You are invited to participate. Your reports are always welcomed! Tuesday, September 3, 1996
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| Wild Blueberry Report | 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
Wild
blueberry report for August 28 - September 3, 1996
Aroostook County: middle to late fruiting stage
Franklin County: unripe fruit stage to late fruiting stage, depending on altitude and
exposure
Penobscot County: late fruiting stage in some areas; elsewhere, gone by
Somerset County: unripe fruit stage to late fruiting stage, depending on altitude and
exposure
York County: gone by
Other Maine counties: no reports
This week's reports
Saturday, August 17. Roque Bluffs (Map 26) I took an Aug. 17 report, from knowledgeable residents, of an adult female Spruce Grouse with 2 young in Roque Bluffs near Duck Cove Road and Englishman River. They also had a Great Egret on the saltmarsh of the Englishman River. J.K.M.
Monday, August 19. Orono (Map 23) While canoeing on a half-mile stretch of the Penobscot River in Orono, I saw 6 Solitary Sandpipers. J.K.M.
Tuesday, August 20. Orrington (Map 23) I saw an American Bittern on the Sedgeunkedunk Stream near Maine Audubon's Fields Pond Nature Center. J.K.M.
Thursday, August 22. Orrington (Map 23) I heard a Pileated Woodpecker and a Brown Creeper there, and also saw a Pickerel Frog, Banded Killifish, Red-breasted Sunfish, Pickerel and a kind of Dace. J.K.M.
Friday, August 23. Pierce Pond Township (Map 30) About eight ruby-throated hummingbirds
were seen at feeders suspended from a porch roof at a woods camp. I marveled that there
were so many at an area deep in the forest: a camp near Pierce Pond Stream.
At Pierce Pond sandpipers were seen on shore rocks and swallows were seen feeding above
the pond. The most no see-'um's that I have ever experienced were at this pond this
evening! F.W.
Saturday, August 24. Carrying Place Pond Township (Map 30) Roundtop Mountain/ Dead
River Township (Map 29) Little Bigelow Mountain. American toad appearing to do well here.
Toads were numerous, by order of size: small (less than 3/4", very numerous), medium
(3/4" to 2", numerous), and large (larger than 2", fairly numerous.) Both
red and brown varieties were seen.
Robins were noted deep in the woods, in areas that could barely be described as "open
woodland" (Audubon Society Field Guide's extreme of habitat for robins.) Horse
flies aplenty were noted, and no black flies.
Bumblebees seemed to consistently feed on the abundant white wood aster, while yellow
jackets fed on goldenrod, or on spruce needle tips (what's to eat there?) F.W.
Sunday, August 25. Dead River Township (Map 29) West Peak, Bigelow Mountain Range, altitude 4150'. Even at this altitude, above treeline, there is life: ants and grasshoppers on the surface of rocks, sparrows feeding amidst the low vegetation (grasses, sedges, cranberries, alpine strawberries and other plants and shrubs) all somehow managing to survive and hang on in the constant strong, gusty winds. F.W.
Monday, August 26. Wyman Township (Map 29) South face, Bigelow Mountain. Eastern garter snake at about 2000' altitude, traveling downhill, in a strange, falling motion. At first I thought I'd accidentally jarred it loose from a perch; but it continued downhill using gravity in a combination controlled fall and slither. F.W.
Monday, August 26. Orrington (Map 23) There were 2 garter snakes and 2 pickerel frogs, and a spring peeper at Maine Audubon's Fields Pond Nature Center. J.K.M.
Tuesday, August 27. Carrabasset Valley (Map 29) Saddle between North and South Crocker Mountains, altitude about 3750'. Saw two spruce grouse in underbrush, keeping a minimal distance (8 to 10 feet) from me as they fed on the forest floor. F.W.
Wednesday, August 28. About 2800'-2900' on the open ledge of the great gulf on the West
face of Sugarloaf Mountain I saw what I'm almost sure are tufted titmice, flying in small
groups from the sparse branches of one windblown spruce to another. I was not aware of
them before as a mountain bird.
Blueberries here were at late fruiting stage, and plentiful, even at this high altitude.
The development stage of wild blueberries seems to depend on a complicated combination of
altitude, exposure, soil type and depth, and water budget. By contrast I saw green unripe
fruit on bushes in valleys. F.W.
Thursday, August 29. Mount Abram Township (Map 29) Spaulding Mountain. From time to time I had been hearing a very high-frequency insect noise with a constant pitch, fairly near me, and almost always at the level of my head, lasting for about 5 to 15 seconds, followed immediately by the sound of an insect flying away, something like a housefly. It turned out to be a very tiny species of wasp, going into a hovering mode, maintaining its position in the air, in order to feed on the tips of evergreen branches. F.W.
Thursday, August 29. Mount Abram Township (Map 29) In the woods on Lone Mountain, at altitude 3250' I saw and measured a "grandfather" size American toad, about 4-1/14" snout-vent length, and another on Poplar Ridge, at about 2000' altitude, measuring about 3-7/8" snout-vent length. F.W.
Friday, August 30. Reddington Township (Map 29) Poplar Ridge. A snowshoe hare, in light-brown summer coat, froze in plain sight as I approached. I stared in surprise for a few moments, but he vanished in a split second when my attention wandered. F.W.
Friday, August 30. Orono (Map 23) A shrew ran quickly across the road on Forest Ave., Orono. It looked like a Masked Shrew. J.K.M.
Saturday, August 31. Jonesport (Map 26) I observed a Red-backed Salamander on Halifax Island, one of the Roque I. Archipelago. This was intriguing, as: 1. habitat does not appear at all favorable for that species, and 2. how did it disperse there? The island is unforested, ground cover consisting of field and short shrubs, with some sphagnum. There are a few scattered spruce trees and a paucity of cover objects such as logs. J.K.M.
Saturday, August 31. Orrington (Map 23) Also in late August a bat survey was done at Maine Audubon's Fields Pond Nature Center. Vocalizations of Little Brown Bat and Big Brown Bat were picked up on an ultrasound detector. The instrument was left overnight and after the tape is analyzed for more species, if there are more species I will send in those also. J.K.M.
Tuesday, September 3. Alfred (Map 2) Blueberries are gone past.
I'm starting to see rubs on the trees made by bucks. This is the most exciting time of
year for me. I didn't get involved in bear bating this year so I have no info there, but
I'll try to keep you up on what I'm seeing in the woods.
Acorns are dropping and the deer love it. The turkeys do too. There don't seem to be as
many acorns as last year but this might not be accurate for other areas. Sometimes some
trees have a lot of acorns and others a few miles away have hardly any. I was hoping for a
monster of a hurricane but it petered out. Oh well. No excitement for this year. :-) J.L.
Tuesday, September 3. Fort Kent (Map 67) The hurricane did not affect the Northern part
of the State at all. The wind did shift to the East, but never blew more that 10 MPH. We
received no rain at all from the storm.
Wild Blueberries are still found, but maturing very fast. I spoke to a lady who had gone
last Wednesday and she found ample. She did say that there a few white ones. It is the
end. Even the Hazel nuts are starting to fall. But what a year it has been for these tasty
tid-bits. This past week, three of us picked twenty 5-gallon buckets. The squirrels will
starve. D.R.
From the press
Bangor Daily News Thursday, August 29,1996, pages A1, A10
"Berry crop 'no record, no disaster'; officials say small blueberry
harvest could mean higher prices"
by Stephany Boyd
"...Growers already are describing the crop as a bit below average in
volume, which should result both in higher prices and profits.
'This year both the cultivated and wild crop are down. We're looking at getting a lot less
than we thought we'd get,' said David Yarborough, a blueberry specialist with the
University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
Ed Flanagan, president of Wyman & Son, Inc. in Milbridge, put it this way: 'It wasn't
a record year, but it wasn't a disaster.'
...Like other growers in the area, Flanagan pinned this harvest's slimmer pickings on
extreme weather.
Because blueberries have a two-year growing cycle, even last summer's dry weather had an
effect, agreed Ragnar Kamp of Cherryfield Foods, which employed about 800 rakers to
harvest 3,000 of its 8,600 acres in Washington County this year.
Last winter's harsh weather also was less than optimal for nurturing a healthy crop, Kamp
said, primarily because it placed stress on hives of wintering bees, some of which
succumbed to disease.
Nor did continuing cold, wet conditions last spring sit well with bumblebees, which need
more warmth and sunlight to be at their pollinating best, said Yarborough.
And the mummy berry fungus, which thrives in moist spring conditions, blighted a
significant portion of the crop. The fungus, named for the whitish mummified look the
berries get, has destroyed 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the crop in recent years.
..."
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
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