The Wrack

Not long ago, we mentioned the York River Wild and Scenic study bill. Here's an update:

Yesterday's Lunch 'n Learn in Mather Auditorium drew over 20 people who were interested in learning more about the birds of York County. Marie Jordan of York County Audubon Society shared her vast knowledge of birds, as well as an impressive slideshow of her bird photographs. Following?are just a few?of the snippets of information that I documented in my notes from the program: Pine Siskins come throug…

The Reserve recently received 12 trees from a nursery in midcoast Maine, thanks to the Maine Forest Service's "Project Canopy." This week, Charles, volunteer Mark Klys, and the AmeriCorps team planted them along the entry road, where they will serve as a wind break and visual buffer.

On October 5th the Coastal Training Program partnered with Protect Kittery Waters, Spruce Creek Association, FB Environmental, Robert's Maine Grill, and the Great Works Regional Land Trust to host a day-long field trip showcasing watershed restoration efforts on Spruce Creek and Shorey's Brook. The day began at Kittery Town Hall where Mary Ann Conroy (Public Works, Kittery) and William Straub (CMA Engineers) spoke about the tree box filter and raingarden they installed with Maine DEP 319 funding.

This morning, Jeanne Gamage and Nancy Viehmann led the first Preschool Story Hour in the Reserve's new?fall series. It was very popular, attracting?over 40 children, parents, and preschool teachers. Little Tom Turkey, written by Maine author?Frances Bloxam, was the featured?book this month. The children were wide eyed as they listened to Jeanne read the story and show real turkey feathers. …

My six-month stint as the Wells Reserves Maine Conservation Corps/AmeriCorps volunteer is now half over, and what a busy three months these have been! I have spent the majority of my time preparing for and conducting stream habitat assessments in the Merriland River/Branch Brook/Little River (MBLR) watershed.? Thanks to an excellent crew of interns and volunteers, those were finished late August and we hav…

WELLS, Maine, September 2, 2011  The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve has received a $287,000 federal grant to assist with the permanent protection of a 130-acre parcel with high conservation value along the Merriland River in Wells. The Wells Reserve and the Wells Conservation Commission collaborated in requesting the grant, which was awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program.

So looks as if we got a bit "lucky" and missed the brunt of Hurricane Irene as the storm passed to our west dropping large amounts of rain on western New Hampshire and parts of Massachusetts and Vermont. Here are some totals from our System Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) weather station behind the Coastal Ecology Center.

While monitoring for invasive species this week with the MIMIC program, I came across a species of shrimp I have not seen in my 4 years of monitoring at this site. T…

This morning, a group of 15 mushroom enthusiasts joined Dr. Kevin Smith of the USDA Forest Service for his program, "Mushrooms Drive the Landscape." The recent rains helped to produce a fantastic display in shades of purple, orange, yellow, and red. Below are a?couple of?images from the walking portion of the program. …