Maine Nature News

March 25, Milford (Map 33)
Picked a big bunch of pussywillows today. The chickadees were singing all around us. Crocuses (croci?) are peeking up, also tulips, daffodils and cushion spurge. Spring is coming...Yay!  KT

March 25, Phippsburg (Map 6)
Brant and rave! That's what I did when I saw these Brants feeding on the rocks with the gulls on Bald Head. These were my first Brants ever. RRR

March 26,  Phippsburg (Map 6)
I took a hike out to Bald Head yesterday with friends. Bald Head is the southern most tip of Small Point. The sky was clear and the temp. was around fifty, glorious! On the way, I found a dead Dekay’s Brown snake. It was about 6” long. It looked like a hawk had snatched it then dropped it. I could just imagine an aerial battle between a hawk and an eagle, or maybe a gull, fighting for the prize only to have it lost to all. I also saw a flock of four Brants feeding on the rocks. They were not bothered by giant waves crashing, either! The Brants were a first for me. There was also Colt’s Foot in bloom. Tussilago farfara is an invasive species, probably introduced from Europe by settlers for its medicinal qualities. ‘Tussilago’ means cough suppressant. The crushed flowers have also been used to treat skin ailments. In Amsterdam, dried Colt’s Foot is used as a tobacco substitute. In the UK, a confectionary company makes a hard, rock candy from the essence called Colt’s Foot Rock. The recipe for a sorbet created from the crushed petals is available on fxcuisine.com. But, BEWARE: the plant contains an alkaloid known to destroy liver cells. Boiling supposedly breaks down the alkaloid so that the harmful effects are reduced. Would it really be worth it, though? The creator of the sorbet recipe serves the sorbet in a cage of caramelized sugar with sugar spikes on which are impaled the blossoms of the Colt’s Foot. Sounds gorgeous, like a lot of things that are really bad for you! In Rome, the plant was called ‘filius ante pastreme,’ or ‘son before the father,’ because the flowers appear on hairy stalks before the leaves emerge. Colt’s Foot is also known as Ass’s Foot, Bull’s Foot, Butterbur, Coughwort, Foal’s Foot, Farfara and Winter Heliotrope. The leaves look like a cross section of the foot of a foal. One of the very first flowers of spring, the cheery yellow flowers appear before the dandelions. RRR

March 10, Saco (Map 3)
Spring is nigh!  Two turkey vultures circling over Saco this afternoon.  JB

March 13, Phippsburg, Totman Cove (Map 6)





Dayton (Map 3) An interesting mix on new and old technologies in this yard at the Cole Family Sugarhouse in Dayton.  Wonder how much they get out of that antenna?  JB

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February 27, Talmadge (Map 45)
I stepped out to the back porch to find out why one of the dogs was barking.  He looked into the woods, paced the path to the barn and gave his warning bark.  I couldn't find eyes on the ground or in the trees so I let one of the farmcollies out to search.  Still no results from the dogs.  I made them sit quietly.  And there it was.  A barred owl sitting just out of sight.  "Who? Who cooks for you?"  And then a reply.  I think it was near friend Jan's house (she has tasty ducks and chickens too) three-quarters mile away.  They exchanged conversation a few times.  Much to my delight, I heard a third barred owl from the opposite direction.  The owl sitting above the barn was in the center, a second to the south and a third to the north.  RF

February 28, Phippsburg, Totman Cove (Map 6)
This is a Gulf of Maine shrimp, also called a "Popcorn Shrimp" due to the small size. This one is about five inches long which is large. The shrimp are bigger this year which some attribute to changes in the length of the season. The length of the harvesting season is determined by the Department of Fisheries. This year the shrimp are mostly males. They are called 'roosters.' Since there aren't eggs attached, the amount of meat is a higher ratio to the gross weight of the shrimp meat. We pick shrimp every year to put into the freezer. This year, we picked fifty pounds for a net weight of twenty five pounds of meat, which is a high count. Twenty four hours after we had picked and packed them, the power went out for three days. We paid forty cents a pound for them. When they are fresh (this one had been out of the water less than twenty-four hours) they have a rich pink, iridescent color. They are harder to pick when they are fresh (as chicken eggs are harder to shell when fresh). The shell adheres to the body but loosens as they 'age.' To pick them, we pull and pinch the shell from the tail in one motion which pushes the meat forward. Then, we twist off the head and peel the shell from the body. A good picker can perform all these motions in merely one motion. We aren't 'good' pickers. We do it because we love it and take satisfaction from doing it ourselves. Nothing is sweeter in the world than Maine shrimp you've picked yourself! RRR