A fine day spent with the MESA (Maine Environmental Science Academy) students, a rigorous, ecology-based experiential learning class for 6-8 graders at Molly Ockett Middle School in Fryeburg. We shared some info about fen and kettle basin ecology and then spent the rest of the time picking cranberries and being wowed by their knowledge, camaraderie, and eagerness to learn.
Detecting the Nature of Wilson Wing
Before heading onto the trail beside Sucker Brook at the Greater Lovell Land Trust’s Wilson Wing Moose Pond Bog Preserve on Horseshoe Pond Road in Lovell, today, a friend and I walked down the road to the pond where we hunted for dragonflies and frogs.
Broad-winged Hawk Part 2: The Hunt
Broad-winged Hawk Part 1: After Rain
Flying with John A. Segur
I never had the honor of meeting Mr. Segur, but it was my honor to see through his eyes for a short time today as I wandered down the short trail off New Road in Lovell at the Greater Lovell Land Trust John A. Segur Wildlife Refuge. Upon his death, a bequest in his name was left to the land trust to preserve habitat for native wildlife to thrive…
Thomas Henderson 1962—2018
Serving in many positions in Maine and New Hampshire, Tom Henderson was a leading proponent for conservation, water quality, and environmental protection for over 30 years. He worked tirelessly on issues of environmental policy and protection of the natural world; for 15 years as the Executive Director of the Greater Lovell Land Trust…
Tracker Tales
When I pulled into the Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library parking lot this morning I didn’t expect any of the Greater Lovell Land Trust’s Tuesday Trackers to be waiting for me given that the temperature was at least -20˚…
Christmas on Flat Hill
Two weeks ago the Greater Lovell Land Trust hosted a decorating party for the Fairs, Farms and Fun 4-H Group of Sweden along the trail to the summit of Flat Hill. It was the perfect tie-in to our planned hike to do the same during a guided walk scheduled for this morning…
4-H Club Outing with Ed Director
This week GLLT Education Director Leigh Macmillen Hayes shared the Flat Hill trail at Heald and Bradley Ponds Reserve with members of the Fairs, Farms and Fun 4-H Club of Sweden. They decorated some trees in preparation for our Dec 9th walk and as part of a Homeschool Project to visit different land trusts.
For the Benefit of All
Undersides
Follow the author’s personal photographic blog of her global travels and her life in Maine here: “Eyes on the Wild”
I’ve left Maine, but going back through my photos I thought I’d write another blog or two from the summer’s joys...
Summer’s End
Follow the author’s personal photographic blog of her global travels and her life in Maine here: “Eyes on the Wild”…
Squirrel: 1 Chipmunk: 0
Morning Grooming
Natural Packaging
Mushrooms in Wonderland
Mushrooms grow with astonishing speed, and the fully-grown mushroom often looks quite different from the baby version. The photos below are both amanitas. As the mushroom grows, the universal veil usually leaves patches stuck to the cap, and the partial veil (which encloses just the gills), often leaves a ballerina-like skirt around the stalk. And just so you know, these are poisonous…
Starting off…
The Giving Power of the Forest
Our predecessors understood and depended upon the giving power of the land. They valued every acre for what it could provide. Forests supplied building material and fire wood. Woodland yielded to pastures that returned milk, wool, meat and eggs. Stewarded fields produced life-sustaining crops and forage for farm animals. Family farms often retained a “back forty” wood lot for game, berries and nuts, lumber and firewood. Granite for foundations and mill stones was cut from boulders and ledge outcrops and every farmer held close the location of the prized hornbeams, used for tool handles of all shapes and functions. The giving power of the land was acknowledged and respected…
Water Loggers
Water bodies large and small mirror the health of their ecosystems. Western Maine’s lakes and ponds are no different. They submit to the onslaught of natural and man-made impacts throughout the watershed and battle to absorb, buffer, or flush whatever comes their way—rain and storm-water carrying atmospheric pollutants; phosphorus from our backyard fertilizers; road salt, sand, and silt washed from paved and impervious surfaces; nitrogen from pet, wildlife, fish, and bird waste—the list is long. Our role is to identify, mitigate, and, whenever possible, prevent these threats in order to keep the lakes healthy for the generations to come…