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Skolfield Shores Preserve: A 148 million year legacy

  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

Nature Notes: Blue Jay

Nature Notes: Blue Jay

Ed Robinson
February 1, 2018

Blue Jay (Curt Chipman photo) The term “jaybird” has long been a slang word to describe someone who was a bit crazy, lazy or stupid. But the term is also a nickname for the blue jay, and this bird is definitely not lacking in brains, hustle or common sense. A member of the Corvid family… Read more

Nature Notes: Riding Out the Winter

Nature Notes: Riding Out the Winter

Ed Robinson
January 20, 2018

Otter Brook in winter (Ed Robinson photo) Unless you spent the holidays in the Southern Hemisphere, you know that we finally are experiencing one of those deep freeze winters that balance out a couple of mild years. There will be no golf in January, your snow plow guy is on speed dial and your partner… Read more

Nature Notes: Sharp-Shinned Hawk

Nature Notes: Sharp-Shinned Hawk

Ed Robinson
December 20, 2017

]Eirwin Soltesz photo In an earlier article, I described the lovely Cooper’s hawk. Here we will learn more about the smallest member of the same family, the sharp-shinned hawk. These birds, along with the sparrow hawk and goshawk, are members of the genus Accipiter from the Latin word accipere, meaning “to grasp.” The Accipiters are… Read more

Seafood in the Spotlight: Shrimp

Seafood in the Spotlight: Shrimp

Harpswell Heritage Land Trust
December 5, 2017

By Monique Coombs, Director of Marine Programs for the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association On November 28, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to extend the moratorium on Northern Shrimp for a fifth year in a continued attempt to allow the stock to rebuild. After receiving a scientific update that showed declines in the health… Read more