As the field season comes to a close, the loons are beginning to make their way back to the ocean and Loon Restoration Project interns are wrapping up their field seasons with Maine Audubon. Earlier in the season, after reading a study focused on loons and their reactions to poor water clarity, intern Anne Heissenbuttel […]
News & Notes
2024 Bar Harbor Pelagic Trip Report
We’ve been dealing with hurricanes the last few years, but had wonderful stretch of calm seas around this year’s pelagic trip from Bar Harbor. It was a beautiful sunny day aboard Bar Harbor Whale Watch’s Friendship V, a 112 foot a jet-powered catamaran. Perhaps the best nautical forecast we’ve ever seen on this trip, with […]
Plover Season Wrap-up: Breeding Pairs Down but Productivity Back on Track
Despite severe winter storm damage on the beaches, Piping Plovers arrived in Maine right on schedule, starting to arrive in mid March with many in time for the early April snowstorm and solar eclipse. Hardy little birds, the Piping Plovers weathered the storm and started staking out their nesting territories by mid April. Although some […]
East Point Audubon Sanctuary: A fall plant walk reveals parasitic plants
The trails at East Point Sanctuary in Biddeford Pool are a spectacular place to walk on a late summer afternoon. While it’s difficult to look away from the panoramic ocean views or abundant sea life, if you look carefully along the trailside, you can see some of Maine’s parasitic plant species. There are many parasitic […]
Making a Wildlife Plan of Action
Maine, along with every other state in the nation, is embarking on a herculean effort to update its 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP), required by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to access hundreds of thousands of dollars through the State Wildlife Grants program. The purpose of the SWAP, per Congress, is to keep […]
Maine Audubon offers money to retailers to buy back lead tackle
Calling all Maine fishing tackle retailers: Maine Audubon is offering to buy back your store’s lead tackle to help get it off the shelves—and keep it out of lakes. As of September 1, 2024, the sale of painted lead jigs weighing one ounce or less or measuring less than 2.5 inches long is prohibited, and […]
Andy’s note: Suddenly September!
Suddenly, it’s September and we’re watching out for school buses. At our Audubon centers we’re shifting from summer camp mode to welcoming busloads of visiting school students on field trips. This makes it a good time to take stock of our summer activities and success, and to appreciate our more than thirty seasonal employees. Here […]
Feeling the impact: End of season thoughts from the Loon Restoration Crew
Above photo: The 2024 Loon Restoration Crew. Top Row (left to right): Tracy Hart, Brooke Adam, Autumn Dorr, Anne Heissenbuttel. Bottom Row (left to right): Marley Cloutier, Oskar Mattes, Ethan Daly. © Oskar Mattes By Ethan Daly, Loon Restoration Team Technician The total impact of conservation work is rarely seen by those who make it happen. […]
Backyard Bird of the Month for September: Sharp-shinned Hawk
You may never see Sharp-shinned Hawks, but they certainly pass through your backyard. Sharp-shinned Hawks are some of the most significant predators of small birds, which make up the majority of their diet, so as you might expect, bird feeders make easy hunting grounds. Here’s a good clue to their presence, as well as that […]