If you’ve ever been in a store, public bathroom, or museum with a young child, you know their urge to touch everything is strong. The good news is that, barring exceptions like poison ivy, nature is full of opportunities for truly hands-on exploration! Touching and manipulating the natural world gives children those authentic experiences they […]
Connections
Elementary Connections: Nest Building Season
What do birds use nests for? How do they build them? What can we observe in our own yards and neighborhoods as birds enter nesting season? It’s that time of year! Many birds are gathering materials, starting construction, and even starting to care for their young around the state of Maine. Even in the midst […]
Connections: Great Migrations, Part 2
Something’s Fishy!�Last week we looked at the current migration of millions of birds through the air, all making their way to seasonal feeding and nesting areas in our part of the world.� This week, we’ll be exploring another one of Maine’s great migrations. This one is a bit more hidden from our sight, although no […]
Connections: Releasing the turtle into the pond!
In case you missed it, Catherine Griset did a live broacast at 10 am Tuesday morning (May 12) to release a baby snapping turtle into the pond at the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center. Catherine Griset wrote about her seven months fostering the baby snapping turtle. Watch this video to see her release the young turtle.
Seven Months in the Life of a Snapping Turtle
Seven months ago, a nest of Snapping Turtle eggs hatched at the edge of the parking lot at Gilsland Farm. You can read about that eventful day and the decision to overwinter one of the hatchlings in a previous blog post, Introducing Our New Roommate: A Baby Snapping Turtle.� After consulting various experts and the […]
Family Fun Connections: Animal Homes and Nests
One unexpected outcome of spending all this extra time at home has been seeing what other creatures find shelter in my neighborhood, too! This week, my challenge to you is to look for places where wildlife live, hide, and nest all around you. And once you see something, take a closer look! What I thought […]
Elementary Connections: Spring Wildflowers
What woodland flowers bloom first in our area? How can you tell them apart? What insects or animals help these early blooming flowers reproduce and grow through pollination? Ephemeral: What does that mean? When talking about the early-blooming flowers that pop up in forests around New England, folks often use the phrase �spring ephemerals.� Ephemeral […]
Connections: Great Migrations, Part 1
Nature in the Middle The sights and sounds of birds around us are increasing every day as we move further into spring.� This annual symphony of color and song is the result of something called migration. Migration is a strategy used by many bird species to survive seasonal changes in their environments. The birds that […]
Connections: Attract Orioles To Your Yard!
Baltimore Orioles are back! We’re not talking about the baseball team (though we can’t wait for the Sox to play again!), we’re talking about one of the brightest and most beautiful bird species in the entire country. The first of these migratory birds have returned to Maine just a few days ago, and thousands more […]