hallnatec's Journal

May 1, 2018, Emmons Preserve, Kennebunkport, ME

I had some time to kill so after work I visited Emmons Preserve in Kennebunkport, ME. I have been there a couple times before but I hadn't really taken the time to walk all of the trails at the preserve. This time I did because I was looking for vernal pools. And to be honest it wasn't easy. I walked just about the entire preserve before I found a small pool with Wood Frog and Spotted Salamander eggs. This particular pool was maybe four feet in diameter and was very shallow. It was formed in the depression left after a tree had fallen down. I am very curious to see if this pool is viable and play to visit it again next week and the following week. I was able to find another vernal pool which was fairly close to the Baston River. This one was much larger but only had one small group of Spotted Salamander eggs. Because it is on the way to the first one I'll give this one a check as well.

In addition to the vernal pools found, I also had a number of good bird species including to Ruffed Grouse drumming. There was also a type of interesting shelf fungi which I found but haven't taken the time to identify yet. I am very curious about fungi but still find it an area where I am lacking.

Full eBird checklist

May 3rd 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

Bird Cast said that we were suppose to see large numbers of birds moving through and it was right on the money. This is from an email I sent the Maine birds listserv talking about hose many birds were around:

I birded Evergreen Cemetery from the 'junk' pond to the big pond and back.

To say the least it was overwhelming. There were hundreds of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and
WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. In fact, when I first got there there was so much noise on the forest
floor that I was sure a WHITE-TAILED DEER herd was going to pop out at any moment. No deer just
hundreds and hundreds of sparrows. As I walked, the forest floor kept leaping, it was kind of creepy, as
if the floor had come alive. I'm sure that I missed a lot because I was trying to count those two species.

There were a number of other warbler species and other fun birds, but the real highlight for me was a
COMMON WHIP-POOR-WILL. I flushed the bird as I was walking between the ponds and got to
spend a bit of time observing the bird before it flew off into the forest. I got a number of pictures and
will upload them to my eBird checklists later.

I started my time at the junk pond at 5:45am. As I mentioned above I was a little bit overwhelmed with all the birds at the time. One of the first things that I noticed was that the willow trees had really leafed out recently. They had moved along greatly since my last visit and nearly had full leaves on them. The other thing which quickly stood out to me upon visiting was the bugs. In my last visit there wasn't much in the way of flying bugs but this time there were noticeable numbers of them.

The amount YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS was the most I had ever seen at this site. They were everywhere and they just kept coming in more and more. I really spent the most of my time trying to keep up on the species which were flocking in. The last birds I found before leaving that morning were a male and female WOOD DUCK. In the past years WOOD DUCKS have nested in and around this little pond and I'm very curious to see if they do it again this year.

My checklist from just the site is here.
And my checklist from the rest of time at Evergreen is found here.

April 9, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

I left my house at 1:50p and promptly started an eBird checklist. I walked down Bedell to Brentwood and into the cemetery. Of note upon entering the cemetery was the wind. The skies were clear and the sun was shining brightly but the wind was strong. An app on my phone said it was 30f with 8mph winds.

My targets for this walk were numerous: 1) Do my daily eBird checklist; 2) Find and observe both a Downy Woodpecker and a Hairy Woodpecker; 3) Investigate the junk pond as a delimited site; 4) Find some breeding birds for the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas.

As I walked I also kept note of the mammals I found along the way. I will provide a full list with amphibians below. My final eBird checklist contained 21 species that I either heard of saw. It ran for 1hr 33 mins and for 2.114 miles. I had no breeding codes on this walk but soon should be able to find a number of different birds settling down to breed.

I made my way down to the main ponds and found a Great Blue Heron. I stopped and looked for frogs and turtles but finding none headed over to the junk pond.

Before I got there I noted the UNE buses and vans passing by every few minutes. This added to my doubts that the junk pond would make a good spot. I've birded the junk pond numerous times by mainly only in the spring. This is one reason for selecting it. That said, I'm sometimes worried about safety there. Even now there is remnants of someone's camp. But there is an old bench which is great for long sitting.

My 1st thought was that there was a lot of traffic noise but during the middle of the day on a workday this wasn't too alarming. The UNE buses were annoying at 1st but I quickly got used to them. As I suspect the local animals do as well.

The habitat here is deciduous forest. Almost all of it is newly grown. There are a few "old" or big trees here and they are all on the far side of the pond.

There are a lot of different plants here. Trees, grasses, mosses, and many more. So there are numerous ways for the sun's energy to be converted. It is clear, though, that trees are the dominate produces for the area. As for consumers there were birds, frogs, and small mammals. There were also a few hard shelf mushrooms in the area showing clear evidence of detritivores.

I watched the MALLARDs and MUSKRAT for a while and it was clear that they are all finding food and eating it. Further singing AMERICAN GOLDFINCH made me think they might breed around here which also leads me to believe that there is a lot food available. In years past I have seen warblers and flycatchers finding insects here to eat.

Ultimately, despite the tires, old tent, brown water (from tannin, I assume), I decided I liked this spot and will continue to observe here.

Also of note at this location was 2 different types of frogs calling. I think it was a WOOD FROG and a SPRING PEEPER, but I'm not confident about either id as I don't really know my frog calls. I'm fairly sure one was WOOD FROG, but not totally.

Finally, I'm curous to see the changes of the pond past this one year observation. I have noticed in the last few years that the pond has changed a great deal and I'm curious to see how that continues.

After about 25 minutes at the spot I continued to the UNE fields and then directly across the cemetery to Brentwood Farm. I spent a very short bit of time below the farm on the trail but didnt' stay long before heading home.

List of animals heard or saw:

• Eastern Chimpmunk
• Grey Squirrel*
• Red Squirrel
• Spring Peeper*
• Wood Frog*
• birds can be found here

*seen/heard at delimited site

April 22, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

This walk had a number of goals. 1st was to find the GREAT-HORNED OWL's nest (if there is one). 2nd work on a number of assignments for class. 3rd visit my delimited site.

As always the first thing I did was start an eBird checklist, the full list of which, can be found here.

I walked into the woods straight in from Brentwood St, as I have heard AMERICAN CROWs causing a large ruckus there in the past. This time it was quiet and I wandered around scanning the high WHITE PINES.

Along the way I found some deer prints. There were small and I'm assuming from a WHITE-TAILED DEER, but I'm yet to see any deer in this area. As I was leaving I started to hear the AMERICAN CROWs and turned back to investigate. It wasn't long before I saw the GREAT-HORNED OWL. I watched it from a distance for a while as it was being harassed by AMERICAN CROWs. Finally, it flew off and I went to the tree it had been in. Under the tree was a white flight feather and 4 owl pellets. Of those 4, 3 were already falling apart so with a stick I gently poked them further apart looking for skulls. I found none. But I did collect the fourth pellet which is labeled specimen #1.

After collecting the pellet I scanned for a nest or another owl. Finding neither I moved on to my next mission.

I headed to the ponds and checked them for frogs, finding none I headed over to my delimited site. Along the way I found a COMMON GARTER SNAKE. After doing a somewhat quick observation of it I was off to my site.

I entered my site at the junk pond at about 10:22a and stayed for just over 20 minutes. While there it was very sunny with some breeze. I quickly noted two differences from the last time I was there, bug (flies) and larger buds on the trees. Spring was on its way.

Throughout the time I was there I heard a lot more then I saw. SONG SPARROW, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, HERRING GULL, and RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER all called at some point. There were also two different frog calls but this time feeling even less confident about their id, I couldn't say what they were. I should have attempted to describe or recorded them to figure out later.

Animals heard or seen:

• Eastern Chimpmunk
• Grey Squirrel*
• Red Squirrel
• White-tailed Deer (from print)
• Common Garter Snake (notes about subspecies can be found here)
• Red-eared Slider
• Painted Turtle
• birds can be found here

May 7, 2018, Emmons Preserve, Kennebunkport, ME

One week after I first searched Emmons Preserve for vernal pools, I headed over there after work to see how things were doing.

Originally, I had found two pools which had eggs of SPOTTED SALAMANDER. Both of the pools were on the Learning Trail and were both fairly close to the trail. The pool I call vernal pool #1 is fairly close to the river and is spanned by a small wooden bridge. The first time that I was there I had found one group of eggs in the pool. This time things had changed there were well over 8 groups of eggs in the pool. The original group of eggs was fairly hidden as they were now completely covered in algae. The others were much easier to find partially because some of them were slightly above the water level. It was clear since the last time that I was there one week ago that the water level had lower by a fair amount.

There mosquito larva was fierce in both pools. Even more so in vernal pool #2 but even vernal pool #1 had a fair amount. There was also a WATER BOATMAN (Corixidae). As I was leaving the area I found a large number of egg sacks on the other side of the bridge which I had missed before. All told there are at least a dozen groups of eggs.

The other pool, which I'm calling vernal pool #2 is on the same trail but much further into the property. I'm very curious about this one, as it was formed in the small hole left from a fallen EASTERN HEMLOCK. The first time I was there it was full of water, but this time the water level was much lower. Even more curious to me was that the egg groups had turned a deep brownish/red. They appeared to be almost solid because of their much darker color. I'm not sure if it had something to do with the fact they were older than the eggs at vernal pool #1, if it was because there was so little water, or if the tannins in the water somehow changed the color of the egg groups. I know that SPOTTED SALAMANDER and WOOD FROG eggs take in the water, so if the water was full of tannins it only makes sense to me that the eggs would be as well. I'm very curious to see what happens with vernal pool #2.

The mosquitoes in vernal pool #2 seemed some much more substantial in number. The pool is much smaller but even so the density of the mosquitoes was great. This video gives a sense of the amount of larvae present.

eBird checklist

I've had a copy of Newcomb's Wildflower Guide for a while but I have never taken the time to really use it, which is a shame. One of the biggest hindrances for me is the lack of a pdf or app. It would really just be so easy to digitize the system used in the book. It would mean that, like many of my field guides, I could have them right in my phone. I have even spent snow days scanning field guides so that I can have them in my phone when I need them (both A Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts and Forest Trees of Maine).

My first attempt with Newcomb's was to take pictures of the plants and then using the book attempt to identify the plants. This is really hard for a beginner. You really need to have the plant in hand to fully identify it. Of course, if it possible to do it without the plant but it is much easier with the plant in hand.

If I go through the plants that I have observed I have many of the early spring ephemerals and a few others. The first plant that I attempted was a honeysuckle which grows around my delimited site. Without flowers or any real knowledge of how to use Newcomb's I outsourced my id to iNaturalist. I'm not sure if it is accurate and will wait until the plant flowers to really figure it out.

Next was TRAILING ARBUTUS another plant that I wasn't familiar with and "cheated" by using iNaturalist. Once I saw the id, I did remember this one and felt confident about the identification. That same day I saw my first of the year YELLOW TROUT LILY. This was one that I was very familiar with as I always see it as the first real sign of spring.

The next few plants that I id'ed where all plants that I was very familiar with WOOD ANEMONE, RED TRILLIUM, and violets. It wasn't until I started to really use the Newcomb's that I realized that there were so many violets, so the first few I saw I just thought violet and moved on. It was with some of the pictures of violets that I attempted to first really use Newcomb's. It didn't go well.

I went out during a break at work and took some pictures of flowers and their plants. I then took some more after work. Later I attempted to key them with just the pictures. In just about every case just enough information was missing from the pictures alone that id was very difficult. I had to relay on looking the plants up and then using the index. It was a mess.

Now today (May 11), I sneaked out from work with Newcomb's in hand. I didn't have a lot of time but I was able to check on a violet I had seen yesterday and believe that it is SMOOTH WHITE VIOLET. I also worked with DWARF GINSENG and AZURE BLUET (the later of which I new but I wanted to practice). Now I'm hooked. It is so much fun to figure out what the plants are that I have been seeing for so long but not taking the time to identify.

May 12 and 13, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

During this time of year I am often visiting the junk pond looking for birds and not really taking the time to stop of do a full sit. But yesterday evening (May 12) and again this morning (May 13) I had the opportunity to sit and watch a very special little bird which was found in my delimited site by another birder. At some point in the afternoon of May 12th a LEAST BITTERN (Ixobrychus exilis) was found by B. Bunn. It was then seen by a number of other birders. In the last 5 years this was one of the few easily viewed Least Bitterns to be seen in Southern Maine. The last was seen at Capisic Pond in 2015. I was there that day and got to see that bird. So I wasn't in a hurry to see this one.

That said, after dinner with some friends my wife and I made the trip over to the junk pond and got there at about 7:22pm. It was starting to get dark but there was enough light to see clearly see and a number of birds were still out singing. When we got there a couple of local birders that I know, the Morellis, were looking at the bird. We watched it the entire we were there about 25 minutes. It was actively feeding during that time. In fact, as we were watching it, it snatched a large frog (Bull or Green) from the water. The frog was about the same size as the bird's head. It then proceeded to “chew” the frog. Basically it moved and crushed he frog with its bill for about 3 minutes. Finally it swallowed the frog and gulped a few times. The bulge in its throat was prominent. It then dipped its bill in the water a few times before starting to look around again. We were both so fascinated. I attempted to take a video but was so shaky it is only good for giving people motion sickness.

This morning I decide to see if the bird was still around and headed down to the junk pond. Along the way I ran into LOWBUSH BLUEBERRY, FIELD PUSSYTOES, and MOSS PHLOX. None of these were at my site, that I know of, but I did stop to identify them. I got to the junk pond a little after 6:25am and another birder, B. McKay, was already on the bird. Interestingly the bird was on the same stick this morning as it had been the evening prior. We talked for a little while and watched the bird. Another birder showed up, M. Zimmerman, and the three of us watched the bird for at least 25 plus minutes. During this time it didn't really do much. At one point, the bird very actively moved another the stick, down into the water, and then behind a log. We watched it a bit longer and then I left.

Both times that I visited by site in these two days I kept eBird checklists which can be found here for the 12th, and here for the 13th.

The only other observation I made both times which is worth making is that the local MUSKRAT (Ondatra zibethicus) was out in the pond doing its work. Both times it looked like it was eating something that it had found in the grass.

May 14, 2018, Emmons Preserve, Kennebunkport, ME

For the third week in a row I have stopped by Emmons Preserve in Kennebunkport to check on the two vernal pools which I found there. Here are the links to my first and second reports. I got there just after 3:00pm. The weather was sunny and around 65f.

When I got to the first pool the first thing I noticed was that there was hardly any water at all. To be clear where there had been a large pool the first visit and a smaller pool the second, now there was a muddy spot under the bridge which had some water in it and that was it. I was able to count 14 groups of eggs and every one of them was out of the water. I don't know much about vernal pools or SPOTTED SALAMANDERS, but I'm guessing that without some water coming back into the situation quickly none of these eggs will be viable.

The little bit of water that was left, was packed full of mosquitoes. They were everywhere. I was able to find two groups of eggs under the bridge which were still in water but they were the only two. All of the rest were wet but now of them were in water.

The second pool was unchanged the eggs were all brownish/red and in mud. There was less water at the second location than last week but all of the eggs were in some water. But really it was closer to mud with some water than a pool.

It is my guess that these pools aren't going to produce any SPOTTED SALAMANDERS, but I figure that I'll check the pools one more time next week.

eBird Checklist

May 21, 2018, Emmons Preserve, Kennebunkport, ME

The first thing that I noticed when I arrived to the first vernal pool was that there was water in the pool. The last time I was here there was hardy any and now there was a fair amount. But upon getting onto the bridge over the pool I noticed that there were no egg clusters at all. After carefully looking around I did find four. Last week I had counted 14. What had happened to the other 10? Did something eat them? Were they under the leave litter? I'm not sure.

The water in the pool was probably 4 feet across by 7 or 8 feet long. And there were mosquitoes everywhere. The entire time I was there which was 10+ minutes I was being bitten by numerous mosquitoes. I could even see the larva in the pool, but there wasn't that much. Instead there was were numerous tiny round, dark things moving quickly around the water. Unlike mosquito larva these things didn't seem to have tails.

All of the egg clusters that I could find were both partially out of water. One of the clusters had about a centimeter long greenish larva clearly visible in the eggs, while the other was covered in algae making it very difficult to see inside of it.

It was while I was looking at the small roundish larva that I discovered what, at the time, I thought was a salamander larva. But upon close examination I believed it to be something else. It was moving around the water by a fluttering movement on its sides. There were two darker areas at the head, which I took for eyes and a three pronged tail. Overall the entire thing was kind of pinkish/orangeish. I stopped to take some pictures with my phone and watched the animal for about a minute before it swam off and I couldn't relocate it.

Upon getting home I started to do some searches online to figure out what it was. I looked up salamander larva and that was definitely not it. So I widened the circle and tried FAIRY SHRIMP. This looked a lot like what I had seen and taken pictures of. At this point, I felt confident but I really wanted to get a confirmation. I send the pictures out the Maine Master Naturalist Class that I am enrolled in and threw them up on iNaturalist to see what other people have to say.

All that said, I'm glad that I asked around as I was pointed to A Field Guide to the Animals of Vernal Pools, by Leo P. Kenney and Matthew R. Burne, which got me on the right track. What I saw was swimming on its back and looked nothing like the pictures. I started to flip around the book and found another picture which looked much better, MAYFLY larva.

At the second vernal pool the first thing that I noticed was that the water was extremely cloudy. The other one had been clear and this one had been before today. But at this point it was a milky grey color and totally full of mosquito larva. There were mosquitoes everywhere and in the short time that I was there I was covered in them.

The egg clusters here looked shriveled and very dark. I don't think they are viable, but I don't know for sure. I'll check them again because I want to check the other pool but I don't think there will be any salamanders coming from this second location.

Full eBird checklist

May 22, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

I started this observation at 5:42a and kept recording until just after 6:05a. During that time I walked the distance of my site front to back twice and spent a good amount of time sitting on the bench.

The area is green. There are numerous plants fully leafed out and the EUROPEAN LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY is fully in bloom (for better or worse). In fact, there were so many leaves that it made it very hard to see far as the area is so overgrown. The ferns where out and the next time I head down I'll come armed with my fern key. I also noted that the JAPANESE KNOTWEED was everywhere and seems to be expanding its range every year. And that the honeysuckle is starting to bloom. As always there was a ton of traffic noise. And a fair amount of bird activity.

A couple bird highlights included a number of warblers (including a pair of CANADA WARBLERS, potential nesters?), a calling GREEN HERON, and 5 baby MALLARD ducks. I watched the ducklings for about 5 minutes as they swam around and explored. Throughout that time there was no adult to be seen anywhere. I was a little bit confused by this as I had always seen them with their mothers in the past. I wondered if she was hidden but keeping a watching eye on them, so I looked around for her but as they traveled further and further from where I first saw them I realized that the mother wasn't around. After watching them for a while the mother did finally fly in, call a couple times, they squeaked in response, and then the family was reunited. I wonder if something scared her off or if she travels briefly for food. I'm not totally sure what was happening here.

junk pond eBird checklist
rest of cemetery eBird checklist