Eastern American Toad

This fellow was on the patio this morning, under the green plastic chair, which is my excuse for such a poor photo. The Eastern American toad (Anaxyrus americanus) is the only toad native to Maine. They’re pretty common all over New England. Females are generally larger then males (egg-laying necessities) and males usually have a darker colored throat than females. I always liked American toads because, while you can’t see it in the photo below, American toads have gold eyelids. Honest!

Eastern American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus) Image: LLS

The post Eastern American Toad appeared first on Something Downeast.

The Little Foxes That Spoil the Vines

A young fox on May 27, 2020

I missed seeing the fox I’d been seeing last summer and fall; not a single sighting all winter, and I didn’t hear the fox much either. But people had been seeing one on the grounds in May, and finally, a saw a young fox trotting across the patio. I was looking up at the trees with a scope trying to see the crows my mom spotted, when I saw the fox out of the corner of my eye. He trotted across the patio, then along the gravel between apartments to our neighbors patio, where he paused to devour what the neighbor reported as a possible chipmunk.

Since then, I’ve seen very brief glimpses of another young fox/the same fox.

ETA: At least one the young foxes frequenting the campus has been hit by a car. I’m hoping that others will thrive.

The post The Little Foxes That Spoil the Vines appeared first on Something Downeast.

April in Maine

On April fourth a friend gave us a bunch of pussy willows and Forsythia. The willow blossoms were in full bloom, but the Forsythia hadn’t even quite leafed out yet.

Pussy willows on the left, with unleafed Forsythia April 4.

I put them in water, and the Forsythia proceeded to leaf out and then bud, and then blossom.

Forsythia on April 7

Then this happened today:

It’s still snowing even now. It started at 4pm.

The post April in Maine appeared first on Something Downeast.

Male House Finch

Male House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus

This is not a great picture, but it serves to make identification easier. The tricky thing about House Finches is that they look a lot like Purple Finches. Here’s a guide to help distinguish House Finches from Purple Finches and Cassin’s Finch.

As a kid in New Hampshire in the 1970s and early 1980s I regularly saw Purple Finches. House Finches had not yet become commonplace. Now, in Maine, I rarely see Purple Finches and see House Finches pretty much all winter long (though having said that, I’m not always sure that I’m looking at a House Finch and not a Purple Finch, particularly with the females). House Finches are in fact a fairly recent arrival to this part of the U.S.

The House Finch was originally a bird of the western United States and Mexico. In 1940 a small number of finches were turned loose on Long Island, New York, after failed attempts to sell them as cage birds (“Hollywood finches”). They quickly started breeding and spread across almost all of the eastern United States and southern Canada within the next 50 years.

The House Finches arrived in force a couple of weeks ago, along with a fresh infusion of American Gold Finches. I’ve seen more than ten at a time fairly often; once, I counted fifteen individual House Finches; oddly they seem to prefer the black oil sunflower, and the Gold Finches love the two finch socks.

The post Male House Finch appeared first on Something Downeast.