Maine Audubon biologists and educators will be taking part in the 2025 Maine Sustainability & Water Conference, scheduled for March 27 at the Augusta Civic Center. The conference is an annual gathering where “ . . . professionals, researchers, consultants, citizens, students, regulators, and planners gather to exchange information and present new findings on sustainability […]
Exciting Changes Coming to Gilsland Farm
Maine Audubon’s Native Plants Program Expanding into New Building Maine Audubon has unveiled plans for the Ann and Jim Hancock Native Plants Education Center and expanded, adjacent growing area, to be built at Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm headquarters in greater Portland. Supported initially by generous donations from Ann and Jim Hancock, the new structure will […]
Maine Audubon Supports Bills to Designate a State Amphibian and Reptile
Legislation to Designate the Spring Peeper as our State Amphibian and Wood Turtle as State Reptile have Hearings in Augusta On February 3, Maine Audubon Policy Advocate Ania Wright will testify in support of a pair of bills aiming to shine a spotlight on some of Maine’s lesser-known wildlife. The Maine State Legislature’s Committee on […]
December fun on the trails
You may have noticed that the fields at Gilsland Farm received their annual mowing with the tractor over the past few weeks, but did you know that the fields at Josephine Newman and Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuaries have also seen some love? The Properties Department recently purchased a small BCS tractor with the intent of […]
Maine Audubon’s 41st Annual Loon Count Results Show Healthy Loon Population
Above photo: Loons on Fields Pond, Photo by Wayne Foote It was a very good year—for Maine loons! When every single number associated with the Annual Loon Count goes up, scientists at Maine Audubon say it’s a great indication that the Common Loon population is healthy. All the numbers of adult loons, loon chicks, lakes […]
Putting Gilsland Farm to Work in the Effort to Preserve Maine Ash Trees
Maine is the most forested state in the nation (with almost 90 percent of forest land) so we might be forgiven for taking trees for granted. But many of the tree species in Maine are or have been under threat. Fungal diseases have attacked chestnut and elm trees and invasive insects are threatening hemlocks, oaks, […]
The Forecast? Loons Won’t Nest in Cloudy Waters
As the field season comes to a close, the loons are beginning to make their way back to the ocean and Loon Restoration Project interns are wrapping up their field seasons with Maine Audubon. Earlier in the season, after reading a study focused on loons and their reactions to poor water clarity, intern Anne Heissenbuttel […]
Honoring trees at Gilsland Farm
How do you know when a tree has reached its natural life expectancy, or when it has become decayed and presents a public safety issue? And how do you balance that with the joy it brings to humans who enjoy its beauty and appreciate the shade it offers? What about the wildlife it supports? Those […]
Feeling the impact: End of season thoughts from the Loon Restoration Crew
Above photo: The 2024 Loon Restoration Crew. Top Row (left to right): Tracy Hart, Brooke Adam, Autumn Dorr, Anne Heissenbuttel. Bottom Row (left to right): Marley Cloutier, Oskar Mattes, Ethan Daly. © Oskar Mattes By Ethan Daly, Loon Restoration Team Technician The total impact of conservation work is rarely seen by those who make it happen. […]