Wells Reserve at Laudholm
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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.

  • The plovers are back!

    | April 7, 2006
    Piping Plovers returned to Laudholm Beach by today. They'll likely be with us into August. Let's hope for a productive year here and along the Maine and Atlantic coasts.…

  • Dust at a massive scale

    | March 29, 2006

    At today's Lunch 'n' Learn, Andy Ballantine told about two dozen people more about dust than most imagined possible. Atmospheric dust can affect the world in powerful or subtle ways, though its effect here in Maine is not thought to be great.

  • Winged Wednesday I

    | March 29, 2006
    A flock of 45 Canada Geese flew north along the shoreline this morning. Below them, in the Webhannet Marsh along Wells Harbor Road, stood a solitary Great Blue Heron. Somewhere way up, a Tree Swallow scratched out a few notes. They're hints of spring movement that ought to start in earnest any day now. Green-winged Teal, American Black Ducks, Canada Geese, and Mallards were the waterfowl close at hand. Red-…

  • Robins, Blackbirds, and the Timberdoodle

    | March 16, 2006 | Filed under: Observations
    Fuertes Woodcock

    Midway through March, early signs of vernal reawakening appear at the Wells Reserve. 

  • Foundation offers challenge grant to Laudholm

    | February 9, 2006
    The Kennebunk Savings Bank Foundation has stepped forward with a $50,000 challenge grant to help make the final payment on the 2?-acre Diane and Frederick Lord property. Just after sunset on December 22, 2005, Wells Reserve manager Paul Dest and Laudholm Trust president Susan Rouillard signed closing papers on the Lord Parcel. This final legal step marked the end of several years of discussion with the Lord…

  • Happy Birthday, Alice!

    | January 10, 2006

    Long-time Laudholm supporter Alice Freeman Muchnic is 99 today. She's long been a strong supporter of Laudholm Trust and the Wells Reserve.

    Laudholm is as close to a home as I could want.

  • Fair or foul?

    | December 20, 2005 | Filed under: Program Activities

    Here's a question: Do artificial substrates favor non-indigenous fouling species over natives?

  • Reserve manager adds national role

    | December 15, 2005

    At the annual meeting of the National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) System and NERR Association, Wells Reserve manager Paul Dest accepted the role of NERRA president for 2006-2007.

  • Pulling together data for ASSETS

    Wells Reserve Contributor | December 6, 2005

    It felt great to be back at the Wells NERR after being away for four months, especially since I had spent much of that time wading through reams of data on dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a, and dissolved organic nitrogen from our four System Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) sites in the Webhannet and Little River estuaries.

  • SWMP 10th anniversary report is out

    | December 2, 2005
    The NERR system just released a 10th anniversary report on the activities, achievements, and growth of the System-Wide Monitoring Program. You can download the PDF at the NERRS website. You can learn more about the program by following the links under Monitoring on that site. Visit our Monitoring page …