Probably to my own betterment, Otter Brook Preserve has taken me into a world I’ve been skeptical about–the world of bird songs. I’ve scoffed at the possibility of identifying a bird by its song because I doubted my ability to do such a thing. My foray into this seemingly hostile territory (“hostile” for someone… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. What comes to mind when you think of the Giant’s Stairs? A “stern and rockbound coast”? That’s a catchphrase used by P.G. Wodehouse about Bertie Wooster: “[He] once got engaged to… Honoria, a ghastly dynamic exhibit… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. Stover’s Point Preserve makes me long for a picnic on the beach (even in February, when we first visited). Picnic weather is a matter of time and patience. Many of us recall family picnics in special… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. A walk in the woods, to borrow Bill Bryson’s title, describes the Hackett and Minot trails. Except that for me, my first visit was a snowshoe in the woods. Blue sky, fresh snow, and only one… Read more
Harpswell volunteers who saved Skolfield Shores Preserve from development in 2002 saved a 148 million year legacy. One of Maine’s largest populations of Atlantic horseshoe crabs feed and reproduce on the tidal mudflats of the Preserve, as their close cousins have done in similar settings since the Jurassic. Paleontologists in 2014 discovered new fossils… Read more
One of a series of articles exploring the natural and human history of Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s protected land. When we began walking Flossie, our newly adopted dog, on Harpswell Heritage Land Trust’s (HHLT) Curtis Farm Preserve, I wondered who the Curtises were and what they grew. By diving into public records online, I now… Read more
Look around you at Skolfield Shores Preserve and consider all the history that has occurred at this site over the centuries. For 10,000 years this place has been a stopping place for Native Americans along their travel route from the forest, down the rivers and along the shore to Cape Cod. To travel from inland… Read more
While each of the trails in Harpswell has something to offer, I always look forward to time spent at Long Reach Preserve. Not only does the Preserve offer the longest hike in town (nearly 2 miles in total), but you can enjoy a wide diversity of terrain and genuine solitude on this walk. The… Read more
Thanks to a $3,800 grant from LL Bean and the sweat equity of dedicated Harpswell Heritage Land Trust (HHLT) volunteers, visitors to the scenic Basin Cove area of Harpswell Neck have a new picnic area to enjoy. Located across Basin Point Road from the parking area for HHLT’s Curtis Farm Preserve, the picnic area was… Read more
Articles and photographs by Jym St. Pierre On Saturday, August 20, 2016, we dipped the kayaks into the blue water of Mere Point Bay and paddled the short distance to Birch Island. The goal was to visit a property that Harpswell Heritage Land Trust is working to preserve. Casco Bay is a drowned landscape. After… Read more