July 26, 2026: Vinylhaven Island, Maine

Penobscot Bay in Downeast Maine was our home base this past week; our explorations went south to Rockland, north to Belfast and Fort Point just below where the Penobscot River enters the bay under the Penobscot Narrow Bridge, and east to Vinalhaven.  The highlight was the trip out to Vinalhaven Island, about 10 miles off shore.

Entering the channel to Caver's Harbor on Vinylhaven.

I was watching for mammals on the way out and back from Vinylhaven - a seal or maybe a dolphin - but alas, it wasn't to be.  But there were birds.  On the open water of the bay, seagulls were swarming the lobster boats, fighting over fish scraps thrown overboard. 

Plus one lone gull that circled high above all the others for some reason unknown.

A common Herring Gull circling over Penobscot Bay.

There are over 4,600 thousand islands off the coast of Maine, most of which are quite small.  

One of the 4000 islands in the Gulf of Maine.

Many of these islands used to provide critical nesting sites for shore birds because there were no mammals to predate the birds or their eggs.  Today, the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refugee is working to protect these sites to help endangered species such Puffins and Artic Terns which have lost much of their habitat to human activity.  We didn't see either of these birds as we made our way through some of these islands on the approach to Vinallhaven, but we did see a few common species, one of which we see regularly in the Lakes' Region. 

A single Great Blue Heron hanging out with the gulls.

We also saw cormorants, which are seen up and down the coast of Maine. 

Double-crested Cormorants

Cormorants are also present on the larger bodies of water in the Lakes Region, and occasional visitors to Lake Wicwas.  Here are couple of cormorants perched in a pine tree on Wicwas.

In a small inlet to the Lanes Island Wildlife Preserve on Vinalhaven, there were several Common Eiders diving, and one resting on one of the many seaweed-draped ledges. 

Common Eiders, females and/or juveniles.  (Males are black and white.)

Common Eiders are the largest of our ducks, behaving more like seabirds than most of our lake ducks.  They can dive down 60 feet and their primary food source is the Blue Mussel.  They tear mussels off the rocks, swallow them whole, and let their strong gizzards grind up the shells to digest the good stuff inside.  [Cornell Lab of Ornithology]

We also explored a little human history on the bay, including Fort Point, where a fort was built in 1759 to protect the north country from attack by sea.

Today there are only remnants of the block house foundation and some of the berms built around the fort.

Securing the land for the military however, has resulted in protecting 120 acres and one mile of beautiful Maine coast for public access. 

In a 2020 post I mentioned the lime kilns in Rockport (September 27, 2020).  This week, walking along the Goose River in Rockport, we saw this huge bank of what looked like lime.  The immediate assumption proved correct:  this is a giant mound of lime tailings discarded after burning the limestone to create the calcium oxide (quicklime) that was shipped to New York and Boston to make mortar and plaster.  

A mountain of waste produce from turning limestone (calcium carbonate) into quicklime (calcium oxide) by heating it to 2000 degrees F in giant kilns

The rusty scrap metal in the piles are the bands that held lime casks together for shipping. 

Rusty old bands from lime casks

Quicklime needed to be packaged and handled carefully because if it got wet onboard the ship, the resulting chemical reaction would create enough heat to spontaneously catch fire. 

While we away from the lakes, our reliable loon watchers kept a good eye on not-so-little Pip.  

Photos by Debby Crowley

Look - wings!  With tiny primary feathers!

There was a moment of concern when a bald eagle swooped down, but Pip evaded the attack!

I'd be remiss not to mention the excellent blueberry crop this year.  It's still not too late to pick a batch, but I recommend finding shaded bushes, as the fruit in the sunniest spots is getting overripe now.

Still loads of berries yesterday.

I'll end back in Maine, with a postcard-perfect picture from Penobscot Bay,

Memories like this bring us back to the coast of Maine every year.

September 14, 2025: Spider Webs in the Morning Dew

We had a series of cool nights this week with each night falling well into the 40s.  One cool morning, with everything drenched in condensed water, I found an extraordinary array of spider webs adorned by the dew that formed overnight.  These webs are probably there every morning, they just aren't so visible.  I enjoyed examining the different form and structure and site of each spider's web.  The variety of approaches each species takes to catch food is its own lesson in evolution.  First off, the classic spiderweb of an orb weaver:

The well-planned geometric web of an orb weaver.

This orb weaver built its nest in a small tree at the edge of a field filled with much different spider webs.

A recently mowed field full of spider webs.

These were nothing like the carefully planned and constructed web of the orb weaver, but rather a seemingly random, dense network of threads designed to capture the smallest of insects in the grass.

Thick webs built low down in grass.

This one has a tall spire attached.

Does the tall web perform a particular function in relation to the thick web below?  

This next similar web was also in the grassy field, but built on a tall flower stalk, giving it yet different properties.

This could be the same species with a different idea on how to catch breakfast, or a completely different species.

In yet another location, deep in a mature forest, were more dense webs, but these were built high up in tree branches.

Spider silk is made primarily of protein, and spiders create unique types of silk for different uses with each type formed by a different gland in their body.  The strong silk that forms the frame of a web is called dragline silk.  This silk, which isn't sticky so the spider can walk on it, is stronger by weight than nylon and even Kevlar.  [REF:  Römer L, Scheibel T. The elaborate structure of spider silk: structure and function of a natural high performance fiber. ]  A spider fills in the web structure with a sticky silk called capture silk.  There are yet other silks that are used for preserving captured prey, wrapping eggs, and even a light silk used as a balloon to travel long distances on the wind.  

The spider's ability to create such useful material made me think that we humans have evolved with the ability to create incredible things with our brains and hands, but there's really nothing useful we create using just our bodies like a spider does.  There's a whole world of science that studies spiders and their silk.  See the above reference for a glimpse into that world.

The colder nights makes me think about how the next couple of months are critical times for animals bulking up on food stores, either to get through winter hibernation or for a long migration to the south; for some animals this continues through November.  As noted last week, many food sources are ripening now, just in time for this feeding frenzy, including berries, mushrooms, and seeds from plants large (oak and beech trees) and small (milkweed and asters).  Hobblebush viburnum are highly visible with their red and black berries growing in large clumps on chest-high shrubs.

Hobblebush Viburnum

Old neglected apple trees are ripening their fruit for animals like deer, bear, fox and coyote, all of which will eat them right from the tree or after they've fallen on the ground.  Black cherry trees likewise are maturing their fruit as our young robin from last week knows.

Black Cherry

Black cherries are mostly pit with little flesh; the flesh is edible by humans, though the pits, which produce a cyanogenic glycoside, are not. [REF: https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_prse2.pdf]  Birds consume the flesh but not the seeds, which they distribute widely after they pass through their digestive systems.  Rodents on the other hand will eat the flesh, but they also can crack open the pits to eat, or store the pits in their winter caches.  Bears and foxes are like the birds in that they eat cherries only for the flesh, and then plant the pits wherever they leave their scat.  

Other fall berries I seen now are Winterberry, False Solomon's Seal, and Bunchberry.

False Soloman's Seal

Bunchberry

I'm told the Summer mechanic team at a particular ski area has their own name for bunchberries: "Oh Shoot berries" (or something similar to that ;-)  The name derives from the fact that when these berries turn red, it means, oh shoot, we only have a couple of weeks left to finish all our summer maintenance before the snow flies!

I've seen a few garter snakes around lately.  In preparation of their winter hibernation, they're probably feasting on the many small frogs that have been hopping all over the place this summer. 

Common Garter Snake

It's amazing how large a frog a small snake can swallow whole.

We were in mid-coast Maine for most of this week so I wasn't able to check on the loons.  I spent a lot of time along marshes and estuaries where I saw the usual shorebirds including pipers, plovers, eagles, and osprey, but only one new bird, a Killdeer.  I first heard it at night as they were calling while hunting beneath a bright full moon illuminating the estuary all week.  It was unusual to hear something other than loons or owls at night.  For those who love Maine as much as we do, here are a few familiar sights from the Wiscasset Area.

Chewonki Estuary on Montsweag Brook.

Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde

Burnt Island Light in Southport

June 18, 2023: Introducing LuLu and Checkers

We spent the past week in southern Maine, exploring the coast from Ogunquit to Cape Elizabeth, but that is going to have to wait until after the loon news, because, while we were away we received news that the first pair of loons hatched two chicks!  This was well before we had expected, meaning the pair had nested almost two weeks before we discovered the nest - that was one well chosen nesting sight.  The chicks were first spotted on Wednesday by Lois Crane, so she earned the naming rights.  This years chicks (so far) are LuLu and Checkers!

Introducing Checkers and LuLu, offspring of the northern pair.  Photo by Amy Wilson.

Quite a few people have been treated to seeing them up-close as the family slowly paddles along the shore line, the parents diving for tiny fish to feed the chicks. 

Finding the right size fish isn't always easy.  When the family came by our house I watched mom catch a minnow and then spend a good five minutes trying to get either of the chicks to eat it. 

"It's kinda big mom"  

It's so big it tipped the little chick's tail right out of the water when it picked it up in its beak.

"I'm trying!"

That minnow may weight more than the chicks!  They would take it, try to swallow it, but gag and drop in the lake.  Mom would catch it again and re-offer it, swimming back and forth between them.  

At first both chicks refused to even try, but eventually each made a gallant effort, but it was just too large to get down their little throats. 

"OK, I'll try again."

Nope.  Back to Checkers.

After a while dad came over to see what was going on. 

"What's taking so long over here?"

But eventually mom gave up and ate it herself.  These pictures were all taken from the deck which facilitated seeing their leg bands under the water.  I also took some video during part of the long ordeal.

If you hear the family approaching - they make the most gentle cooing sound - sit perfectly still at the shoreline and you may get a good show.  They keep to the northern end of the lake, but the southern pair has yet to produce chicks; if they do, the rest of the lake might have their opportunity to observe chick rearing in action.  Just be respectful - they need to be undisturbed to be comfortable fishing for enough food to nourish all of four of them.

Unfortunately, not all is calm and serene.  There is a rogue loon that has been harassing the family multiple times a day.  I heard wild yelling off in the distance and knew something traumatic was happening.  Then later the action unfolded within my view.  The rogue loon came into the cove where the family was fishing.  They moved away from it the best they could, but when they were backed into the end of the cove, they had no choice but to defend their offspring - a loon will kill other loons' offspring whenever it can.

Mom's on the left covering up the chicks, the rogue is on the right, with dad in between.

Close enough.  Time to go on the attack.

There are two loons in that scrum.

Mom mostly protected the chicks (again, love the bands) but there were a couple of worrying moments when she abandoned Checkers and LuLu to join in the battle.  After a lengthy, violent battle, our large male - he weighed 14.5 pounds in 2019 when he was banded - was able to repel the intruder. 

The rogue in high speed retreat.

With dad in hot pursuit.

After driving the rogue well out of the cove, dad came back to check on the family.  

And all is well - for now.

This is a good moment to remember our own fathers, and all they did for us in our lives.  Thank you dad, and happy Father's Day!  

I was able to get some shaky video from the altercation and their battle calls are clearly heard:

Yet another attack occurred again later in the day with the same result.  It could be a long, stressful summer on the lake.

Now on to Maine.  

Of course we enjoyed the beautiful rocky coast of southern Maine, but also sought out some other unique habitats including the Wells Barren Preserve, about six miles inland.  It's an unusual habitat which supports several rare birds and continues to be maintained via controlled burns.  One area appears to have been burned very recently as it was just emerging with new growth.  

Recent burn area at the Wells Barren Preserve.

We identified 15 birds while we were there, but they were hiding out in the trees and I didn't get a single good picture.  The best was this Brown Thrasher, which I've seen in South Carolina but not previousluy in New England.

Brown Thrasher

Back near the coast at a very small and quiet state park on Cape Elizabeth called Kettle Cove, I came across another bird I see only occasionally, a cedar waxwing.

Cedar waxwing in Kettle Cove.

This park is overgrown with a very aggressive invasive species, Morrow's honeysuckle.  

Morrow's Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii)

It has a pretty flower and it grows vigorously which is probably why it was introduced to North America, but that's also why it's so detrimental.  It crowds out every other plant, including even early, shade-tolerant flowers like the trillium, because it leafs out early, before the native plants have a chance to receive any sunlight.  It also produces lots of fruit, which is good for birds, but that too is changing nature.  A diet of Morrow's honeysuckle will change the color of the cedar waxwing's tail from the usual yellow to orange due to pigment in the honeysuckle berries.  This change has occurred in just the last 35 years. [REF:  1,  2]  I wasn't aware of this when I saw the birds in the large honeysuckle stand so I didn't know to look for an orange tail - you can decide.

To me the tip looks half yellow and half orange.

We also visited the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge in Kittery at Cutt's Island.  I hadn't been there before but the Carson refuges are always beautiful.  This section of the 9000 acres refuge has a 1.8 mile trail that goes along the intertidal water of Chauncey Creek behind Cutt's Island.  It was a bird paradise and I identified 29 unique species - the most I've ever seen at one location - including a new bird for me:  a Glossy Ibis!

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

This odd but handsome bird was poking down deep into the marsh with its long, curved beak, probing for food.  They have a very broad diet that includes mollusks, snakes, fish, and grain.

Another new bird for me was seen at Nubble Light.  There were two female Common Eiders paddling along with a brood of 11 chicks.

Female Common Eider  (Somateria mollissima)

Walking along the Marginal Way between Ogunquit and Perkins is must-do whenever we're in the area.  In June there are lots of bright flower beside the path, though most of them are cultivated.  

Most wide-spread and in its glory right now is the beach rose.  

Beach rose (Rosa rugosa)

Beach rose grows extensively along the entire New England Coast so I always assumed it was a native plant.

Cape Porpoise in Kennebunkport.

What a surprise to learn that it, like so many other invasive species, was introduced to North America from Asia.  Beach rose has been designated as invasive in several states, though it has such valuable properties in stabilizing sand dunes and other shoreline soils that it's generally not removed.  In Maine it's on the "Advisory List of Invasive Plants".

One last image of Maine before I end this long post.  This was a picture I didn't know I took.  It must have been an erroneous click of the shutter, but it's one of my favorites of the entire trip.

There was much more nature to be seen at the lake this week, but this post is long enough.  I'll try to fit them next week.