Please e-mail Frank
Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu Vol. 4, no. 29, Tuesday, July 20, 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
Tuesday, July 13. Brunswick (Map 6) Adult female Nursery Web Spider (Pisaurina mira) with new nursery constructed by rolling a dogwood leaf with silk. Within nest were seen approximately a couple hundred newly hatched spiderlings clustered together in the middle along with remains of the egg sac. The female is remaining with the nest during the following days, guarding it aggressively (she bites rather than flees when I disturb her). As the days roll by, I am seeing fewer spiderlings. They seem to be slowly dispersing by leaving the confines of the nest on thin strands of silk or crawling away on other leaves. I can even see some increase in their size and see molted exoskeletons discarded in the nest. A.S.
Thursday, July 13. Brunswick (Map 6) A small mangy-looking fox (a Gray Fox I think) was seen ambling along both sides of Old Bath Road (a couple miles from Cooks Corner) for a good part of an hour after 7 pm. It showed no fear of humans or cars despite the presence of both. It headed East toward West Bath without once going into the woods. It went into several people's yards but showed no aggression. There is a large mobile-home park here, so many people were concerned about the possibility of rabies. Authorities were called and the animal was finally shot. It will be sent to be tested for rabies. I believe this was the same individual I saw 2 weeks before in the same location ripping open trash bags left at the end of a driveway. A.S.
Wednesday, July 14. T1 R9
WELS/T1 R10 WELS (Maps 42/43) West Branch of Penobscot/Passamagamet Lake.
Paddling up the West Branch just above Ambajejus Lake my wife and I saw two bald eagles
perching and flying in tandem. We also saw a northern harrier gliding over the large marsh
between the river and Passamagamet Lake. Over the lake we saw an osprey hovering over the
northern shoreline.
We saw two loons swimming together and heard another one wailing from
the west end of the lake. Behind the beach on the southern shore we noticed the cranberry
bushes were loaded with green berries, some already near full size. I caught a green frog
about 2" long that still had a tail about 1/2" long. No deformities.
Before launching our canoe we were able to pick 5 quarts of blueberries
before it became too hot to continue. No black flies, mosquitoes, or deerflies. Can a
mid-summer day in Maine get any better? D.W.
Saturday, July 17. Holden (Map 23) At 7:30 am at the Fields Pond Nature Center I saw a
Short-Tailed Weasel bounding along the cedar boardwalk near the lake. Later that morning a Barred Owl was in the ravine. J.K.M.
Maine Wild Blueberry Report for July14-20, 1999
This is the third Maine wild blueberry report for this year. I note that the progress of the berries appears to be about 3 weeks ahead of average in most localities. Your participation is welcome! Please e-mail Frank Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu
Unripe fruit stage: Washington County
Early ripe fruiting stage: Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset Counties
Middle ripe fruiting stage: Hancock, Sagadahoc, York Counties
No reports: other Maine counties