Eft

Today our neighbor brought over a red eft she found in her yard. The eft is a sexually immature red-spotted newt. The eft stage lasts about 4-5 years, after which the newt settles permanently in a wetland. The bright red color deters predators.  The toxins in the eft's body causes severe reactions, and even death, to reptiles and amphibians, but are harmless to a human.

A monster of a salamander

It was a rainy afternoon, and I was sick of the weather. We decided it was perfect to explore outside under logs and rocks. We found lots of red-backed salamanders, which Owen was happy to hold. Under one large log, we found a humungous Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). He was almost as large as my hand! He was very lethargic until my hand seemed to warm him up. The he was eager to climb off. It was such an exciting find that I called a neighbor who works for the Land Trust--she came right over!

 Lisa, our neighbor, holding the salamander and a piece of his shed skin.

Owen holding a red backed salamander, one of our most commonly seen amphibians.

 Big guy

 18 month old Eva checks him out.

Damming evidence

The beavers have been busy at the Goose Pond on Swan's Island!

Freedom!

We've been hearing a grey tree frog over by Maxwell's Farm for a few days now. Hearing him again today, I asked Owen, "Are you ready to set Sid free?" Sid, our frog-in-residence, has had a happy spring in the moss terrarium eating vitamin dusted crickets and flies foraged from windowsills. Our goal all along has been to set Sid free. So we packed him up for a walk into the woods, and decided on a spot by a stream where there was a tree with lots of lichens. At first Sid just perched on my hand--I started to second guess this decision. Are there enough leaves on the trees for him to blend in? Will it be too cold at night? Then he leaped from my hand onto the ground. We watched him for a little while, and then left him--perhaps to be an owl's meal (as one colleague imagined) or maybe we'll walk by that spot another day and hear a trilling call.....As we went home Owen held my hand and stated, 'That was a bummer, but I was lucky to have him, wasn't I?" I was surprised that Owen recognized that Sid was meant to be wild. I'll admit, that night, I wondered (and worried) how Sid was.

 Sid's star patterned back

 Saying goodbye

 Lichen colored

Good Luck Sid!

Hummingbirds are back!

On Sunday May 6th I received a notification from 'Wild Birds Unlimited' that hummingbirds were back in Maine. I immediately unpacked our hummingbird feeder, gave it a quick wash, and made a 1:4 solution of sugar and water. The hummingbird feeder is stuck to a window in our living room. On Monday morning, my 5 year old woke me up (at 5:30 am, I'd like to add) shouting, "HUMMINGBIRD! HUMMINGBIRD!" I missed it! My husband saw it later that morning; I missed it again. I was starting to wonder if they made it up to make me happy, and was vocalizing this as a hummingbird visited the feeder! Again my little guy astounded me with his observation, "It's a female hummingbird, Mommy."

There are two hummingbird species seen in Maine:
Ruby Throated Hummingbird It's easy to identify if the bird in question is a male by their unmistakable by their ruby red throat, forked tail and emerald green back. The female is emerald green with a white throat.

Rufous Hummingbird The male Rufous Hummingbird is identified by its rufous colored crown, tail and sides along with its bright orange-red throat and white breast. The female counterpart is nowhere near as colorful, and not a bright emerald green like the female Ruby throated hummingbird.


So Owen was right when he identified our little visitor as a female--she had no red coloration at her throat. We find that the hummingbirds use the feeder often all summer and into September. Right now, they sip from the feeder, dart into our lilac bush next to the window (where we can often watch them sit on a branch), and then they come back to the feeder.  We have also witnessed many hummingbirds visiting our apple tree blossoms.

Spring wildflowers

We've been taking walks and collecting wildflowers along the way. Armed with Newcomb's Wildflower Guide, we go back to the house and identify the flowers. Every now and then we get "stumped." A great resource that I learned about at the Maine Environmental Educator's Conference is http://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/. This website allows you to key out the flower you have, and shows multiple pictures. It asks you questions about the plant, guiding you in the right direction.

Below are some of the wildflowers we have been identifying in the woods and around our yard.


Dwarf cinquefoil


Common blue violet


Northern white violet


"Gill Over the Ground"


Wood anemone


Fringed milkwort or Gaywings

Moon in Perigee

Tonight's full moon appears 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual, earning the nickname "Supermoon."
Last March, I got permission from a ranger at Reid State Park to bring a group of students to the beach after hours to watch the moon rise. It was fantastic!  This year, we watched it from home, although Owen noted on the drive back from the school musical, "Mommy, the moon is following us!" It was so big and bright, I can understand why my 5 year old felt like it was.
What causes this phenomenon? The moon's orbit is at its closest point to Earth which is astounding to think that's a distance of 221,802 miles away!
The moon in perigee will also affect the tides; in this case, it will be accompanied by unusually high and low tides this weekend and early this week.
Happy sky watching!



The Full Moon in May is sometimes called the 'Flower Moon' or 'Planting Moon.'

Feathers Over Freeport

Checked out Feathers over Freeport today with the kids. There were great programs about birds of prey and bird migration, as well as walks led by birding experts. 

 

http://freeportwildbirdsupply.com/feathersoverfreeport/index.php

 

American Kestrel

 Data on bird migration at the top of Bradbury Mountain

Eva says, "Learning about birds is fun!"

Green frog

A naturalist friend asked if I could help her find frog eggs for a CELT program with 4th graders at Pond Cove Elementary School. On the way into the woods I almost stepped on a garter snake! It was a good sized snake, and we paused to watch it slither into the brush. We had no luck finding any eggs--even the salamander eggs I have been watching were gone (washed away in the last rainstorm?). We did see some green frogs though! The two I saw were basking in the sun on the edge of the pond. I tried to catch one with a net, but no luck! They were too fast for me.

Info about green frogs:

• Bright yellow throat on male. Green-bronze/brown. External eardrums large. Dorsolateral ridges. White belly, darker pattern of stripes/spots
• Voice described as sounding like the twang of a banjo
• Breeding takes place March-August. 3-4 clutches of up to 7000 eggs laid under water.
• Nocturnal. Rest along shore, dive into water if approached/threatened.
• Eats any animal it can fit in its mouth, mostly insects.

Ribbit!

Listening for frogs, looking for signs of more than peppers out and about. Have yet to hear any other species in the woods or across the street at Marilee's pond.

The following is a list of frogs and toads that may be found in Maine:
American bullfrog
American toad
Fowler's toad
Gray treefrog
Green frog
Mink frog
Northern leopard frog
Pickerel frog
Spring peeper
Wood frog

We did see an American toad at Viles Aboretum in Augusta on Friday!

Spotted salamander egg mass

The past two days, as we've walked in the woods, Owen & I have been looking in the wetland areas for indicator species. Yesterday, we found a very small worm and a caddisfly larvae. Today, we saw some tadpoles that quickly scooted away from us, and we found an egg mass. It looks like they are spotted salamander eggs. We returned them to the pool in case any hatch. So far we only hear peepers, but we wait to hear other amphibian species to join the chorus. Some warblers have joined the bird chorus; we definitely have heard a pine warbler.

Great page for info on caddis flies: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/compendium/caddis~1.html

The caddisfly larvae we found was in a case like the one pictured below, furthest to the right.

Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary

A red squirrel's huge "kitchen midden"
Returning vernal pool critters

Checking out our findings from our net

Dragonfly larva

Today, a few students in the MMNP met with instructor Susan Hayward at Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary. We learned about vernal pools identifying wood frog eggs, isopods, pond scuds, and dragonfly larvae. Walking through the sanctuary we also interpreted the landscape learning about Thorncrag's history along the way.

Check out Thorncrag: http://stantonbirdclub.org/thorncrg.htm

Earth Hour

Once again, our family took part in celebrating 'Earth Hour.' For the past few years we have made the commitment to "turn off our lights" for an hour joining hundreds of millions of people around the globe. Usually we go as far as just flipping the breaker in the basement. The kids are in bed well before 8:30 pm, and we sit by the fire in the wood stove, and read by candlelight. We already try to make a difference for the planet in our daily lives, and Earth Hour is so simple.

So I was actually curious...how much CO2 was prevented from entering the atmosphere? Ontario, Canada actually calculated it after Earth Hour 2011. Turning off the lights for an hour made the electric use fall by 2.1% or 360 megawatt hours. This saved the city of Ontario almost $25,000, not to mention 248 metric tons of CO2 being emitted!

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Signs of Spring

Took a beautiful walk in Winnick Woods today. It's a parcel of land set aside by the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust--how lucky we are to have it right down the street! On our walk we saw some of the first signs of spring-crocuses blooming on the side of the path, plus a winter wren singing!

CELT Mission Statement: The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust permanently conserves and provides stewardship for lands cherished by our community - from shore lands to marshes, from farmlands to woodlands - for the education, use and enjoyment of this and future generations. Check out more about CELT: http://capelandtrust.org/

We have supported this organization with a family membership.

It's Maine, it's March, it's 75 degrees

The abnormally warm weather prompted our family to take a day trip to the midcoast. Plans included lunch in Camden, hiking, visiting the Owls Head Transportation Museum and the Owls Head Lighthouse.

The hike was our 5 year old son's first "real" climb on his own. Mt. Battie seemed a perfect starting point. The vertical rise on this mountain is 600' which doesn't seem like much, but you get winded pretty quickly! Once you get out of the deciduous trees, there's a lot of red and white pine, and then you emerge from the forest onto the ledges, through low scrub and then up the "castle" for the best views of the islands, looking through the fog for our favorite, Swan's Island.

Legend has it that Edna St. Vincent Millay was inspired to write her poem Renascence from the top of Mt. Battie:

ALL I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked the other way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line	5
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I’d started from;
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.	10
Over these things I could not see:
These were the things that bounded me;
And I could touch them with my hand,
Almost, I thought, from where I stand.
And all at once things seemed so small	15
My breath came short, and scarce at all.
But, sure, the sky is big, I said;
Miles and miles above my head;
So here upon my back I’ll lie
And look my fill into the sky.	20
And so I looked, and, after all,
The sky was not so very tall.
The sky, I said, must somewhere stop,
And—sure enough!—I see the top!
The sky, I thought, is not so grand;	25
I ’most could touch it with my hand!

Gray Tree Frog

This past fall, a colleague moved some plants from his deck inside his home. Imagine his surprise last weekend when he went to move the bench they were on and placed his hand on something soft and squishy! It turned out to be a gray tree frog which he brought into my classroom. My moss terrarium (thanks Cloe!) seemed to be waiting for an occupant other than bryophytes and a Buddha statue. One of my seniors dubbed the frog 'Sid' since his favorite spot seems to be on top of Siddhartha Buddha's head.

Fun fact about gray tree frogs: they actually freeze in the winter! The gray tree frog produces large amounts of glycerol. The glycerol is changed to glucose and then it is circulated through the frog's cells. The glucose acts like kind of antifreeze and prevents ice crystals from forming in the cells (if ice crystals formed in the cells, they would rip the cells apart and kill the frog). The rest of the water and blood in the frogs body then freezes and its heartbeat and breathing stop. When the temperature warms up, the tree frog "thaws out" and returns to the trees! How cool is that?! It is my goal to set Sid free in the woods behind our house, by a wetland area filled with frogs in the spring. So far, he has taken well to captivity, but that may be a function of his diet of vitamin dusted crickets, wax worms, beetles and the occasional fly and moth!

Planetary Conjunction!

Went outside tonight to witness the planetary conjunction of Venus and Jupiter underneath the crescent moon. I could barely make it them out through the trees, but I've been watching the two planets in the night sky for months now. Venus is 8 times brighter than Jupiter! Thursday is supposed to be the peak, but it looks like our weather won't be cooperating....


Picture from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120313-conjunction-venus-jupiter-sky-space-science/#

Sap

That time of year again...with the strange warm weather we've had, "Maine Maple Sunday" occurred for our family this weekend. The Brewers invited us to their "shack" to help empty buckets and filter off the flies attracted to the sweet sap to bring to their boiler. Our reward for such a wonderful afternoon? Delicious maple syrup from Cape Elizabeth's maple trees, of course!

Portsmouth Planetary Society

A friend and I day tripped to Portsmouth, NH, and the Portsmouth Planetary Society had telescopes at every corner. What a great way to get people interested in the night sky! The moon was almost full, and one scope was set up so we could see the craters on the moon's surface. What was really incredible was the view of Jupiter and 4 of its moons! I wish Portland had something like this.

Scat

When we walk in the woods behind our house, we have named certain trails. For example, the trail we most often see barred owls is 'Owl Alley' and the trail over the rock wall is called the 'Silly Clock Way' because there is an old clock sitting on the wall. It has always been there; I have no idea why! Today we found that a fox had left it's scat on the clock...what this tells us animals think of time, who knows. Interpret away!

Mink

This morning, out by the woodpile there was an animal that looked like a chocolate brown ferret. It was a mink!

Some facts about mink:

• Family: Mustelidae, Weasels
• Description: Sleek-bodied, with lustrous chocolate- brown to black fur. Tail long, somewhat bushy and up to 50% of body length.
• Habitat: Swamps, marshes & bogs, Lakes, ponds, rivers & streams, Forests & woodlands
• The American mink is a carnivorous animal, which feeds on rodents, fish, crustaceans, amphibians and birds. It kills vertebrate prey by biting the back of the head or neck, leaving canine puncture marks 9-11 mm apart. It is a formidable predator of muskrats, which are chased underwater and killed in their own burrows
• Mink tracks:

Tracks

On our daily woods walk today, I found some fresh raccoon tracks in the melting snow.