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are invited to participate. Your reports are always welcomed! Tuesday, August 20/August 27, 1996
Quick jumps: | This week's reports | Reports from the press | Weekly black fly reports for May-June, 1996 | Downeast Birdline -- transcript of current telephone message | Publication announcement: Biological Diversity in Maine: An Assessment of Status and Trends in the Terrestrial and Freshwater Landscape
You
are invited to participate. Your reports are always welcomed!
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
Sunday, August 11. Sandy River Plantation (Map 18) Large bull moose sighted right on Appalachian Trail. He moved about 20 yards off the trail and alternated between looking away and looking back at us. Judging that this was a signal that we might pass cautiously, we did so... cautiously. F.W.
Monday, August 12. Rangeley Plantation (Map 18) Two families of black ducks seen, each with four or five young, swimming on Mooselookmeguntic Lake. In one case the juveniles looked like they might fledge in time for the migration. The other group didn't look like they would develop in time, unless there is a late fall. Loons seen in groups of two or three all day, on the Lake, despite presence of some campers and occasional power boaters. (Each kept their distance). Great loon chorus at night--strong, loud and varied. F.W.
Tuesday, August 13. Richardsontown (Map 18) Stephen Phillips Memorial Wildlife Refuge. Two ducks seen swimming frantically together a hundred feet offshore on Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Two people went out in a canoe to investigate. Upon closer inspection, they found that both were tangled in abandoned fishing tackle. One had a fishhook caught in its mouth and was dead. The other duck was attached to it by the rest of the line, which was caught around its head, along with a bobber and sinker, which it made it difficult to swim. The boaters cut away the line. The freed duck headed to shore, where it looked like it might have been able to wriggle free of the line. F.W.
Bangor Daily News Wednesday, August 7, 1996, pages C1, C3
Charismatic loons abound in Maine;
loons a welcome sight and sound for visitors to Maine lakes
by Mary Anne Lagasse
"Loons are graceful swimmers, dynamic divers
and powerful fliers, but when it comes to walking around on land
they are as awkward and clumsy as a newborn lamb. With their
powerful legs positioned almost at the end of their bodies, loons
are almost helpless on land. ...
'Loons are probably one of the most popular, charismatic and
characteristic species of birds we have in Maine. They are so
prominent on lakes and they are so associatied with the Maine
experience that there has been a lot written about them,' says
Bill Hancock of the Maine Audubon Society. ...
Loons will eat almost anything that swims. They look down into
the water to sight their prey and then dive to grab the fish with
their long, sharp beak. They need clear water to sight their
prey. If a lake or pond is muddy, they will feed on the bottom.
...
Late in the fall just before the lakes and ponds begin to freeze,
loons will migrate south to the ocean. Common loons winter along
the west coast of North America from Alaska to Mexico, around the
Gulf Coast and along the Atlantic coast, many off the shores of
Virginia and the Carolinas."
Downeast Birdline -- transcript of current telephone message
Downeast Birdline -- transcript of current telephone message
Maine black fly report in map form
Weekly black fly reports for May-June, 1996