Welcome to the best month for planting in Maine! September offers the perfect combination of cooler nights, high dew points, warm soil, and, typically, more rainfall. Plants that go in the ground this month will have a few weeks to settle, root out a little, and become dormant for winter. Plants …
Insects
Nanotagging Monarch Butterflies — Very, Very Carefully — at Fields Pond
Once inside the front door of the Nature Center, summer visitors to the Fields Pond Audubon Center have been greeted by a display of Monarch Butterflies. Beginning as either eggs or small caterpillars, we collected these from the plethora of milkweed plants that grow all around the Nature Center. …
Maine’s Naturalist: Seeing Odd Growths on Plants? They Might Be Galls!
Maine Audubon regularly features posts by guest authors as part of our Maine's Naturalist series. If you'd like to explore contributing a post about Maine wildlife, send an email to media@maineaudubon.org. Today's post is from Polly Haight Frawley, 2019 graduate of the Maine Master Naturalist …
Let plants thrive in July
Happy summer! It's late July, but don't believe the hype about summer being mostly over. Ecologically, there are still three important months left of the growing and blooming season before we get to fall. Each of those months is special and important is its own way. July's focus should be letting …
What is an Insect BioBlitz?
What's one of the best ways to spend a beautiful Saturday in July? Catching “bugs” at Fields Pond! And that's exactly what more than two dozen of us did on Saturday July 13th at the Fields Pond Insect BioBlitz. Armed with nets, magnifying lenses, and clear jars, we documented everything from …
Maine’s Naturalist: The Monarchs are Back!
Maine Audubon regularly features posts by guest writers, including graudates of the Maine Master Naturalist Program – in our Maine's Naturalist series. If you'd like to explore contributing a post, send an email to outreach@maineaudubon.org. Today's blog post is by Maine Master Naturalist Karen …
Following Monarchs to Mexico: Part 2
This is Part 2 of the Lambert family sojourn to Mexico in pursuit of Monarch butterflies. Read Part 1 here. An Intergenerational Quest In the fall, monarchs across the eastern United State and Canada migrate to a plot of fir trees in the mountains of Mexico last visited by their great great …
Following Monarchs to Mexico: Part 1
After three years of raising monarchs from eggs and caterpillars here in Maine, the Lambert family followed the Monarchs south to Mexico to see the next stage in their life-cycle. Here are some reflections from the metamorphosis and migration of Monarchs: At a time when Earth calls on human …
What Are Maine Insects Doing in the Winter?
One of the small consolations of living through a cold, dark Maine winter is that, hey, at least we're not getting bitten by mosquitoes! There are thousands of "bug" species in Maine. You see them all over in the spring and summer -- bees, mosquitoes, flies, and dragonflies zip through the air, …