August 21, 2022: Maine Matrimony

A late post this week because the past four days were spent in downeast Maine, and for once, nature watching wasn't the main attraction - it was the wedding weekend! 

Hydrangeas glow at sunrise on the big day. 

Could there be a more beautiful spot for a wedding than Penobscot Bay?

There was no time to go exploring for local wildlife but I was content with watching the cormorants, loons, and osprey fishing in the Penobscot River.  The water off French's Point in Stockton Springs was warm enough to swim comfortably and we did get to watch rock crabs, hermit crabs, and tiny shrimp nibbling our toes in the water.

We were treated to beautiful midsummer weather in New Hampshire as well, and early in the week on a bike ride through the back roads in the Chemung area I stopped to take a picture looking out over the fields high above lake Winnisquam.

Krebs Farm on Upper Bay Road overlooking Lake Winnisquam.

As I was enjoying the beautiful view from the hill I heard a bird call that I haven't heard in many years.  It was the unmistakable call of a northern bobwhite.  There is a farm here with large fields of blueberries and many other shrubs and small trees, exactly the habitat described for these birds.  Being field birds I didn't have any expectation I would be able to see one of these, and I didn't, but here's a picture of a bobwhite from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.

Northern Bobwhite in Florida.  Photo by Tom Mast.

I haven't heard a Bobwhite since I was a kid and our family took vacations on Cape Cod.  According to field guide maps the bobwhite doesn't exist farther north than Rhode Island and the very Southeastern portion of Massachusetts.  According to the Cornell Lab of ornithology, Northern Bobwhites live in open pine forests, overgrown fields, shrubby areas, and grasslands which is exactly the habitat where I was standing, and its song is so distinct that I had little doubt that's what it was.  Here's my recording of the calls I heard at the field.

Just to be sure, I contacted Iain MacLeod at the Squam Lakes Science Center and he confirmed that is a bobwhite.  He also said bobwhites are rare but have been heard on occasion in the Lakes Region and that some have been brought into the area and released.  So I don't know if this bird was introduced here artificially or if it's another example of animals moving north as a result of warming climate.  At any rate, it's a fun bird to hear!  

All the loon drama on the lake this summer reminded me of an article I read in the past about the two longest-living recorded loons and I was able to find the article.  It was published by the Audubon Society and you can read the full article here.  

The two oldest known loons breed in a lake in the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan and were 34 and 35 years old last year!  The focus of the article is what these two birds have gone through over the years to keep their territory and their mate.  The two birds have been mates for 26 years now, assuming they are back on their lake this summer.  But the report about fighting over territory and mates provides yet more insight into the battles that took place on Wicwas this summer.  But still, our two brave adults are keeping Maddie on the path towards adulthood.  

Maddie and Mom.  Photo by Debby Crowley.

And who knows, maybe in four or five years Maddie will return to Lake Wicwas or a lake close by for her own wedding vows.  My how fast our young ones grow up.