It’s a great time for a wild goose chase. Insect-eaters are typically the first birds to skip town, migrating south. Seed-eaters linger a little longer. Waterfowl take their own sweet time.
As long as there is food in an ice-free pond, ducks and geese are happy to stay right here. Cold doesn’t bother them much, as anyone who has cooked a duck knows. They’ve got a fat layer of insulation that just won’t quit.
Goose-watching is like panning for gold. You’ve got to sift through a lot of sand to find a nugget. Canada geese are abundant. But there are sometimes strangers hiding among them. Many less common geese seem to be turning up this autumn, hiding in plain sight.
Snow geese appear regularly in Maine in autumn. They are abundant and extremely social, traveling and foraging in big flocks. They nest along the Arctic tundra edge clear across North America. In mid to late October, they migrate straight south, so most eastern Canadian breeders end up along the eastern seaboard. Central Canadian breeders winter along the Gulf coast. Western birds wait out the cold months along the Pacific.
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Cackling geese delight birders with their small size and northern origins. Credit: Courtesy of Bob Duchesne
Snow geese migrate at their leisure, stopping for long periods to feed on the sedges and tubers they love. There is so much of this food supply along the Saint Lawrence River above Quebec that the province started a Snow Goose Festival, appropriately named in French “Festival de l’Oie des Neiges.” Hundreds of thousands of snow geese pass through, most stopping off at Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Refuge.
These snow geese typically bypass Maine, choosing instead a route over Vermont, where they know their favorite food is waiting for them. Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area in Vermont is the core area to see hundreds of thousands at this time of year.
Next stop: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Pennsylvania; then on to the coast, from Delaware to North Carolina.
Not surprising for an abundant species, some snow geese wander into Maine on their way south. They’ve been entertaining birders across the state. If encountered, take a second look. You might find a Ross’s goose. It strongly resembles a snow goose, though smaller and with a shorter bill.
Greater white-fronted geese surprise birders with their striking markings. Credit: Courtesy of Bob Duchesne
Ross’s goose summers and winters in the central regions of North America. Vagrants in Maine are rare, but one popped up in Ellsworth a couple weeks ago. Another attracted a lot of attention in Bangor’s Maple Grove Cemetery three years ago.
A widespread species like the Canada goose typically has regional variation. In 2004, there were 11 recognized subspecies. That year, ornithologists decided the smallest subspecies was sufficiently different to declare the cackling goose as an official new species.
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Cackling geese breed on the far northern edges of Canada and Alaska. In winter, they head south, mostly west of the Great Lakes. However, some wander. One turned up in Mars Hill Pond in Aroostook County a few weeks ago. Last Sunday, on a Maine Audubon-led field trip, seven birders enjoyed viewing a cackling goose at Arnold Brook Lake Recreation Area in Presque Isle.
That same field trip turned up a greater white-fronted goose at Lake Josephine in Easton. Greater white-fronted geese also breed in the far north, almost exclusively west of Hudson Bay. They winter west of the Mississippi all the way down to Louisiana. But a few visit Maine every autumn, so it’s not a surprise when one appears.
Pink-footed geese are unusual autumn visitors making a long journey from Greenland to Northern Europe. Credit: Courtesy of Bob Duchesne
Pink-footed geese are a surprise. They breed on the far side of Greenland and winter in Northern Europe. In recent years, more have been visiting the eastern coast of North America. Those lucky Aroostook County birders turned one up at Lake Josephine. Besides Maine, there are currently pink-footed geese attracting attention in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Nova Scotia.
Perhaps the Holy Grail of goose-chasing is the barnacle goose. Its nesting range extends from Eastern Greenland to Siberia. However, any bird that can both fly and swim is not so shy about crossing water, and barnacle geese occasionally show up here. I enjoyed my first (and only) sighting in Houlton a few years ago. And, yes, I learned the pair was there, and scheduled a wild-goose chase to see them.
Barnacle geese, Arctic wanderers from Greenland and Siberia, occasionally make a surprise appearance in Maine, delighting birders on a true wild-goose chase. Credit: Courtesy of Bob Duchesne
Barnacle geese are currently present in Québec and Nova Scotia. One was in New York in early October.
Birding in late autumn need not be dull. Songbirds may have headed for the tropics, but other birds have secretly taken their place. There are big flocks of Canada geese everywhere. Take a second look.
In New York City, two notable figures with connections to Maine teamed up Friday for a performance of a time-tested tune: “Wheels on the Bus.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and sensational children’s educator Ms. Rachel sung the children’s nursery rhyme with a group of preschoolers at a Lower Manhattan pre-K as part of an announcement of free childcare for 2-year-olds in New York City.
In addition to a commitment to expanding accessible childcare, both Mamdani and Ms. Rachel, whose full name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, hold ties to the state of Maine.
On YouTube, Accurso, 43, shares widely beloved educational videos for toddlers. Her channel has over 18 million subscribers and more than 14 billion views, with some episodes streaming on Netflix as well.
Accurso grew up in the Springvale area of Sanford and graduated from Sanford High School. Her singing career began in the Portland area before she moved to New York City. Accurso also served on Mamdani’s inaugural committee.
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An advocate for children everywhere, her outspoken concern for Palestinian children in Gaza has garnered her both praise and criticism this past year.
Mamdani’s connection to Maine anchors in Brunswick, where he attended Bowdoin College. At the small liberal arts college, from which he graduated in 2014, he majored in Africana studies, was involved in the student newspaper and co-founded the college’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
While Accurso is much more experienced in entertaining children than the new mayor, she shared how Mamdani, 34, rose to the occasion on Friday.
She wrote on Instagram how the night before they sang, she sent Mamdani’s team a video of “Wheels on the Bus” in case he wanted to rehearse it, expecting the mayor to be too busy. But his team immediately wrote back saying he wanted to practice the song, she said.
“He showed up and nailed the song and choreo,” Accurso wrote. “You can tell he really cares about the children.”
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Mamdani and Accurso also led a rendition of “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” followed by a discussion with the children about their feelings. Mamdani said he was feeling happy because of universal childcare for all 2-year-olds in the city.
The duo’s appearance at the pre-K followed the announcement on Thursday – Mamdani’s eighth day in office – that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will partner with Mamdani to deliver free childcare for two-year-olds in New York City starting in September, as well as strengthening the existing 3K program. The state committed to funding the program for two years, according to the city’s website, and the program will impact nearly 100,000 children.
Steve Heinz of Cumberland is a member of the Maine Council of Trout Unlimited (Merrymeeting Bay chapter).
Man’s got to eat.
It’s a simple truth, and in Maine it carries a lot of weight. For generations, people here have hunted, fished and gathered food not just as a pastime, but as a practical part of life. That reality helps explain why Maine voters embraced a constitutional right to food — and why emotions run high when fishing regulations are challenged in court.
A recent lawsuit targeting Maine’s fly-fishing-only regulations has sparked exactly that reaction. The Maine Council of Trout Unlimited believes this moment calls for clarity and restraint. The management of Maine’s fisheries belongs with professional biologists and the public process they oversee, not in the courtroom.
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Trout Unlimited is not an anti-harvest organization, nor a club devoted to elevating one style of angling over another. We are a coldwater conservation organization focused on sustaining healthy, resilient fisheries.
Maine’s reputation as the last great stronghold of wild brook trout did not happen by accident; it is the product of decades of careful management by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), guided by science, field experience and public participation.
Fly-fishing-only waters are one of the tools MDIFW uses to protect vulnerable fisheries. They are not about exclusivity. In most cases, fly fishing involves a single hook, results in lower hooking mortality and lends itself to catch-and-release practices. The practical effect is straightforward: more fish survive and more people get a chance to fish.
Maine’s trout waters are fundamentally different from the fertile rivers of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states. Our freestone streams are cold, fast and naturally nutrient-poor. Thin soils, granite bedrock and dense forests limit aquatic productivity, meaning brook trout grow more slowly and reproduce in smaller numbers.
A single season of low flows, high water temperatures or habitat disturbance can set a population back for years. In Maine, conservation is not a luxury; it is a biological necessity.
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In more fertile southern waters, abundant insects and richer soils allow trout populations to rebound quickly from heavy harvest and environmental stress. Maine’s waters simply do not have that buffer.
Every wild brook trout here is the product of limited resources and fragile conditions. When fish are removed faster than they can be replaced, recovery is slow and uncertain. That reality is why management tools such as fly-fishing-only waters, reduced bag limits and seasonal protections matter so much.
These rules are not about denying access; they are about matching human use to ecological capacity so fisheries remain viable over time. Climate change only raises the stakes, as warmer summers and lower late-season flows increasingly push cold-water fisheries to their limits.
Healthy trout streams also safeguard drinking water, support wildlife and sustain rural economies through guiding and outdoor tourism. Conservation investments ripple far beyond the streambank.
Lawsuits short-circuit the management system that has served Maine well for decades. Courts are not designed to weigh fisheries science or balance competing uses of a complex public resource. That work is best done through open meetings, public input and adaptive management informed by professionals who spend their careers studying Maine’s waters.
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Man’s got to eat. But if we want Maine’s trout fisheries to endure, we also have to manage them wisely. That means trusting science, respecting process and recognizing that conservation — not confrontation — is what keeps food on the table and fish in the water.
TJ Biel scored 21 points and Newport native Ace Flagg added 10 points and seven rebounds as the University of Maine men’s basketball team held on for a 74-70 win over the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey.
Logan Carey added 11 points and five assists for the Black Bears, who improve to 3-15 overall and 1-2 in the conference. Yanis Bamba chipped in 14 points.
Maine led by seven at the half, but NJIT went on a 13-0 run in the first four minutes to take a 43-37 lead. The Black Bears recovered and took the lead on a dunk by Keelan Steele with 7:53 left and held on for the win.
Sebastian Robinson scored 24 points and Ari Fulton grabbed 11 rebounds for NJIT (7-11, 2-1).
