Bruce and Gail Small could not stop exclaiming as they navigated their boat in and around the bays, nooks, crannies, and marinas at a busy end of Sebago Lake. It was their fourth year participating in Maine Audubon’s Annual Loon Count. Bruce navigated the boat while Gail recorded each sighting carefully on the map. And […]
Clean Water
Back to School on the Narraguagus River
Whether you are a student, teacher, restoration professional, or a family member of one of those, you are well aware of how busy fall can be. Across the state, classrooms fill and settle back into school year routines while stewardship and restoration professionals scramble to finish fieldwork without interns and seasonal staff. Given our mission […]
Goodbye, Fry! A Salmon Send-Off to Remember for Endangered Species Day
Today we honor Endangered Species Day with stories about our work with schoolchildren in the Greater Portland and Greater Bangor area to raise and release endangered Atlantic Salmon. FIELDS POND This story begins back on a chilly February day, when Northern Programs Director David Lamon and Community-Based Education Manager Melissa Gallagher trudged through knee-deep snow, […]
Learning that Sticks: Bangor Students Explore Watershed Health
This spring, fifth graders in Ms. Estes’ class at Mary Snow School wrapped up a yearlong investigation into watershed health with an inspiring environmental action project, thanks to support from the NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grant program. Their learning journey brought them from the top of Copeland Hill in Holden to the […]
Maine Audubon heads to water conference to talk about healthy streams
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 […]
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 […]
Tackling Lead, One Retailer at a Time: It Adds Up!
Earlier this fall, an ad playing on the radio caught Dana Jenkins’ attention. “Calling all fishing tackle stores in Maine,” the announcer’s voice said. “Maine Audubon wants to pay your store for its lead tackle. A new law makes it illegal to sell painted lead jigs weighing 1 ounce or less or measuring 2.5 inches […]
New Statewide Shoreland Harvesting Standards Set to Take Effect Soon
Shoreland areas – those places adjacent to wetlands, streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes – are incredibly important for fish, wildlife, and water quality. We know that around 85% of vertebrate wildlife in Maine use shoreland areas some time during the year for hiding, nesting, denning, feeding, and traveling, and that a dense cover of herbs, […]
Happy Fourth of July: Loon Restoration Project Update
By Ethan Daly, Loon Restoration Team Technician I was recently checking in on one of our new loon nesting raft sites near Gray, Maine. As I stood on the shore, speaking with a volunteer about how to minimize human disturbances to the raft, we watched two paddle boarders weave in between our strategically placed raft […]