hallnatec's Journal

June 7, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

Before school I headed over to check my Delimited Site. I parked on Bishop St and walked right over to the Junk Pond. It was 5:55a when I got to the pond and I stayed for about 20 minutes.

It was a very overcast morning, lots of mist and everything had a very wet feel to it. Given the overgrown feeling of the plants, and the moist air, the site had a very jungle feel this morning. The first thing that struck me upon entering was how much the JAPANESE KNOTWEED had grown since my last visit. The FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL was still blooming and SENSITIVE FERN is growing up everywhere. The MORROW'S HONEYSUCKLE was also still blooming.

Near the back of the site there was buttercups in bloom and a good amount of CINNAMON FERN. The EUROPEAN LILY OF THE VALLEY had completely passed, as well as the WILD GERMANIUM, but the CANADIAN MAYFLOWER and NORTHERN BLUE FLAG was still blooming.

I had a GREAT BLUE HERON flyover. I've never seen a GREAT BLUE HERON in the Junk Pond. I think that it is too small for their liking.

Initially I didn't see any ducks but what I did find was a huge SNAPPING TURTLE walking down the trail. Clearly out of the water to lay eggs. I guessed that its shell was at least 1.24' long and about a 1' wide. After looking for a while I did finally find the mother MALLARD and the two remaining juveniles, who were almost completely covered in mud.

As always there were EASTERN CHIPMUNKS, RED, and GREY SQUIRRELS in the area.

Finally, even given the early hour there was a lot of noise pollution from the city.

eBird checklist

July 9, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

It had been about a month since the last time that I had done a site visit. The last time I had been here I was confronted by some people camping in the area. This time there was no one camping in the area, but there were definitely remnants of their site.

I came in the back way today, through the UNE fields and there the JAPANESE KNOTWEED is so overgrown that the trail is completely gone. So I had to head around to the front entrance.

Upon getting to the other side (at around 10:45a), the first thing that I noticed was the dragonflies, both COMMON WHITETAILs and TWELVE-SPOTTED SKIMMERS. There were also a few dragonflies that I couldn't identify because I wasn't able to get great looks at them or pictures. I'm finding identifying dragonflies to be a lot of fun but unlike birds it is much more challenging, given their size and quick movements.

The AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES seemed to everywhere and making noise the entire time. There were three BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS in or around the pond. The first one I saw was an adult and then as I was walking I flushed two juveniles. I watched the three birds for a while looking for any sign at all of breeding codes, but, while they did seem to stick together, there was no indication of breeding in this area. But in terms of bird breeding codes, I did watch two YELLOW WARBLERs bringing food to a juvenile. There were a number of birds in the area, including two SWAMP SPARROWs and a COMMON GRACKLE.

Again, there area was very overgrown. It felt as if there were plants everywhere. In fact, the MORROW'S HONEYSUCKLE had fruited, as had the FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL. And the SENSITIVE FERN was everywhere.

I did note a couple frogs in the pond but because they were silent and I couldn't see their dorsolateral ridge I wasn't sure if they were GREEN FROG or AMERICAN BULLFROG

The EASTERN CHIPMUNK, RED, and GREY SQUIRRELS were around but I haven't seen the MUSKRATs in a while. That makes me wonder, where they are and what they are doing.

While here I had two different RED FOX walk within about 20 feet of me. The first was noticeably larger than the second. I am wondering if they are foxes from the den I found in another part of the cemetery or if there is a second den in this area. I don't know the territory size of foxes, so I'm not sure. Of note, there was another fox less than 100 yards away as I was walking to the Junk Pond. I watched this one as it was walking up and down the trail and stopping to mark its territory.

I was a bit nervous about seeing so many foxes in the middle of the day, given the amount of cases of rabies being reported this summer just up the coast. One thing that I did notice with all three of the foxes I saw was that the birds where letting me know when the foxes were around. I noticed that the birds were making a lot of alarm calls when the first fox passed the junk pond. At first I thought it was because of me, but it was clear that there was something else. After it passed the birds calmed down but a few minutes later they started up again, letting me know that something was up. Again, out popped a fox. So while I was nervous about the foxes and rabies, I found some comfort in the idea that the birds would give me some idea of the foxes' return.

After about 30 minutes I ended my observation with an EASTERN TIGER SWALLOWTAIL fly by.

eBird checklist

July 10, 2018 - Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

While standing on the wooden bridge in the north east corner of the big pond I found 6 AMERICAN BULLFROG. The entire time that I watched them they didn't really do anything. There was no movement at all. At times I could see them breathing but even then I didn't see much movement. I'm assuming that it had something to do with the heat. It was nearly 85+ degrees Fahrenheit at the time that I was watching them. Also of note, I noticed the smallest ones first. And thought there was only two individuals, but as I looked around the area I started to notice more and more. Each one bigger than the last. It was almost as if they were turning on their invisibility powers. When they are stationary they can be very hard to detect.

July 18, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

I got to the Junk Pond at about 1:50p. The temperature was about 76f with a wind of about 11mph. Still overgrown and quiet. Some dragonflies, COMMON WHITETAILS and TWELVE-SPOTTED DRAGONFLIES. I was also finally able to get pictures of a red dragonfly that I had seen at the pond before. While I haven't taken the time to identify it yet, now that I have pictures I should be able to give it a shot. (Edit--After keying it out with A Field Guide of Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts, 2nd edition and looking at range data and flight period data from the Maine Damselfly and Dragonfly Survey, I'm leaning towards saying that the red dragonfly is a CHERRY-FACED MEADOWHAWK.

As always the JAPANESE KNOT WOOD is everywhere and growing at what seems a very quick rate. I was particularly interested in the trees as I needed to collect some specimens to press. I was able to find RED and WHITE OAK, WHITE PINE, and WHITE ASH for pressing. The honeysuckle and SENSITIVE FERN continue to go strong.

I was surprised to find a lone female WOOD DUCK. I was expecting to the lone female MALLARD who has been around and had two successful young this season.

There was also the usual EASTERN CHIPMUNK and GREY SQUIRREL.

Overall another quiet summer day at the Junk Pond. I do think I need to come down really early or really late and see how things might be different as the last few times I have been here have been in the middle of the day.

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