Dear Katie,


It looks like we're in for a bit more winter! 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.

Some spring things happening on this warm day! Actually I don't know about the lichen, maybe it does that all the time, but I love the orange!


Thanks to Shani Lynne for identifying this lichen, known as british soldier or Cladonia cristatella!


(Submitted by Molly Scott. February 16, 2023)

Late this afternoon we got to watch a Barred Owl return to the wild after a short stint in rehab at the Avian Haven. A few weeks ago it flew into a car driving on Route 123 near Knight's Corner and apparently suffered a concussion. The driver scooped it up while it was stunned and put it in the car—note: this is not a great plan, as you will learn when it regains consciousness in your car—and brought it the Harpswell Neck Fire Station where a friend of hers helped her get it into a dog crate for the night and then turned it over to Avian Haven the next day.


A pair of volunteers from Avian Haven arrived with the bird in a cardboard box. They carried the box a short distance to a spot near the trees, then opened the box and it flew off into the woods. It perched briefly on a branch right nearby, then flew off. A few minutes later one of the group of us who had gathered to watch it be released noticed that it had returned to a branch very near where it first perched. It sat there watching us in the fading light and was still on the branch when we dispersed and returned to our cars; the last two pictures in this post were taken in that fading light and are lower quality due to the greatly reduced light.


This owl is quite likely one of a mated pair that "owns" the territory around Mitchell Field, along Route 123 from the Curtis Farm Preserve parking area north past the Fire Station and Mitchell Field to Knight's Corner. It also seems likely that the Barred Owl I posted pictures of back around New Year's is one of this pair, either this one or its mate. I took those pictures from the Curtis Farm Preserve parking area while the owl was perched on utility lines along Route 123 next to the parking area.


For more photos of the release, visit our Facebook group.


(Submitted by Howard Marshall. February 10, 2023)

The crazy cold temperatures we had last Friday and Saturday produced some crazy ice formations! Sunday, I found this awesome needle ice on the trail at Curtis Farm Preserve. Needle ice is a phenomenon that occurs when moist soil temperatures are above freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit) but the air temperature is below freezing. It had been relatively warm prior to that cold snap that arrived so quickly Friday night. These ice crystals formed because the moisture in the soil was drawn up to the surface through capillary action. When it reached the bitter cold air, it froze and built columns of needle-like ice crystals. You can see the soil that was pushed up by the growing crystals. In addition to the extreme weather shift we just experienced, needle ice will also form if warmer daytime temperatures are not cold enough to freeze the ground, but drop below freezing at night. Repeated freeze-thaw conditions for several days can build columnar ice structures.



(Submitted by Lynn Knight. February 8, 2023)

Lots of birds out on the water yesterday. The surf scoters were a special treat (seen at Long Cove and Devil's Back). I also saw red-breasted mergansers, a loon, and the horned grebe again, plus one seal in the water.



(Submitted by Gina Snyder. February 3, 2023)

Cedar waxwing.



(Submitted by Jess Marie. February 2, 2023)