What do you do when you see a big, fat dandelion staring at you in an area of your garden that you have just cleaned up for the spring? Do you ignore it? Or, do you attack it as soon as possible? That’s what we members of Harpswell Invasive Plant Partnership (HIPP) face all during… Read more
What more could you ask for? A lot, it turns out! At a recent presentation at the Schiller Center, Bowdoin College’s Coastal Studies Center on Orr’s Island, and in conjunction with the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, the public was invited to learn about a study being conducted by the Basin Oyster Project. Professors Cait Cleaver… Read more
Lindy Magness, the Outreach & Education Director for Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, came to Harpswell in the immediate aftermath of last winter’s destructive storms. The shock visited on the land by the force of wind and water had a profound impact on her. She determined to explore what we can do in the face of… Read more
By John Gormley, originally published in the Harpswell Anchor Paul Joyce, at the helm of a 21-foot center-console motorboat, slowly maneuvered the vessel away from the dock at Bowdoin College’s Schiller Coastal Studies Center on Orr’s Island. Standing next to the captain was David Carlon, a professor of biology at Bowdoin who for the last… Read more
Since Harpswell Heritage Land Trust was created 40 years ago, our world has seen dramatic changes in almost every area we can think of—healthcare, travel, agriculture, communication and the list goes on. During the last twenty or so years we have come to depend on the pocket-size devices we call cell phones. We really should… Read more
Originally published in the Harpswell Anchor I am a hunter. That statement might earn me a dirty look, even a request to leave the party, immediately! Much depends upon the company you keep and where you reside. We lived in England for many years, a country with a long tradition of wealthy landowners on expensive… Read more
Harpswell is known for its iconic views of sea and shore. North, south, east or west, spin the compass and you’ll find scenes of great natural beauty all around. Well, here’s another direction to look and see something amazing. Up. The night sky in Harpswell is one of the town’s treasures, dotted with planets, stars… Read more
Introduction Harpswell Township is home to almost half of Casco Bay’s more than 200 islands, listing 98 islands within its borders. Four of these are the heavily-populated Great Island (formerly Sebascodegan Island), Dingley Island, Orr’s Island, and Bailey Island. That leaves 94 “outer” islands, accessible only by water or air. The exact count can be… Read more
The town of Harpswell is 81% water, so it seems odd to say that the town has a water shortage. Odd but true. Of course the reason is that the 81% refers to salt water, aka the Atlantic Ocean, and the shortage refers to fresh drinking water, or technically, potable groundwater. A full understanding of… Read more
Harpswell Nature Watchers is a project of the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust. Its goal is to encourage people of all ages to go outside and be nature observers. We hope that by sharing our own observations with you, we may inspire curiosity to explore and more closely inspect what is going on in the natural… Read more