Not even a pandemic and a fresh 19 inches of snow stopped Maine birders from taking part in the Christmas Bird Count this weekend. The official season for the 121st annual Count, or CBC, runs between December 14, 2020 and January 4, 2021, though many of the regions held their event this Saturday, …
Birds
Volunteers Get Creative During 2020 Annual Loon Count
In a year when it seemed like just about everything could go wrong, a few things did go right. Thanks to 48 regional coordinators and 1,347 volunteers, Maine Audubon's Annual Loon Count was one of them. They overcame many hurdles in order to complete the annual snapshot census of Maine's loon …
Make wildlife-friendly ornaments for the Fields Pond Night Tree
You're invited to bring a wildlife-friendly ornament to hang on our very own Night Tree at Fields Pond Audubon Center, and enjoy the classic children's book, Night Tree, by Eve Bunting on a book walk along the trail behind the Nature Center. The walk is up now through the end of the year. Some …
Through the Lens with Nick Leadley: Winter Bird Photography
Welcome back to Through the Lens with Nick Leadley, our continuing series on wildlife photography. Read the rest of the series here, and see more of his work at Touch The Wild. The leaves are down. Temperatures are slowly dropping. Perhaps a light dusting of snow is covering the yard. Winter …
Summer 2020 was Cuckoo
The summer of 2020 was cuckoo in more ways than one . . . both Black- and Yellow-billed! There are two species of cuckoos (Cuculidae) that nest in Maine, Black-billed Cuckoo (pictured above) being more wide-spread while Yellow-billed Cuckoo (pictured below) is scarce with only a few known nesting …
Set up your own Big Sit this weekend!
This year, Maine Audubon will not be able to have a team for the Big Sit, but you can do your own! I'll be setting up one at home and encourage you to do the same. What is a Big Sit? The event is "a semi-competitive birding event originated by the New Haven Bird Club in 1992." It's free and open …
Birds and Buildings, Part 1: The Problem
The nation is waking up to the incredible threat that buildings pose to flying birds. Buildings are not a natural part of the environment, and humans have disguised our buildings in a number of ways to make them more deceiving, and deadly, to birds. The result is that billions of North American …
“Birds of Maine” book coming in November
The first comprehensive overview of Maine's incredibly rich birdlife in more than seven decades, Birds of Maine is a detailed account of all 464 species recorded in the Pine Tree State. Written by the late Peter Vickery in cooperation with a team of leading ornithologists, this guide offers a …
Notes on the 2020 Loon Count!
This year marked the thirty-seventh straight year that Maine Audubon has engaged volunteers, early in the morning on the third Saturday of July, to count loons on lakes across the state. The 2020 Maine Annual Loon Count stands out in this long-running tradition for a few reasons. Falling this …