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The Wrack

The Wrack is the Wells Reserve blog.

Why "The Wrack"? In its cycles of ebb and flow, the sea transports a melange of weed, shell, bone, feather, wood, rope, and trash from place to place, then deposits it at the furthest reach of spent surf. This former flotsam is full of interesting stuff for anybody who cares to kneel and take a look. Now and then, the line of wrack reveals a treasure.

  • Vote of Confidence

    | July 1, 2010
    Kennebunk Savings customers voted this spring on the bank's Community Investment Ballot and Laudholm Trust has just received its portion of the funds awarded throughout the region. On hand for the donation ceremony are Kennebunk Savings President and CEO Brad Paige, Wells …
  • My Experience So Far...

    Wells Reserve Contributor | July 1, 2010
    Looking back on the first month here at the reserve I have learned so much. The staff and interns here are exceptional and I feel as though I am fitting in rather nicely. It is a very satisfying feeling when the work that you did in college and the material you learned is applied in the field that you are working in. Looking back at the interview I had here in March, I remember knowing exactly what Jeremy meant wh…
  • Picture Post: Monitoring Habitat Change Over Time

    | June 18, 2010 | Filed under: Program Activities

    With a camera and a computer you have everything you need to monitor habitat change over time at the Wells Reserve.

  • Wildlife Sighting: Goldsmith Beetle

    | June 14, 2010

    Goldsmith Beetle, copyright Brandon WooVolunteer naturalist Eileen Willard spotted this Goldsmith Beetle (Cotalpa lanigera) outside the Visitor Center on May 31 and telephoned insect enthusiast Brandon Woo to tell him about it. Brandon came and photographed the uncommon insect.

  • Rain barrels catch and conserve water

    | June 10, 2010

    rain barrel system testRainwater harvesting can reduce flooding and erosion issues, as well as surface-water contamination, by slowing down and decreasing the volume of stormwater runoff. One way to harvest rainwater is by using a catchment technique such as rain barrels.

  • Slowing the flow: Managing rainwater in a changing climate

    | June 10, 2010

    Flooding in York County  is it becoming more common? Roads impassable, bridges washed out, basements full... the stories have become all too familiar in recent years.

    Skinner Mill bridge closureThe Mother's Day storm in May 2006 seemed an anomaly till the Patriots' Day storm hit in 2007. This March, the Wells Reserve measured 16 inches of rainfall, 5 inches more than Portland's record-setting 11. The roads closed and the sump pumps hummed again.

  • Key moments 1641 to 1986: Boade Farm to Wells Reserve

    | June 10, 2010

    Once English colonists settled this land, it was home to only four families: Boade, Symonds, Clark, and Lord. Here is an abbreviated list of key historical events leading up to the dedication of the Wells Reserve&

    1641?? ?Henry Boade family moves to the site.

    1653?? ?Kings Highway is established past Boades house to the mouth of the Little River.

    1655?? ?Boade sells the property to the Symonds brothers. William Symonds becomes sole owner by the end of 1657.

    1677?? ?King Philips War. Symonds family flees to nearby garrison. Indians burn the farmhouse to the ground.

  • Wildlife Sighting: Moose

    | June 1, 2010

    Moose are not often seen at the Wells Reserve, but one was photographed on Memorial Day by Stephen Ingraham, who kindly shared these images.

    Moose photographed May 31, 2010 ? Stephen Ingraham

  • Winged Wednesday XIX: The Shadow of Uncertainty

    | May 26, 2010

    I fell short this morning. An unfamiliar song kept me following a skulker in the thick shrubs along the Barrier Beach Trail. Sweet sisiswit switchew ended up in my notebook. With a Chestnut-sided Warbler behind me and a Common Yellowthroat in front, I kept trying to convince myself this was an aberrant song from a resident, probably an inexperienced yellowthroat stumbling through its early attempts. Still, it was consistent, except for those occasions when immediately after finishing a song it would repeat itself once or twice as if mumbling an addendum.