When harsh winter cold grips the forest in January, most folks hunker down indoors to read a book, or to get started on their taxes. But for some hardy souls, winter is a time for hard work in the woods and watching the weather reports, anticipating the inevitable thaw that brings day time temperatures above… 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
One in a series of profiles of people who played a key role in the first 35 years of the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust. You can see Chip Black’s handiwork throughout the 35-year history of the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust (HHLT). In fact, you could say that the long-time member of the Board of Trustees… 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 in a series of profiles of people who played a key role in the first 35 years of the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust. Looking back at her time as co-chair of HHLT’s “Special Places Campaign,” which preserved Skolfield Shores and Johnson Field in the early 2000s, Rebecca Stanley recalls lots of teamwork, many long… Read more
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
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
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
One in a series of profiles of people who played a key role in the first 35 years of the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust. Despite the underlying rocky ledges and the relatively thin layer of topsoil found throughout the town, roots run deep in Harpswell. For example, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust (HHLT) grew out of… Read more
]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