Hello there from the 2024 Coastal Birds Crew! The season is off to a busy start and everyone on the crew has been excited to dive right into work—protecting our rare beach-nesting birds. On our first day on the beaches, we headed down to Ogunquit Beach and fenced along the entire dune edge. We were …
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Talking Tackle with the Fish Lead Free team
Maine Audubon’s Fish Lead Free project has been busy over the winter attending events and spreading the lead-free fishing word! Why lead-free? Because loons! Loons will mistake small lead sinkers on lake bottoms for gravel to help aid in digestion or will consume fish that have a piece of lead …
Planting Staghorn Sumac
Spring snowstorms can be a challenge for everyone. For humans ready to put away shovels and snowblowers, storms can be a real annoyance. For early migrant birds looking to feed on insects, blizzards can be a real threat. In the thick of a snowstorm in late March 2024 I witnessed a large flock of …
Meet our Fish Migration Tales storytellers!
Each spring, millions of fish return to Maine’s coastal rivers to spawn. For thousands of years, these fish runs have helped people build and sustain communities, economies, and cultures. Over time, dams, pollution, and other threats have fractured habitat and diminished historic numbers and species …
A 2024 Brush with Nature Update
Brush with Nature 2024 Update In 2024, Maine Audubon is moving away from the plein air painting, gallery show, and fundraiser structure. Instead, we invite you to participate in Brush with Nature Maker Day on Saturday, August 24, 10 am to 2 pm, at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth. The event will be a …
Freeport Area Stream Explorers Wanted for Community Science Project
Do you like to explore? Walk through streams? Care about water quality? Are you looking for an excuse to be outdoors? If you answer yes to those questions, then this community science project, to explore water quality and stream health, is perfect for you. Maine Audubon, in partnership with Trout …
Maine Legislature Passes Suite of Bills to Protect Maine’s Lakes
The Maine Legislature this week finalized a set of bills intended to protect and enhance water quality on freshwater lakes and ponds. The bills, each passing with bipartisan support, tackle a variety of emerging freshwater issues, including aquatic invasive species, shoreland zoning, and wake …
Backyard Bird of the Month for April: Brown-headed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbirds are easily overlooked among the flocks of returning blackbirds in early spring. They are a similar shape and size to Red-winged Blackbirds, and the males of both species are mostly black. Male Brown-headed Cowbirds have no red or yellow on the wing, and a brown head. Females …
Managing Nature at Home!
Just when we thought it was time to put away the snow tires, we were reminded that March remains predictably unpredictable. This latest snow storm inflicted heavy damage on trees and shrubs across our state. Fortunately, the majority of our resilient native plant communities withstood the heavy ice …