“I never grow tired of seeing flying bats silhouetted against an inky-blue sky. It stirs up a special kind of magic in my heart.” The other evening after dinner we were sitting around the fire in our backyard – (oh, what a simple patio and a fire bowl can do to encourage time spent under Read More
Protecting Wildlife
Maine is home to a wide variety of wildlife, and, for some species, Maine makes up a vast majority of their range or provides essential habitat that can’t be found elsewhere. NRCM works to protect Maine’s wildlife by advocating for policies that ensure they have healthy habitat and abundant resources to thrive.
Water for Wildlife and Your Dream Landscape
August—oh how I love this month in Maine! Fewer bug bites, warm days, and cool nights for perfect sleeping weather. Drifting off to dreamland with the peaceful sound of cricket song and a cool evening breeze through open windows just can’t be beat. It’s been so unbearably hot. Cooler evening temperatures can’t come soon enough, right? Read More
Forests are Forever Homes for Wildlife
I’ve been writing a lot about gardens and pollinators lately, but my roots are really in the woods. I was raised in Maine and have studied wildlife in forest environments for decades. My love of the woods is also in my blood. I come from a long line of forest dwellers. My great-grandfather (aptly named Read More
Last of Their Kind in the Year of the Bird
Like many of you, we mourned the loss of the last male northern white rhino on Earth. His name was Sudan. Though he was named for the country where he was born, Sudan had spent most of his life in a zoo in the Czech Republic. While Sudan lived out his life thousands of miles Read More
Saving Songbirds Starts with Your Morning Coffee
“The air is crowded with birds — beautiful, tender, intelligent birds — to whom life is a song.” — George Henry Lewes I woke this morning to the musical magic of birdsong—is there anything better? Despite the chilly weather, and the freezing rain earlier this week, songbirds are singing, and IT IS SPRING. In an Read More
Robin Hunting—and Eating—and the Year of the Bird
You may know that the early settlers to North America named the American Robins we know and love today. But did you know they also ate them? When the first European settlers saw the bird, they named the species “robin” based on the robins they knew back in Europe. That species, now called the European Read More
Athens Community School Middle School Students Learn about Local Wildlife
At Athens Community School, we have a unique Friday afternoon program called Learning Power. In this mock community, students choose a group to join for the year where they learn and practice real-life skills. This year, my group is a 4-H Club. In 4-H, children “learn by doing” while applying life skills, strengthening the fundamentals Read More
The Littlest Goose
Every winter, a few of the tiniest of geese spend the winter along the Maine coast. These geese, called Brant, are another of the species that we celebrate in the Year of the Bird because, if not for the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918, they might not be with us anymore. Read More
Plan Your Habitat Garden
It’s February, can you believe it? Around this time of year, a lot of us are getting tired of Old Man Winter and are looking forward to the first blooms of spring. Good news! We have only one more month left of meteorological winter (which runs from December 1st through the end of February). That Read More
