The Wrack

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.

The 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.

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.

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

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.

The Marine Invader Monitoring and Information Collaborative (MIMIC) is a network of trained volunteers, scientists, and state and federal workers who monitor marine invasive species along the Gulf of Maine. The Wells Reserve coordinates Maine's program.

Rick Chase from Chase Farm in Wells brought Bud and Bill to plow the Punkinfiddle corn and pumpkin patch, which is doubling in size this year.

It's a 20-year tradition: In each season of every year since 1989, birders from the York County Audubon Society have scoured the forests and fields, marshes and beach of the Wells Reserve, intent on counting all the birds they can see or hear in 3 hours. Teams spread out to cover four routes, never knowing what they'll encounter.

At yesterday's post-survey compilation, it was clear that the Muskie and Pilger trails were the hot spot. That's where most of the 127 warblers of 15 species were found.

Survey coordinator Joanne Stevens and data handler Nancy McReel have shared the full results from one of the birdiest quarterly surveys the Audubon team has done75 species.&

Here are a few faces from the reception we held in the Laudholm barn before our screening of A Chemical Reaction on May 6, 2010.

Wood Frog Friend

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Frog Pond Reflections