Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis Cool facts: The oldest recorded Dark-eyed Junco? At least 11 years, 4 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in West Virginia in 2001. It had originally been banded in 1991, also in West Virginia. Interestingly, a flock of juncos is often referred to as a “blizzard.” Read More
Protecting Wildlife
News & Noteworthy — January 2023
Here are some highlights from January 2023 news stories and opinion pieces related to Maine’s air, land, water, and wildlife. News & Noteworthy from the Natural Resources Council of Maine is updated weekly with the latest news related to the nature of Maine. January 26, 2023 Earlier this week, we joined Senator Mark Lawrence, University Read More
Wolfden Revives Failed Plan to Mine in Shadow of Katahdin
NRCM news release January 20, 2023 (Augusta, ME) – After being forced to withdraw its initial request because it was riddled with errors, Wolfden Resources today submitted a second rezoning petition to develop a zinc mine at Pickett Mountain The area Wolfden wants to mine is located in the shadow of Baxter State Park and Read More
Critter Chatter – Flying Rodents? Part I
When I stopped by the other day to deliver some muffins to Don Cote at the Wildlife Care Center, I was interested in a recent admission: a flying squirrel that had probably been hit by a car. I was hoping to get a close-up peek at it, but flyers are nocturnal animals, so it remained Read More
News & Noteworthy — December 2022
Read highlights from December 2022 news stories and opinion pieces related to Maine’s air, land, water, and wildlife, in this News & Noteworthy from the Natural Resources Council of Maine. December 29, 2022 It’s a holiday week so there are fewer news stories to share this week compared to a usual week, but here are Read More
A Worldwide Gift of Birds and Biodiversity
Common Loon. Wood Thrush. Bobolink. Rusty Blackbird. Harlequin Duck. Black-throated Blue Warbler. White-throated Sparrow. Piping Plover. Broad-winged Hawk. This is a tiny fraction of the bird species that are found here in Maine that will benefit from the signing of a new global biodiversity agreement. The signing took place on Monday, December 19, in Montreal, Read More
Critter Chatter — Memory Lane
When visiting Don Cote at the Wildlife Care Center last week, I was curious about his “growing up years” and if he’d always had an interest in animals. As “they” say, it is indeed a small world: it turns out Don grew up on the same street in Augusta that I did, about 15 years Read More
Critter Chatter – Oh, Deer! What’s Up With That? Part 2
As a follow-up to last month’s article about the whitetail buck with three legs and only one horn, I’d be remiss not to write about the other permanent resident buck at the Wildlife Center. Rather than simply missing an antler, this deer has two, but they’re both deformed and remain in velvet. He’s the oldest Read More
Puffins and a Purposeful Person
Many people think of Dr. Steve Kress as “the puffin man.” He’s widely revered for reestablishing puffin colonies to the coast of Maine, and rightly so. But when it comes to bird conservation, Steve is much more than that. We first met Steve when we were graduate students at Cornell University years ago. (Interestingly, Steve Read More
