Dear Katie,


This month we are sharing just a few of the posts from our Harpswell Nature Watchers Facebook group. Want to see the rest? Click here to join.


What are you seeing out there? We'd love to hear from you! Click here for more information about Harpswell Nature Watchers.

A barred owl above the trail at Devil's Back.


(Submitted by Gina Snyder. October 30, 2022)

A multitude of cormorants perched on T-Ledge as the tide was rising.


(Photo by Allan Mann, submitted by Peter Shaw. October 22, 2022)

A maritime garter snake on the Minot Trail.


(Submitted by Barry Coflan. October 20, 2022)

This porcupine at the Bowdoin Schiller Coastal Studies Center was like a big ball of fur, I have no idea how it was balancing! I went around to look at what was going on and it was eating an apple!


(Submitted by Gina Snyder. October 17, 2022)

Continuing the theme of random observations I started in my last post, I have been noticing lots of tips of oak branches lying on the ground under oak trees seemingly cut, or rather chewed off. The cut branches are anywhere from one to three feet long with all the acorns stripped, leaving just the empty acorn caps. I’m guessing that squirrels are chewing off acorn-laden branch tips they are too heavy to access. With the branches on the ground, they can easily gather and stash their harvest. I asked Professor Nat Wheelwright about this observation, and he thought it made sense given that squirrels are known to cut white pine twigs to access the cones on the ground.


Something I have always noticed with curiosity while walking forest trails, but never actually took a moment to ponder further is depicted in the second photo. A fairly common sight, small tree roots running over large tree roots that are up out of the ground, as if they were strapping and anchoring it more securely to the forest floor. Knowing that trees wouldn’t voluntarily send their roots up out of the ground and over an obstacle, I can imagine that when the tree is younger, the main roots are smaller and completely underground. While still underground, smaller roots from nearby trees grow and crisscross over those main roots. However, as the tree grows, these main roots rise up out to the ground as they become larger, bringing whatever roots overlay them to the surface. I checked this theory with Professor Nat Wheelwright and he concurred adding that particularly on a trail, the topsoil gets compacted and eroded by footsteps and rain water accelerating the process of exposing tree roots.


(Submitted by Lynn Knight. October 5, 2022)


I got pictures of the bald eagles in Quahog Bay and Snow Island on Thursday.


(Submitted by Howard Marshall. October 1, 2022)