Hopping to Fly - Friends of Seguin Island Light Station

Friday
August 5, 2016

There were some good-sized swells and chop on the water this morning accompanied by strong sun and a breeze of just under 10mph. Patty made scrambled eggs with toast for breakfast and then we went about a few quick chores.

I took some measurements for Rick to buy materials for the Whistle House soffit and fascia he’s repairing and then spent some time on a blog post. Patty cleaned the historic sign, swept the lighthouse tower, and talked to Cyndy to coordinate various things (guest arrivals, gift-shop merch, etc.). We went down the hill together to clean the Clivus – me underneath and Patty inside but before we could get started, we had to help a sparrow escape from Paco’s. The cable for the tram

Cruise ship and large sailboat across the water at the mouth of the Kennebec.

enters and leaves the Engine House via holes in the wall that are big enough for a small bird to enter and for some reason, it seems irresistible for some and we periodically have to open the windows and give the (often stunned) bird encouragement to fly out.

Cruise ship at the mouth of the Kennebec with Fort Popham in the background.

A sailboat was moored in the cove when we went down and while we were working on the Clivus, a motorboat came in and tied to another mooring. We headed up the hill and opened up the tower and museum/gift-shop for possible visitors. Shortly after, two guys from the sailboat came up to visit and they told us they had sailed out of the New Meadows River and were on the first day of a ten-day sailing adventure. One of the guys had been here before but the other had not.

A group of ten came up next from the motorboat we saw tying up earlier. Patty talked to one of the guys in the gift-shop and found out that the Alan Claude prints we sell might have been made possible, or at least more likely, because of his efforts. Apparently, he’s an Alan Claude fan and for years, called the photographer asking him to shoot Seguin and add it to the collection of Alan Claude lighthouse prints that are displayed in the Portland Airport. The visitor’s daughter has the first print in her living room in Nova Scotia.

We talked to Cyndy earlier about the Clivus fan not working (we have lost power at the bottom of the hill) and had an idea about a solar package that might work – she spoke to the company we

recommended because of experience we’ve had with them related to our camper, and they needed some info about the fan motor (amps, size, etc.) so we went back down to get the info. We keep the Clivus clean but because the fan is not working, it doesn’t smell as fresh as it could and we’re concerned it may not be composting as quickly as it should also. We’re hopeful Cyndy is able to get a reasonable quote for a solar solution that will be doable this season.

Really big sailboat. Notice the normally large one in the foreground.

We took a break for a quick lunch snack and then headed outside again – Patty went berry raspberry and blackberry picking on the North Trail and I went out to take care of some poison ivy on the Lighthouse Trail. We both would prefer not using an herbicide but the poison ivy seems to have spread a little bit and after getting some on my wrist last week, I caved and got the spray. Patty came back with a small harvest and we’ll see what happens with the poison ivy over the next few days.

We once again went down the hill when we finished picking & spraying to see if we could collect some driftwood. When we got to the Cobblestone Beach, there were several juvenile seagulls (herring gulls we think) that were taking their first unsteady flights.

Berry harvest - black berries and raspberries. — Berry harvest – black berries and raspberries.

The juveniles are brown, not white with gray wings like the adults, but they’re big. Maybe even bigger than the adults which made us think they might be Greater Black Wings but they’re surrounded by herring

adults and we’ve seen these same brown ones around nests that we know for sure are herring gull nests. We stayed down on the beach for a half-hour or more watching the tentative attempts at flying off higher rocks that was sometimes more hopping than flying.

Young seagull on one of his first flights.

At the end of the afternoon, we worked a little on the presentation we’re putting together for the F.O.S.I.L.S. Summerfest next Saturday. I think we’ve got a basic outline of what we’re going to do and have started filling in some of the details of the visual part.

We had grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and had a really nice sunset show afterwards.

Visitors – 12

Favorite Moment(s) – sitting on Cobblestone Beach watching young gulls learning to fly.