I’m very excited about this special�event we are hosting at Gilsland Farm on Monday evening: Why Natural History Matters: Saving the Earth and Feeding Your Soul Through the Study of Natural History, with Tom Fleischner, Executive Director of the Natural History Institute In his only east coast talk open to the public, Tom Fleischner — […]
Maine's Naturalist
2018 Bar Harbor Pelagic Trip Report
On Saturday, September 15, we ran our annual pelagic trip out of Bar Harbor. The weather and sea conditions in the Gulf of Maine during the fall can always be a challenge, and we were especially cautious this year with Hurricanes Florence and Helene throwing waves our way. Fortunately, Saturday provided one of the perfect […]
Nature Moments: The Sound of Extinction
Whip-poor-wills, swallows and other birds that feed on flying insects are rapidly disappearing throughout the northeast. The same is true of too many other animals and plants, says Maine Audubon board member and Bowdoin professor Nat Wheelwright. Once you pay attention to nature and come to care about it, you can hear the loss of […]
Nature Moments: Parade of Frogs
How can so many frog species co-exist in the same pond without competing for food or accidentally mating with the wrong species? One solution is to reproduce at different times of year. From mud season until the first autumn frosts, you can witness a parade of different frogs. Nature Moments�are produced by Nat Wheelwright and […]
Nature Moments: The Buzz About Bees
Bumblebees have tiny brains but extraordinarily sophisticated behavior. If you follow a bee as it forages for pollen and nectar, you’re likely to find that it specializes on only one type of flower. In this latest Nature Moments video, ecologist Patty Jones explains that bees’ choices are influenced by plant chemicals and the behavior of […]
Nature Moments: Herbivory in Moderation
Those holes, rips, folds and tubes that you find in leaves? They’re mainly the work of larval beetles, moths, flies, sawflies and other insects. In moderation, herbivory is a sign of a healthy environment because it indicates that our native insects have not been decimated by pesticides or climate change. Nature Moments�are produced by Nat […]
Nature Moments: Stripes Between Tides
In animals, stripes serve to provide camouflage or warn predators. At the scale of landscapes, stripes reveal differences among plants in animals in their ability to deal with difficult environments, predation, or competition for space, as marine biologist Amy Johnson explains. Look for stripes the next time you climb a mountain or visit the beach. […]
Nature Moments: The Songs of Trees
If you close your eyes on a breezy day, you can identify trees just by the rustle of their leaves. Are they singing to each other? For David G. Haskell, ecologist and author of The Songs of Trees, listening closely to the distinctive voices in a forest “can ignite our curiosity and get our minds […]
Maine’s First White M Hairstreak
One of the big draws for me getting into birding when I was a high schooler was the opportunity to make contributions to ornithology through citizen science. I found eBird early on and seeing my sightings fill in gaps on range maps or bar charts provided the instant gratification I needed to stick with the […]