The sea ice is back. Yesterday Director Andy Beahm took a walk down to the Presumpscot River edge off the North Meadow at Gilsland Farm and noticed the ice forming along the shore, in amongst the tall grasses. The return of the ice is another sign of the progression into winter. Ocean and …
Maine's Naturalist
Nature Moments: Sex Ed for Botanists
Another fascinating installment from Bowdoin professor and Maine Audubon trustee Nat Wheelwright: Gender in humans turns out to be more complicated than we once thought, but gender in plants is pretty complicated, too. Plants can have separate sexes, like most animals, or they can be hermaphroditic …
Nature Moments: Fungi on the Move
Nat Wheelwright's latest "Nature Moments" video takes a closer look at the rich world of fungi: Fungi use mushrooms to disperse their offspring, much like plants use fruits. The spores of fungi can be spread by wind, by animals, or by a combination. But stinkhorns do it by smelling like rotting …
Nature Moments: Why Do Leaves Change Color?
Nat Wheelwright's latest "Nature Moments" video is especially timely: The last thing deciduous trees do before dropping their leaves in the fall is salvage nutrients that they can reuse next year. In the process, they reveal orange and yellow colors. Red is a different story: it serves as an autumn …
Nature Moments: Sharing Your Lawn with Bugs
Bowdoin professor and biologist Nat Wheelwright describes his latest "Nature Moments" video this way: You'd have to really hate butterflies, beetles and bugs to spread insecticides all over your lawn. Once you take a closer look at the ingredients and cautions, you may decide to share your lawn …
Is the sky bluer in the fall?
I love October -- the clear air, the bright leaves, and the deep blue sky. While appreciating the rich colors on a recent walk, I wondered, “Is the sky actually a deeper shade of blue in fall?” Thanks to physics, I was able to dig around and find the answer -- which is “yes!” Two light scattering …
Reminder: Keep your hummingbird feeders up
You can tell it is October when we start using words like Selasphorus or Archilochus - these two mouthfuls are the genera of some of the hummingbirds that occur in North America, which could be in your yard right now. Even though mostly all of our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have left Maine by the …
Nature Moments: Swimming with Leeches
Bowdoin professor and biologist Nat Wheelwright explains his latest video: I used to be afraid of leeches until I tried a simple experiment which showed that they much prefer frogs. Now I'd much rather swim in a natural pond than a sterile chlorinated pool. If you want to make your own natural …
Photo: Geese and other birds are on the move
October is a busy time for many bird species, as their migration routes bring them through Maine. You've likely seen flocks of geese and other migrating birds in the sky -- a sure sign of autumn. Our Wild Goose Chase van trip next month is a great opportunity to look for migrating geese. Consider …