spring peepers were calling. It was an enjoyable evening. No one went into the puddles over their boots, and we learned a little about the mysteries of our amphibians.  F.G

Tuesday, April 19, 6:38 am.  Franklin (Map 24) White-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) are back and feeding on the ground where I had my feeder hanging (before the bear tore it down!)  I haven't yet heard them singing  "My Sweet Canada, Canada, Canada!"
    Also, because the feeder is down, there are seeds all over the ground. I have been watching a White-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) feeding on the ground. Very curious to see it in that position.
    8:02 am:  I just heard the first song of the White-throated sparrow.   Two males are feeding contentedly on the ground.  No sign of females yet.  B.G.
  10:49 am:   Enjoying a bowl of yogurt and last years blueberries while sitting on my front porch I spotted several Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) butterflies.  B.G.

Editor's column

Request for Collection/Reports of Found-dead Birds

    With the assistance of Maine Audubon, wildlife rehabilitators and other partners, University of Maine faculty are collecting found-dead birds to try to identify cause of death. Birds can be sensitive indicators of the environment, and systematic monitoring of avian mortality can give us information about man-made and natural hazards facing wildlife populations. 
    If you find a dead bird and are willing to transport it to a nearby collection site, call (207) 688-4977 for further information, or visit home.maine.rr.com/cwhr for directions to freezer storage sites. If you are unable to transport a carcass you've found, we ask that you please report the sighting by e-mailing information on date, species, age if known, street address location (or closest cross street), and your name and phone number to deadbirdhotline@Maine.rr.com . They cannot enter a dead bird sighting into the database without this critical information. Please include any information on cause of death, if known. Pending transport, birds should be stored in a double plastic bag (Ziploc) and place in a cool shaded place out of reach of dogs and cats. They will accept all birds except crows, jays and ravens, in order to not interfere with the state's West Nile virus surveillance.