During the month of May, Maine Audubon worked with students at Piscataquis Community High School to restore habitat and landscape interest on a popular path along their namesake river. This culminated in students and staff planting 180 native wildflowers, each species chosen for specific ecological …
News & Notes
Seeking Environmental Education Assistants!
Are you a 14- to 17-year-old who wants to spend time exploring outdoors with campers this summer? Do you want to build skills, gain experience, and have fun while volunteering? If so, we hope you’ll apply to be an Environmental Education Assistant (EEA) with Maine Audubon’s summer day camps for …
Hundreds of students, hundreds of salmon!
May 19 may have been Endangered Species Day but Maine Audubon educators spent the better part of last week celebrating and helping endangered species by releasing hundreds of salmon fry, raised in part by Maine students, into the wild. Maine currently has the last remaining wild population of …
New Nature Trail Improvements at Scarborough Marsh
A couple heading out on the Nature Trail at Scarborough Marsh the other day was delighted to read about the marsh and some of the inhabitants on an interpretive sign they came across at the trailhead. Little did they know, they were the very first people to see the new sign installed! Frequent …
Warbler Walks at Evergreen Cemetery – Week 1
Each spring, Maine Audubon offers free bird walks ("warbler walks") at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, and we've just completed our first of two weeks there. The quick summary is that this week was incredible! Of the nine years I've been leading these walks, the last three days (10-12 May) have …
Broad Support Demonstrated for Bill to Close Loophole in Lead Fishing Tackle Laws
On May 8, advocates gathered to testify at a public hearing before Maine State Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee in support of LD 958, a bill to update existing law to phase out the sale and use of small-sized painted lead jigs to more comprehensively address lead-caused …
Bangor students see things from a salmon’s eye view
Through recent outdoor learning and hands-on activities, students at the Fairmount School in Bangor are deepening their understanding of watersheds thanks to Maine Audubon’s “River in my Backyard” after-school program. The school was recently presented with their very own salmon story “walk,” 12 …
Backyard Bird of the Month for May: Northern Parula
The Northern Parula has a peculiar name for a warbler, and an even more peculiar story. Many warblers, including the Northern Parula, are referred to as parulas and parulines in Spanish and French, respectively. Parula derives from the Latin parus, for Eurasian tit species (similar to our chickadees …
Maine Audubon Supports Bill to Protect Endangered and Threatened Species Habitat
On Wednesday, April 5, the Maine Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee will hold a public hearing on LD 1246, An Act to Include Endangered and Threatened Species Habitat in the Definition of "Significant Wildlife Habitat" Under the Natural Resources Protection Act. The bill seeks …