Nature & Wildlife

Finding a ruffed grouse in the woods. A few weeks ago while I walking in the woods, I spotted a female ruffed grouse perching high up in a birch tree. This was quite an exciting visual treat. Before moving to Maine, I had never seen this species of bird before. Since seeing my first ruffed […]

A few weeks ago, I was quite excited to discover my first common redpolls (Acanthis flammea) in the backyard. A flock of about 25-30 of these beautiful birds had perched on one of the bent birch trees that was damaged from a previous ice storm that we experienced this season. Before I knew it, as […]

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go winter camping? Do you think you could sleep comfortably in single digit temperatures? Well, a friend of ours was wondering about these very things. Our friend, Ian, had recently purchased a hammock sleeping bag and wanted to try it before using it on future […]

Here in Maine, the black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) are displaying early courting behavior. February, after all, is the month of love. In recent weeks, I have noticed a change in the behavior of these birds. For example, the males are now starting to sing. Females are more likely to mate with males that have won […]

Here is our situation. The property next to ours is almost fifty acres and is very beautiful. We have often fantasized about what it would be like to own that amount of property, or at least own some of it. We have discovered along the way that the owners of the property live out west. […]

One of my favorite activities during the winter is to get outdoors and track animals in the snow. We have quite a substantial amount of open and wooded property here in Maine, with a pond, brook and stream. The area is also rich with a diverse amount of wildlife, so you never know what types […]

We had our first big snowstorm of the year a couple of days ago. The day before it snowed, we received a bit of rain and then the temperatures had fallen well below freezing. The ice has allowed for the snow to remain on the tree branches, allowing for beautiful winter photography. Perhaps this hasn’t […]

The blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is one of the most common resident birds and visitors at bird feeders here in New England. Have you ever wondered what these common songbirds symbolize? After doing a bit of research, I have discovered that these birds symbolize curiosity, communication, and intelligence. I also discovered that blue jays also […]

With only a few hours left of this year, I decided to share a few photographs from a quiet and beautiful hike we had taken recently. We made sure to take advantage of a beautiful sunny day here in Maine. Now that hunting season is over, there are more days open to us during the […]

In previous posts, I have mentioned my preference for keeping the bird feeders as a squirrel-free zone. We have been here in Maine for five years as of last month. I had lucked out for a while, without the feeders being taken over by squirrels. It wasn’t until about a couple of years ago, that […]