Please e-mail Frank
Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu Vol. 4, no. 19, Tuesday, May 11, 1999
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You are invited to report on any aspect of Nature in Maine
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.
Saturday, May 8. Orono (Map 23) About 5 pm, while walking
along Stillwater Avenue in Orono in the Caribou Bog, I saw a flying squirrel inexplicably
out in the daytime and in the grass next to the road. It climbed an alder, then jumped to
a red maple. I presume it was a northern flying squirrel (surmised from range maps).
The same date and place, in a roadside pool, I saw a very gravid-looking stickleback, a
kind of fish, but I could not find a nest in the pool. Supposedly their nests are
walnut-sized, made with plant material, have a hole at each end, and are attached to water
plants. Males make and guard the nests, and induce females to lay their eggs there. (I
have never been able to find a nest, despite finding sticklebacks to be abundant in bog
pools and beaver flowages.) J.K.M.
Sunday, May 9. Waterville (Map 20) Black flies on Messalonskee Stream, level = 1. N.M.
Sunday, May 9. Camden (Map 14) In Camden, Maine black flies are virtually nonexistent at the coast and only 1 (very low) just inland a mile or two. B.G.
Sunday, May 9. South Orrington (Map 23) Black Fly Severity: 1. L.S.
Monday, May 10. Fort Kent (Map 67) In the extreme northern
part of Maine (Fort Kent), the black flies are VERY few. Actually, they usually start in
this area on Memorial Day weekend. However, this year's warm weather is speeding up the
process. I have seen several black flies in the last few days, but they are not active at
all.
If you remember last year I mentioned a pair of Canadian Goose building a nest and raising
a family in a beaver pond on the main road going into Fort Kent. It had been so
interesting to drive by each day and watch the goslings grow.
This spring another pair, or perhaps the same pair, showed up. There was still ice on the
beaver dam, but there was a little open water in a nearby pond. The geese stayed on the
open water for a week waiting for the beaver dam to clear. The day that the ice melted on
the beaver day, the geese moved in. Now, one goose sits each day on a stump in the beaver
pond. The other is not to be seen, but I suspect in the cattails, nesting.
On Saturday morning, I drove by and the one goose was in the identical spot where they had
raised their goslings last year. It is so interesting to watch. I can't wait for the
goslings to hatch.
People leave Maine each year to spend the winter in Florida. In April, they all return to
their same homes in Maine. Have we learned from the geese? D.R.
Monday, May 10. St. Albans (Map 31) Black fly rating: 2. H.M.
Monday, May 10. Georgetown/Arrowsic and Wiscasset (Maps 6/7) Currently no black flies (level = 1) D.H.
Monday, May 10. Northfield (Maps 25/26) [Black flies are] definitely a 3 in Northfield (Fulton and Bog Lakes.) N.P.
Monday, May 10. Alfred (Map 2) Black fly severity = 3.
A quick note: Each time I venture into the woods I come back with 3 to 8 wood
ticks...depending on my length of stay...minimum of an hour up to 6 hours.
I have seen many birds of prey....red tailed hawks(pair) ....almost every day one type of
hawk. I saw a bunch of black slugs together off an old tote road...the first time ever for
me.
And my wife saw a Black Bear cub climbing a tree in Concord, New Hampshire, right next to
the highway and south just outside the city. She turned around and drove back to watch it
longer. She was driving a van full of people. That musta been cool.
This was a very busy week for wildlife experiences for me and my better half. J.P.L.
Tuesday, May 11. Georgetown (Maps 6/7) In Georgetown, they are here -- but moderate (black fly level = 2) and showed up this last week. W.R.
Tuesday, May 11. Portland (Maps 3/5) Portland and Peaks Island -- I've not seen any yet. H.O'K.
Tuesday, May 11. Presque Isle (Map 65) Frank - few to none in [areas of Maps 59/65 and 53] (spent part of yesterday there but it was raining; however, coming up I-95 on Saturday night from graduation at USM, the car was pelted (Lincoln up and especially north of Millinocket) with something or things though not necessarily black flies...V.F.
Tuesday, May 11. Edgecomb (Map 7) Black Flies around but not biting very much: 1. Watched an Eagle harass an Osprey until it dropped its fish from high in the air. A.G.