Greetings!
"That beautiful season the Summer!
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
And the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Please enjoy our July edition!
What are you seeing out there? We'd love to hear from you! The following posts are from some of our local Harpswell Nature Watchers. All of the contributions below are seen immediately in our Facebook group. Click here to join.
Click here for more information about Harpswell Nature Watchers.
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Downy Rattlesnake-plantain (Goodyera pubescens) is blooming in our area. The photo is from Long Reach Preserve, where this lovely plant can be easily found if you are looking for it. Its beautifully patterned leaves can be seen most of the year.
(Submitted by Priscilla Seimer. July 31, 2021)
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Five Great Blue Herons! Three on the dock and two more up in the tree at the right-hand end of the first picture.
(Submitted by Howard Z. Marshall. July 29, 2021)
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The rainy weather has given rise to some really interesting mushrooms popping up! I'm sure you have seen them on your own properties, but I recommend a walk in the woods tomorrow after tonight's predicted rains to see what fascinating fungi decide to show themselves (themselves being their fruiting bodies). They are short-lived before they complete their cycle of dropping spores and dying, or they get eaten by wildlife.
Priscilla Seimer found this Hugh Purple Spored Puffball (Calvatia cyathiformis) at Houghton-Graves Preserve. The sneaker in the picture gives a perspective on its size.
(Submitted by Lynn Knight. Photo by Priscilla Seimer. July 29, 2021)
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I noticed Phoebes going under the dock ramp and realized they'd built a nest in what looks like a rather precarious and mobile spot. There are at least four chicks in it - the fact that they are as big as they are without having fallen in the water is amazing! The two adults have been working very hard the past few days gathering bugs to feed the chicks.
They had a nest earlier in the season that was in a more horizontal location, and I got a picture of a single chick that didn't look anything like these. I wonder if the cowbird I saw earlier in the year put and egg in their nest, so they moved to this tiny spot and started a new brood.
(Submitted by Gina Snyder. July 21, 2021)
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Found a Lion’s Mane washed up at Mitchell beach this morning.
As Patricia Taylor and Donna D-Jodei Matthews noted, they can be quite large (some as large as a blue whale!) and they sting. Click here to learn more about Lion's Mane.
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Porpoise spotted while in Harpswell Sound!
(Submitted by Shannon McGee Grauer. July 11, 2021)
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In the fields around our home on Harpswell Neck, we have erected 21 nest boxes. Eighteen of them had eggs laid in them this year, compared to eight in 2019 and 12 in 2020. This year boxes were occupied by one Great-crested Flycatcher, one Black-capped Chickadee, three Eastern Bluebirds, three Tree Swallows and, astonishingly, 10 House Wrens. In 2020 we only had two nesting House Wren pairs, and just one in 2019, so this represents a huge local population increase.
Pressure for nest boxes was so high that within 24 hours of the chickadees fledging their young, a House Wren had completely removed the chickadee nest and begun to construct his own. The first picture shows a wren nest built on top of a grass-lined Eastern Bluebird nest from which the eggs had been ejected (presumably by the wrens). Note the wrens' characteristic building materials: stout twigs and webby spider egg cases and molting chambers.
Dark-eyed Juncos typically nest in mossy crevices in cool coastal or mountain conifer forests. So I did not expect to discover this nest inside our barn as shown in the second picture. To add to the surprise, it was built on top of an old Barn Swallow nest, and possibly a more recent Eastern Phoebe nest on top of that. At least two young fledged from the nest.
As you can see in the third picture, a garter snake can almost always be found in our compost bin, which provides a warm environment with plenty of invertebrate prey.
(Submitted by Nat Wheelwright. July 11, 2021)
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After the wet weekend the birds are active at the feeders and using the bird bath on a hot afternoon. Trying to catch the American goldfinch in a quiet pose while they eat nyjer seed is challenging because they are wary and move constantly. The black-capped chickadee, a good natured cutie, is quite comfortable in close company with humans. One of the local pairs has been introducing me to their four offspring, who seem to have had plenty to eat so far since they are larger than their parents. The juveniles are not feeding on their own, rather they squat on a beam and wait for mom or dad to deliver seeds or suet into their mouths. Surely the parents will cut the apron strings before too long!
(Submitted by Ed Robinson. July 7, 2021)
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Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) is blooming now. This is one of my favorites. I love to watch the transformation of the flower spikes as the cluster of buds open in succession along the stem; then, also in succession, long narrow pods form that will split open releasing white, feathery fluff that will carry the seeds in the wind. Sometimes you will find buds, flowers, and seed fluff all on the same stem. The individual flowers have an interesting four-lobed stigma (see close-up photo). Native Americans used the outer stem fibers to make cord, especially for fishing nets. They also combined the seed fluff with feathers, or dog or mountain goat hair and incorporated it when weaving cloth for blankets and clothing.
Fireweed is a native plant. Based on my four years of nature journaling, it seems to be a week early. Sometimes confused for the invasive Purple Loosestrife, I personally have not seen the invasive plant blooming yet around here, but I suspect it should be blooming within the next week.
(Submitted by Lynn Knight. July 7, 2021)
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Right on time, based on my three past years of nature journaling, Spotted St. John’s-wort (Hypericum punctatum) is blooming in fields and woodland clearings all over Harpswell right now. According to botanists at the British Columbia Forest Service, this plant was brought to North America by the Europeans who have used it since ancient times as a remedy for anxiety and other nervous disorders. It was applied to wounds as well if nerves were exposed.
Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon also write that St. John’s-wort was named for St. John the Baptist. The Latin term “Hypericum” means “above pictures,” referring to the practice of placing a picture over shrines to repel evil spirits. According to folklore, if you gather this plant on the eve of St. John’s birthday, June 24th, and hang it in the windows, it will protect the house from thunder and evil spirits.
(Submitted by Lynn Knight. July 7, 2021)
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There's so much drama this year in Quahog Bay and Orr's Cove. I have been seeing gulls hanging around heron, yesterday saw a gull chasing a heron, and today I think I saw why the chase was on! Today, a gull got a fish and a heron tried to horn in on it. Other gulls joined the fray, and next thing I knew it looked like no one had the fish.
(Submitted by Gina Snyder. July 6, 2021)
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The second Monarch Butterfly we have seen on our milkweed plants this year. The first one did not stick around long enough to get any pictures.
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A few pictures from the duck pond on Basin Point Road, with more than just ducks.
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At Mill Cove the other day, I've never seen an egret do this (wish I could have gotten closer)! After the gulls left, it stopped with the cockatoo-style display and was very spry at getting something to eat.
(Submitted by Gina Snyder. July 3, 2021)
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The other day at the head of Orr's Cove a vignette of Night Heron and gulls and the pogies that are jumping all the time. Two adult Night Heron and a juvenile, and two gulls were all focused on the one fish, while other fish were jumping all around. Other gulls along the cove had fish as well - it's been a bit of a banquet I think.
(Submitted by Gina Snyder. July 1, 2021)
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