September 15, 2024: Acadia National Park

We spent this week at Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island in downeast Maine.  Acadia is one of the smallest national parks, containing only 49,000 acres compared to Yellowstone for example, which is 2.2 million acres.  Yet its beauty attracts 4 million visitors each year, more than even Yellowstone, making Acadia the fifth most visited of all our national parks.  

The east shore of Mt. Desert Island.

The number of people in the park means there isn't a lot of wildlife to be seen, but in quiet corners of the island outside the park we did find a few enjoyable sightings.  My favorite was a Seal. 

A Gray Seal in the Mr. Desert Narrows.

Most often I've seen Harbor Seals in Maine, but this one was very large, so I think it was a Gray Seal which can weight up to 800 pounds.  We didn't see any seals in either Seal Cove or Seal Harbor; we saw this seal in a section of  The Narrows on the far west side of Mt. Desert Island (known as "the quiet side").  

Seal Cove on the Quiet Side.

Avian sightings included immature Eiders (I think), Ring-billed Gulls, and a New Hampshire favorite, a Pileated Woodpecker.

Eiders in Compass Harbor

Ring-billed Gull in Ship Harbor.

Pileated Woodpecker on the trail to Compass Harbor.

We found the woodpecker and eiders on a quiet walk to Compass Harbor, just outside Bar Harbor.  (Thanks for the suggestion AW!)

We also saw a pretty monarch butterfly still lingering way up in northern Maine. 

And with this gorgeous weather I don't blame it for delaying the start of its long journey to Mexico.

What the National Park lacks in wildlife is made up for with its rugged beauty and geology.

The Otter Cliffs.

The area must be a paradise for geologists. Volcanic activity and the forces of shifting tectonic plates created cliffs of gorgeous pink granite and huge sections of the Earth's crust tilted up to almost vertical.  Then there is a random marbled rock of metamorphic quartz and feldspar haphazardly deposited on a shoreline.

At 500 million years old, this type of rock is oldest on Mt. Desert Island.

And amid all these rocky shorelines, there's a beautiful sand beach with aquamarine water.

"Sand Beach" seen from Great Head.

Here's a link to information about the geology of the region from the National Park Service.

The coastline may be highlight of the park, but the ponds and mountains are beautiful also.

View over Frenchman Bay from the top of Mt. Champlain.

Jordan Pond with The Bubbles in the distance.

We ended our visit with a sunset on Cadillac Mountain. 

It's unusual in New England to have this distant a horizon to watch the sun set behind.

Upon returning home to Lake Wicwas we were immediately greeted by one of our resident loons which is still here maintaining rights to its nesting territory.  It took a while, but I eventually was able to catch a glimpse of its band verifying it's the male of the north nesting territory.  

White band, black dot.

We were also pleased to see that even with only 0.15" of rain since mid-August the lake is still at nearly full level, helped by the beavers having impounded two large ponds which feed the lake with a constant trickle of water no matter how hard the beavers work to plug every leak.  

We didn't see beavers on Mt Desert Island but we did see their signs around Jordan Pond. 

A beaver Lodge up the stream that fills Jordan Pond.

It's easy to see why this small park has more annual visits than Yellowstone.

September 8, 2024: Overseer of the Lake

Wednesday evening was a gorgeous moment on the lake.  The sun was warm, the wind was calm, and lots of people were out enjoying a late summer cruise on the lake.  And those with an eye towards the sky were afforded a fabulous look at an apex predator enjoying the moment as much as we were.  

Perched there at the top of the tree, this Bald Eagle was perfectly happy to sit for over an hour, surveying its domain in the late-day sun. 

Several boats stopped on their travels to take in the site - and the eagle paid them no notice.  

I started seeing the occasional Bald Eagle on Lake Wicwas in 2014 and in the past ten years they've become a regular sight on the lake.  It's another success story of saving a species that had been decimated by DDT use.  Even though I see several each year, I'm still spellbound by how impressive they are when I get a good look at one.

There were a few somewhat smaller animals also basking in the warm September sun.  

Autumn Meadowhawk.

This Autumn Meadowhawk (I think) found a nice observation tower in the middle of a field surveying its domain for insects in the area to attack.  It's one of the late-season dragonflies which is how it got it name.  

There are also damselflies still common around the lake, and apparently, still mating.

One of the many species of Bluet damselflies.

Female damselflies deposit their eggs by inserting them into the leaves or stalks of plants, usually underwater, and they can submerge themselves completely while laying eggs.  It's not clear to me what phase of the mating process this pair is in, but the male may stay attached to the female to ensure his offspring aren't affected by another male before she lays her eggs, so maybe they're not quite ready yet.

Another smaller animal enjoying the warm day was this Cabbage Moth.

Unrolling it proboscis to probe deep into the the blossom.

It was taking nectar from purple clover, one of its primary food plants as an adult. 

The caterpillars of this moth are the phase that eats and damages cabbage and related plants.

🦋

A frequent kayaker sent me these pictures of grapes she found growing along the shore of the lake (thanks SD!).

I didn't know we had grapes on the lake.  These are either wild Fox Grapes, or, just as likely considering they are growing on a property that's been used for agriculture for well over a hundred years, Concord grapes.  Concord grapes are a cultivar of the Fox grape that was developed in 1849 by Ephriam Bull in Concord Massachusetts, and the original plant still grows there.  [REF:  The Concord Grape Association]  I went out to see if I could collect a few.  

After eating them I'm still not sure, but based on their palatable taste and location on a homestead property, I'll place my bet on Concord Grapes.

Nice summer weather notwithstanding, there are more and more tinges of color appearing around the lake.

These late summer days sure are nice.

 

September 1, 2024: Kittens under the Cabin

Our neighbor caught mother bobcat and her kit in their yard this week!

A young bobcat.  Photo by Michael Marion.

Her kit isn't all that little any more, but from the size of its paws you can see it still has a lot of growth yet to come.  Mom came by first, poked around the cabin just a bit then went on her way to find some food for them while the kit explored underneath the cabin for several minutes before heading off to catch up with her.  Thanks MM for sharing!

Mom off to the fertile hunting grounds on the Marion Conservation Area,
one of many conserved areas around Lake Wicwas.

Our relatively quiet loon season still has signs of life as the resident loons continue to defend their nesting areas from intruders to reinforce that the territory is occupied, so visitors don't get any ideas about coming here next spring to find an area to claim.  Lately it's been groups of three or four which might include a resident pair fending off a couple of rogues.  When loons are focused on each other they tend to be oblivious to me and will sometimes pop up right next to my kayak. 

The small groups continue to engage in circle dances with lots of head bobbing and showing off their size. 

"I'm bigger than you are - now get out of my cove!"

It will be interesting to see how long they stay on the lake this fall without chicks to look after. 

This one decided to move on.

The geese on the other hand had a good breeding season.  I counted 19 Canada Geese one afternoon on the large field that runs down to the lake. They can make a mess but they must help to fertilize the field as well. 

Can't really distinguish the juveniles from the adults now.

There's other natural fertilizer being left on the ground.  For perhaps a half-mile stretch of the Arbutus Hill Trail there are numerous piles of fresh bear scat right in the trail.  They are clearly visiting someone's bird feeder as the scat is full of sunflower seeds.

Deer scat isn't always immediately recognizable this time of year because it often doesn't look anything like the small, hard pellets seen in the winter.  In summer, when there's lots of lush green foliage to browse on, their droppings can be a soft, mushy plop.

Summer deer scat can look like a miniature cow patty.

We also saw a pile of moose droppings on the trail by Arbutus Hill Pond but they weren't photogenic. It's been a few years since I've seen a moose up there, but they are still present.  Thanks for a fun and interesting hike LH!

Here on the first of September it's time for the late summer wildflowers to be in the spotlight.  Lots of asters and goldenrod are blooming. 

Purple-stemmed (above) and Calico Asters (below).

Another pretty and prolific late-summer plant is Jewelweed, also known as touch-me-not.

Orange Jewelweed

After flowering, it produces a fruit that when swollen but not yet burst, will explode if you touch or gently squeeze it, ejecting its seeds far away from itself.  It spreads well and grows aggressively and has been shown to be successful in crowding out invasive garlic mustard.  I read recently that Jewelweed is an antidote to poison Ivy.  

And after seeing several tree branches around the lake with leaves turning red, there's no more denying that summer is fading fast.

But fall is a great season too!