The Wrack

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 11/2/2014.

From reports, it sounds like this year’s midterm election is a doozy, money-wise: across the country, campaigns are spending record sums marketing their candidates and causes.  So I read, anyway: I do not watch broadcast TV, I have an ad blocker on my computer, and I only listen to satellite radio and MPBN. Voluntarily [and gratefully] deaf to the din from most of the marketing wars, I rarely hear about the latest advances in breakfast cereal, let alone the biannual election season onslaught.

About the only political advertising I do see are ads in newspapers (bless you, candidates, for feeding our starving print publishers), and outdoor campaign signs.

As you walk the loop trails in the Yankee Woodlot, check out our new interpretive signs! On each sign, you'll learn a little more about the Yankee Woodlot timber harvest project. Be sure to also check out these informational videos featuring some of the stars of the Yankee Woodlot project, which can be accessed using the QR codes found on each of the four signs on the trail. You can also view and read…

Yankee Woodlot video series: Home sweet home for plants and animals.

Let me introduce you to the Wells Reserve’s favorite, and most vexing, local bunny.

On December 16th, Suzanne called my office from her car on Laudholm Farm Road to alert me that she had spotted a Canada goose who seemed to be acting strange. The goose had been on or near the road as Suzanne drove by, and when she did it flew into the air, seemed to hesitate as another car approached, and then landed in a bush. When I arrived, the goose remained very still in the bush, only moving to peer at us cautiously. After a call to the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, we decided the goose's behavior was suspect enough to bring her in to the experts.

Wells Reserve, Center for Wildlife, and York County Audubon Society partnered yesterday to offer the third annual Winter Wildlife Day, and 150 people attended! Activities included live animal presentations with non-releasable wildlife ambassadors, tracking walks, face painting, and the creation of plaster track casts, owl window decorations to prevent bird strikes, and binoculars. Snowshoes were available to use on the trails, and hot cocoa greeted visitors when they returned from the outdoors. It was a bustling day with lots of smiling faces!

We had loads of fun with campers this week during school vacation! Both days of Winter Trekkers Camp brought us out on the trails of the Reserve, exploring tracks and scat that wildlife left behind, searching for camouflaged rabbits, looking into tidepools at the beach, and wearing our scientist hats to test the temperature of varied mini-habitats.

Last night's Wassailing for Wildlife program brought children and adults alike out onto the Reserve's trails for a festive evening of caroling. Participants met indoors to enjoy holiday treats, and then wrote wishes for wildlife to hang on the Reserve's Christmas tree. Several participants even dressed in costume as wolves, an otter, and a polar bear!

Karen Stathoplos, Laudholm Trust Finance Coordinator and professional singer/actor, led the group in song… all the way to Laudholm Beach! It was a beautiful night, especially at twilight with the sunset's colors illuminating the trees.

Here are a few images from the second Winter Wildlife Day, held during school vacation week with help from York County Audubon and the Center for Wildlife. Despite the lack of snow, folks had a good time. The rain showers seemed to arrive when everyone was inside for presentations and the sun came out when it was time for the trail walks.

A quick lunch-time trail hike turned into an exciting wildlife tracking adventure.