Birds don’t just leave in the fall, they arrive, too. Many birds migrate from Labrador, the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec, and other points north to spend the winter in sunny, warm Maine. Everything is relative. A dozen Barrow’s goldeneyes, a duck species, splashed down in… Read More
Last week, it rained again at the Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden. Even so, visitors found some beautiful sights to admire. The key was to slow down and think small. Droplets hung on the end of a leaf, with the world around – including… Read More
HOLDEN – Recently, six classes from Bucksport were scheduled to arrive at the Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden for a “Secrets of the Forest” tour. It sprinkled and rained. It poured and drizzled. But troupers that they are, the children and their teachers made… Read More
HOLDEN – As October folds into November, animals at Fields Pond Audubon Center are getting ready for cold weather ahead. The bluebirds that raised their young at the center are long gone, heading south. But other bluebirds were seen this week. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
HOLDEN – Last week Diana Collins and Terry Pierson were taking a walk on the Lakeshore Trail at Fields Pond Audubon Center. They stopped at a beautiful spot on the lakeshore where there are benches and a picnic table. They noticed a small snake, less than a foot… Read More
HOLDEN – Interesting insects are showing up at the Fields Pond Audubon Center on sunny October days – a mourning cloak butterfly, a monarch butterfly and a leaf-footed bug. The mourning cloak’s cloak -its wings – are a velvety dark brown, trimmed with a yellow… Read More
HOLDEN – Recently, 90 members of the Maine Audubon Society boarded a boat in Bar Harbor in the dark at 5 a.m. on their way to find birds far out at sea. Some left home at 3:30 a.m., others spent the night in Bar Harbor in order to… Read More
A dozen Maine Audubon nature lovers left Bangor last week, carpooling in a caravan for the Midcoast. Their goal was to observe the migration of monarch butterflies from the same spot that writer and ecologist Rachel Carson wrote about them. It seemed like a long… Read More
HOLDEN – This is the time of year to show visitors to the Fields Pond Audubon Center the secret of the Jewelweed – aka the “touch-me-not.” This plant’s seed pod explodes when touched, delighting children and grandparents alike. Not to worry – “explode” is a… Read More
HOLDEN – This summer, monarch butterflies and their caterpillars are abundant. For many years, they have been rare or even absent here despite ample milkweed, the plant it depends on. Dire news about monarch numbers in their Mexican wintering areas kept coming north, instead of the butterflies themselves. Read More
HOLDEN – One warm day of wading with the children in Fields Pond Audubon nature camp, a junior counselor came back from the edge of Fields Pond to the building and discovered he had a leech on his leg. What a great role model he… Read More
HOLDEN – We at Fields Pond Audubon Center have watched with interest the clever nature of crows. We have a large picnic table near the Audubon Center building. Picnickers are very careful not to leave any food or litter behind. Not five minutes after our… Read More