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
Son-in-law Pete chuckled with delight as he pulled up his fishing line which had a life of its own with several squirming mackerel attached to it. His line was rigged with a collection of 7 small flies in what is known as a Sabiki rig. If you position yourself on a local dock with a… Read more
As some of you might know, in 2019, Harpswell students helped biologist Danielle D’Auria capture a great blue heron on a local pond. “Harper” was equipped with a GPS transmitter and promptly flew to new adventures. She relocated to New Brunswick, Canada, then migrated to Guajaca Uno, Cuba for the winter. Harper has since been… Read more
I write this in mid-April, a time when the bays and harbors are coming alive once more. For those of you new to the area, Harpswell reaches into Casco Bay with its 216 miles of shoreline, creating harbors and coves from Harpswell Neck to Cundy’s Harbor. We have commercial wharves scattered along our shorefront. In… Read more