In the Right Place: Behind the Scenes

There’s a lot of hard Spring work that goes into the Summer recreational glories and commercial fishing successes of Maine’s coastal waters. Early yesterday, as we see here, the moorings for WoodenBoat School’s and visiting boats were being launched into Great Cove.

The floating white Mooring Buoy and its gear were dropped seconds before the above image was taken; that buoy is attached by chain below to a very heavy Mushroom Anchor gripping the Cove’s floor.

Below, one of the launching crew is tossing out the Pennant line and its smaller orange Pickup Buoy; this line is attached to the top of the Mooring Buoy. As a boat comes by, an occupant can grab the Pickup Buoy by hand or hook and tie the boat up to the Pennant.

(Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Yesterday's Lesson

If you’re watching Alewives swim upstream and you get a feeling that you, yourself, are being watched, don’t look around first; look up. There may be a rowdy-looking poacher without a fishing license hidden in the trees.

This young adult Bald Eagle, quickly glimpsed yesterday, is still growing into his white hood and dark body.

(Penobscot, Maine)

In the Right Place: Clean Sweep

Maine’s beautiful rock-bound shores and pocket beaches are most evident at low tide on islands, such as nearby Deer Isle here.

In this image, we see a good amount of granite ledge bedrock that has been swept clean over the years by the winds, surf, and constant tidal action. The 10- to 12-foot high tides cover the dark rockweed and algae about every six hours. (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Puzzler

We simply don’t understand why some visitors keep saying that Brooklin makes them feel as if they’ve entered a time warp.

Everything significant around here seems to us to be up-to-date – for example, take a look here at the price of gas at the General Store a couple of days ago! That price is about as up-to-date as you can get. (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Luck

We got lucky and, for a few seconds, had a clear view of this Northern Parula Warbler. She was migrating and feeding in lower branches that had not leafed-out.

Soon, she and her kind will reside at the top of the tree canopy. And, that’s when they become indistinguishable from dappling sunlight and effectively disappear. They’re only an inch longer than a credit card with a mostly blue-gray and white body that is camouflaged with a yellow daub on the breast and yellow-green daub on the back.

James Audubon named them Blue Yellow-Backed Warblers, but later name-givers thought they looked like titmice (genus Parus) and named them Parulas (“little titmice”). The Northern species lives mostly in the United States and the yellower Tropical Parulas live mostly in Central and South America. (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Fit for a King

Yesterday's Spring Concert of the Bagaduce Chorale was an afternoon of extraordinarily beautiful and complex music performed extraordinarily well. Under the baton of energetic Chorale Music Director Bronwyn Kortge, the singers, Piano Accompanist Christina Spurling, and the GEM Orchestra filled Blue Hill's First Congregational Church with music "Fit for a King" -- the concert's theme.

The concert opened with Johann Michael Haydn's Te Deum in C, an ancient hymn with complex harmonies. The remainder of the first half was a rousing performance of Beethoven's Fantasia in C Minor (Choral Fantasy) by Ms. Spurling accompanied by the Chorale and Orchestra. Here we see Ms. Spurling's reaction to a standing ovation:

The second half was taken up with intricate English Coronation anthems by George Frederic Handle and ended, as usual, with Peter Lutkin's Benediction. As the concert came to a close, as if on cue,  the honeyed afternoon light made a stained glass spring bouquet glow.

Here we see the beginning of a standing ovation for Ms. Kortge and all performers:

(Blue Hill, Maine)

In the Right Place: Sowing the Wind

Early Friday afternoon, the steady wind speed was 14 miles per hour with gusts of up to 24. That's when John McMillan of Blue Hill arrived here at one of his favorite spots. He asked that the exact location not be identified because what he was about to do was dangerous and it gets increasingly dangerous as more people (especially novices) do it in the same area. John is an expert Kiteboarder.

After pumping up the frames of his huge kite and harnessing himself to its long lines, John takes off, ripping through the water on his short board.

Much of his maneuvering is on the edge of his board:

But, every now and then, John gets the urge to fly:

(Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Natural Light

This is yesterday’s sun setting behind the Pumpkin Island Lighthouse. (Thanks for the idea go to Werner Gansz, a fine photographer.)

Here's a daylight image of the three-acre island, taken last year:

The lighthouse became operational in 1854, signaling the rocky entrance to Eggemoggin Reach, northwest of Little Deer Isle. The island-studded Reach, known as one of the world’s best sailing channels, runs between Penobscot Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, with Blue Hill Bay in between. The Lighthouse was discontinued as such in 1933 and Pumpkin Island is now privately owned. (Little Deer Isle, Maine)

In the Right Place: Tough Luck

What we have here may remind some of Jackson Pollock’s ground-breaking images that (sometimes) were beautiful forms without inside or outside lines or positive and negative space. Well, this is ground-breaking, but literally so – it’s heather that survived an extended burial in snow here.

This tough beauty has for years been the symbol for independence and good fortune and sprigs of its flowers often were royal good luck charms bestowed by Queen Victoria on her favorite subjects. Its name apparently originated from the Scottish word haeddre, a descriptor of the wild, windy heathland where heather defies the elements with colorful cheer. (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Fabulous Feet

A pair of Ospreys has nested nearby among the high spruce surrounding Great Cove. Their piercing calls to each other as they soar on the hunt often echo over the water and nearby fields.

These wild-eyed “fish hawks” dive at up to 50 miles per hour, splash into (and disappear under) water, and emerge with a squirming fish. This is where it gets unique:

Ospreys have a reversible outer talon that can be swiveled into a flying fish trap – two talons in front and two in back; they also have soles padded with a Velcro®-like surface to help keep the slimy prey in place; and, as they fly off to the nest or perch, they manipulate the fish so that its head is facing forward, making it more aerodynamic.

(Brooklin, Maine

In the Right Place: Creatures of Spring, Continued

One of the surest signs of Spring here is the reappearance of the elusive Spotted Mooring Amphibians, a cold-blooded species common on the coast.

They lie dormant in snow during the winter, emerge sinuously coiled in May, and then mostly disappear into the deep water – except for their colorful tail tips, which are designed to attract and grab other water denizens. The SMAs in this image were discovered basking at the WoodenBoat School near Great Cove a few days ago. (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: A Gentle Life

Here we see the first Painted Turtle to resurrect itself from the muddy tombs at the bottom of our pond. He appeared yesterday. If history is prologue, he’ll soon be joined by three or four male and female summer painters to form a “bale” of basking turtles.

They’re gentle and discrete creatures: the male asks the important question by stroking the female’s face with his front claw; if she agrees, they’ll disappear into the depths of the pond and mate.

Soon thereafter, she’ll climb up into our North Field, make her nest, lay her eggs, and return to the pond while they incubate. If the raccoons, skunks, coyotes, and crows don’t find the eggs, some of the hatchlings may come back to our pond; others will look elsewhere for a summer place with a water view. (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Naughty and Nice

This female Northern Flicker is waiting coyly.

Male Flickers are now challenging each other to duels: they sit within feet of each other, growl, and swish their beaks up, down, and around like fencers warming up; but, they don’t strike. They also will show their rivals (and, later, potential mates) a naughty flash of their brightly-colored feather shafts – but just a “flicker.” (Guess how they got their name.)

Male Flickers have black mustaches; females are clean shaven.  Both sexes spend as much time pecking dirt as pecking wood, since their favorite food is ants. Here's a male:

There are two major subspecies of Norther Flicker: the yellow-shafted (East) and red-shafted (West), with interbreeding by less fashionable Flickers in between. (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: State of the Bog

Our bog is a small world unto itself, and we’re happy to report that, as we speak, it’s doing very well. It’s full of primal still lifes, including vibrant cabbage leaves emerging from the colorful Skunk Cabbage Spathes:

Fern Fiddlehead mummies are popping up all over the place:

Salamander eggs are throbbing in the vernal pools:

(Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Eat Your Heart Out, Claude

It’s sunny, as we speak, and we have a bright view of the many local islands, above which gleams the crown of Isle au Haut, about 14 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean. Yesterday morning, we often could not see beyond Barbara’s garden. Ever-changing fog rolled in from the sea in waves, descended from the sky in curtains, and wafted islands with gossamer veils.

Claude Monet would have gone berserk trying to capture the shifting light patterns and perspectives. (His London trip to capture fog resulted in about 100 partial canvasses and 37 finished masterpieces.) We suspect that Claude would have loved watching yesterday’s fog swarm Naskeag Harbor Island, shown above and below.

(Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Screamers

The male Red-Winged Blackbirds are arriving, first as broad-winged, high-flying silhouettes scouting for summer territory and then as epaulette-flaring, screaming sentries, once they have laid claim to a territory. 

The smaller, sparrow-like brown females will arrive once the homestead wars are more settled.  Here are a couple of last summer's females and a male in flight:

Then, the Red Wings will settle into one of the more polygamous bird life styles – a single male may keep up to 15 females in 15 different nests in his territory, each of which he fiercely defends as his own.  (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Wood Lovers

It seems probable that this recent visitor’s bad traits outweigh any good ones it might have. This is a spiny pig, according to the Latin origin of its name (“porcus” [pig] “spina” [spine]).

Porcupines like to eat wood, especially growing bark and stems in tree tops, and they kill trees in that process. When threatened, Porcupines attack with an amazingly fast swat of a tail that contains thousands of loosely fitted barbed quills. (They don’t “throw” quills.) The result of the attack can be misery for a dog, cow, horse, or (rarely) human.

We’ve not aware of any recognized benefit derived from this rodent, other than as a food. However, there is the recognized view that we should not destroy any historic part of our complex natural forest system without being certain of the effect on the whole system. Perhaps the practical answer is in numbers. Maine’s hunting regulations take the view that these rodents are numerous and those who want to kill them may do so any time and in any number. (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Trust Your Feet

I guess my feet know where they want me to go.
Walking on a country road. ~ James Taylor

It’s finally May. It looks like May; it smells like May, and waves of new songbirds make it sound like May. Get outside and let the woods swallow you. If you can’t do that, get outside and walk on a graveled country road and listen to the birdsongs and the crunch of your feet – piccolos and snare drums. If you can’t do that, try looking at this image from yesterday. Let your mind put you on the back curve, walking slowly toward us with a smile on your face. May is a mind thing, after all. (Brooklin, Maine)

April Postcards From Maine

April came to us cold and hard. In the beginning, she added her snow to the receding March snow and then brought frigid, driving rain that turned uncomfortable days into miserable ones. Early April light  flickered on and off, already-full wood streams became torrents.

But, April eased up as she aged. She bestowed some beautiful days on us, often with high winds that stampeded the waters.

Nothing April did discouraged the Wild Turkeys from their annual spring rituals, however. The Toms defied the laws of physics, doubling their size with the flexing of muscles, and strutted about in competitions for the attention of the Hens; the Hens pretended to ignore the Toms for most of the month. But the Toms know it's a waiting game.

The young (Elver) American Eels also appeared on time and the nets at the mouths of streams were waiting to catch a fraction of these prized animals so that they could be air-shipped to Asia.

On the waterfront, April rain during low tide is a good time to scrub and prime boats that have been in the water all year, such as the 40-foot Pilot Cutter Flekkerøy, a visitor from Norway.

The month also was a good time to launch Sonny, the new 91-foot Cruising Sloop from the Brooklin Boat Yard.

And, in our Atlantic Boat Yard, Dear Abbie:, one of our favorite local fishing vessels, underwent major surgery all April after a heartbreaking accident. She’s in loving hands and is expected to be on the water again in May or June.

April, of course, is the month that new growth appears seemingly out of nowhere, including delicate Sumac leaves, graceful Skunk Cabbage Spathes, and new field grasses for the White-Tailed Deer.

Easter falls in April and neighbor Judith Fuller’s road banners gave us three ways to recognize it:

For larger versions of the above images, as well as many additional images of special moments during this April, click on the link below. (We recommend that your initial viewing be in full-screen mode, which can be achieved by clicking on the Slideshow [>] icon above the featured image in the gallery to which the link will take you.) Here’s the link for more:

https://leightons.smugmug.com/US-States/Maine/Out/2018-in-Maine/April/

In the Right Place: Experiments

Herring Gulls are common, which can lead to their being taken for granted.  They’re good looking birds, extraordinary flyers, monogamous and caring mates and parents, and they live for decades in the same general area – they stay “home.”

They’ll swarm incoming fishing boats for scraps, a characteristic that inspired a desperate experiment by the British during World War I: scientists fed Herring Gulls from fake German periscopes in the hope that the birds could be conditioned to swarm around the real thing near the coast of England and help detect submarines. It didn’t work.

(Brooklin, Maine)