North Perry Creek while getting ready to listen for the Great Horneds, 
and Sunset from Lane’s Island bridge
Kicking with all his might 
Sightings Report
Vinalhaven Sightings February 21, 2010
Brought to y’all by the kind folks at VLT & MCHT
and alert viewers like you
“It’s an otter superhighway” – Joey Reidy
Highlights: otters, owls, pine grosbeaks and white-winged crossbills, snow fleas, Northern Goshawk, Belted Kingfisher, grackles, red-winged blackbird, guillemots in breeding plumage, Harp seal, slime mold, and some courtship, heavy petting and cloacal kissing in the basin.
Upcoming events- February 27th – Next Saturday!– VLT is sponsoring a “Big ol’ moon/owling” outing to Fox Rocks. We’ll be leaving Skoog Park at 5pm. The original thought was for it to be a snowshoe walk, but at the moment snowshoes do not seem necessary, but still might be fun to bring them along. So depending on how the week goes weather wise -Snowshoes/ice grippy things that latch onto your shoes(depending on conditions) not a bad idea. I’ll be checking the trail Friday, so check the calendar on the Events page to get an update on trail conditions. Anyway, the local great horned owls have been hooting it up as of late, and we’ll bring the scope for some planet and nebula watching. This is not a clothing optional activity, it's winter and this is not a very active activity! Dress appropriately!
Student stuff – 5th graders hit the woods tracking! – (2/8) – 9 of my favorite 5th graders (I have roughly 18 favorite 5th graders) and I followed path after path through the woods behind the school. Deer trails were the most popular, but we also cruised with the red squirrels and mink and had sessions with at least 4 colonies of snow fleas!
This photo is of Bailey and Mackenzie with a snowflea filled squirrel track. The snow fleas are tough to see. And yes, that is almost a thumbs up from Mackenzie about the snow fleas. I think it became an official thumbs up moments after the picture was taken.
Elder outdoor explorers – “Return to Folly Pond” or “Take a ride on the Otter Superhighway” - (2/7) As mentioned in the previous VSR a snow covered Folly Pond is a prime spot to track local otters. This particular Sunday was windy to say the least (great day to be a turbine as they say), and the drifty snow gave exposed tracks and belly slides a most artful raising effect (judgment from one who isn’t necessarily “art savvy”). Anyway, Joey, Willie, and I hooked up with 2 of our cross country otter buddies, but this time they (the otters) weren’t satisfied with just reaching Folly Pond. We tracked ‘em as they went in and out of the woods along the northern shore of the pond, stopping only briefly to check out the beaver den. We then followed the trail as it went over and down the beaver dam by North Haven Road, eventually taking us up and over the road itself.
Willie & Joey are happily pointing out the belly slide the otters made going down the east side of North Haven Road. (Side note - Why don’t otter and mink like to go through culverts? Is it safety related? Many culverts/bridges around the island have mink/otter crossing trails on either side).
Anyway, we followed the trail to Vinal Cove where they entered the water leaving no trace, or at least none that we could see. With half of our journey complete, we back tracked and once again followed the otters as they went up high making their way from Long Pond to Folly Pond. There were several points where we had to stop and just marvel at how beautiful the trail was – a classic, beautiful belly slide. We continued back tracking the otters to the creek that is the outlet from Long Pond to the Basin where we stumbled upon the otter den!
This is only the second otter den I’ve found out here, and the first I found 4 years ago (an eternity) over by State Beach. Needless to say, the fellas were psyched:
and jumped for joy after we quietly left the area realizing an otter very well could be in there. The GPS had the trail from Basin to Vinal Cove at just under 1.5 miles and looking at maps this is one of the shortest crossings to go coast to coast, salt water to salt water on Vinalhaven. In many ways the otter world out here got smaller. Suddenly, the Seal Bay and Basin otters not only can interact, but they very well could be one and the same! I am officially going through an otter phase.
Ever have one of those weeks……where you find two otter dens? The one mentioned above was pure destiny – I’ve been tracking that one for 3 years now and you’d figure sooner or later I’d stumble upon its sleeping quarters. The second one I stumbled upon while I was doing some work I’d hoped to have done weeks ago. (2/13) As if life couldn’t get any cooler, today I was doing a little trail work/scouting by the new Basin bench on VLT’s Strawson property when I strolled upon an otter trail that not only crossed the “new” human trail, but this otter apparently cruised right below the new basin bench! And who could blame it (the otter) - there is something magical about a Skip Thompson bench. Anyway and needless to say I had to follow the trail as I hadn’t seen any otter sign on the west side of the Basin before. Local folks have had otter sightings over the years, but with many otter sign sites on the east side I’d often wondered why I hadn’t seen any on the other side (that would be the west side – Barton Island, etc.). It became quickly obvious that I just hadn’t put myself in the right place (or was it the magic of Skip’s bench?) as I followed this quick little trail into an alder wetland where there were multiple otter trails and access routes that all lead to another hole in the ground!
A second den! I spent much of that evening coming up with ideas about places where I might find a 3rd den in what would’ve been 8 days. I got a little greedy there, but man tracking these otters has been nothing short of epic. Sure - tracking cougars with a good friend or two in Montana would most assuredly be as epic (possibly epicer?), but I’m here, it’s now and everything is otterly super sweet.
And things just kept getting super sweeter – (2/18) I checked a few stretches of Basin Shoreline off the old Bill Brown trails for any Otter sign before all our snow disappeared (sad) and found a nice latrine and slide area right off. Further exploration led me to a small creek outlet that had a handful of otter scats (not in my hand) on top of some matted vegetation and a heavily used trail heading up creek. I followed it to the 2nd closest tree to the shoreline and sure enough I ended up at another den!
This one is a beaut – right in the roots of this massive Spruce (entrance is low on the left) and even had a sweet back door entrance coming out of the sphagnum and currently located next to a frozen stretch of the creek. 3rd den in 11 days got me to chuckle, smile widely and say “this is getting silly”. And it is and kept getting sillier.
Cuz from there I headed over to Old Harbor Pond to take advantage of the ice that was melting quickly and getting sloshy. I walked along the northern/eastern shore and found 10+ latrines (including 2 latrines that had 15+ scats) in a small area – it seemed like every rock or mini-peninsula along the shore had otter scat on it. 
Most scats were pretty fresh, as in above photo. The most intense zone was on the small island just off from where the Cedar Pond Creek feeds into Old Harbor Pond. There were 20+ scats next to the largest Spruce and a heavily used path through the huckleberry that covers the top of the island. I didn’t see any den entrance, but before I got to inspect too much I heard a sloshing below the ice (there was a crevice opening of several feet in the ice alongside the island by the scat zone where the sound was coming from). Twice I heard something big swimming around and creating waves below the ice. Could it be an otter splashing around and I was within 15 feet of it? That was my guess. Twice over the last few years I’ve watched ‘em fishing under the ice- well, I watched them coming up for air in between fishing sessions under the ice. There could be an underwater entrance to a den there (often there is a submerged entrance to dens) and this otter was using it to access the pond. It might have been fishing, having fun or it could have been active because of my presence (I am kirky-centric at times) – whatever the case I retreated after a short stay and kept shaking my head and giggling at this most probable 4th den I’ve found this winter, and would be the 2nd in 3 hours. This is one zone I’ll definitely be coming back to for years to come. The Stokes guide to animal behavior (you know the Stokes - Donald and Lillian who are “widely recognized as America’s foremost authorities on wildlife and nature” - who puts that kind of stuff on their own book! Some day if you’re nice I’ll tell you about meeting the Stokes at Ding Darling in Florida. I didn’t leave the interaction all that stoked- I do like their books though) say that otter scats are “uncommon” and that dens are “rare”. Well, it appears they haven’t been to Vinalhaven – where otters rule!
…a few more about otters – We’ve gotten word from Chuck Gadzik that Norton’s Point, especially the ol’ lobster pound area is another zone where otter tracks are found after most snows including the most recent blizzard-like snows… on the State beach tracking outing (2/6) we found that an Otter had slid its way to a classic latrine and “otter roll” where she’s dug and rolled on the snow enough to expose the ground below….and finally, no winter ferry ride would be complete without an otter slide somewhere along the line – (2/5) Pole Island at the head of Hurricane Sound had a beautiful slide heading straight into the water along the ferry view. And there are some big time, respected trackers that say River Otters don’t go in salt water! Ha! Those folks apparently don’t live along the coast!
Owls – You know its February, cuz we’re starting off about otters and owls! And it is Owl time in many ways – Great Horned Owls have kicked it into high gear as eggs have been/are being laid in time for a late April/early May fledge. Barton Island is a classic spot to listen in the evening for Great Horneds as adults call back and forth as one replaces the other as incubator/master of the nest. Dana Barton has reported hearing a pair not too far behind his place recently (and a third off in the distance, maybe across the Basin), I’ve gone out several times and have heard them once from the Basin Falls parking area...the legendary Perry Creek (2/12) Great Horned Owl pair (my favorites) were doing the ol’ mate call and response just after sunset. The pair has apparently moved up creek (without a paddle I would guess) and out of the Saltonstall reservation towards the head of the creek. “Movin’ on up” as the famous theme to the hit tv drama “the Jefferson’s” goes/went. They (the owls) deserve it for all the joy they’ve (most likely unwittingly) shared over the years….Chuck Gadzik spotted a Great Horned at the Huber Preserve (1st owl I’ve heard being spotted there) and the Horse Farm pair of Great Horneds has been heard on calm nights by the Pequot entrance to the Poor Farm road….Saw-whet Owls also heard from the Horse Farm area – and yes, I am the only one who refers to this spot as the “horse farm”….and finally, with all the exposed ground I gave into temptation (and who can blame me) and scouted a few of the historically important Long-eared Owl zones on Lane’s Island and was not disappointed. 
Harp Seal – (2/15) Word came round that there was a seal on Bill Alcorn’s beach up off Pequot Road that was injured and had some seriously wet poop. After talking with Bill we came to the conclusion that indeed what he had on his beach was a Harp Seal, very much like the 2 mentioned in the previous report. With all the ice melting where’s a harp seal to go but to the beach? The seal was figured to be fine, just resting and avoiding getting clubbed. Note – seal’s poop in the water, no reason for it to be solid. I think we’ve all just become better people for acknowledging that.
Songbirds – to generalize – it’s been an overall quiet winter in the woods songbird wise. Every hike has its staples – Black-capped chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Golden-crowned Kinglets. Roadsides have had a fair amount of Junco traffic, and the Ravens have been vocal, but nothing that I would call “going nuts” or anything. Yesterday I saw 4 Goldfinch in town, and that’s been the biggest group I’ve seen for a bit here. This just in – and just when I was going to add some snotty comment about the lack of Crossbills this winter, 2 out of the 3 preserves I visited (2/16) had a flock or two of White-winged Crossbills. Both the Basin Preserve (basin bench section) and the Huber Preserve (Huber preserve section) had flocks buzzing around high in the Spruces. I guess Axl Rose was right when he said “all we need is a little patience”. I can only assume he was talking about Crossbills and how they come and go. This just in some more – (2/18) – while doing a little otter tracking along Old Harbor Pond a flock of 25 White-winged crossbills circled over the Cedar Pond Creek Bog (I just made this name up) and were seen mackin’ on Spruce cones…The return of the son of the this just in some more - (2/20) Steep Mtn/Watershed area – Today while doing some trail work I was serenaded the entire time by White-winged Crossbills. A conservative estimate would be roughly 150. They were doing their classic chipping, but also were singing their little hearts out with this extraordinarily warm weather and the chainsaw didn’t seem to bug ‘em at all. The largest group was by Otter Pond, where they were joined by maybe 30 American Goldfinch, many Kinglets, Nuthatches and Chickadees, plus one Brown Creeper who was also singing his little heart out.…Anyway, to go along with the Crossbills, 4 Pine Grosbeaks were calling/singing at the parking area of the Basin Falls Trail (2/8)
Editor’s note – this next section has several anthropomorphic statements that I find inappropriate and downright offensive. That said, I wrote it and have decided to leave them in because it spices up the section. I apologize upfront.
Love (or at least copulation) in the Basin - Most everyone reading this loves the Basin, but how many of us can say we’ve made love in the Basin? (This is a rhetorical question). Each February wintering ducks that have paired up before heading up north to really shack up can be seen keeping the pair bond (the fire) fresh with a little bit of action. Red-breasted Mergansers are the ones I seem to observe most often in compromising positions. The male circles the female, probably saying sweet nothings (or quacks) and repeatedly tries to get behind her so he can get on top of her. This circling (and sweet nothings sayings) appears to stimulate her, but it’s a slow process as she spins this way and that to keep him off of her and somewhat in front of her. Over the course of what, 10 -15 minutes, she changes her tune and eventually leans forward in the water – exposing her back and giving the male plenty of room to stand. At this point he hops on top and can be seen twisting his tail feathers in a most unusual way and bends his tail around hers and their cloacas touch, or kiss. You see, birds that fly don’t have “willy-dilly-dillies” (as one 5th grader years ago referred to it) that might get caught on something in flight - or in the ducks case get nipped at from below by some fish or snapping turtle - Ouch! Instead they have an opening just below their tail called a “cloaca”, and when two cloacas touch all kinds of goods can be exchanged. And that’s where babies come from! Anyway, I saw this (2/13) in the Basin, and then again (2/14) just off Lane’s Island – both times it was Red-breasted Mergansers. If you happen to see a pair of ducks off by themselves and circling, keep an eye on them for a bit, you may get to see the kiss of life and love.
A Northern Goshawk flew over my car when I was heading out to go owling up at the horse farm.
The male Belted Kingfisher is still being seen on telephone wires along the west side of the island. Last seen by me – (2/18) by the Old Harbor Bridge.
“The more things stay the same, the less it changes” – Spinal Tap….we’re just at the very beginning of a big push that will eventually evolve into spring, whether you believe in evolution or not. (2/19) Ferry boat ride had 6 Black Guillemots in full on breeding plumage…and this afternoon (2/20) out my kitchen window 12 Common Grackles and 1 Red-winged blackbird took a rest in some neighboring trees. Have we turned some corner? I wouldn’t count on it – there most certainly is another month of winter left, and I actually I hope we get a ton more snow, but these are definitely signs that the days are getting longer. The real sign that the days are getting longer is the fact that the days are getting longer. I guess that should go without saying…
By popular demand: winter Wolf’s Milk Slime Mold – I hope that satisfies you slime mold freaks out there!
See you ‘round.