Hello! I’m Emma Sloan, a biologist with Maine Audubon’s Plover Crew. We have spent this summer protecting the endangered Piping Plover along 22 beaches in southern Maine. As a new graduate and new resident of Maine, I have learned so much through this work. So, before the season ends, I wanted to …
Maine's Naturalist
Top Ten Rare Birds found at Scarborough Marsh
At over 3,000 acres, Scarborough Marsh is the largest contiguous salt marsh in Maine, and also one of the most famous and productive birding destinations. Thousands of birders visit Scarborough Marsh each year—from Dunstan's Landing to the Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center to Pine Point and …
NEW Birding Hotspot Map for Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument
When President Obama established the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in 2016 he added permanent protection for some of the most important bird breeding habitat in the state. Contained in its more than 87,000 acres are boreal and deciduous forests, mountain peaks, spruce bogs, rivers and …
Help us keep track of creepy-crawly critters!
Like creepy-crawly critters? Did you love looking for turtles, snakes, or salamanders as a kid? If so, rekindle that curious kid to help the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) search for amphibians and reptiles across Maine this spring, summer, and fall. This is the last year …
RARE BIRD ALERT: STELLER’S SEA-EAGLE
LATEST UPDATE: 1 Apr 2022 -- It's not an April Fool's joke, the Steller's Sea-Eagle has been seen in Nova Scotia! This blog will no longer be updated (unless the sea-eagle returns to Maine!) but you can follow the new Nova Scotia: Steller's Sea-Eagle Facebook Group for updates on sightings …
Make Your BIG NIGHT Last a Week!
Things are starting to spring, and even sing! Our minds often start thinking of spring as birds return to Maine. However, the arrival of Red-winged Blackbirds and Woodcocks are also phenological indicators of something completely different – BIG NIGHT!!! Maine’s incredible reptiles and amphibians, …
Winter Bird Atlas Returns: Count birds this winter
It is almost time for the start of the Winter Season of the Maine Bird Atlas, a project by the Maine Dept of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to document the breeding and wintering distributions of Maine's birds. This five year project has just one breeding season (in 2022) left, and we are about to …
Rare Birds of November 2021
Many birders affectionately refer to November as "rarity season" since it tends to be the month that brings the most rare birds to Maine and the northeast. November 2021 has been no exception, with the highlights (so far) being a Barnacle Goose in Rockland and an Ash-throated Flycatcher (above) in …
Tracking an Invasion at Gilsland Farm
All the basic information about the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) is right there in its name: "emerald" refers to the hue of its iridescent body; "ash" for the family of trees that these jewel beetles feed and lay their eggs on; and "borer" for the tunnels young beetles dig through the …