Somehow it’s August! The piping plover breeding season is beginning to wind down, birds are taking off from Maine beaches to migrate South for the winter, and Maine Audubon’s Coastal Bird Crew is breathing a little easier. 170 young birds fledged off of beaches from Georgetown to Ogunquit is no …
Environmental Education
Dune Grass Habitat: Essential For More Than The Birds
I recently was surveying for some of the last piping plover chicks of the season on Old Orchard Beach when a woman approached me, pointing to the bright green runners of beach grass at my feet. "What type of grass is that?", she asked to which I replied, "dune grass", caught off guard by such a …
Summer is a great time to explore
Summer is a great time to explore Gilsland Farm, and we have plenty of opportunities to get your family outdoors and learning about wildlife together! We have several new programs this year, so take a look. Read & Ramble: Join us for an outdoor storytime, geared towards children ages 3-5 and …
2021 Piping Plover Census Smashes Last Year’s Numbers, But Not Without Its Challenges
Over 120 pairs of endangered piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) were recently counted during the annual Piping Plover Census: a combined effort led by Maine Audubon, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife, and a diverse network of volunteers. Monitors traveled …
Nature Explorer Backpacks open up a world of wildlife
Make your outdoor family time a science-based experience that fosters environmental literacy with our new Nature Explorer Backpacks. Nature Explorer Backpacks include tools, resources, and activities to encourage deeper exploration of the wildlife and ecosystems found at Gilsland Farm Audubon …
Tiny But Mighty: Plover Chicks Return To Southern Maine Beaches
At first glance, there is nothing cuter than a cotton ball-sized piping plover chick scurrying about the water’s edge or tumbling through tufts of dune grass. Now imagine staring at the Maine Coastal Birds Crew calendar of 65 anticipated hatch dates for piping plover nests ranging from Georgetown to …
Waterfowl Wizardry Runs in the Family for Maine’s Junior Duck Stamp Winner
Some of the nation's most impressive waterfowl art is created in a single, sunny studio room from a home in Biddeford. There, among the cluttered desks and tables, three women of the Lowell family—mom, Rebekah, and daughters Elektrah, 14, and Ariah, 12—spend their evenings drawing and painting …
Celebrate Your Watershed This Week
Maine’s watersheds provide us with incredibly rich ways to learn about our ecology, culture, economy, and the connections amongst and between them. For millennia, animals have migrated to Maine’s rivers from around the world to reproduce. For ten thousand years, Wabanaki people have understood and …
Announcing the winners of the 2020-21 Junior Duck Stamp Contest!
Congratulations to all the participants and the winners in this year's Maine Junior Duck Stamp challenge! The young artists impressed the judges, who met on March 26 to review the art submitted by more than 400 Maine students in grades K through 12 taking part in this federal program. The Junior …