The Wrack

Kids may have gotten a break from school this past week, but with two big snow storms, there was plenty of outdoor fun to keep them busy! Six campers from as far away as New Hampshire braved the snowy afternoons to spend Tuesday and Wednesday at the Reserve participating in our Winter Trekkers and Snow Survivors camps.

Each day was packed with activity, from wildlife tracking walks led by volunteer naturalists and a cottontail rabbit search led by Sue Bickford, to a day full of outdoor snow survival scavenger hunts and shelter building. Despite being on "vacation," campers were eager and excited to learn, and were a fantastic bunch to spend the wintery week with! Check out some of the photos of our adventures below, and head over to our Flickr page for even more.

This month customers of the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District (KKWWD) got some news about the upgrades and repairs to the fish ladder on Branch Brook in the Winter 2014 Newsletter.?Chief Plant Operator Greg Pargellis provided a nice write-up on a really positive collaboration with the Wells Reserve to bring the fish ladder back on line.

This isn't the first time that the fish ladder has been in a KKWWD report. In the 1954 Trustees Report (see pg. 14), the Water District mentions plans to increase the height of the dam by 2 feet and to build a fish ladder which was ordered by the Maine Department of Fish and Game.

Often showy but frequently cryptic, butterflies are an attractive challenge. At least 45 species have been documented at the Wells Reserve.

As a warm-up to the 2014 #iheartestuaries campaign, I asked all of our staff to fill in the blank in this sentence: "I love estuaries because __________." Here are the responses…

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?