The Wrack

This morning in the rain sang a mimic, repeating phrases once or twice then moving on. The bird was by the pumpkin patch? or maybe in the stand of lilacs. I was on my routine approach to the big house.I had to take a couple of steps toward the sound to enjoy it  and to be sure I wasn't hearing a mockingbird. No: Thrasher. First of the spring.That's this Winged Wednesday. Next one starts a…

More singing in the air today. The avian highlight of a brief noontime walk was a Merlin winging northward low over a field beyond the barns.…

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.…

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-…

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

For several years, the Wells Reserve has participated in the Maine Dragonfly and Damselfly Survey, a project initiated by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Sue Smith Bickford, our main odonate enthusiast, was away for most of the 2005 flight season, but today shipped off 14 specimens for identification. They will be inspected and entered into the …