Maine

An Extraordinary Opportunity to Help Maine’s Grassland Birds

Published

2 years ago

March 29, 2023

An Extraordinary Opportunity to Help Maine’s Grassland Birds

Maine is legendary for its blueberries. These small, deep-blue spheres have a candy, wealthy, and earthy style that appears to someway seize the deep historical past of the place they arrive from: barren lands taken over by tenacious and hardy crops because the glaciers melted away many hundreds of years in the past. Blueberry barrens within the final century have been maintained by way of hearth and mowing to encourage lowbush blueberries, a shrubby plant with a stature of 10 or 12 at greatest however that may produce tight clumps of tiny fruit that flip the rocky fields blue in good years.

Blueberry barrens have gotten more and more scarce on the Maine panorama. Traditionally they have been already confined to the comparatively few locations the place the situations are good for low blueberry crops. In fashionable instances, land administration (typically together with rigorously managed fires and mowing) has stored the fields from rising up into forests. In current a long time, housing developments, adjustments within the blueberry business, and different components have led to the lack of increasingly of those acres of blue.

The habitats which are blueberry barrens are additionally residence to a collection of particular—and more and more uncommon—birds and different wildlife in addition to crops. Species just like the upland sandpiper, a large-eyed, small-headed sandpiper whose distinctive wolf-whistle (sweEET-WHEEeer) is given from excessive above the bottom because it flutters in show. There was a time when these birds occurred extensively in hayfields and blueberry barrens throughout the state. Now, within the southern a part of Maine, there are solely a handful of locations left the place they nonetheless happen.

Vesper sparrow, a big sparrow with white outer tail feathers, chestnut-patches on the wings (therefore one among its very previous names, the “bay-winged bunting”), and a propensity to sing vigorously within the evenings (“vesper” means “night” in Latin), is one other specialist of blueberry barrens. In southern Maine, it, too, might be discovered nesting at only some scattered places. Even the savannah sparrow, a short-tailed species with a buzzy tsee-tsay track that we used to consider as ubiquitous throughout hayfields and different open habitats within the state, is tougher and tougher to seek out nowadays.

These are a number of the explanation why the current announcement by the Midcoast Conservancy of a mission to guard 263 acres of the famed Clarry Hill Highlands—one of many final blueberry barrens within the Midcoast area—is so critically essential. When this extraordinary property, with its sweeping views of Camden Hills and Muscongus Bay, was lately put available on the market, it appeared destined to be misplaced to one more cookie-cutter subdivision or maybe a McMansion, and with it, but extra acreage that’s so essential for grassland birds.

Fortunately, the Midcoast Conservancy was in a position to negotiate a deal that positioned the property inside attain, offering sufficient individuals can step in to assist reserve it. However time is of the essence: the mission requires funds to be raised by the tip of summer time 2023. Saving this parcel of Clarry Hill would add to these beloved items of Clarry Hill which have already been protected due to the Land for Maine’s Future program, supported by the Pure Sources Council of Maine, which you’ll be able to examine on the NRCM web site.

Clarry Hill, when you’ve by no means been fortunate sufficient to go to, is a spectacular blueberry barren atop a hill break up between Union and Waldoboro. As a crow flies it’s three miles east of the well-known Morse’s Sauerkraut and two miles west of the Union Fairgrounds. Generations of birders attending Audubon’s Hog Island camp have been taken there every summer time to see and listen to birds like upland sandpipers, vesper sparrows, and savannah sparrows. Sadly, apart from event migrant stop-overs, upland sandpipers haven’t been confirmed breeding there in the previous few years however vesper sparrows and savannah sparrows might be see from April onward by way of the autumn. It’s additionally residence to many different birds species and is a favourite native sizzling spot for hawk-watching.

We urge all our devoted readers to contemplate contributing to this important marketing campaign to guard one of many final of the rarest habitats in Maine. You will discover out extra on the webpages of the Midcoast Conservancy.

Jeffrey V. Wells, Ph.D., is a Fellow of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Vice President of Boreal Conservation for Nationwide Audubon. Dr. Wells is without doubt one of the nation’s main chook consultants and conservation biologists. He’s a coauthor of the seminal “Birds of Maine” guide and writer of the “Birder’s Conservation Handbook.” His grandfather, the late John Chase, was a columnist for the Boothbay Register for a few years. Allison Childs Wells, previously of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a senior director on the Pure Sources Council of Maine, a nonprofit membership group working statewide to guard the character of Maine. Each are extensively revealed pure historical past writers and are the authors of the favored books, “Maine’s Favourite Birds” (Tilbury Home) and “Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao: A Website and Discipline Information,” (Cornell College Press).

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Maine

Shenna Bellows sworn in for third term as Maine Secretary of State

Published

3 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Shenna Bellows sworn in for third term as Maine Secretary of State

Special to Seacoastonline
| news@seacoastonline.com

AUGUSTA, Maine — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was sworn into office for her third term Wednesday. Governor Janet Mills conducted the formal swearing-in of all the constitutional officers, which includes Bellows, State Treasurer Joseph Perry, Attorney General Aaron Frey and State Auditor Matthew Dunlap. In her remarks following the swearing-in, Bellows shared a message of transparency and accessibility in continuing to serve the people of Maine. “It is incumbent upon us as elected officials to make government work for the people of Maine,” Bellows said. “We must reduce bureaucracy, improve efficiency, modernize our systems, and above all, bring people together in community to make life better for the people of Maine.”

The Department of the Secretary of State includes three bureaus: The Maine State Archives, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions.

Bellows emphasized her commitment to ensuring free, safe, and secure elections, modernizing government services, and preserving Maine’s history through the State Archives. She highlighted the importance of standing up for the rule of law and democracy, referring to the legacy of Civil War General Joshua Chamberlain and referencing the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. “This is our Chamberlain moment. We must stand up for the rule of law and do the right thing even when it is hard. As your Secretary of State, I pledge to always ensure that we have free, safe and secure elections and that we adhere to the Constitution and the rule of law in every aspect of everything that we do,” said Bellows. Bellows, Maine’s 50th Secretary of State, previously served two terms in the Maine Senate from 2016-2020 and was the executive director of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine before her election in 2021.

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Maine

An endangered rabbit species is on the rise in parts of Maine

Published

11 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

An endangered rabbit can be found in seven towns in Maine, two more than just six years ago, and the number of colonies has more than doubled to 46 known sites in that time, according to the state’s small mammal biologist.

The native New England cottontail rabbit, which is on the Endangered Species list, is found in southern Maine, but its non-native invasive species cousin the Eastern cottontail is rapidly gaining ground, said Cory Stearns, small mammal biologist.

The two species eat similar foods, the main difference being where they live. Easterns will live closer to people under decks or porches or other human structures and are less timid about open space. That allows them to proliferate in areas where the native species won’t because they prefer to hide in bushes and thickets.

The concern is that the Easterns will dominate, making it harder for the New Englands to rebound, Stearns said. Because of that and the state’s ongoing research and monitoring program, biologists are asking Maine residents to report any sightings of the two species of rabbits.

It’s difficult to tell them apart, but often the Eastern cottontail will have a white spot on its forehead. It also has bigger eyes that give them more side vision, he said.

It’s much easier to tell them apart from snowshoe hares in the winter. Snowshoes turn white, allowing them to hide in plain sight on the snow, while rabbits are brown year-round, Stearns said.

The New England cottontail saw its highest numbers in the 1960s when there were a lot of abandoned farms that provided thickets for hiding places. As the forest grew up and matured around those areas, the bushes and hidey-holes disappeared.

It now can be found in Cape Elizabeth, York, Wells, Scarborough, Kittery, Eliot and Kennebunk.

The low point was in 2018, when there were only 21 sites populated by the New England rabbits. The Easterns were first spotted in Maine in 2017 in Portland, Old Orchard Beach, the Berwicks and Wells.

The scientists collect rabbit feces, called pellets, for genetic testing to determine which species is inhabiting a space. They also can figure out how many individuals are in a colony.

If you want to help out by reporting a rabbit sighting, fill in this form on the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website.

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Maine

Maine lawmakers return to Augusta as session begins

Published

18 hours ago

January 8, 2025

Press Room

Maine lawmakers return to Augusta as session begins

AUGUSTA — The 132nd Legislature gathered at the State House Wednesday to open a new session and begin the long process of formally referring new bills to standing committees for hearings and work sessions.

Lawmakers are expected to meet in their respective chambers only one day a week through February, as work slowly ramps up on reviewing hundreds — if not thousands — of bills submitted by lawmakers. Most of the work in the coming weeks will happen during more frequent meetings of the individual committees.

The session is scheduled to end June 18.

The top issue facing lawmakers is state spending.

On Tuesday, the governor’s budget office warned legislative leaders and members of the Legislature’s budget-writing committee about a $118 million shortfall in MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, in the current budget, plus a projected deficit in the next two-year budget of $450 million.

The state’s current two-year budget is $10.5 billion, but existing spending commitments already approved by lawmakers would push that spending level to $11.67 billion if they are fully funded, according to the Department of Administrative and Financial Services.

Gov. Janet Mills is expected to present her budget in the coming days. She has said she plans to protect certain investments, including continuing to provide 55% of public education funding, free community college, MaineCare expansion and 5% revenue sharing with municipalities.

Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, speaks during first day of the 2025 legislative session on Wednesday. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

In addition to reviewing and amending the budget, lawmakers will take up a slate of new legislation. The deadline submit bills is Friday. During the previous Legislature, lawmakers submitted nearly 2,300 bills.

Democrats remain in control of state government. In addition to the governorship, Democrats retained majorities in the House and Senate, albeit by smaller margins. Democrats have had a trifecta since 2019.

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