In the Right Place: Treasure Hunt

Here you see long-distance views of the schooner Stephen Taber departing Great Cove in light rain on Thursday after overnighting here. She was on a six-night cruise to explore “Penobscot Bay’s Hidden Gems,” according to her schedule.

The 110-foot Taber was built in 1871 and is a National Historic Landmark that now hails from Rockland, Maine. Curiously, she was named after a once-famed, but now forgotten,19th Century New York politician.

As with many coastal cargo cruisers in the 1800s, the Taber was built with a flat bottom to “ground out” and discharge her cargo without the need for a pier. She does have a centerboard to lower as a keel during cruising, but has no motor; her motorized yawl boat Babe pushes her in light air.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 17, 2023.)

In the Right Place: No Venting Allowed

Here you see an unusual scene at Naskeag Harbor on Thursday: Dark lobster traps containing large orange poly buoys being trailered at a peak time in the season.

With help from a seasoned fishing vessel captain and a little research, I think I know what was going on. That apparently was equipment for the annual Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) “Ventless Trap Survey.”

Since 2006, DMR has been collaborating with fishermen who bid to participate in a summer survey of juvenile lobsters. Among the goals is to obtain quality data on the size and condition of the youngsters in order to help DMR manage the lobster fishery most effectively. They usually collect on two days a month in June through August.

Unlike commercial traps, which have vents on them to allow the little lobsters to escape, the DMR study traps are ventless and capture more youngsters. DMR staff members are on the private fishing vessels and inspect, measure, and throw all the lobsters that are caught back into the water, according to reports. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 17, 2023).

In the Right Place: Serving Sizes

The woods are crawling (well, at least popping) with mushrooms, small and big. Here are images of two of the edible fungi, one small and the other big.

Above, you see a cluster of small Hygrophoaceae mushrooms, a family known as waxcaps, waxy caps, or sometimes just waxies. They have that name because of their waxy appearance and feel. The red species shown here, found in the leaf litter of mixed woods, apparently are scarlet waxies (Hygrophorus coccineus), some of which were only ½” tall.

Below, you’ll see an image of a large white mushroom, found under spruce trees. It’s part of the Agaricus genus and probably the “horse mushroom” species known as Agaricus arvensis. It was more than 5” tall. It’s called a horse mushroom because many are found near stables where they prosper on horse manure fertilization.

Thanks to mushroom expert David Porter for the identification assistance. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 16, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Awareness and Patience

Yesterday was a Mary Oliver day for those of us who emulate her by regularly going on solitary walks in the woods. She liked solitary walks in the sense that she preferred not to be with another person in the woods.

However, judging from my understanding of her poetry, it wasn’t solitude (In the sense of wanting to be alone) that she felt in the woods, and it certainly wasn’t loneliness. She appeared to be well aware that the woods are crowded with lives that imbue a unified spirit that can be enjoyed best with heightened awareness and patience. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 16, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Home Grown

Here you see the Friendship Sloop Belford Gray in Great Cove, as the sun tries to pierce Sunday’s fog:

On an earlier, sunny day, a class at the WoodenBoat School took her around the Cove under only two of her five sails, her mainsail and staysail. (See the image in the first Comment space.)

According to WBS records, the Belford’s design is based on small-scale drawings of a Friendship Sloop that were found in a 1907 magazine by Jon Wilson, founder of the School and WoodenBoat Publications. At Jon’s request, famed Brooklin naval architect Joel White created building plans for the sloop.

She was built during the years 1987-1992 by Gordon Swift, an instructor at WBS, in a series of classes and volunteer sessions at the School. She’s 28.5’ long and 9.5’ wide at her beam (widest part), according to WBS data. Her name honors Belford Gray, another WBS instructor who was a highly regarded wooden boatbuilder.

Here’s a Leighton Archive imaged of her fully rigged under her five sails (mainsail, main topsail, jib topsail, jib, staysail):

Leighton Archive Image

(Primary Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 3 and 13, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Blocked

Common Blackberries here are starting to ripen into delicacies for those of us who don’t mind putting our hands in thorny places and consuming unwashed fruit. The black ones shown here were scrumptious; the dark red ones were still too tart for my taste.

These wild brambles also are known as Allegheny Blackberries, as their scientific name indicates (Rubus allegeniensis). They’re members of the rose family and native to eastern and central North America.

Common Blackberries on the vine can be difficult for the casual observer to differentiate from their cousins, Black Raspberries, which grow in the east as Rubus occidentalis and along the west coast as R. leucodermis.  

However, the identification trick is to pluck a berry off its vine and look at its center, where it was attached to the stem. If that center is hollow like a thimble, it’s a raspberry; if that center is “corked” like a jug, it’s a blackberry. Think “blocked berries are blackberries,” and don’t worry about eating the cork.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 14, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Abundance

Recent rains have eliminated summer dryness in Down East Maine, at least for now. The marsh ponds are full and one of our loveliest native plants, the Fragrant Waterlily, is in abundance.

The sweet-smelling flowers of the plant (Nymphaea odorata) are at their best when they open in the early morning, especially when bejeweled by a heavy dew or light rain:

The Lily Pads are the plant’s flat, round, floating leaves. They’re also the plant’s “lungs”: Water Lilies "breathe" through specialized pores in the tops of their pads called stomata. These tiny openings exchange carbon dioxide and water vapor between the leaf and the air, a benefit in addition to beauty.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 9 and 11, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Push Time

Here you see the schooner J&E Riggin leaving Great Cove yesterday morning after overnighting there. Her published schedule says that she was on a four-day sky-gazing cruise, including a Perseids meteor shower watch.

Yesterday, there was virtually no wind when the Riggin departed and she did not raise sails. She has no internal engine. Instead, she reliedson her yawl boat to push her:

The Riggin was built in 1927 as an oyster dredger for Charles Riggin of New Jersey. He named her for his two sons, Jacob and Edward (“J&E”) Riggin. She’s 120 feet long overall with a beam (widest part) of 23 feet.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 12, 2023.)

In the Right Place: On the Prowl

Tiger Lilies are emerging here, The colors of their dark-speckled orange flowers are why they’re called Tigers, but they look more like a form of marine life that you’d see swimming near an ocean reef.

The images above and below show various stages of the Tiger Lily plant (Lilium lancifolium or Lilium tigrinum). The long flower buds are green at first and then turn orange. As the flower grows, its petals curl back and “stamens” emerge from the flower’s center. They hold out elongated “anthers” full of pollen at their ends for reproduction.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 9, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Taking the Plunge

This image of a juvenile Osprey appears in my monthly column in the current Ellsworth American.

To read the column about the difficulties of growing up as an osprey, click here: http://www.5backroad.com/montly-column

In the Right Place: A Queen & Ladies-in-Waiting

Here you see Grace Bailey departing Great Cove on Sunday morning as much younger sailboats prepare to do the same. The vessels overnighted in the Cove after the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta.

Grace is a 118-foot schooner out of Camden. She was built in 1882 for Edwin Bailey, who named her after his daughter. She was renamed Mattie in 1906 after being rebuilt then. In 1990, she was fully restored and rechristened with her original name.

As with most of her kind, Grace has two “bald” masts (devoid of added top masts) and a low-slung hull that sheers up to a long sharp bow. She is flat-bottomed to allow her to access shallow waters and be beached to off-load cargo without needing a pier. Nonetheless, she has a retractable keel (“centerboard”) that can be inserted through her hull for serious sailing. And, sailing is all she is capable of on her own -- Grace has no internal engine. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 6, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Full-Throated

This female Common Yellowthroat Warbler suddenly appeared before me while I was tramping through marsh alders Monday morning.

She looked me over sternly and quickly flew away in apparent disapproval. (I don’t look my best when tramping.) It was a three-second encounter in which I got off two shots, the second of which is an image of a blurred bird butt.

Meeting her, however, does remind me that two of the annoying things about identifying birds is the confusing way that they often are named and the perplexing differences between many males and females. Common Yellowthroat Warblers such as this one are not to be confused with their much different looking (but similarly named) cousins, the Yellow-Throated Warblers. 

In fact, this female Common Yellowthroat is not to be confused with her own mate of the same name. He wears a black mask all the time, which she apparently loves. (Female Yellowthroats reportedly choose a mate based on the size of their suitors’ black masks, which are thought to be health indicators. See the Leighton Archive image of a male below.)

(Primary image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 7, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Color Me Abstract

It’s a gray day here, so I’ll add a little color. Here you see a patch of cultivated Yarrow forming an abstract expression of its own meaning. It’s amazing what hybridization and cultivation has done to bring color to common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), which is a native and all white herb.

The native form of Yarrow and its modern cultivars and hybrids are used in cooking, fresh and dry floral design, and herbal remedies. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 5, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Twinkle-Twinkle Little Spar

Here you see Great Cove sparkling on Saturday evening. Those are the lights of the boats that raced in (or contained viewers of) the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta earlier in the day. As the lights twinkled, the sailors partied loudly at the WoodenBoat School campus on the Cove.

Sunday’s dawn light revealed the vessels docilely obeying the elements and lining up like a school of fish, while their occupants apparently were still dreaming of that party:

The annual Eggemoggin Reach Regatta for wooden sailboats began in 1985 and usually runs a 15-mile course in the Reach, ending at Great Cove. This year, the start of the race had to be delayed and the course shortened due to light wind. But, whether it be torrential rain, dense fog, or no wind, the Regatta party must go on – and it did. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 5 and 6, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Big-Boned

Here you see the schooner Mary Day waking in a clutter on Thursday, after she overnighted in Great Cove. She was on a four-day relaxation cruise, according to her schedule.

You can get some idea from this image of how difficult it was in the days of yore for teenagers to “learn the ropes” on a schooner (or, worse, a massive man-of-war).

Mary got cleaned up and departed in her usual stunning fashion at midday that day. She certainly is a big-boned beauty when she’s strutting her stuff.

Mary is a 125-foot schooner out of Camden, Maine. She was built in 1962 just for passenger cruises and has been rebuilt and refurbished a few times since. She has a crew of seven and accommodates 28 guests, according to her website. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 3, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Royalty-in-Waiting

Here you see a monarch butterfly caterpillar on a butterfly weed. The plant (Asclepias tuberosa, L.) is a member of the toxic milkweed family, reportedly the only family of plants on which monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) lay their eggs. That’s because their fussy caterpillar larvae will eat nothing else.

Due to their toxic diet, monarch caterpillars become toxic themselves and retain some of that toxicity when they metamorphize into butterflies. The bright colors of both forms of this insect are thought to warn predators that the insects taste terrible and to remind those that have previously eaten a monarch insect how bad they taste. Thus, monarch insects usually don’t worry about hiding.

Nonetheless, they are preyed upon. Among others, robins have been seen eating monarch butterflies and blue birds and grosbeaks have been seen feasting on monarch caterpillars. In addition, monarch eggs and caterpillars are attacked by a number of parasitic insects.

In case this toxicity talk makes you wonder, monarch caterpillars are not harmful to humans who handle them, based on my own experience, but I wouldn’t try to eat one if I were you. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 3, 2023.)

In the Right Place: A Hard Life Now Lush

Here you see the “Lewis R. French” leaving Great Cove yesterday morning after overnighting there. She was on a six-night music festival cruise along the coast and among the islands, according to her schedule.

The 101-foot “French” was launched in 1871 out of Christmas Cove, Maine. She was built there by the French brothers and named after their father. In her earlier years, her life was varied and hard. Among other things, she freighted bricks, granite, fish, lime, firewood, and Christmas trees.

Now, the French is a classic and fairly luxurious vessel out of Camden, Maine. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 3, 2033.)

In the Right Place: Full, Fishy, and Blue

August is full of full moons this year, including two supermoons, a Sturgeon Moon, and a blue moon. Last night’s moon, shown below, had the most luminosity (99.5%). However, the moon of the night before, with a luminosity of 99.3%, technically was the first and official August full moon.

That August full moon is commonly called the Sturgeon Moon, which is what Native Americans reportedly called it because it arises when the sturgeon begin to run. That moon also was a supermoon, because it occurred when the moon was at the point in its orbit that is closest to the earth.

Another full moon and supermoon combination is predicted for August 3,1 with an anticipated luminosity of 99.9%. Being the second full moon in a single month, it also will be a “blue moon,” in fact a “blue supermoon.” In days of yore, the term “blue moon” was used to describe something that was impossible. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, at 4:29 a.m. on August 3, 2023.)

In the Right Place: The Look of August

Here, we’re at the base of a sloping field yesterday, the first day of August 2023. It’s neither hot nor cold, probably in the low 70’s (F). We’re looking (roughly) north, and the sky is a purer blue than the best porcelain glaze. Some of the grasses and vetch are dying and smell musty, but the parasols of Queen Anne’s lace are vibrantly shading their small summer kingdoms. Sparrows are flushing as we walk.

About two hours later, we’re looking (roughly) east, where a stratocumulus herd is lumbering in its celestial pasture. The field pond below has become a gazing ball, which you are free to interpret as predicting good fortune.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 1, 2023.)

July Postcards From Down East Maine

July usually is high summer here, but this year it had its lows as well as highs. Thankfully, there were some iconic sunny days when it was so clear infinity seemed within easy reach. However, there also were densely foggy days when the world seemed to implode. There also were cold, rainy days and many just-plain-gray days. Nonetheless, as strange as it might seem, July here was an interesting month to be out and about.

Of course, it helps that small Maine towns know how to celebrate Independence Day on July 4th and get the month started off in the right direction.

Unlike some of us, July’s wildlife didn’t seem bothered by the weather. Great blue herons returned in good numbers and did not cancel flights when it rained. Our resident herring gulls, as usual, took life the way it comes, soaking up the sun when it was there and braving foul weather when they had to.

This year, the osprey nest that we monitor annually again produced three hungry nestlings of the fish hawks in July. We also studied a visiting young Cooper’s hawk, a raptor that did not like fish, but found smaller birds delectable. Red-winged blackbirds and goldfinches brightened things up when the Cooper’s wasn’t around.

Our white-tailed deer ended the molt of their heavy, gray coats in July and proudly displayed their light summer reddish jackets, just the right thing to wear when ruining a garden:

Among the smaller wildlife, monarch butterflies returned in July, but fewer of them seemed to arrive in the initial wave this year. Painted turtles soaked up heat when they could, and the toads practiced their camouflage changes, warts and all. .

One animal, the lobster, becomes the center of attention for many here in July. Fishing vessels speed by, stacked with lobster traps that have to be set out on the sea floor. At the end of the day, these boats rest on their moorings for all to see their functional grace. The Naskeag Harbor convenience raft that buys lobsters from the fishermen and sells them bait and fuel was installed and provisioned in July; it’s a summer (and maybe fall) fixture.

Another part of Down East’s maritime heritage comes into full swing in July: coastal cruising in windjammers and other classic vessels. This year, the weather sometimes added a new dimension of excitement to the July voyages of these vessels. The yellow-hulled Heritage visited Great Cove in fair and foul weather, looking sedate in the sun and appearing like a ghost ship sailing hard through rain and fog.

The red-sailed Angelique also was a sight as it braved rainy weather. Sometimes the fog swallowed vessels whole and then regurgitated them, which is what happened to the ketch/pulling boat Sally Drew and the Scilly pilot cutter Hesper when they sheltered in the area. The high-riding schooner American Eagle was fortunate to enter and leave Great Cove under full sun and full sail.

While remembering July’s waterfront activities, we should mention the popular sailing classes by WoodenBoat School. Just seeing their lively presence in Great Cove can turn dismal, drizzly days into inspirations.

Our woods, fields, and streams are a big part of our high summer. July’s fog seemed to suit our old, gnarly apple trees. And, after the rain showers, our drying woods often were perfumed with the mind-altering scent of balsam, while the streams added their fast-water-on-rock backbeat.

Of course, summer in Maine means a distracting profusion of flowers and berries, wild and cultivated, wet and dry.

Finally, we end our tribute to this year’s July with an image of its crescent moon, a beautiful reminder that there often is more to see than we think.

(All images shown in this post were taken in Down East Maine during July of 2023.)