We're really excited about a new partnership with Bowdoin College professor (and Maine Audubon board member) Nat Wheelwright. Each of Nat's 90-second "Nature Moments" videos -- which we'll share here over the coming months -- introduces one or more animals or plants, describing its natural …
Maine's Naturalist
2017 Bar Harbor Pelagic Trip Summary
Maine Audubon's annual pelagic out of Bar Harbor ran on Sunday, September 17th this year. In the week building up we'd been monitoring wind (which was calm) and seas (which had dissipated) from the hurricanes moving over the Atlantic. We even used a larger boat this year, Bar Harbor Whale Watch's …
Rare Bird Alert: Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Fall is upon us and birds are migrating. While many of us think of birds leaving for the winter, this also means the potential for vagrancy and rare birds showing up almost anywhere. Hotspots, like Monhegan Island, have already seen rarities like Say's Phoebe, Painted Bunting, and Red-headed …
Head Harbor Passage 2017 Trip Report
On 26 August, we ran our inaugural trip to explore the waters of Head Harbor Passage and it was awesome! The bottlenecked water from the extremely high tides off Eastport literally create a whirlpool, known as the Old Sow, where a variety of 'bird food' (especially krill) is brought to the surface …
Are you seeing fewer birds in the summer?
Each year I receive a number of phone calls or inquires from people worried about the lack of birds at their feeders in the summer time. Fear not! This is generally a good thing. Below, I'll use some eBird data to illustrate some of the changes in a bird's frequency or abundance throughout the …
Trip to Borestone Mountain
As we head into our summer trip season I wanted to share one of my favorite locations in Maine with everyone: Borestone Mountain. This is one of Maine Audubon's eight sanctuaries and at 1,600 acres, the largest. Located in Elliotsville, Borestone is north enough to be getting into some higher …
Bird-a-thon 2017 Results
At our busiest time in May, during the peak of spring migration, Maine Audubon holds its annual Bird-a-thon. This is a fundraiser where teams of birders try to see as many species as they can within 24-hours, staying in Maine. There are strict rules for those who want to set a 'big-day' record, but …
2017 Evergreen Cemetery and Capisic Pond Warbler Walks
Our annual Warbler Walks at Evergreen Cemetery and Capisic Pond are underway and the birds are not disappointing! We will continue these walks through next Friday, May 19th, so I hope you can join us at Evergreen, Mondays through Thursday, or Capisic on Friday. Here is a quick summary of what we've …
Rarest Bird Alert – FIELDFARE
We were still riding the excitement of the Vermilion Flycatcher at Hog Island when a new bird showed up that blew our minds yet again: Maine's first FIELDFARE. This Eurasian thrush was found on the morning of 19 April 2017 by Jeff Cherry in Newcastle. Many thanks to Jeff for quickly alerting the …