York County Audubon

The Nominating Committee has presented a slate of Officers and Directors to the YCA Board, and that slate has been approved by the Directors.  At the Annual Meeting on June 18th, the following slate of Officers shall be voted upon by the Membership:  Bill Grabin, President, Joyce Toth, Vice President, Kathy Donahue, Treasurer, and Monica Grabin, Secretary, as well as the following slate of Directors: Mary Bateman, David Doubleday, Doug Hitchcox, Ken Janes, Marion Sprague, Seth Davis, Eileen Willard, Marian Zimmerman

Please click on the link below to view the Spring 2019 issue of our Harlequin newsletter (with photos in full color!)H

Wildlife ecologist Deborah Perkins brings us an engaging, informative, and visually dramatic show for all ages!  Deborah’s experience as a bear biologist included studying black bears and grizzly bears across North America.  In Maine, she worked with the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife’s black bear program.  Have you ever climbed into a bear’s den?  Well, Deb has!

In fact, Deb has worked on various other bird and mammal studies throughout North America including shorebirds in the Canadian Arctic, Canada Lynx in northern Maine, and seals and seabirds in Maine. In this program Deb will bring her Black Bear adventures to life with stories, science, and pictures.

FMI:  https://www.firstlighthabitats.com/my-story

https://www.facebook.com/firstlighthabitats

The program will be held in the Mather Auditorium of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm. It’s free and open to the public, and starts at 7 p.m. Come early for refreshments and social time.

Bringing Nature Home is Maine Audubon’s new community engagement and habitat stewardship initiative based on the bestselling book of that title by Doug Tallamy.  Join Maine Audubon’s Director of Education, Eric Topper, to explore the plants, practices and perks involved in restoring native food webs in our gardens, yards and communities.

Like many places, the landscape of coastal Maine has changed dramatically.  Today, gardens, yards, neighborhoods and towns are playing increasingly critical roles in supporting native food webs for birds, pollinators and other wildlife.  Our individual efforts to support wildlife can be both intimately rewarding and broadly beneficial.

With an overall focus on Maine birds and their habitats, Topper will introduce what individuals and groups can do, including what plants to choose and how to manage and maintain our gardens for their full ecological function and benefit.   He will also discuss the large selection of beautiful native flowers, shrubs and trees we can incorporate into our yards to attract and support a multitude of birds, butterflies and other interesting native wildlife.  YCA programs are free and open to the public.  Come early for social time and refreshments.

The program will be at 7 p.m. in the Mather Auditorium at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm.  Free and open to the public.  Come early for social time and refreshments.

MYBC, in conjunction with York County Audubon and Friends of Hog Island, is sponsoring two scholarships for Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens.  This intensive 6-day, 5-night program on Hog Island allows enthusiastic young birders to work with some of the country’s best-known birders and ornithologists on field identification, bird ecology and conservation. This program includes the unique opportunity to see Audubon’s seabird restoration work in action, and visit Eastern Egg Rock during the puffin breeding season (weather and sea conditions permitting). The program runs from June 16th to 21st.

The scholarships will pay 80% of the recipient’s cost for program tuition, room and board. Additional funds may be available if an applicant demonstrates financial need.  Applicants must be 14-17 years old to attend.

Scott Weidensaul photo

• MYBC-announces-2019-Hog-Island-Scholarships-flyer
• Application 2019 Scholarship_Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens 1.17.19
• Program description: http://hogisland.audubon.org/bird-studies-teens

Hog Island on midcoast Maine

YCAS will again be awarding a scholarship for the Educator’s Week program, July 14-19, 2019 on famed Hog Island. Check the Scholarship Programs link under the Community Involvement pull down heading above for more information.  The application deadline is March 15th.

YCAS announces 2019 Hog Island Scholarship flyer

York County Audubon is very pleased to present again its popular Gull ID workshop, led by the very knowledgeable birder Derek Lovitch.  It’s a two-part workshop, indoors in Wells on Saturday afternoon, Jan 26th, and outdoors in greater Portland on Sunday morning, Jan 27^th.  It will get you started on unraveling the mysteries of gull identification.

There is a registration fee of $20 for YCA (or Maine Audubon) members and $25 for non-members. Space is limited and advance registration is required.  To register, please click on this Event under What’s Coming Up on the right hand side of this webpage, and scroll down to find the form.

Actually, most gulls are not very difficult to tell apart, though adult and juveniles of most species look very different. We’re going to give ourselves confidence with identifying the easier plumage’s of our common species, and then tackle the more challenging intermediate plumage’s and the less-common species.

Iceland Gull in South Portland. Photo by Marie Jordan

Part I of the Workshop on Saturday January 26th will be at the Mather Auditorium of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, and will be divided into two sections (you need not be present for both):

1:00 pm-2:30 pm – Beginning Gull Identification. Using Powerpoint and book resources, we’ll start with the basics of gull identification, such as feather topography and aging. We’ll then focus on our most common species: Ring-billed, Herring, Great Black-backed, Laughing, and Bonaparte’s Gulls.

3:00 pm-4:30 pm – Advanced Gull Identification. Now comfortable with the basics, we’ll move on to the uncommon species: Lesser Black-backed, Iceland, Glaucous, and Black-legged Kittiwake. Next up will be the rarities: Little, Black-headed, and yes, even “Thayer’s.” We’ll touch upon “Megas” such as Mew, Slaty-backed, and Sabine’s, and we’ll discuss hybrids. Finally, we’ll apply what we have learned to tackle and understand some identification quandaries, such as the famous “Westbrook Gull” before we finish up with some photo quizzes to test our new-found knowledge.

For Part II on Sunday, January 27^th, we’ll be in the greater Portland area from 8:00am – noon.  We’ll meet at the Back Cove parking lot on Preble Street Ext. (opposite the Hannaford’s)  to carpool around the area to apply what we have learned. We’ll spend some time with our most common species: Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed, and then seek out Iceland and Glaucous, and perhaps we’ll find something even better!

We hope that you will join Derek for this workshop to foster appreciation for this fascinating group of birds. Derek (with his wife Jeannette) owns and operates Wild Bird Supply in Freeport. He’s the author of “How to Be a Better Birder” and “Birdwatching in Maine, A Site Guide,” the most comprehensive guide to where to bird in Maine.