Delimited Site Visit #9 - The Junk Pond

July 9, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

It had been about a month since the last time that I had done a site visit. The last time I had been here I was confronted by some people camping in the area. This time there was no one camping in the area, but there were definitely remnants of their site.

I came in the back way today, through the UNE fields and there the JAPANESE KNOTWEED is so overgrown that the trail is completely gone. So I had to head around to the front entrance.

Upon getting to the other side (at around 10:45a), the first thing that I noticed was the dragonflies, both COMMON WHITETAILs and TWELVE-SPOTTED SKIMMERS. There were also a few dragonflies that I couldn't identify because I wasn't able to get great looks at them or pictures. I'm finding identifying dragonflies to be a lot of fun but unlike birds it is much more challenging, given their size and quick movements.

The AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES seemed to everywhere and making noise the entire time. There were three BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS in or around the pond. The first one I saw was an adult and then as I was walking I flushed two juveniles. I watched the three birds for a while looking for any sign at all of breeding codes, but, while they did seem to stick together, there was no indication of breeding in this area. But in terms of bird breeding codes, I did watch two YELLOW WARBLERs bringing food to a juvenile. There were a number of birds in the area, including two SWAMP SPARROWs and a COMMON GRACKLE.

Again, there area was very overgrown. It felt as if there were plants everywhere. In fact, the MORROW'S HONEYSUCKLE had fruited, as had the FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL. And the SENSITIVE FERN was everywhere.

I did note a couple frogs in the pond but because they were silent and I couldn't see their dorsolateral ridge I wasn't sure if they were GREEN FROG or AMERICAN BULLFROG

The EASTERN CHIPMUNK, RED, and GREY SQUIRRELS were around but I haven't seen the MUSKRATs in a while. That makes me wonder, where they are and what they are doing.

While here I had two different RED FOX walk within about 20 feet of me. The first was noticeably larger than the second. I am wondering if they are foxes from the den I found in another part of the cemetery or if there is a second den in this area. I don't know the territory size of foxes, so I'm not sure. Of note, there was another fox less than 100 yards away as I was walking to the Junk Pond. I watched this one as it was walking up and down the trail and stopping to mark its territory.

I was a bit nervous about seeing so many foxes in the middle of the day, given the amount of cases of rabies being reported this summer just up the coast. One thing that I did notice with all three of the foxes I saw was that the birds where letting me know when the foxes were around. I noticed that the birds were making a lot of alarm calls when the first fox passed the junk pond. At first I thought it was because of me, but it was clear that there was something else. After it passed the birds calmed down but a few minutes later they started up again, letting me know that something was up. Again, out popped a fox. So while I was nervous about the foxes and rabies, I found some comfort in the idea that the birds would give me some idea of the foxes' return.

After about 30 minutes I ended my observation with an EASTERN TIGER SWALLOWTAIL fly by.

eBird checklist

Posted on July 10, 2018 02:03 PM by hallnatec