Jeff and Allison Wells Wed, 03/10/2021 - 11:00am
Birds, like scoters, that winter along our Maine coast may see polar bears during their migratory journey north through Hudson and James Bay. Photo courtesy of Traveling Otter from Wikimedia Commons.
Black scoters are a common wintering bird along the Atlantic Coast of North America including along the Maine coast, but they stop over during migration along the Hudson-James Bay coast. From The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds by Richard Crossley, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
A careful scan of the ocean here in mid-coast Maine in late winter (or “early spring,” if you are more of the hopeful bent) will often yield a bonanza of sea ducks. The males will often be in or near their peak breeding season finery as they work to impress females before setting off on their northward journeys to the nesting grounds. White-winged, surf, and black scoters are among the larger-bodied of these sea ducks that begin amassing in higher nu
Jeff and Allison Wells Wed, 02/24/2021 - 11:00am
Horned grebes that spend the winter here are studies in gray and white. Photo by Dick Daniels (http://carolinabirds.org/
Believe it or not, horned grebes, like this one seen off Maine’s midcoast, are closely related to flamingos. Photo courtesy of Diane R.
Horned grebes transform into dazzling, golden-tufted creatures on the summer breeding grounds in the Boreal Forest region of Canada and Alaska. Photo by Ken Conger/National Park Service courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Faithful reader Diane R. sent along a photo of a bird they had seen recently paddling around in tidal water just off the shore somewhere in the Midcoast area. They had questions about its identity and whether it should have been here or not.
Tue, 02/09/2021 - 1:00pm
Northern saw-whet owls are rarely seen, but once you know their distinctive tooting song, you may find that they occur in your backyard or nearby forest preserve. Photo by Kameron Perensovich through WikiCommons (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License)
A friend of ours has become seriously consumed with learning and studying bird sounds. He began recording them regularly with his iPhone this past fall and then learned how to make sonagrams of the calls to study them further. When we chatted about the question of whether he might have owls inhabiting the extensive woodland behind his house, he began doing some limited recording at night with his phone.
Jeff and Allison Wells Wed, 01/20/2021 - 10:00am
With the return of fish come the return of other wildlife, including bald eagles - a good indication that the watershed is on the rebound. Courtesy of Allison Wells.
One of the greatest stories of ecological rebirth happened (and is happening) right here in Maine. It’s a story of people and communities and organizations and businesses finding ways to cooperate and find paths to positive changes that benefit all. A richly illustrated new book, “From the Mountains to the Sea,” published by Islandport Press, tells this uplifting tale: the amazing story of the historic restoration of the Penobscot River.
Wed, 01/13/2021 - 10:00am
Short-eared owls are creatures of open habitats including, in winter, marshlands, farm fields, natural grasslands, and other areas. Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren via Wikimedia Commons
All owls are inherently mysterious to us humans for any number of reasons. We don’t see even the most common species very often, and sometimes our only experience with them is hearing their calls far away in the dark woods. Barred owls are actually relatively common in our area. But how often do you really get to see one? A few winters ago, when snow and ice conditions apparently made it tough for barred owls to find food, the birds began coming out in the daylight to hunt, resulting in a spate of close sightings that made the news. We wrote about it in this column.