Your wildlife community - Maine Audubon

Scarborough Marsh Opening!

Join us for opening weekend May 25-27

Upcoming Events at Maine Audubon

May 11, 2024

World Migratory Bird Day at Fields Pond

Fields Pond - Holden
216 Fields Pond Rd. Holden, ME 04429

8:00 am - 2:00 pm

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Pollinator-Parade

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May 11, 2024

8th Annual Pollinator Parade & Picnic

Gilsland Farm - Falmouth
20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, ME 04105

10:00 am - 1:00 pm

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Warbler Walks at Evergreen Cemetery

May 13, 2024

Warbler Walks at Evergreen Cemetery

7:00 am - 9:00 am

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Warbler Walks at Evergreen Cemetery

May 14, 2024

Warbler Walks at Evergreen Cemetery

7:00 am - 9:00 am

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News & Notes

Welcome Warblers!

Spring migration is underway! Join us this month at Portland’s Evergreen Cemetery to witness a migration spectacle. Our free walks are weekdays (Monday–Friday) for two weeks: May 6–10 and 13-17, starting at 7 am. At the height of the migration season in mid-May it’s possible to see more than 20 warbler species in a single morning!

May Plant Sale

In an effort to get more native plants into the ground in the cooler earlier days of spring, we’re expanding our plant sale by offering almost 50 varieties of native trees and shrubs for the first three weeks of May. Order plants online at shop.mainenativeplants.org, and schedule a pick up time at (May 9-10, 16-17, 23-24) or Fields Pond (May 24 only).

The Piping Plovers’ Favorite Habitat

May 6, 2024

Sheep Laurel

The May Tree and Shrub Sale is open!

May 1, 2024

Red-eyed Vireo

Backyard Bird of the Month for May: Red-eyed Vireo

April 30, 2024

Pussy Willow

Here’s what bloomed in April at our sanctuaries

April 29, 2024

2024 Coastal Birds Crew on Wells Beach

Day One with the 2024 Coastal Birds Crew

April 25, 2024

Fish Lead Free Event

Talking Tackle with the Fish Lead Free team

April 25, 2024

Find Your Sanctuary

All this wildlife, just outside of Portland at Gilsland Farm

Current Projects

Maine Audubon initiatives bring together elements of conservation, community engagement, advocacy, and education.

Forestry for Maine Birds

Forestry for Maine Birds integrates bird conservation with forest management and planning by improving habitat for priority forest birds and a variety of other wildlife species and engaging woodland owners in forest stewardship.

Maine Loon Project

Maine Audubon works with residents and partners statewide to promote healthy lakes, clean water, and quality habitat for loons and to understand trends in their population over time.

Bringing Nature Home

Maine Audubon works to restore and rebuild Maine’s natural biodiversity by planting the native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees that support the widest array of wildlife.

Rare and Threatened Species

In the field, Maine Audubon’s Coastal Birds Crew works to protect endangered Piping Plovers and Least Terns. In the last session of the legislature, our advocacy team helped pass a bill to add protection of endangered species habitat.

Birding In Maine

Birding events, resources, regional guides, Young Birders checklist, maps, and more

maineaudubon

🦅 COOL NEW PROGRAM! Interested in birds, but n

🦅 COOL NEW PROGRAM! Interested in birds, but not sure if your little ones would be as well? Love looking at nature and wildlife, and want tips on how to do this as a family? We've got the outing for you! On Saturday, May 18, from 1-3 pm, young birders of all ages and skill levels, with their grown-ups, are invited to join us for a fun afternoon of learning about and observing birds! Choose your own adventure and activity level. We'll have bird-related games, crafts, and activities with Early Childhood Education Manager Emma Ottenheimer, and Field Naturalist Andy Kapinos will guide you to watch birds feeding and nesting around the orchard. For those that want to explore further, Andy will lead two short walks at 1:30 pm and 2:15 pm. Register at link in bio > maineaudubon.org/events

Our Backyard Bird of the Month for May is the Red-

Our Backyard Bird of the Month for May is the Red-eyed Vireo! "Here I am! Where are you? Way up here! In the tree!" So goes the song of the Red-eyed Vireo, heard in nearly every forested area between Kittery and Fort Kent from May until early autumn. True neotropical migrants, Red-eyed Vireos spend the nonbreeding season in the Amazon Basin, especially in Colombia, Brasil, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru. Most depart South America during April, and over the course of a few weeks or a month, make their way up through Central America and the southeastern US, migrating on clear nights and refueling during the day by feasting on the abundance of newly-emerged insects. The first males can reach Maine by the first week of May, but the majority arrive in the second and third weeks, just in time for the emergence of leaves and insects in the canopy of our forests.

These canopy-dwellers are heard far more often than they are seen, and possess a huge vocal repertoire, combining various “syllables” into “phrases” that don’t repeat. In fact, there is often no similarity between the songs of males whose territories are right next to each other. While the males generally sing from treetops, Red-eyed Vireos forage and nest in the mid- and understory, and require forest habitat with layers of native shrubs and small trees. Their nests are usually built at these lower levels, with layers of foliage above to hide the nest from predators. They raise their young on insects, especially caterpillars and other larvae, before eating increasing amounts of fruit later in the summer, which they subsist on throughout the nonbreeding season. The return of Red-eyed Vireos to their breeding territories in Maine is a yearly reminder that conserving healthy forest ecosystems is important not only here at home, but also in the neotropical forests where they spend the rest of their lives.

Backyard Bird of the Month is a feature by Maine Audubon created for the Maine Home Garden News, the newsletter of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard

Photo: Jeff Schmoyer, used with permission

The Maine Audubon Native Plants Woody Trees & Shru

The Maine Audubon Native Plants Woody Trees & Shrubs Sale opens tomorrow at 10 am!

With spring well on its way, we are eager to get our hands in the dirt and start planting. While we wait for our herbaceous plants to grow green and strong, we have opened our May Woody Sale, featuring everything from groundcovers to tree saplings! Place your order online starting at 10 am on May 1, and schedule plant pickups starting May 9.

HIGHLIGHT: Common Juniper is a stunning groundcover with multi-seasonal interest. It is cold-hardy and evergreen, and its fall berries are excellent for wildlife—and gin! It is a plant host for numerous caterpillars including the Juniper Hairstreak, a deep green butterfly. Other great groundcover choices include Bearberry and Lowbush Blueberry.

Last chance to see Kimberley Harding's show "Waste

Last chance to see Kimberley Harding's show "Waste Not" in the Gilsland Farm Gallery! Her sculptural work is on view through April 30 and is not to be missed. Kimberley's pieces reflect an environmentally-friendly ethos in her use of natural materials and repurposing the scraps from her studio.

Pictured: "Salt Marsh" Hand-dyed round and flat oval reed, acrylic paint, waxed threads. 2023.

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