Spring is Here, but Where are Our Tagged Herons?
Spring is here, and we are patiently waiting for our tagged herons to return from their wintering areas. Here's an update explaining why we haven't seen them yet.
Signs of Spring
In Maine, March is the perfect time to start taking a moment here and there to notice the changing wildlife sights, sounds, and smells around you.
Tracking Nokomis Connected People to Place, Both Near and Far
As a biologist, I know death is as much a part of the life cycle of all organisms as life itself, but it can still be difficult to contend with especially after you’ve “gotten to know” an individual animal by following its movements for nearly five years. That individual is Nokomis, a great blue heron we tagged with a GPS transmitter in 2016.
A Quick Look Back Before the 2020 Heron Watching Season Begins
How about we forget about what’s going on in the crazy world for just a moment and think about the month of June 2019, which is when Heron Observation Network Volunteers conducted most of their colony visits last year.
Harper's Marvelous Migration Sparks More Questions - Here Are Some Answers
For those who may be late to the party, “Harper” is an adult female great blue heron who was captured and tagged with a GPS transmitter in Harpswell, Maine, by IFW biologists with the help of students from Harpswell Coastal Academy and volunteers with Harpswell Heritage Land Trust.
Heron Tagged in Harpswell Surprises Biologists
For nine students at Harpswell Coastal Academy, Wednesdays in May meant donning knee-high boots, venturing to a nearby wetland, and hoping for signs a hungry great blue heron had been there. As part of a spring class elective, these students were dedicated to helping MDIFW ultimately tag a great blue heron with a GPS transmitter as part of an ongoing project to better understand heron habits in Maine.
Ibises, Egrets, Night-Herons, Oh My!
On a beautiful May day, I had the pleasure to visit an island off the coast of Portland. After a short boat ride from a local captain and an even shorter dinghy ride, we arrived on the shore of Ram Island. Accompanied by MDIFW biologists Danielle D'Auria and Brad Allen and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists Bob Houston and Kirstin Underwood, I looked on with binoculars to get a feel for the bird diversity on the island. I was blown away immediately by the sight of all the birds. I could see everything from gulls to egrets, sandpipers, and oystercatchers. The coastline was rocky and marked with cliffs and vegetation that were perfect nesting habitat for gulls and eiders. The center of the island was very green with dense vegetation, perfect for wading birds.
How to Help an Injured Heron - Safely!
There is a small portion of our Great Blue Heron population that overwinters in Maine, but all those I have seen or heard about are juveniles. Quite often those that stay are not in great condition and may even be starving. A juvenile great blue heron captured accidentally by a beaver trapper this November was not injured in the process but was brought to Avian Haven - one of Maine’s top-notch bird rehabilitators - because it was noticeably thin.
Great Blue Heron is Newest Teacher at Easton Schools
On an otherwise quiet Sunday morning before dawn, our headlamps lit the way through cattails and boot-sucking mud as we carried a bucket of baitfish and tubs of traps to a bin set in the shallows of Christina Reservoir in Aroostook County.
Two Years Later, Two More Herons Tagged for Tracking
Two years after five of Maine’s great blue herons were outfitted with high-tech GPS transmitters, IFW once again worked closely with teachers and students from Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, Center Drive School in Orrington, and Haworth Academic Center in Bangor to re-deploy two of the tags on new herons.
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