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 28, 2020: Bobolinks and Ospreys

We took a trip to the coast of Maine this week for a little anniversary getaway, pandemic-style.

Plenty of distance here.

We found a gorgeous, quiet campground in Wiscasset, far enough off the main drag to be peaceful, but still with easy access to the great central coast areas of Boothbay, Damariscotta, Newcastle, Pemaquid, and Popham.  The Chewonki Campground is right on the Monstweag River, surrounded by tidal marshes and fields full of wildflowers.

Foggy sunrise is the standard on the Maine coast.

Tidal marshes along the Monstweag River change constantly throughout the day.

Some of the best birding was to be seen right there, including swallows, goldfinches, yellow warblers, and especially bobolinks which were plentiful, visible, and loud.

Yellow Warbler

Bobolink

The bobolinks liked to sit high in a tree with a good view of the field and sing their rambunctious song, although the bright sky behind them made them difficult to capture in a photo.

Every now and then this one would fly down to sit on the tallest stem in the field, and then fly back up to a tall tree.  The bobolink's habitat is that of tall grasslands which is probably why I haven't seen one of these before - we don't have a lot of wild grasslands in New Hampshire - but I'm hoping that as the fields in Meredith's Page Pond Town Forest are restored we will have this special habitat in town and we'll be able to host a wider range of birds such as these.

Wildflower fields attract a different set of birds, bees, and butterflies than found in forests.

 

There are so many wonderful places to visit with nature in the Wiscasset vicinity that we couldn't possible see them all in a week.  The most spectacular vista we saw was probably Pemaquid Point.

Pemaquid Point at the western edge of Muscongus Bay.

I kept my eye open for whales and dolphins, but saw none, though we did see a couple of seals.  A bit up John's River, Pemaquid Harbor and the historic colonial community were also very picturesque.

 

But the best nature moment came when we were hiking in the LaVerna Preseve in Bristol, along the western shore of Muscongus Bay (from here you're looking out at Monhegan Island, some twelve miles offshore).  Along the trail on the shore of Muscongus Bay Linda saw an osprey nest with a white head poking up above the sticks.

Osprey nest at LaVerna Preserve.

As we watched quietly, one of the residents spread its wings and took off right over us.

 

It then spent the next 15 or so minutes flying off somewhere behind the trees, then circling back in a well-defined flight pattern where it flew over the nest, circled downwind, then came up into the wind and landed gently on the nest.  Sometimes it would just do a touch-and-go, not landing but appearing to drop something down into the nest.

Osprey on approach to runway 16R.

We wondered if we were bothering it by standing there, but thought that unlikely considering there is a constant flow of hikers walking by all day long - the nest is literally feet from the trail.  More likely we think it was collecting food or nest material and bringing it to the nest.  The male osprey typically brings the building materials, while the female arranges them to suit her domestic fancy.  The male also usually brings all the food to the nest during nesting season, while the female tends to the eggs and chicks.  Whatever the activity was, we enjoyed seeing the nesting behavior of a bird we see regularly in the Lakes Region.

Back at Wicwas, it was nice to see familiar faces again;  mother mallard and her seven not-so-little ducklings came by the very first evening home to greet us.

They tend to visit us twice a day, morning and evening.

As for a quick check on the loons, they are still hanging in there, dealing with the double challenge of heat and now low water - the lake is down several inches from when they nested.  But both pairs are still on their nests, so we're still hopeful for chicks.  They should be hatching just about one week from now - we'll let you know as soon as there is any news!