You
are invited to participate. Your reports are always welcomed! Tuesday, September 10, 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
Monday, September 2, about 1 pm. Winter Harbor (Map 17)
Schoodic Point. We wanted to see and enjoy the high waves created
by Hurricane Edouard; and we timed our arrival with the incoming
tide so the waves would be at their most powerful. The power of
the ocean was wonderful and this was just a small storm -- by the
time it reached Maine!
There was a large flock of Eider Ducks riding the waves just
beyond the point where the waves began to crest. So although the
sea looked very threatening to us on shore to the ducks it may
have been a gentle roller coaster of waves.
There was a flock of gulls on the ledge to my far right. They
were above the level of the crashing waves until the tide caused
a large wave to crash onto them -- they scattered and settled
down again further away from the water.
There were many other people on at the Point. The rangers had a
difficult job keeping everyone moving along the roads. The
rangers were also patrolling the areas where people were
standing; but if anyone had been dragged out by a wave there
would have been nothing the rangers could do for a rescue. I did
see some very wet people who must have been hit by a wave. And I
did see one person who was too close to the incoming waves and
got soaked. J.R.
Wednesday, September 4. Trout Brook Township (Map 50) American toads heard singing at Trout Brook Farm in Baxter [State Park]. Also, loons were heard calling after sunset, but not throughout the night when I was awake. B.G.
Tuesday, September 3. T5 R12 (Map 50) Both Red Crossbills and White-Winged Crossbills were observed along the Harvester Road in T5R12. B.G.
Thursday, September 5. T4 R14 ? (Map 49) An orchid, "Spiranthes romanzoffiana", Hooded Ladies' Tresses, was found in several logging roadside ditches in full bloom in the Ragmuff Clearcut. This was a former spruce-fir stand. B.G.
Saturday, September 7, mid-morning. T3 R10 (Map 50) Visibly
more red squirrels in evidence than elsewhere on the Appalachian
Trail in Maine. (Why? Absence of predator weasels?) Some were
busily and rapidly biting cones loose from upper branches of
needleleaf trees and letting them fall. Many signs of squirrel
"picnics" on elevated roots or rocks -- shards of cones
in little piles.
Surprised a river otter on Nesowdenahunk Stream. The noise of the
running water probably masked the sound of my approach, as I
spotted him only 20 feet away, on the farther bank. He was about
20 to 24 inches long, dark brown coat, sleek, fairly thick body,
thick, full tail. Once aware of me, he did not drop into the
water right away, but traveled at the edge of the bank for about
15 more feet then slid behind a rock. When I got across the
Stream I saw what looked like his well-used "slide"
along the grass and soil into the water, near the rock. This was
my longest sighting of an otter out of water! F.W.
_Bangor Daily News_ Wednesday, August 21,1996, pages C1-2
"Harbor seals multiply; once hunted, the
cuddly animals common again"
by Mary Anne Lagasse "The smooth, wet bodies of dozens of
harbor seals were sprawled on island rocks. When the cruise boat
appproached Egg Rock Lighthouse, only a few seals even bothered
to look our way, as if to say 'It's just another boat full of
tourists.'
...Seals eat large quantities of sea life, such as herring,
squid, flounder, hake, sand lance, mackerel and alewives.
A century ago, Maine and Massachusetts offered $1-per-seal
bounties to reduce the harbor seal population, which by the early
1900's was nearly eliminated in some areas. The bounties were
implemented to increase the fish catches along the coast. Maine's
bounty was lifted in 1905. Massachusetts lifted its bounty later,
in 1962.
Today Maine's harbor seal population is five times larger than it
was 23 years ago. It has grown from about 5,800 seals in 1973 to
28,000 in 1993. Individual seals have been know to live more than
30 years in captivity.
...Seals are curious, and some have definite personalities. Nancy
Stevick, a researcher at Allied Whale, a marine mammal research
organization based at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor,
met Hoover [a male seal who mimicked human speech] during her
early research years a the New England Aquarium.
...Several hundred New England harbor seals were killed in
1979-1980 by an epidemic of influenza.
...Approaching or picking up the pups is the worst thing anyone
can do, according to officials at Allied Whale. Aside from being
cute, juvenile pups may bite... The pups may also carry bacteria
and infections.
In addition the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 makes it
illegal to harass marine mammals. If convicted of the charge a
person faces staff fines and possibly time in jail.
If you come across seals that may appear stranded along Maine's
beaches, call Allied Whale at 288-5644 or the New England
Aquarium at 617-973-5247."
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