Please e-mail Frank
Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu Vol. 3, nos. 32/33, Tuesday, August 11/18, 1998
The Editor recently hiked on the Appalachian Trail and observed Nature in the mountains of New Hampshire. Link to trip report.
Quick jumps: | This week's reports | Special report on a Nature hike in the Western section of Mount Desert Island | Wild blueberry report | Prior weekly Nature reports | Prior black fly reports | Editor's special Nature report - Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire |
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, August 5. Orono (Map 23) Off Forest Ave. in Orono, there were tracks of a medium-sized Black Bear, and also tadpoles of either Blue-Spotted or Spotted Salamanders. There were also at least 50 Leopard Frogs and about 10 Pickerel Frogs leaping through the grass alongside a pond. J.K.M.
Friday, August 7. Tremont/Southwest Harbor (Map 16) Bernard Mountain, Acadia National Park. See special report below. F.W.
Monday, August 10. Richardstown Township (Map 18) Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve. Many loons on Mooselookmeguntic Lake, diving for food. It is satisfying to hear their strange calls as evening descends. F.W.
Sunday, August 15. Bangor (Map 23) Early this clear, fair morning ten Canada geese were seen feeding in the newly mowed field directly across from the Bangor Mall. How nice to see these big wild birds so near "civilization"! F.W.
Monday, August 17. Alfred (Map 2) Blacksnaps(?) are
delicious. Hope they're not bad for me. Blueberries are drying up but can still find some.
Blackberries are still around and sweet as ever if you get the big plump, juicy ones.
It HAD been dry until August. Now it is more back to normal.
Mosquitoes certainly haven't disappeared yet, [level] about a 2. I spent the whole day in
the woods twice this last week and the mosquitoes are not overbearing but you know there
still there being a pain… J.L.
Tuesday, August 18. Bangor (Map 23) In flower now: butter-and-eggs, chicory, common burdock, common ragweed, low hop clover, New England aster, oxeye daisy, Queen Anne's lace, rabbit-foot clover, sweet goldenrod, wild cucumber, and white wood aster. F.W.
Tuesday, August 18. Caratunk (Map 30) Blueberries: They're
still plentiful. The blackberries are pretty thick, too.
Dryness: [Since early July ] it was very dry until the rain last week. We received very
heavy rain last Tuesday.
Mosquitoes: We never seem to have very many anyway. I'm not sure if it's the vegetation or
the ultra-clean water at Pleasant Pond. We sit out most evenings and never see any.
Other: Pleasant Pond is supposedly the 3rd cleanest inland body of water in the state.
My son and I observed a bald eagle late one afternoon last week. It was on Wyman Lake
(Kennebec River) in Caratunk and we were driving along rt. 201. The eagle flew from across
the river, banked sharply and swooped down toward the water to catch a fish, and then flew
back to the opposite side of the river. Real pretty to see!
Last night about 9 pm, my daughter and I came upon a fawn eating beside the pond road. It
was startled and crossed the road in front of us. It's a good thing I came to a complete
stop.
Beware the moose. They are out on Route 201! B.Y.
Special report on a Nature hike in the Western section of Mount Desert Island
Friday, August 7. Tremont/Southwest Harbor (Map 16)
Bernard Mountain, Acadia National Park. On this warm, humid, nearly windless morning, the
forest floorhad become very dry and very few mushrooms are in evidence -- in contrast to
the wetter conditions early last month. At first very few creatures seemed to be stirring.
But grasshoppers scurried in long leaps as I passed, some of them mated pairs flying
together! Horseflies and deerflies were evident. Ants were active. I watched how two
species interact: small black ants had left their chemical trail across a rock face (as
evidenced by the steady line of traffic.) A large black ant approached the trail and
instantly made a quick turn a couple of inches to the left before continuing in roughly
its original direction, seeming to show some kind of smell response. In another scene
small black ants were swarming over the corpse of an earthworm distinguished by a black
full-length lateral stripe on its upper half and parallel red stripe on the lower. The
contrast in size between the two species was impressive -- I’ll bet the worm made
10,000 meals for the ants!
Cicadas were singing from trees. Some dragonflies of several species hunted in the air
over the rocks and shrubs. Occasionally hornets would fly to a space about two feet above
the ground in the center of the hiking trail and hover there, as if claiming it. I was
very reluctant to answer the challenge! Once I saw a fight between two hornets for a spot
in the air, seeming to confirm my territorial hypothesis. In a sparsely vegetated rock
field I discovered the largest funnel web I’ve ever seen: about 2" in diameter
where the weave became nearly continuous, 1" in diameter at the "throat" or
entrance to the spider’s rocky chamber, where I just glimpsed the resident engineer
fleeing my approach.
A raven soared over the ridge, occasionally emitting croaked calls. A wood thrush sounded
its mysterious, modulating song from within the woods. Crows were heard, as well as a
white throated sparrow.
Wildflowers in bloom included meadowsweet, steeplebush and flat-topped white aster. On the
meadowsweet I noted, among the insects feeding on the flowers, a beetle whose folded wings
over its approximately 3/4" length back had alternating lateral light tan and dark
tan stripes, looking like the shield of a medieval soldier.
Red squirrels were the only mammals that I saw active.
Blueberries were almost completely grazed, and the purplish color and seeds were evident
in the scat of local small mammals, such as raccoons. Where the berries remained it was
obvious that they were in the late fruiting stage, appearing to have reached this about
two weeks early this year. Blackberries are in the early ripe fruit stage. Cranberry fruit
was abundant, but unripe (bright red on sunward side of fruit, pale pink or
yellowish-green on the underside). Bunchberries have their clusters of orange-red berries.
Junipers are now covered with unripe green berries. Sheep laurel now have clusters of tiny
green fruits. I had never noticed this before, my mindset about berries and the contrast
with the general sparseness of the mountain growth brought it to my attention. I never
thought of laurel as a fruiting plant, but indeed they are.
Grasses are now forming their seed heads, reminding me of cereal grains (of which some of
these are the wild ancestors). F.W.
Maine
Wild Blueberry Report for August 5-18, 1998
I note that the progress of the berries appears to be about 2 weeks ahead of last year in all localities. So this is our last Maine wild blueberry report for this year. Thanks to all who participated!
Middle ripe fruiting stage: Somerset County
Late ripe fruiting stage: Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Washington Counties
Fruit gone by: Hancock, York Counties
No reports: other Maine counties