Please e-mail Frank Wihbey,
Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu Vol. 2, nos. 25/26 Tuesday, June 26/July 1, 1997
Combined issue for two weeks. The Editor was away last week hiking the Appalachian Trail and observing Nature in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Link to trip report.
Quick jumps: | This week's reports | Black fly report for June 18-July 1 | 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 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.
Wednesday, June 18. Fort Kent (Map 67) Little Black Lake. Black fly rating: 3. I do not expect to see any changes in the rating of 3 till late summer except for short-term temporary weather changes that keep the black flies from flying about. I really doubt that we will ever have a whole week below the 3 rating. I will write again if I should note a rating of 2, otherwise please assume it is 3. I appreciate your report. Maybe it will help me decide where in Maine I might want to locate now that I am retired. Apart from that, I have always wondered about blackfly distribution in our state. E.T.
Thursday, June 19. Wallagrass (Map 67) Black flies and other noxious bêtes: 2 or 3. When it is windy they don't seem so bad; when there is no wind a 3 is putting it mildly. Mosquitoes are also having a lot of fun right now! S. Z-B.
Friday, June 20. Orrington/Holden (Map 23) At the Fields Pond Nature Center, there were fresh tracks of a young moose that walked alongside a cedar boardwalk in a wetland adjacent to Fields Pond. J.K.M.
Saturday, June 21. Orono (Map 23) A Pine Warbler, a Pileated Woodpecker, 2 Brown Creepers, and a Blackburnian Warbler were in the Woodland Preserve at the University of Maine. J.K.M.
Saturday, June 21. Orrington/Holden
(Map 23) A pair of bluebirds are feeding young at Maine Audubon's Fields Pond Nature
Center in Orrington. Also heard were Veeries, a Parula Warbler, a Black-throated Green
Warbler, a Common Yellothroat, and a Snipe.
Bullfrogs and Gray Treefrogs were singing at Maine Audubon's Fields Pond Nature Center
this week. J.K.M.
Saturday, June 21. Brewer (Map 23) A big earthworm was seen dragging maple seeds down into its burrow holes. Seeds were left protuding from each hole. This was done several times that I saw. Why? J.R.
Sunday June 22 (7:00 am). Alna (Map 7) Black fly rating = 1. A.G.
Monday, June 23. Stockholm (Map 68) Scale of black flies: 3. M.S.
Tuesday, June 24. Presque Isle (Map 65) Black fly rating - 2 (but blown away by Monday!) V.F.
Monday, June 30. Fort Kent (Map 67) Little Black Lake. Black fly rating: 2. There has been an amazing drop-off in black fly activity last week even though the weather remained warm. Was able to work outside without repellent. E.T.
Monday, June 30 (8:00 am). Alna (Map 7) Blacko fly rating = 0. Haven't seen any black flies lately -- lots of mosquitoes though, and fireflies. A.G.
Monday, June 30. Garland (Map (32) Fireflies seen since Friday. Luna moths are out, big-time! M.J.
Tuesday, July 1. Presque Isle (Map 65) There still seem to be some black flies around this weekend but the mosquitoes have taken over! V.F.
Tuesay, July 1. Orono (Map 23) The
following wildflowers were noted in bloom: buttercup, dandelion, gill-on-the-ground,
nightshade, oxeye daisy, rabbit's foot clover, white clover.
Birds commonly seen now, near my home: bluejays, crows, goldfinches, grackles, mourning
doves, robins, starlings. A Baltimore oriole pair appears to be nesting near here. Gray
squirrels are numerous, active, and even playful. Skunk(s) are making nightly visits to
dig grubs in the lawn.
Fireflies have appeared in town. Mosquitoes are ascendant, black flies on the wane. F.W.
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