The Wrack

Raise your voice on behalf of estuaries. Join our #iheartestuaries campaign to reach Congress with a simple message: "I love estuaries and this is why…"

Let your legislators know you want the NERR System funded.

Doing field work in the largest remaining mangrove stand on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, which abuts the island's unlined landfill.

As we rebound from winters darkest depths, springs begins to stir in the hormonal systems of other species, particularly those who mate seasonally. Chemically, love is arriving. How did St. Valentine know?

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune and Making It At Home Sunday editions, 2/2/2014.

I will not be the first person to admit that its gotten harder to watch football this season. I still love the drama, the personalities, and the heroics of any given NFL Sunday. But some guilt has crept into the game I grew up watching every week with my father. Im not seeing it the same way I used to.

On December 16th, Suzanne called my office from her car on Laudholm Farm Road to alert me that she had spotted a Canada goose who seemed to be acting strange. The goose had been on or near the road as Suzanne drove by, and when she did it flew into the air, seemed to hesitate as another car approached, and then landed in a bush. When I arrived, the goose remained very still in the bush, only moving?to peer at us cautiously. After a call to the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, we decided the goose's behavior was suspect enough to bring her in to the experts.

What will the next five, ten, even the next thirty years look like here at your local national estuarine research reserve?

Snowy Owl. You don't need to be a binocular-toting bird nut to bring this beast to the mind's eye. With the words come the impression: Big, white, stately, broad-faced, and with piercing yellow eyes. Awesome.

We're lucky in Maine. Snowies appear here just about annually. But this winter is something special.

Compare these two snapshots from the South Cascade glacier official USGS long-term monitoring site in Washington state:

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 1/5/2014.

Quite possibly the best movie l saw in 2013 didnt open in 3,000 theaters, didnt have a Morgan Freeman voiceover, didnt follow a hobbit and his ring.

As 2013 comes to a close, so too does the Reserve's pilot preschool story hour program for Head Start centers in Biddeford and Sanford. In October, November, and December, children and their parents visited to listen to a reading of Giving Thanks. This beautiful story written by Jonathan London tells of a father and son who take a walk in the woods, giving thanks to the trees, birds, insects, mushrooms, and all the other wonders of nature they observe. The words and illustrations on each page convey the importance of appreciating and respecting those with whom we share this world.