Editor's Column
Notes, Announcements & Reflections

Hello!

I've been calling the Center For Wildlife to check on the broad winged hawk in last week's edition. I haven't been able to talk with anyone yet. As soon as I do I'll post an update.

Eddie Giles from Massachusetts emailed me last week. He wanted to know if I was interested in a report from his July birding trip even though it wasn't timely. Absolutely! Better late than never. I can fit reports in, especially when they're as detailed and interesting as Eddie's. He included pictures of some of the things he saw. Thanks Eddie! I always appreciate reports.

This butterfly or moth was in my pumpkin patch Monday.

It's the same color as some of the pumpkins. Does anyone know what this is? I'd never seen one before.

The birds are moving noticeable more than they have since spring. I've watched as many as 17 turkey vultures fly over at once, broad winged hawks off and on all week, cedar waxwings fly off the tops of trees to catch insects and fly back, and heard a lot of birds overhead at night. If you step outside and listen you'll probably be able to hear some of the migrating birds.

There hadn't been any robins here for a few weeks. I'd gotten used to seeing them sitting on the fence posts and missed them. Off in the distance early Saturday morning...listening...a robin! It wasn't long before groups of seven to ten were flying over. They landed in some of the dead tamarack trees out back.

Murders of crows are always nearby. I'm seeing as many as 20 together at a time. Geese are also moving. There's a gaggle in the field near the school on Route 1 in Princeton. I expect to hear frost warnings soon.

Speaking of frost, there's a lot to get done in the garden and greenhouses to get them ready for fall and winter production. I'm planting beets, carrots, turnip, tatsoi and other plants that will produce in cold weather in and out of the greenhouses. I'm going back to work!

Until next week,

Robin Follette, Editor
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Right click and choose View Image to see these photographs in a larger size.

Photo by Paul Cyr

Photos by Eddie Giles

Wood Turtle

Luna Moth

Polyphemus Moth

White Tailed Deer

Common Merganser

Maine Nature News

September 4, 2007 Vol. 12, No. 33

Wednesday, August 29, [5:45 pm]. Fairbanks (Map 20)
I was driving south on Rt. 27 towards Farmington near the junction of Rt. 27 and Rt. 4 in Fairbanks, when I saw a dark tan/brown animal run onto the road, attempting to cross traffic. For a moment I thought for sure it was going to run directly under the wheels of a minivan a few car-lengths ahead of me, but at the last second it halted in mid-stride with remarkable agility. As the car passed by in front of it, the animal quickly bounded off the road and into the woods on the other side, but not before I got a good look at it. To my surprise, it was not a small/medium sized dog as I first thought, but a bobcat. I was surprised to see one in daylight, and so close to a developed area. A very resilient animal to be sure, but I was also struck by how precarious its existence must be, as with all urban wildlife. It was but a split second away from being roadkill. I had to marvel at the cat's agility, and rue that it was now down one of its nine lives. J.M.

The following reports are from Steve Young.

Sunday August 26 Mars Hill (Map 59)
For the past year or so I have been getting e-mails from Paul Cyr of all the wonderful pictures he takes up in Aroostook County. After seeing how beautiful this part of the state was I just had to see it for myself. I arrived a little after noon and started a hike up the ski trails of the Big Rock Ski Area on Mars Hill Mountain. No wildlife to see along the way but from the summit the views of the country side with all the different crops gave the landscape the looks of a checkerboard. Mars Hilll Mountain is also home to Maine's first wind farm. Love them or hate them they are really something to see. 28 of them are spread out over the 3 or so mile ridge line.

Monday August 27 Presque Isle (Map 65)
After a hour or so of just driving around in the morning checking out the country side I headed to Aroostook State Park (Maine's first state park) for some hiking on Quaggy Joe Mountain. Again no wildlife to see along the trails but it's just fun to be out for a walk in woods and smell the forest air. While at the summit a Red Tailed Hawk flys by. The summit views I find very interesting. Off to the east is farmland of different colors while to the west is the Maine North Woods with Katahdin off in the distance. There is also a small lake here in the park (Echo Lake) with a number of picnic tables. A very peaceful spot. A family of geese float by and a muskrat is busy at work too. The 2 days I have spent here have been very enjoying. Tonight will be spent in Shin Pond (Map 51) before going into the northern part of Baxter on Tuesday. It's about 9:30 pm and I am sitting on the porch outside of my room at at Shin Pond Village. You can here the cry of loons from Upper Shin Pond. All of a sudden I here a noise which sounds much like that of a horse trotting by. I can't see anything but it had to be a moose down in the field.

Tuesday August 28 T5-R9 Wels (Map 51)
Time for some exploring in the South Branch Pond section of Baxter State Park. The surface of the pond is just like a mirror casting back the perfect reflection of the surrounding mountains The only ripples are caused by a couple of loons swimming by. Can life get any better than this? Hiking starts out on the Pogy Notch Trail with a couple of interesting sites along the way. In 2 spots are the scat of what I think must be a coyote. Both look the same and each have a berry seed in them. Up next looks to be a mouse that was vomited back up. There is also some reddish seeds mixed in with the vomit. On the Howe Brook Trail is another interesting site. Howe Brook is dry. After walking along the dry stream bed for a ways all of a sudden there is water.The brook some how must be running underground. From here on up there is plenty of water for small waterfalls, chutes, pools and so on. A nice hike. See a snowshoe hare in the area of Trout Brook Farm. Back a Shin Pond it's about 8:00 pm when a moose comes running through the field. It must be the same on that came by last night. A small bull. At the same time the full moon is rising over Mount Chase and the loons are singing from the pond.The perfect ending to the perfect day.

Wednesday August 29 T2-R9 Wels T2-R10 Wels,T3-Rll Wels (Maps 50, 51)
After hiking for the past 3 days today I am kind of hiked out. So the last day in the Katahdin Region will be spent along the Golden Road taking in the site and sounds and the raw beauty of the West Branch of the Penobscot River. First stop was at Compass Pond. What a view of Katahdin. The surface of the pond is still, casting back the perfect mirror image of Katahdin. Up next is Abol Bridge where the West Branch and Abol Stream meet. Another great view of Katahdin from this spot. Up stream of the bridge a lone loon is swimming around. When it goes into a dive the sun angle is just right and you can see it swimming under water.There is a good current here but the loon has no problems with it at all. On the down sream side of the bridge a couple hundred yards away a small bull moose is feed along the river bank.Next stop is at Abol Falls a small set of rapids on the Penobscot. From here its up to horseshoe shaped Nesowadnehunk Falls. About a 5 foot or so drop over these falls. Further up the Penobscot is another set of rapids called Big Amberjackmackous, then Big Eddy. Take a right on the Telos Road, go over the bridge and into the small parking lot and a short walk down the trail will bring you to a rock outcropping over looking the Crib Works. A section of white water on the West Branch. What a nice spot this is. Katahdin can be seen off in the distance,surrounded by the smell of the Maine North Woods and the rushing waters of the mighty Penobscot. Boy life sure is good.

A detailed report from Eddie Giles. He was in Maine in July.
Trip Report: 10th Annual BBC Rangeley Lakes Weekend, 7/11 - 7/15

In mid July, the Brookline Bird Club held its Annual Weekend Trip to the Rangeley Lakes Region in Maine. This was my 10th year leading this trip, and it turned out to be the most exciting and successful to date. In celebration of the event, I had added an extra day to hike Saddleback Mountain for Bicknell's Thrush and to cover some new areas in the Carrabasset Valley. Over the course of 4.5 days, we covered the following areas: Rangeley (Saddleback Mountain, Route 16 to Wilson's Mills, Boy Scout Road and the Kennebago River, Hunter Cove Sanctuary, Route 16 toward Stratton/Eustis), Stratton/Eustis area, and the Carrabasset Valley as far out as Claybrook Mountain Lodge in Highland Plantation. With 22 birders participating, we hit the majority of our target species and recorded a total of 127 species, breaking our previous record of 112 species set in 2004. The complete list is as follows, highlights in caps:

Warblers 21 species TENNESSEE Nashville Northern Parula Yellow Chestnut-sided Magnolia Black-throated Blue Yellow-rumped Black-throated Green Blackburnian Pine Palm BAY-BREASTED Blackpoll Black-and-white American Redstart Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush MOURNING Common Yellowthroat Canada Rock Dove Mourning Dove	FOX SPARROW 1 singing male up on Saddleback Mountain, in the same area as the Bicknells' Thrush were seen. Chipping Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow LINCOLN'S SPARROW 2 Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Bobolink Red-winged Blackbird RUSTY BLACKBIRD Common Grackle PURPLE FINCH House Finch WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL PINE SISKIN American Goldfinch EVENING GROSBEAK House Sparrow European Starling
Common Loon Double-crested Cormorant American Bittern Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Canada Goose Wood Duck American Black Duck Mallard Green-winged Teal Ring-necked Duck Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Common Merganser PIED-BILLED GREBE 2 in marsh where breeding has been observed the last two years in a row	Ruffed Grouse SPRUCE GROUSE 1 A&RB were lucky enough to have a male cross the road in front of them early Thursday morning on their way to meet with the group. The bird was inside Rangeley Lake State Park where they were camping, and could not be relocated when the group rushed over there within 20 minutes of their sighting. WILD TURKEY hen with 9 young; first year recorded Sora Killdeer Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Common Snipe
Osprey Bald Eagle Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk NORTHERN GOSHAWK 3 chicks on nest Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin	Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull BLACK TERN trip extension to Lake Messanlonskee in Belgrade on Sunday
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER 3 Acting on a report from Massachusetts birder JS (who had been birding in the area the week before we arrived), we had two birds in the Black Spruce bog near the Cupsuptic River bridge on Route 16. RF located the nest hole about 4 feet off the ground in a Black Spruce that was very close to the road. The birds were seen on Wednesday morning across the river and again on Saturday morning, providing us incredible views. One bird was a male, and it could not be determined if the second bird was a female or an immature. On Friday morning, GD had a third bird fly in front of his car as the group was en route to Mill Brook Road.	Great-horned Owl BARRED OWL 2 Saturday evening, after the annual barbecue and campfire, GD tried calling for Barred Owls. After apparently no success, the group went on play Frisbee. About 30 minutes later, a Barred Owl called close by. In the darkening twilight, everyone assumed it was someone else in the group - until it was answered by a second bird! The owls could be seen flying directly over our heads and landing in the aspens around the cabin, and an hour later they could still be heard calling. COMMON NIGHTHAWK 4 feeding over the Dead River in Eustis Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird BELTED KINGFISHER 1 seen entering nest hole on the bank of the Dead River in Eustis carrying food
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER 5 YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER 18 Alder Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Eastern Kingbird Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo GRAY JAY 11 Blue Jay American Crow COMMON RAVEN Tree Swallow Bank Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee BOREAL CHICKADEE 14 Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper House Wren Winter Wren Marsh Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Veery	American Robin Gray Catbird Cedar Waxwing BICKNELL'S THRUSH 2 Seen and heard by the splinter group that climbed Saddleback Mountain on Wednesday morning, about 1 mile up the ski slope trail. One bird teed up and sang, providing front and back views as it turned on its perch. A few birders that didn't make the hike Wednesday were inspired to do so on Sunday morning and were not disappointed, finding the birds further up the mountain than the first group. Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush

We did not see as many Moose as in previous years, though tracks and scat were abundant. White-tailed Deer were spotted in relatively good numbers, but no Black Bear, although tracks and scat were easy enough to find. Had one VERY old Wood Turtle while kayaking on the Kennebago - this male was so old almost all of his scutes were worn off on his plastron and carapace! An impressive showing of wildflowers, with Orange Hawkweed (Devil's Paintbrush), Canada Hawkweed, Twinflower and Black-eyed Susan being the dominant species. Butterfly numbers were on the low side, but we were very excited to find some very fresh Polyphemus and Lunar oths hanging around our cabin on a few evenings. One morning we had two Ployphemus and FOUR Luna Moths roosting in the woodpile under the deck! An outstanding year!! EMG

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