Usually the header image/banner on the website rotates randomly. Once in a while I highlight a new banner image for day or two. Today’s banner highlight is from a photograph (at left) taken by Steve Giampetruzzi earlier today.
You’ll find more photographs in our Spring/Summer 2023 gallery. Send me your pictures! I make no promises, but they may make it onto the website.
American Bittern, often heard if not seen on Clary Lake!
In what is becoming a most welcome annual event, experienced Clary Lake birder Malcolm Burson has offered to guide a small group of kayakers and canoeists on an early summer Birding event up into the great Marsh at the outlet of Clary Lake. Both Malcolm and his partner Eleanor Goldberg are long time birders with considerable experience spotting and identifying birds. The tentative date of the tour (to be confirmed as it nears) is Saturday, May 27th, with Sunday the 28th as a rain date. The event is expected to last about an hour and a half. To keep the group small and intimate, we’d like to limit participation to no more than 5-7 kayaks or canoes (no motorboats please, but electric motors are OK). We’ll be filling slots on a first come, first serve basis. If there is sufficient interest we’ll schedule a second event later in the summer on a date to be determined. Continue reading
The State of Maine has released a new map using the ArcGis mapping platform to show the state of the Browntail Moth infestation in Maine this year. Last year’s outbreak of the pest was the worst every seen in Maine, and it looks like this year will be very bad again. However, it looks to me like some of the areas that were hardest hit last year (including my property!) may experience less of a problem this year. My property on Clary Lake is surrounded by large red oak trees, and last year ALL of them were completely defoliated for the second year in a row. I feared a third year as bad as the previous two would doom many of my trees. I’m happy to report however that this year I’ve only spotted 1 caterpillar on my screen door and no evidence at all of caterpillars eating the emerging oak leaves. My fingers are crossed, it looks like we won’t suffer a repeat of the last two years this summer. Continue reading
The Clary Lake Association will be participating in Maine Lakes’ Loon Productivity Project. The last time our loons successfully raised a chick was in 2017. They hatched out 2 chicks in the summer of 2018 but neither baby survived much more than a week. The loons nested again in 2019 but never hatched any eggs and they never attempted to nest in 2020 and 2021- a troubling situation. Stay tuned for more about this exciting initiative:
Imagine my surprise when I looked out my upstairs office window at the lake yesterday afternoon and saw a red fox cavorting out on the ice. Then it cavorted back in the other direction, then back again. You can see it’s tracks in the snow. I tried to get logged into the webcam in time to get a video but I wasn’t able to. My neighbor was out ice fishing and he and the fox must have seen each other.
A nice year-end message from our friends at Avian Haven. I highly recommend looking at their Year End 2021 message!
Dear Friends of Avian Haven,
Anyone looking back on 2021 can see effects of the pandemic almost everywhere in the human realm. But faith in the endurance of the natural world helped us and many of you to hold hope. Our combined efforts in 2021 made happy endings possible for the stories of many birds. Images of some of them can be found here (3.5 MB).
All of us here send huge thanks for your role in sending these birds and many others back to their natural roles in the wild. May these images help to buoy hopes for 2022!
Here’s a great video about Loons with fantastic photography. No word on whether Clary Lake’s loons are nesting this year. They probably are and we just haven’t discovered where they’re doing it. If they do successfully hatch out some chicks, we should know soon.
An American Bittern, one of the birds heard during the birding trip into the marsh. (stock photo).
Last Saturday, Steven Viti, Nancy DeWall, and myself, Malcolm Burson, took a two-hour paddle up into the Clary Lake marsh to see what birds were around. We started over on the floating bog where the blueberries grow where we got good looks at Eastern Kingbirds, Yellow Warblers, and Purple Finch, all of which are likely breeding there, and we heard a Veery singing. As we worked our way into the marsh, we heard a call with which I wasn’t familiar; later detective work led to the conclusion that this was a Marsh Wren, a species I hadn’t observed before at Clary. A zig-zag to the other side, beyond the island, produced a Swamp Sparrow, a regular breeding species here. We watched a Great Blue Heron fly across the north end, and once we headed that way, heard an American Bittern, possibly a return to breeding territory that I heard every evening last year closer to the main body of the lake. Continue reading
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife are putting on a series of programs this Spring. This is something new they’re trying and I applaud their outreach efforts. Some of these programs are geared more towards children but they’re all interesting. Past programs are available as recordings. Continue reading
I was talking with a friend the other day about different ways that invasive plant and animal species can find their way into Maine lakes. One common way that doesn’t immediately come to mind is summer visitors dumping their aquariums including potentially invasive plant and animal species into a lake or pond at the end of the vacation season. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife sent this PSA around today:
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American Bittern
Ex-president and current CLA Board member Malcolm Burson has offered to lead one or more birding excursions in the Marsh at the northwest end of Clary Lake some weekend later in July (date to be determined). Both Malcolm and his partner Eleanor Goldberg are long time birders with considerable experience spotting and identifying birds. The plan would be to meet at and leave from Malcolm’s camp around 7 AM and head down the channel towards the dam.
Since birding at this time of year is mostly all about bird songs, participation is restricted to canoes, kayaks, and boats with electric trolling motors! To keep it to a manageable sized group, we’d like to limit it to roughly 6-7 vessels at a time, that way social distancing can be maintained without people getting too spread out. If there’s sufficient interest we’ll schedule a second expedition later in early August.
Right now Saturday July 18th or Sunday July 19th are looking like workable weekends. If you’re interested in participating in this event please let us know as soon as possible and include your preferred day (Saturday or Sunday) so we can start to finalize plans. You can use our Contact Form or just let George Fergusson know. Thanks!
Back in the spring of 1999 Bob Antognoni and Art Enos built a floating loon nest platform and installed it at the back of the deep cove on the north shore where our loons have traditionally liked to nest. There is no record of whether or not the loons ever used it for a nest site though it’s entirely likely. I’ve looked for the nest off and on over the years and have figured it was long gone. Imagine my surprise when I was out and about yesterday evening to see if I could find where the loons are nesting this year, and spied something floating. I rowed closer and sure enough, the loon nest is still floating after 21 years! Even the wire screen that supported the nest area is still intact. I believe it was constructed out of dry peeled cedar and bolted together with galvanized carriage bolts. Clearly it was built to last! Bob would no doubt be glad to know it has survived this long. Continue reading
I received an email about an Interesting program from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. I’m always stopping to help turtles across the road. This is the first I’ve heard of this particular program!
Volunteer for the Maine Turtle Roadkill SurveyOur partner Maine Audubon is embarking on an exciting effort to identify where turtles might be at risk of harm from traffic as they move across the landscape during the active season, and we are hoping you will help!
We are looking for volunteers who can commit to walking along pre-selected road segments, documenting any roadkill or live animals at risk of harm from the roadway. The routes are all less than one mile long, and we are asking for data to be collected once a month, at least 3 times during the active season of May through September. Continue reading
Sitting Loon. Photo by Carolyn Curtis.
It is hard to believe at this late date that the loons are still sitting on the nest, but that is the case. I was convinced the nest had been abandoned so I picked up my new neighbor Carolyn Curtis and we boated over to look at the nest site today, not sure what we were going to find. On our way over we saw 3 loons swimming. Imagine our surprise to arrive at the nest to find a loon sitting on it! We got to within 3-4 feet before we were able to spot the bird. While I quickly 
reversed oars and started to pull my boat away, Carolyn stood up and snapped this picture with her phone. It’s a great shot. You can clearly see the loon’s head and back. Very well hidden. The picture at left is a blow up of the original picture that Carolyn sent me, it clearly shows the loon’s back, head, and red eye.
Last year the loon chicks were first spotted on June 24th which was if anything a bit early. Early July is more normal, and late July not too uncommon. But still sitting in August? I’ve never heard of such a thing! Given the late date, the prospects for the loon family being able to raise chicks to flying age before winter are not good. It will be tight. Stay tuned.
One more reason to hate ticks, as if we needed another.
Maine CDC confirms case of Powassan virusJuly 24, 2019
Human Services
AUGUSTA – The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) has confirmed a case of Powassan virus infection in a Maine resident, the first case of the tick-borne illness in the state since 2017.
Maine CDC received notification of the case this week from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The adult individual resides in southern Maine and has been hospitalized in New Hampshire. It is believed that the individual contracted the illness in Maine. Continue reading
The wild Rhododendron (Rhododendron canadense) growing up in the floating bog and throughout the marsh is absolutely stunning this spring:
As is the Wild Blueberry: Continue reading
The Loons are nesting in the traditional location in the deep inlet on the north shore of the lake, the same place they nested last year, but deeper in the cove because of the higher water. I spotted the location on May 30th, and it is well hidden: if I hadn’t seen one of the loons hanging around the area, I’d never have known it was there. I was able to get one (not very good) photograph of the loons on the nest (below). In previous years, fluctuating water levels have made successful nesting a real challenge with the biggest risk being flooding due to a rapid rise in water level. The good news this year is the lake level is already at the High Water Mark and stable, so even if we get heavy rains, the lake level won’t rise enough to flood the nest. Continue reading
Browntail Moth Caterpillar
For those of you who are interested in learning more about Browntail moths (which should be pretty much all of you), the Midcoast Conservancy has finally posted the video of the program on Browntail Moths that they put on back on April 4th at the Edgecomb Eddy School. You’ll find a link to that video along with other useful information about these insect pests.
https://www.midcoastconservancy.org/browntail-moth-info-session/
We have a growing Browntail Moth problem in our area. Several people around Clary Lake have recently brought the problem to my attention. They’ve been around a while, so you may be familiar with them already. If not, you should familiarize yourselves with these critters. They’re nasty. Besides being bad for the trees (primarily Oaks, but they infest other varieties), the caterpillars have tiny hairs which can cause serious problems for people. Our area has until recently been considered a “Low Risk” area for Browntails, but from my recent observations it sure looks like they’re rapidly becoming a significant problem. Continue reading
Both loon chicks have apparently gone missing, nobody has seen them since sometime late last week. I took some photographs of them one week ago, on Wednesday June 27th and I haven’t seen them since. They were spotted last Thursday, but I’ve received no reliable reports of sightings since then. Outlook not good. If you see them please email me.
Loon babies face many challenges growing up. Of those, predation by Bald Eagles and Snapping Turtles pose the greatest risk, and we have a healthy population of both predators in and around Clary Lake. Motor boats also pose a risk if the driver is inattentive, but so far, there haven’t been a lot of speed boats on Clary this summer. Even when they avoid death or injury from those common sources of danger, one loon chick all too often falls prey to its sibling as the result of competition for food and attention. Mother Nature can be cruel.
Incidentally, the 35th annual Audubon Loon Count will take place Saturday July 21st from 7:00 AM to 7:30 AM. The results of the count will be presented at the Annual Meeting on August 11th. We hope to see you there.
