Let’s get the laugh out of the way first: yes, they are called Yellow-rumped Warblers, they do have yellow rumps, and sometimes we even call them “butter-butts”. This unique feature, present in all sexes and plumages, makes this species one of the easiest warblers to identify. Even in the fall, when most warblers are relatively […]
News & Notes
Putting Gilsland Farm to Work in the Effort to Preserve Maine Ash Trees
Maine is the most forested state in the nation (with almost 90 percent of forest land) so we might be forgiven for taking trees for granted. But many of the tree species in Maine are or have been under threat. Fungal diseases have attacked chestnut and elm trees and invasive insects are threatening hemlocks, oaks, […]
Maine Sport Outfitters first retailer to take part in lead tackle buyback program
As a new law expanding the ban on sales of certain sizes of lead tackle comes into effect, we are working to help tackle stores adapt and respond, by offering to buy their inventory. We’ve just had our first success story this week and wanted to share the news! Thanks to a grant from Maine […]
The Forecast? Loons Won’t Nest in Cloudy Waters
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 […]
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 […]