Maine is home to several species of large, smart, loud, occasionally obnoxious, sometimes eerie, endlessly fascinating birds called corvids. Our two species of jay belong to this family, Canada Jay and Blue Jay, as well as three similar-looking black birds: American Crow, Fish Crow, and Common …
Maine's Naturalist
Introducing Our New Roommate: A Baby Snapping Turtle
Each summer, adult female Common Snapping Turtles haul themselves out of the pond here at Gilsland Farm and look for a place to lay their eggs. They climb the hill and slowly probe around looking for an appropriately dry and sandy spot, checking the pollinator garden, the parking lot, and around the …
Through the Lens with Nick Leadley: The Quality of Light
Welcome back to Through the Lens with Nick Leadley, our continuing series on wildlife photography. Read the rest of the series here, and see more of his work at Touch The Wild. Light is the one constant all photographs have in stock and something all photographers must learn to work with, though …
National Audubon Reports on Climate Risks to Maine Birds
Today the National Audubon Society released a new report, Survival By Degrees: 389 Species on the Brink, which gives detailed projections for how climate change will impact the ranges of hundreds of bird species. The report contains state-by-state breakdowns of these projections, and the Maine …
Bird numbers declining by the billions
A shocking new report published this week in the journal Science has outlined what many avid birders in Maine have been telling us for years: the number of birds we are seeing in our fields, forests, coastlines, and even our feeders is shrinking. Dramatically shrinking -- on average by 29%, or one …
Maine’s Naturalist: Grouse Encounters
This story was submitted by a member, Marion Britts of Orland, and we wanted to share her joy and excitement with others. We love hearing about how our members are making connections with the wild world around them. It has been included in full here with only minor edits. One morning as I was …
Through the Lens with Nick Leadley: Defining Your Vision
Welcome back to Through the Lens with Nick Leadley, our continuing series on wildlife photography. Read the rest of the series here, and see more of his work at Touch The Wild. The idea for this post came from an ordinary event: scheduling my annual eye exam. That got me thinking about …
Common Nighthawks Migrating
Keep your eyes to the skies this Labor Day Weekend as swarms of nighthawks migrate south! The Common Nighthawk is a seldom encountered species in Maine – most Mainers will be more familiar with their cousin, the vocal Eastern Whip-poor-will – but in late August we see a spike in their sightings as …
Head Harbor Passage 2019 Trip Report
On Saturday, August 24th, we ran our third annual Head Harbor Passage boat trip out of Eastport and again, this is an area that didn't disappoint. The narrow waterways of Head Harbor Passage pair with extreme tides to create upwellings and the famous "Old Sow" whirlpool that drives food, like krill, …