An ending to Maine

Maine, Maine, Maine.  I don't think there is a bad thing about the areas I visited during my time in Maine.  I may have been apprehensive about living out of a tent and trailer at first, but the peninsula won my heart very quickly.  It was great to be able to hear the ocean all the time, especially at night in the tent.  Although it gets old living out of a tent, a rainstorm on the coast in a tent, on occasion, makes it all worth it.  It seemed so strange to have gulls constantly flying over the spit of land that we inhabited as they moved to the water on the other side, but it really helped my gull identification to have such constant flyovers.  There were also lots of raptor flybys with sharp-shinned hawks and merlin actively hunting as the strong ocean breeze blew them along.  The few peregrines that could be seen moving through were really a special treat.  Watching raptor aerobatics on such strong winds and so close was just like being at a hawk watch, though with a view much closer to sea level.  The peninsula is bisected by a length of private property where some amazing folks spend their spring, summer, and fall.  I was lucky enough to meet many people who have loved the point for much of their lives, and who's families have had their houses there for generations.  It was easy to see why they would keep coming back, and work to keep the point as undeveloped and as untouched as possible.  While we were taking down nets, we were given an amazing look at a spruce grouse that walked right up to us without hesitation.  Spruce grouse are notorious for showing no aversions to humans.  I unfortunately left my camera at the trailer, so after freaking out and actually enjoying how close this grouse was to us, I ran as fast as I could back to the trailer.  After riding my bike back down, I had to try to sneak up on the grouse, rather than just watching it walk right up to us.  Sadly, I couldn't get as close as the initial encounter, but I did still manage to get a couple of pictures with one of my shorter lenses.

Spruce Grouse

Spruce Grouse, about an arm's length away

Sadly, this is the last post I'll have about my time in Maine, but it was the best project and place I could have spent my last months before starting graduate school.

Otters in the Ocean

The Schoodic Peninsula contains a part of Acadia National Park that is disconnected from the main portion that is located on Mount Desert Island.  The peninsula is only 45 minutes away, and since we have a receiver tower set up there we frequently pay the park a visit.  The roadways run slowly along the rocky shoreline, providing amazing views of the water, waves, and of course birds.  This visit provided an amazingly unexpected surprise, however!  As we were leaving the park, I spotted some heads on the water.  I immediately yelled out, "Cetaceans! Wait, no! Pinnipeds! Wait. Holy crap, those are otters!," or something along those lines, and certainly with excitement.  I don't remember ever seeing an otter in the wild, let alone a river otter in the ocean.  We ran down to the water on large rocks, and got really close to the otters.  As I followed them along the shoreline, I managed to slip and fall into a tide pool and get soaking wet, but it was worth following the four otters across the water's edge and watching them dive, eat, and play.  The lighting was difficult to get good photos, but I still managed to get a few to share.

 The season is winding down, and we only have one transmitter left to attach.  Sadly, this will mean a swift drop off of photos on the blog.  I'll still be trying to get out and get photos as usual, but birds are much easier to photograph when you can hold them!

Yellow-rumped Warbler

White-crowned Sparrow

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Ruby Crown of the Kinglet

Acadia and the Stars

Last week, I took a brief but extremely worthwhile trip into Acadia National Park.  The view from the top of Cadillac Mountain was spectacular, and there were even a few raptors moving along the ridge such as Sharp-shinned Hawks, Northern Harriers, Bald Eagles, and even a Peregrine Falcon.  I may have planned my trip to the park a little early for peak leaf coloration, but the trees that were already in flux highlighted the forest throughout the park.

These  "bubble rocks" at the far end of the lake in the photo above provide the beautiful view seen in the picture below.

 After hiking to the top of the "bubble rock," I ended up joining up with my co-worker Jess to watch the sunset before she reminded me that it was the Night Sky Festival in the park.  The park closed down Cadillac Mountain so that astronomers could set up their expensive telescopes and equipment to share with the public for an amazing event.  There were buses to take us to the top of the mountain where we could mill around among at least 50 telescopes and 70 astronomers, professional and amateur.  Each had their scopes set to some of their favorite formations and stars, all excitedly explaining how many light-years away the cluster, galaxy, or star was away.  It was really interesting to be shown the Andromeda Galaxy, which I learned is barely visible with the naked eye.  The Andromeda Galaxy is our closest neighboring galaxy.  It was a lot of fun to have experienced star gazers sharing their knowledge of the universe and their great equipment.  The park did a great job of setting up rangers who did constellation tours with powerful laser pointers, as well.  It turned out to be a perfectly clear night that illustrated how Acadia could be the only park east of the Mississippi River where the Milky Way Galaxy can be seen clearly (Though I would wager you could see it from within Great Smoky Mountains NP, since I know I have in the summer).  

The receiver tower at sunset, seen every morning on the walk to the banding area.

Red Eft

Porcupines are everywhere on the point.  We can hear them making their whiny calls at night, and frequently cross paths with more than one a day. 

Some kind of fuzzy caterpillar that appear to be similar to the "wooly buggers".  I'm unsure of the species.

 Above and below are a spring peeper that was found in one of our nests the other morning.  The "X" on the back identify this species.

Great-crested Flycatcher

Black-capped Chickadee

 Above and below are a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

 Above and below are a Savannah Sparrow

 We have also started to help with a Northern Saw-whet Owl banding effort at Petit Manan Point.  The late nights don't exactly line up with our early mornings, but how could you not want to try to see one of these up close?