IN THIS ISSUEMigratory Bird Treaty Act:

Consequences and ControversyRewarding Lessons

Maine Bird Atlas Update

Fall 2019

HABITATMigrationPatterns of

Habitat Volume 35, Issue 3The journal of Maine Audubon, ISSN 0739-2052, is published quarterly.

habitat@maineaudubon.org

Melissa Kim, EditorNick Lund, Assistant EditorJenn Schmitt, Events EditorBrandi Sladek, Designer & Layout Editor

Maine Audubon Headquarters20 Gilsland Farm Rd., Falmouth, ME 04105

(207) 781-2330, maineaudubon.org

4 News and Notes

6 The Migratory Bird Treaty Act: Consequences and Controversy

12 Species Spotlight: American Eel

13 People for Wildlife: Kyle Lima

14 Rewarding Lessons

16 Events and Programs

20 Naturalist HQ

22 Poem: Hayfield Renaissance by Kathy Scott

Staff DirectorsAndy Beahm, Executive DirectorPeter Baecher, PropertiesDori Barnes, Finance & HREliza Donoghue, Advocacy Melissa Kim, CommunicationsKate Lewis, DevelopmentSally Stockwell, Conservation Eric Topper, Education Jan Weyant, Retail

Officers, Board of TrusteesDavid Littell, ChairJohn Dolloff, Vice ChairAlyssa Hemingway, TreasurerRichard McKittrick, Secretary

TABLE CONTENTSof

ANOTEEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

from the

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Fall migration is happening right now, even as you’re reading this sentence. Day and night, millions of animals are on the move, on journeys of a few yards or a thousand miles. Millions of songbirds are winging their way south at night, following the stars to their winter homes. During the day, butterflies, dragonflies, and hawks move over land, while whales and sea turtles migrate offshore.

Wildlife migration does not follow political boundaries, and it doesn’t wait for our approval. Yet humans are the biggest impediment to the free movement of wildlife. Our structures block pathways, our illuminations throw creatures off course, and our development changes the habi-tats that wildlife is trying to reach.

Our mission to protect Maine wildlife and wild-life habitat also means providing for the move-ment of wildlife across our borders, and we’re working on many fronts to make that happen.

Our efforts in the legislature have helped secure a brighter future for all of Maine’s wildlife, as Governor Janet Mills signed a host of Audu-bon-supported bills into law in the spring. One such bill established the Maine Climate Council, which is charged with developing action plans to

reduce Maine greenhouse gas emissions to 45% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, and instituting a host of new incentives for solar energy. We’ve strengthened the state Endangered Species Act, upgrad-ed clean water protections, and banned single-use plastic bags. There’s a lot more to be done, but we’re making great progress.

Our chapters are helping, too, by giving the next genera-tion the opportunity to become leaders for wildlife. In this issue of Habitat we outline a host of scholarships offered by Maine Audubon chapters for Maine students and educators to attend Hog Island Audubon Camp and the Acadia Insti-tute of Oceanography, among others.

Our main feature in this issue, from Department of Justice lawyer and Harvard Law professor Andrew Mergen, outlines current threats to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which he calls “one of the most consequential conservation statutes ever enacted.” Maine Audubon vows to continue to fight to preserve the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and other fed-eral statutes critical to the continued success of migratory animals everywhere.

Thank you for all you do to support Maine’s wildlife!

Andy Beahm 3

NEWS NOTESand

CATCH THE FALL MIGRATION WITH A NEW PAIR OF BINOCULARSCatch incredible deals through the end of the year on Zeiss Optics, including $50 off 32mm and 42mm TERRA models, a free TERRA 42mm with purchase of a Conquest Gavia 85 mm, or a free eyepiece with purchase of a Victory Harpia spotting scope.

Visit the Gilsland Farm Nature Store for details and let our staff help you find the right optics for you—or the bird lover in your life!

WHAT’S NEW AT THE NATURE STORE • Aspen Song Wild Bird seed!

• Local artisans’ work in our Sustainable Goods collection

• Felting kits from Maine fiber artist Heidi Boyd

• Endangered species project with ceramic artist Mary McKone and visual artist Jacqueline Johnson

AUGUSTA UPDATE: KEEPING ALERTOur advocacy team is gearing up to continue representing Maine’s wildlife and habitat when the Maine Legislature’s Second Regular Session convenes in January 2020. This session, we’ll be:

advocating to keep soft plastic lures from polluting our lake beds and compromising fish health;

problem-solving how to keep plastic bottle caps—an item with a spotty recycling record—out of our environment; and

awaiting the outcome of a study on aerial herbicide application, ready to move to action should there be a strong indication that this practice is no good for wildlife.

We’ll also be working to ensure that the outstanding work achieved during the First Regular Session moves along as promised. At the top of our list: keeping the Maine Climate Council on track to update Maine’s Climate Action Plan so that we can meet our mandated target of reducing the state’s annual greenhouse gas emissions to at least 45% below 1990 levels by 2030.

We need your help! Constituent communications are among the most effective ways to influence decision-makers. Sign up for our Action Alerts at maineaudubon.org/advocacy so that we can connect you with your legislators when they’re poised to make decisions that will impact Maine wildlife and habitat.

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SEPTEMBER 28 & 29

THE NATURE OF CRAFT IS BACK!We’ve expanded the sale to include more than

70 artists and artisans from around Maine, including returning fine artists Helene Farrar

and Page O’Rourke, and new additions of hand-crafted wood furniture by North

Cove Designs and unique pieces from maggie bokor jewelry. Other categories

include photography, printmaking, ceramics, fiber art, glass, and metalwork. Demonstrations, food trucks, and hands-on activities round out the offerings. This event is free.

For a full list of participants and hours, please visit maineaudubon.org/craft

MAKING MAINE’S

CULVERTS STREAM SMART

Learn more at: streamsmartmaine.org

Have you ever considered the impact of a culvert on wildlife?

Poorly-installed or decaying culverts can disrupt stream

flow, preventing fish and other wildlife from moving along the

waterway. The Stream Smart program—a partnership of

NGOs, government agencies, and forestry professionals—

was established in 2011 to highlight the importance

of properly placing stream crossings to allow for fish

and wildlife passage, as well as maintain public safety.

As coordinator, Maine Audubon facilitates springtime workshops aimed at educating

towns, and in the fall, we run field-based workshops to

work with road professionals. Last year, these fall workshops

expanded from one- to two-day sessions; two workshops will take place this October.

Since the program’s inception, we’ve reached more than

1,000 participants in 31 different towns!

FREQUENT FLYER FACTSFrequent Flyer benefits on an airline? Modest. Frequent Flyer benefits with Maine Audubon? Mission critical!

Since its inception five years ago, more than 200 of our members have switched from annual to monthly contributions to support wildlife conservation and education initiatives. For us, we can depend on this reliable form of support to help meet our monthly program and activity expenses. For you, it is an easy way to budget contributions for an organization you believe in, receive all the same membership benefits as annual donors, and know that you are doing your part to protect wildlife in Maine. Please consider a recurring monthly contribution as your way of supporting Maine Audubon in the year to come.

Learn more and sign up at: maineaudubon.org/support

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Consequences and Controversy

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act

By Andrew C. Mergen

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he Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 is one of the most consequential and controversial conservation statutes ever enacted.

Applicable to virtually all birds native to the United States, the MBTA prohibits the unauthorized “taking” and killing of birds. But what these words mean in practice has been vigorously contested and the MBTA has long been subject to legal and political controversy.

To understand the MBTA’s importance and the long-stand-ing controversies surrounding it, a brief dive into history is useful. When Europeans arrived in North America, they encountered plentiful populations of birds and a wide variety of bird species. John James Audubon was doubtful that even the wanton and mass slaughter of the Passenger Pigeon could, in his words, “end the species.” But Audubon

was wrong. Little more than half a century after Audubon’s death in 1851, the last Passenger Pigeon was living out its days in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo. That pigeon, “Martha,” died in 1914. Four years later the last Carolina Parakeet, “Incas,” died in the same cage.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the specter of extinction hovered over many bird species due to a thriv-ing business in market hunting for restaurants as well as a vigorous plume trade that provided feathers for the latest styles in ladies’ hats. The effect of these developments should not be underestimated. At its peak, William Hornaday, a conservationist who lobbied relentlessly for the MBTA and its precursor, estimated that in a single nine-month period the London millinery market had consumed feathers from nearly 130,000 egrets. Market hunting, facilitated by the telegraph and railroads, also took an immense toll on bird populations. Once located, a Passenger Pigeon breeding ground could be quickly depleted of hundreds of thousands of birds. In 1909, a magazine reported that Tennesseans had killed 150,000 robins and sold them for ten cents per dozen.

The devastation caused by these market forces unified two conservation-minded groups. The first group consisted of sport hunters, whose interest in bird hunting was recre-ational and who lamented the decline in bird populations and unsporting slaughter of wildlife by any means. The second group consisted of amateur naturalists and nature enthusiasts drawn to the wonder and beauty of birds whose interests could now be indulged through the use of “opera glasses.” It was not uncommon for these groups to overlap. Teddy Roosevelt, for example, was a devoted sport hunter who felt a deep affinity for nature and likened the loss of bird species to “the loss of a gallery of the masterpieces of the artists of old time.” Together these groups rallied to

John James Audubon’s Passenger Pigeon from The Birds of America (opposite) and “Martha,” the last known Passenger Pigeon

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enact wildlife preservation laws. In 1896, scientists and well-connected members of Boston society founded the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Other organizations, including the precursor to Maine Audubon (1897), soon followed.

The urgent need for a federal law grounded in a deeper un-derstanding of bird migration became clear after individual state laws failed to adequately protect wildlife that moved across borders, and a collection of uniform state laws was unachievable. Conservationist sport hunters and bird lovers lobbied hard for legisla-tion and in 1913 a federal bird conservation law, the Weeks-McLean Act, also known as the Migratory Bird Act, was enacted. The Act outlawed market hunting and forbade the interstate transport of birds. Notably, in order to gain votes, the Weeks-McLean Act’s propo-nents increasingly turned to science and economics for support. Specifically, scientists noted the enormous contri-bution to agriculture that bird populations made by elimi-nating insect pests. As Senator McLean put it, birds helped stay “the inroads of insect devastation.”

However, the difficulty with a federal law was that the management of wildlife within a state’s borders had been understood to be a state, not federal, prerogative. Oppo-nents of the Weeks-McLean Act, and there were many in the states that objected to the novel assertion of federal power over wildlife, had a powerful tool at their disposal: the Constitution.

Foes of the Weeks-McLean Act asserted that the law was unconstitutional because Congress lacked the authority to regulate wildlife. Today, multiple courts have upheld the

he MBTA is unequivocally a conservation success story. It has saved countless species. And historians agree that the treaty that preceded the Act set a ground-breaking precedent for international cooperation in the protection of natural resources.

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constitutionality of the Endangered Species Act pursuant to Congress’s authority over commerce. The Supreme Court, however, has never considered the constitutionality of the Endangered Species Act. But in 1913 many constitutional law scholars doubted the validity of the Migratory Bird Act because they doubted congressional power over commerce reached that far. Skeptics included then President Taft. Taft had planned to veto the bill, but it only reached him in the final hours of his presidency and he simply did not get around to a veto. To save face with his constituents, he later falsely claimed that the Act was not enacted during his presidency.

The doubt was prevailing in lower courts, however, who quickly held the Weeks-Mc-Lean Act unconstitutional. In response, conservation interests began to pursue a new strategy of basing a bird protection law under the au-thority of the Treaty Clause of the Constitution. If legislation was enacted implementing

a treaty, ratified by the Senate, the hope was that the law would survive legal challenge. Government scientists in both Canada and the United States recognized the critical need for a conservation law and encouraged this approach. Presi-dent Wilson was far more sympathetic to bird conservation than President Taft. In 1916, a treaty was ratified between Great Britain and the United States for the conservation of migratory birds in Canada and the United States. Two years later the MBTA was enacted to implement the treaty. The treaty has since been amended to include Mexico, Japan, and Russia. After enactment, the MBTA was quickly chal-lenged in court.

In 1920, the Supreme Court, in a decision by Oliver Wen-dell Holmes, determined the MBTA was constitutional.

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Justice Holmes found bird conservation to be a national interest of “nearly the first magnitude” and that without a federal statute, birds, “the protectors of our forests and crops,” would be destroyed. Holmes’ decision is notable for its recognition of the role of birds in our ecosystem. In this regard, Holmes may have been influenced by a brief filed by Louis Marshall, a New York lawyer, who played a critical role in the preservation of the Adirondack Mountains and whose son, Bob Marshall, also became a leading conserva-tionist. Louis Marshall contended that the economic ben-efits to society provided by birds were an important basis for protection and supported by the best science. Holmes’ decision is also notable for bluntly concluding that only a federal law could advance bird conservation.

The benefits of the statute Justice Holmes foresaw have come to pass. The MBTA is unequivocally a conservation success story. It has saved countless species including the Wood Duck and Sandhill Crane. And historians agree that the treaty that preceded the Act set a ground-breaking precedent for international cooperation in the protection of natural resources.

Aspects of the MBTA, however, have proven very contro-versial. Major threats to birds today are different than they were in the early 20th century. Birds are generally no longer hunted to excess or exploited for their feathers. Instead, habitat destruction, power lines, poisoning by pesticides and chemicals, energy development (both oil and gas extraction as well as wind power), collisions, and cats kill huge numbers of migratory birds.

The most controversial aspect of the MBTA is that it makes it a misdemeanor—punishable by less than a year in prison and/or by a fine up to $15,000 per offense—to kill birds. Critically, this provision of the MBTA has long been interpreted to be “strict liability.” In other words, it does not matter whether you intended to kill birds if your action nonetheless had that effect. For more than 40 years federal

Migratory Bird Treaty Act Success Stories

The MBTA has saved millions of birds and protects more than 1,000 species. Some of its greatest success stories have been the Sandhill Crane (bottom), the Wood Duck (middle), and the Snowy Egret (top).

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Two MBTA controversies:

British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon

oil spill and Citgo Petroleum’s

uncovered tanks at its Corpus Christi

refinery (inset)Page Photo: Kris Krug/Flckr Inset Photo: 4BlueEyes Pete Williamson/Flckr

prosecutors have relied on that understanding to prosecute the “incidental” or unintentional killing of birds. Hence, the oil company British Petroleum was charged with MBTA violations for the Deepwater Horizon incident. BP certainly did not intend to kill birds, but the discharge of oil from its well had that effect.

Wind power and oil and gas op-erations have also been charged for violations of the MBTA for otherwise lawful operations. Simple preventative measures will very often, but not always, prevent the killing of birds in-cidental to energy development. But enforcement measures have been criticized as selective and biased against certain industries. In the October 2012 presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, Romney cited a recent federal MBTA prosecution in North Dakota in support of his contention that the Obama Administra-tion was unduly hostile to the fossil fuel industries. And the strict liability provision has been criticized for possibly subjecting the owner of an outdoor cat to punishment. Prosecutors counter that they use their discretion to prose-cute only egregious violations mindful that criminal charges that catch violators unaware of potential liability or without some notice are likely to be judged harshly by the courts.

In 2015, a federal appeals court in New Orleans threw out an MBTA conviction against a fossil fuel company for the death of birds in a refinery tank. (Note: the author repre-sented the United States in this matter.) The court deter-mined that the MBTA was not intended to reach the unin-tentional killing of birds, but rather only reached activities like hunting that the actor purposefully intends to result in the death of a bird. This interpretation was at odds with the long held views of the federal government.

In the last week of the Obama Administration, the top legal official at the Interior Department issued an opinion that explained why, in the view of this official, the appeals court was wrong and the MBTA should reach the inci-dental take of birds. The opinion was intended, in part, to persuade other courts as to the lawful reach of the statute. Shortly after the inauguration of President Trump, that opinion was withdrawn, and, a year later, it was replaced with an opinion reaching a different result.

The effect of the Trump Adminis-tration’s opinion is that industrial activities that kill birds uninten-tionally will not be prosecuted under the MBTA. The National Audubon Society and others have challenged that interpretation in court. A bill has been introduced in Congress to clarify that the statute reaches so-called unin-tentional take consistent with

the Obama Administration. At present, the reach of this important statute remains unclear. But the fact that more than 100 years after its enactment the MBTA remains controversial should not detract from a conservation effort that has been enormously consequential and owes its enactment to the efforts of citizens determined to preserve the wonder of birds.

Andrew C. Mergen is Deputy Chief, Appellate Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division, at the U.S. Department of Justice and a lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School. The views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Justice Department or any other federal agency.

he effect of the Trump Administration’s opinion is that industrial activities that kill birds unintentionally will not be prosecuted under the MBTA. The National Audubon Society and others have challenged that interpretation in court.

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Migration takes on many forms. Birds chase the seasons between north and south. Many aquatic creatures, such as squid, make daily vertical migrations in the water column to find food. Bighorn Sheep migrate altitudinally, moving to higher elevations when plants emerge and moving down again in winter.

Then there’s the American Eel (Anguilla rostrata), whose migration spans a lifetime.

American Eels are a widespread species of fish found from Brazil to Canada. Their migration cycle begins at birth, in a swirling patch of vegetation in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Sargasso Sea.

Tiny young eels ride currents away from the Sargasso Sea and take up to a year to reach the Atlantic coast, where they then seek brackish water and develop into their

SPECIES SPOTLIGHTAmerican Eel

“elver” stage. Many elvers move up rivers into freshwater habitats—Maine has a highly-regulated elver fishing sea-son each spring—but others remain in brackish coastal habitats to mature. Scientists are unsure what forces drive eels to move into freshwater or stay on the coast.

Wherever they decide to stay, American Eels stay for a while—as long as 40 years, in fact, before their bodies undergo even more changes before the final stage in their migration. Their heads narrow to make swimming more efficient, their eyes enlarge to help them see in dark water, and their bodies darken for improved camouflage. They’re returning to the open ocean, thousands of miles back to their natal waters in the Sargasso Sea. Once there they’ll spawn and die, creating a new generation of eels ready to start on their own lifetime journey.

Photo: USFWS/Flckr

I first became a Maine Audubon member in 2013, about a year after I started birding. What hooked me on birding was a family trip to Florida. Being a nature-enthusiast family, we didn’t go to any amusement parks, but instead spent our time exploring parks and nature reserves, which is how I found my love of birds.

I am assisting Kaitlyn Wilson on research for her M.S. degree regarding Bicknell’s Thrush habitat use during the breeding season in the boreal forest of western Maine. We are trying to understand how we can manage commercial forests to provide more habitat for the species, as their natural habitat decreases through climate change and human development.

The last Maine Bird Atlas took place from 1978 to 1983, so we are long overdue for another one! When we compare the current atlas to the 1978 one, it should allow us to see how climate change has altered the populations and breeding status of many species. It will provide evidence that many species’ ranges are shifting north following food resources, and inform us of the species that are decreasing in the state. This will help direct conservation efforts for species of con-cern such as Rusty Blackbird or Bicknell’s Thrush.

For me, birding is not just an activity I do for enjoyment, it is how I connect to the environment and conservation. Bird-ing has allowed me to work in a field where I feel I can make a change. I hope to pursue my passions through a career in wildlife conservation and outreach.

When did you first become a bird lover and

Maine Audubon member?

What are you working on right now?

What’s one thing you would

like people to know about

the Maine Bird Atlas?

Where do you hope birding will take you in the future?

forPEOPLE WILDLIFE

KYLE LIMA is a wildlife field technician, taking on field jobs related to bird ecology, forest management practices, phenology, mammal scavenging, and global land-use change. He has a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Maine Orono and is a coordinator for the Maine Bird Atlas.

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Maine Audubon chapters give scholarships to dozens of students and educators.

REWARDING LESSONS

Raising and supporting the next generation of environmental leaders, stewards, and scientists is a core part of Maine Audubon’s mission. Scholarships awarded all around the state give students and teachers a way to explore their inter-ests, from youngsters headed to summer camp, to graduate students pursuing research, to educators spreading their wings. Many Maine Audubon chapters offer scholarship programs to those in their membership area.

York County AudubonInfo: yorkcountyaudubon.org/in-the-community/scholarships

This chapter provides two scholarship programs, one for teens and one for educators.

The June Ficker Hog Island Scholarship is for Sharing Nature: An Educator’s Week. Application deadline: March 15.

Maine Young Birders Club in conjunction with York County Audubon and Friends of Hog Island sponsors one scholarship to the Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens camp on Hog Island, for teens ages 14 to 17. Application deadline: March 15.

Merrymeeting AudubonInfo: merrymeeting.maineaudubon.org/camp-scholarships

The Chuck Huntington Scholarship Fund provides for chapter area teens and educators to attend camps at Hog Island, and for younger children to attend University of Maine 4-H camps at Tanglewood and Bryant Pond. The chapter is proud to give funding to approximately thirty students each summer. Applications are available late-January or early-February.

Mid-Coast AudubonInfo: midcoast.maineaudubon.org/scholarships

The Mid-Coast chapter has two scholarship programs, the Jean Hamlin Ornithology Scholarship Fund and the Joe Gray Scholarship Fund. Students in Knox, Lincoln, and Waldo counties are eligible, as are Mid-Coast Audubon members. Scholarships can be applied to a variety of camps, including Hog Island Audubon Camp, University of Maine 4-H Tanglewood and Blueberry Cove camps for kids, other Audubon camps, and a Cornell Lab online course for adults. Application deadline: January 1 for summer camps; rolling deadline for other camps.

Penobscot Valley AudubonInfo: pvc.maineaudubon.org

The Inez Boyd Environmental Research Award (IBERA) is an annual award of up to $1500 for proposed academic research, based on project merit and relevance, advisor recommendation, and demonstrated financial need. IBERA is open to enrolled undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Maine’s Orono campus (any age, any major) as long as the research is relevant to the chapter’s mission, focuses on Maine’s native plants and animals, and/or has ties to the Fields Pond Audubon Center. Application deadline: late March or early April

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“That really got me thinking . . .”Two talented Topsham teens received Chuck Huntington scholarships from Merrymeeting Audubon this spring. Margaret Libby, 16, and Weston Barker, 14, spent a week in June at Hog Island Audubon Camp taking part in the Mountains to Sea Birding for Teens program. Their time at camp brought them new friends, new birds, and lasting insights into environmental careers and adventures.

I never thought much about my interests in wildlife or birds, but this camp shed a light on them. The leaders shared inspiring stories about what they’ve done in their lives. That really got me thinking about what the future could hold if I pursue my fascination with the outdoors.The camp was filled with like-minded people.

I learned a lot just in conversations with other campers as well as in the nightly lessons and outings.

The experience was incredible, and I hope to keep in touch with the people I met as well as continue learning about the environment and the possible careers that can be had from it. Thanks to everyone at Merrymeeting Audubon for making this possible for me!

Hog Island is truly a wonderful camp. It was an amazing experience to be able to spend a week with Doug Hitchcox, Abby McBride, and Christian Hagenlocher—they have had many years of experience with birds from all over the world and are great teachers and mentors. I also loved being able to meet and spend time with other young birders. We got to learn about the efforts Audubon is making to conserve the world’s seabird populations, and to visit some places that most

of us had never been before. Best of all, we did lots of birding. At the end of the week, I was sad to leave the group of birders that I had gotten to know. I left with so much more than just having seen some new birds.

Weston Barker

Maggie Libby

Downeast AudubonInfo: www.downeastaudubon.org/p/education

Scholarships are available for students and an educator residing in Hancock County. Information about the coming year’s scholarships are posted in December. Application deadline: late February or early March.

Scholarships are for these camps:

• Hog Island Audubon Camp in Bremen: Mountains to Sea Teen Birding (ages 14 to 17), and Sharing Nature: An Educator’s Week

• Acadia Institute of Oceanography in Seal Harbor: Introductory, ages 10 to 12; Intermediate, ages 12 to 15; and Advanced, ages 15 to 19.

• Huntsman Marine Introduction to Marine Mammals and Seabirds, Saint Andrews, Canada (must have a passport to attend), ages 15 to 18.

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Photo courtesy of Eva Matthew

s Lark

Photo by Maggie Libby

Photo by Wes Barker

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Felted Bird Crafting Workshop with crafter Heidi BoydOct 12, 1-3:30 pm

Family Fun at Gilsland Farm (Ages 2-5, siblings under 2 are free) Wednesdays, October 16-Dec 11, 9:30-10:30 am and 10:45-11:45 am Young children and their grown-ups explore nature through stories, songs, art, and play.Advanced registration is encouraged! Drop-ins are welcome if space.

Double Discount for Members

Annual Bird Seed Sale Oct 18 & 19, 10 am-4 pm; Oct 20, 12-4pm Gilsland Farm Members receive 20% off all bird feeding hardware, feeders, and accessories (does not apply to seed)

SPEAKER SERIESThe Edge of the World: Historic Human Ecology on the Coast of Maine with Kerry

Hardy, author of Notes on a Lost Flute: A Field Guide to the WabanakiNov 14, 7 pm

Handcrafted Holiday Shopping EventNov 30, 10 am-3 pmJoin us for handcrafted Maine gifts featuring our staff and volunteer artists! In addition, the Nature Store will be chock full of locally-made gifts for everyone on your holiday list! Bonus! Your purchase helps support Maine Audubon’s mission.

New

Day!

SPEAKER SERIESThe History (& Future!) of Wild Salmon in Maine with Catherine Schmitt, author of

The President’s SalmonOct 3, 7 pm

Apple DayOct 5, 10 am-2 pmFree for members!

Educator Open HouseOct 9, 3-5 pmFree for educators (formal and informal)

Gils

land

Farm

Eve

nts

FALMOUTHMAINE A Feathered Affair

Sept 15, 2-6 pmMaine Audubon is proud to host a celebration of Avian Haven’s 20th anniversary. Over the past 20 years, Avian Haven has helped 26,000+ injured, orphaned, sick, and/or injured wild birds, always with a goal of releasing them back to the wild. Meet Avian Haven’s staff, listen to live music, eat good food, participate in raffles and an auction— all while supporting a great cause. Tickets are $20.

SPEAKER SERIESUntrammeled: The Case for Wild Nature in a Changing World with Tom Butler and

Mark Anderson of the Northeast Wilderness TrustSept 17, 7 pm

Autumn Equinox at Maine AudubonSept 19, 5-7:30 pmFamily-friendly event with live music, local food trucks & brews, guided tours, and lawn games

Hosted by

Full event listings, pricing, and registration at maineaudubon.org/events

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NatureCraft

Maine Artisans at Maine Audubon

70+ artists and artisans from around Maine

September 28, 10 am - 4 pmSeptember 29, 11 am - 4 pm

Gilsland Farm Audubon CenterFalmouth

The

of

Family Fun at Fields Pond (Ages 2-5) Thursdays, Sept 5-Nov 28, 9:30-10:30 am Advanced registration is encouraged! Drop-ins are welcome if space is available.Young children and their grown-ups explore nature through stories, songs, art, and play. Foraging: Finding Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants with David SpahrSept 7, 1-4 pmLearn about wild plants, mushrooms, and other natural treasures in Maine that can be foraged for food, medicinal use, and other purposes. Teacher Workshop: Community Science... Easy as 1, 2, 3!Sept 18, 4-6 pmLearn how you can incorporate community science tools into your classrooms.

Harvest Picnic and Paddle on Fields PondSept 21, 4 pm Forestry for Maine Birds with Director of Conservation Sally StockwellSept 21, 7-8:30 pm Healthy HikesEach Tuesday in October, 4-5 pm Bring appropriate footwear and meet at the Fields Pond Nature Center. Free to the public Discussion Course: Change is Our Choice —Creating Climate Change SolutionsEach Tuesday in October, 6:30 pm

Mushrooms of Maine with David SpahrOct 5,1-4 pm, Fields PondTakes an indoor/outdoor journey through the world of fungi.

Plants Out of Place: Ecology and Identification of Invasive Plants of Maine with Nancy Olmstead,Maine Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation, and ForestryOct 10, 7 pm Fields Pond 5K Fun RunOct 12, 9 am Fall Stewardship DayOct 19, 9 am-12 pmJoin the Fields Pond staff for a morning of stewardship activities focused on improving our trails and public spaces. The Future of Extreme Heat in Maine: Scenarios, Mitigation, and Adaptation with Misa Saros, Unity CollegeOct 30, 7 pm

A Birding and Wildlife Adventure at the End of the World: Illustrated Talk with Ron & Lee DavisNov 8, 7 pmObserve the South American birds, wildlife, and landscape from Cape Horn to Torres del Paine, and everything in between.

Maine Deer: Winter Weather WarriorsNov 16, 1-2:30 pmPresented by Nathan Bieber, Wildlife Biologist and Deer Specialist, Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Full event listings, pricing, and registration at

maineaudubon.org/events18

Photo: NatureGal/Flckr

Field

s Pon

d Ev

ents

HOLDENMAINE

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the State

Borestone Naturalist Weekendwith Gary RobertsSept 6-8, Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary

Sponsored by the Western Maine Chapter

Through a Lens: The Fine Art of Bird Photography with Nick LeadleySept 11, 7 pm, Thomas Auditorium, Preble Hall, UM/Farmington Bar Harbor Pelagic TripSept 14, 6 am-2 pmDeparts from Bar Harbor

Sponsored by the York County Chapter

Photographing the Night Sky: Capturing the Stars, Milky Way, and Northern Lights with astrophotographer Mike Taylor Sept 17, 7 pm, Mather AuditoriumWells Reserve at Laudholm

AroundSponsored by the Mid-Coast Chapter

Birds of Oaxaca: Recap with Doug HitchcoxSept 19, 7 pm, Camden Public LibrarySee photos and hear stories from Doug’s winter trip to Mexico.

Bald Eagles of Merrymeeting BaySept 21, 8 am-1 pm Departs from Boothbay Harbor

Sponsored by the Downeast Audubon Chapter

Seaweed Scene with author Susan Hand Shetterly and marine biologist Robin Hadlock SeeleySept 26, 7 pm, Moore Community Center, Ellsworth

Sponsored by the Western Maine Chapter

Insects in Decline in Maine? with Sarah Haggerty, Maine Audubon Conservation BiologistOct 9, 7 pm, Thomas Auditorium, Preble Hall UM/Farmington

Sponsored by the Mid-Coast Chapter

Field Trip: Green Point Wildlife AreaOct 17, 7 am-4 pm, Green Point Wildlife Management Area, Dresden

Sponsored by the York County Chapter

Birds of Oaxaca: Recap with Doug HitchcoxOct 22, 7 pm, Wells Reserve at LaudholmSee photos and hear stories from Doug’s winter trip to Mexico.

Sponsored by the Western Maine Chapter

Using Trail Cameras to Study Wildlife Behavior with Janet Pesaturo, author of Camera Trapping GuideNov 13, 7 pm, Thomas Auditorium, Preble HallUM/Farmington

We’re now through two years of the most recent Maine Bird Atlas, a comprehensive statewide survey of breeding bird populations led by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. The surveying will take place over five years, through 2022, but

it’s not too early to start looking at the data and pulling out interesting records.

Surveys for the last breeding bird atlas in Maine took place more than 40 years ago, between 1978 and 1983, and we’re seeing

that populations of some birds have changed significantly in that time.

We’ve found a number of species breeding in Maine that were not recorded at all during the previous survey. Common Murres, an alcid related to puffins, hadn’t been

recorded nesting in Maine in 130 years, but at least eight pairs can now be found on Matinicus Rock. The same island also produced Maine’s only Manx Shearwater nests, made by a bird that didn’t breed in Maine until 2005.

Perhaps the biggest winner of any species is not a new Maine bird but one that has made a remarkable recovery. Habitat changes and unregulated hunting had extirpated Wild Turkeys from the state in the 1800s. The previous Maine Bird Atlas only report-ed a handful of birds—all part of relocation programs in York County and Midcoast Maine. Wild Turkeys are now found all over the state, from Kittery to Fort Kent and nearly everywhere in between.

Most notable has been the marked incursion of species which were historically found farther south. Breeding populations of Fish Crows, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and Carolina Wrens have all been confirmed breeding for the atlas, none of which were present for the previous count. Other species like Northern Cardinal and Northern Mockingbird are here in greater numbers. Our changing climate is the driver here, with warmer year-round temperatures permitting new species of flora and fauna to survive in Maine.

Maine Bird Atlas: What We’ve Learned So Far

NATURALIST HQ

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R 9 The giant blue planet Neptune is at its closest to Earth and is illuminated by the sun, though you’ll still need a powerful telescope to view.

15 Listen up! Though birds are generally more quiet in fall, insects like crickets, katydids, and grasshoppers become louder as they search for mates before winter.

23 Today is the Autumn Equinox, the first day of fall.

30 White-throated Sparrow migration is peaking in Maine. Look for them in leaf litter and listen for their “Oh, Sweet Canada!” song.

7 Red Oaks are dropping the last of their acorns, much to the frenzied delight of squirrels, chipmunks, turkeys, and other animals getting ready for winter.

12 The annual Big Sit! Come to Gilsland Farm to help us identify as many species as we can in 24 hours from a 17-foot- diameter circle. It’s more fun than it sounds, trust us.

15 It is peak southbound migration for Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks. Songbirds will be sighing with relief!

The Orionids meteor shower is produced by dust grains left behind by Halley’s comet; you might be able to see about 20 meteors per hour on these nights.

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8 Duck migration is in full swing, as Northern Shovelers, Ruddy Ducks, Gadwalls, and other species flee dropping temperatures to find open water on the coast and farther south.

20 Bull Moose are shedding their antlers, freeing up as much as 60 pounds of weight which allows them to store more energy for the winter.

25 In years where food is abundant and snow doesn’t impede movement, Black Bears will wait until late November to enter their dens for the winter.N

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Another “southern” species that was not known to breed in Maine during the previous atlas but is now common is the Tur-key Vulture. Believe it or not, these huge gliders were very rare sights in Maine. Now it seems that you can’t even drive a short ways on the turnpike without seeing one! Another vulture, the Black Vulture, is experiencing a similar range expansion and I wouldn’t be surprised to find them breeding here in our next atlas.

But before we can think about that, we’ve got three more years of the Maine Bird Atlas to go!

Learn more about the atlas at maine.gov/birdatlas

Doug Hitchcox, Staff Naturalist

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Hayfield RenaissanceThe thunderstorm grumbles off;late afternoon burns through. Steam rises from the hayfield stubble.Life in the field resumes.

Bluebirds forage, a flash of sky,chicks on a fenceline post, the second brood this pair has raised: Bluebirds, the birds of hope.

Cowbirds from adopted eggs fly with redwing young, fly here, fly there, in blackbird flocksof black and red and brown.

Red-tongued crows disarm their wings, the beg of shameless youth, but example is the teacher— parent corvids act aloof.

Atop a six-foot roll of hay stretch six-foot drying wings. Turkey vultures embrace the sun and await the course of things.

At last, nighthawks cry overhead. A marsh hawk flies quite low; gray with black-tipped wings, it seeks the evening’s errant vole.

On rolling hills, the golden bales glow with the setting sun, sweet-scented, as the world rebuilds tomorrow’s thunderstorm.

For consideration, please submit original poems to habitat@maineaudubon.org

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Kathy ScottMercer, Maine

Member since 1990

Photo: Katie Ring/FLCKR

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5 The Nature Store will have the lowest prices of the year on all in-stock seed. ALSO Bird feeding hardware, feeders, and accessories will be 20% off for members (double discount does not apply to seed).

DOOR PRIZES! RAFFLES! SEED SAMPLES! and MORE!

BIRD SEED SALE

OCTOBER 18-20Gilsland Farm Nature StoreFalmouth

NO NEED TO PRE-ORDER!

This three-day sale is open to all. If you’re not a member yet, this is a great time to join.

Member Double Discount Days

and

Fri & Sat: 10 am-4 pmSun: 12-4 pm