There was a week last month when I was very into collecting dead horse flies. This is not a hobby that I had pictured for myself, but here we are. It happened like this: I was working outside, sitting on the Visitor Center patio at Gilsland Farm, when I heard a tiny ‘smack’ on the […]
News
Better walking thanks to new boardwalk at Hamilton Audubon Sanctuary
Hamilton Audubon Sanctuary in West Bath has received a lot of stewardship attention as of late! One major upgrade is a new boardwalk. Cole Epstein, Maine Audubon Seasonal Stewardship and Grounds Assistant, and I worked hard to haul a lot of timber into place for the construction of a 140-foot-long boardwalk. The area originally had […]
Another Super Summer with Sprout Lewiston students!
(Above photo: Sprout Lewiston students at Acadia National Park) On a humid morning in July, students from the Sprout Lewiston program met under a tent in the orchard at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth with Mihku Paul, a Wabanaki cultural sharer and regular partner of Maine Audubon. Mihku welcomed students in her language, Maliseet-Passamaquoddy, […]
Maine Audubon Honors Wildlife Champions in the Legislature
This week Maine Audubon held its first ever Wildlife Champion Awards event at Gilsland Farm. We gathered in the Ann and Jim Hancock Native Plants Education Center to honor six state legislators who helped pass important legislation related to wildlife and habitat during the 132nd Maine Legislature, which convened in 2025 and 2026. Wildlife advocacy […]
Natural Plant Community Feature: Sandplain Grasslands
Sandplain Grassland Plant Community The Sandplain Grassland is a rare plant community that occurs near the coast in southern Maine. They emerge on flat sandy plains, especially in places where ancient glaciers melted and the runoff deposited sand and gravel. The soil is very well-drained and acidic. Historically, these communities were more frequent, maintained by […]
Small Wonders: Alarm Calls
About a year ago, on the way to work, I stopped to admire a Black-capped Chickadee that had landed in a small tree only a few feet away. It watched me while making its “chickadee-dee-dee” call, and I gazed back, feeling grateful that a wild animal had chosen to share space and interact with me. […]
Unplug at Borestone Mountain this September
After Maine Audubon took over Borestone Mountain from National Audubon in 2000, it took a lot of hard work to get the lodges back into the condition that visitors appreciate now. Two volunteers who played a big part in that were George Libby and Gary Roberts, and they started leading weekend trips called the “Borestone […]
Emerald Ash Borer Summer Update: Information, Action, and Community Science
Ash trees are being threatened by Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an invasive pest which has arrived in North America. Ash trees—which make up about 3% of all trees in Maine, an estimated 511 million trees—feed and support numerous species of insects, birds, and mammals, and are vital to Maine forests and communities. Once EAB has […]
Stories from the 2026 Loon Count
The 43rd Annual Loon Count is a wrap! More than a thousand volunteers headed out on the water and surveyed more than 400 lakes across the state from 7 to 7:30 am on Saturday July 18. Despite some wind, it was a beautiful morning for the Loon Count. We want to give a huge shout […]