Please e-mail Frank Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.eduVol. 2, no. 18 Tuesday, May 6, 1997
Quick jumps: | This week's reports | Black fly report for April 30-May 6|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
in our weekly "black fly report" network during May and June. It's very simple. Send me an e-mail with:Location, Maine Atlas Map number, and black fly
severity on a scale of 1 to 3 (1=none or few, 2=some, but tolerable; 3=many, a royal
pain). The more reports we get the better, for statewide coverage in the weekly maps.
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.
Friday, May 2. Alfred (Map 2) Black fly severity = 1 (none) J.L.
Friday, May 2. Orono (Map 23) Wood frogs audible in a neighbor's pond. F.W.
Saturday, May 3. Fort Kent (Map 67) In Fort Kent, the Black Fly season starts on Memorial Day weekend. Of course we still have snowbanks on the ground, therefore spring and the onslaught of the black flies doesn't start until the end of May. The whole month of May without Black Flies! D.R.
Saturday, May 3. Orrington (Map 23) Black fly severity: 1. P.S.
Sunday, May 4. Old Town (Map 33) Mayflower is leafed out, but not in bloom. J.A.
Sunday, May 4, 8 am. Dedham (Map 23) Along Route 1A, on the way to Ellsworth, we drove into a fairly thick fog. Even the birds seemed to have trouble seeing, as at elast twice we saw birds fly in a straight lin across the road inf front of us, and suddenly veer off, as if they had only just seen and heard our vehicle. Perhaps the fog had only just rolled in, and they hadn't had time to adjsut yet? F.W.
Sunday, May 4. Orono (Map 23) Swamp maples (red maples) showing red at branch tips. Forsythia in full bloom. Green grass everywhere. F.W.
Sunday, May 4. Woodstock (Map 10) Bryant Pond, Lake Christoper. My home gets fewer black flies than the places at the end of the lake (the wind just blows them down) so I'll ask my friends as well. So far, in the general area count is #1 (low black fly severity). A.A.
Sunday, May 4. Trenton (Map 16) Thompson Island. Chuckleberry and other forest floor plants are leafed out. But no wildflowers seen in bloom yet. F.W.
Monday, May 5. Wiscasset (Map 7) No black flies in Sagadahoc Co. yet - outside all day yesterday shingling the shed - free of interruptions. We did have an Indigo Bunting in the yard all day long, for the third day in a row. And the Bluebirds are nesting again for the 7th year in a row. D.H.
Tuesday, May 6. Portland (Map 5) Trees are not in flower yet. The season doesn't seem much more advanced here than (further North) in Orono, to which I travel a lot. This hasn't been a warm spring. R.M.
Tuesday, May 6. E. Orland (Map 23)
Toddy Pond near the dam: Winter retreated slightly more this week. Most mornings were
above freezing, though as low as 25 on the weekend. The lawns are mostly green. Last
evening peepers were distinct and in choruses for the first time.
Two warblers visited this last week. The myrtle warblers are plentiful, hopping around the
gardens and the periphery of anything else. Several other bird species have arrived over
the last few weeks, bringing regulars, including ducks, to about 17. An eagle and a gull
were among irregulars, but at least the gulls will return later, with fish migrating up
the ladder. W.D.
Downeast Birdline has ceased -- discontinuation announcement
Downeast Birdline -- transcript of current telephone message
Return to top of this page.