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Greetings!

Please enjoy our December edition of Nature Watchers!

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.
Black Ducks seem to really like Long Reach in winter. Wow, just look at those little icebergs in there! It was also really fun to see the little guy on the bench. I thought the 'fig' leaf was a nice touch.

(Submitted by Gina Snyder. December 28, 2021)
I went out to take pictures of the sunset tonight because the sky looked promising, but it never really produced a display worth taking pictures of. But while I waited on the waterfront at Mitchell Field, I spotted a Loon and a Seal fishing in the fading light. It was hard to get good pictures in the dusk, but here are a few of the best shots I got. At one point the Loon returned from a dive with a crab in its beak.

(Submitted by Howard Marshall. December 27, 2021)
Rhododendrons as thermometers

I’m sure you have noticed that when the temperatures dip below freezing, the leaves of plants in the Rhododendron family curl under and droop downwards. In winter, I look out my kitchen window at my Azalea to determine whether or not I need a hat. The first picture shows the leaves of that plant at 35 degrees F and the second at 21 degrees F. (And, yes, I have to net the shrub so the deer don’t munch it to the ground!) I searched for explanations about these thermotropic (temperature-related) leaf movements and found a scientific paper that explained this plant behavior. I learned that the leaves changing their angle to a more vertical position and curling under most likely protects them during the freezing/thawing cycles. If the leaf is horizontal and open, it is exposed to more of the sun’s warming rays during the day as well as more freezing air temperatures at night. Therefore, the freezing and thawing cycle can be too rapid, causing ice crystals to pierce and damage the cell membranes. So not unlike people, curling up and hunkering down (with a good book in my case) helps the leaves of Rhododendrons tolerate the extreme cold.

(Submitted by Lynn Knight. December 23, 2021)
The seals were bored waiting for the tide to go out at Seal Ledge the other day. I caught a video of a seal yawning (shared on the Nature Watchers Facebook group page), and another trying to get on the ledge in the surf (which washed it off!). The swells were coming in at an unusual angle on Tuesday.

(Submitted by Gina Snyder. December 22, 2021)
Had a hard time finding this one, but seems to be a Black Guillemot, seen on Gun Point Cove, non-breeding plumage. I think I saw one last year off the Giant Stairs. Audubon's webpage notes, "A 'Black' Guillemot only in summer, it looks mostly frosty white in winter. "

(Submitted by Gina Snyder. December 12, 2021)
A couple of Bufflehead Ducks. I'm not sure what was going on to create the splash.

According to the Cornell Lab, "Bufflehead are most widespread in migration and winter, when they move south to coasts and large bodies of water, particularly shallow saltwater bays. They breed near lakes in northern forests where conifers mix with poplars or aspens. Bufflehead nest in tree cavities, especially old Northern Flicker holes." To learn more about Buffleheads click here.

(Submitted by Howard Marshall. December 1, 2021)
Juvenile Bald Eagle. From the size, my guess is female (the larger gender in Bald Eagles), but I'm not sure.

Last week, a dead seal washed up on the waterfront near our dock. The Gulls have been pecking at it. Late this afternoon, as sunset approached I saw something much bigger picking at the carcass and realized it was a Juvenile Bald Eagle. When I stepped outside to get better pictures it flew off.

The first picture was taken through the window, reducing the image quality, but that is the only decent picture I got of it at the carcass. The rest are as it flew off in the light of the setting sun and landed on a distant rock at the edge of the low tide.

(Submitted by Howard Marshall. December 1, 2021)
Long-tailed ducks don't mind the cold! Spotted at Long Cove, the sighting of these 'armadas' is one of the things that signals to me that winter has arrived.

(Submitted by Gina Snyder. November 30, 2021)