October 10, 2022
Imagine your classroom isn’t just a room with four walls but a mossy coniferous forest, salt marsh, and epic granite outcropping overlooking a winding tidal creek and the hills of Acadia. The students of The Community School of Mount Desert Island (TCS) have been so lucky, thanks in part to the generosity of a landowner […]
September 20, 2022
Nature Bummin’ with MCHT Steward Kirk Gentalen “When is the best time to see river otters?” I was asked the above question this summer, right around mid-August, when I posted a river otter video on “the Instagram” (handle @baldfulmar). Instantly, I came up with a couple of obvious answer, “any time is the best time”, […]
August 25, 2022
By 2022 MCHT Richard G. Rockefeller Conservation Intern Jessica Crandell Around here, islands are the gateway to the sea. “Where?” you may be asking. At the Island Heritage Trust (IHT) on Deer Isle. My name is Jessica Crandell, and as the intern for IHT this summer, I spent countless hours viewing this way of living. […]
August 23, 2022
Nature Bummin’ with MCHT Steward Kirk Gentalen I mean, they’re Red Crossbills. Loxia curvirostra. Where do we begin? Better yet, when do we begin? Full disclosure here (and I think we’ve had this conversation before) but when it comes to nature observing, birds tend to be the “first hook” when exploring a new […]
July 14, 2022
By MCHT Land Steward Kirk Gentalen Written June 17, 2022 So maybe I got a little ahead on myself a couple of posts ago, or maybe I should have known better before announcing a “favorite” anything too quickly. I don’t know—maybe “favorites” should be viewed a fluid concept that changes depending on which way the […]
July 5, 2022
Since 1970, Maine Coast Heritage Trust has been working to conserve Maine’s extraordinary coastal lands and islands, with a special focus on protecting avian havens like Jordan’s Delight Island, an important nesting island off Milbridge. As MCHT’s Director of Stewardship Jane Arbuckle says, “Conserving habitat for birds and wildlife is as essential to our work […]
June 13, 2022
Nature Bummin’ with MCHT Steward Kirk Gentalen Nowadays, it seems like everyone is busy processing changes in the world. Changes in perspective, changes in knowledge and understanding—and not just changes happening in real time, but changes from the past, as well as changes that have implications for the future. Processing like this brings […]
May 1, 2022
Nature Bummin with MCHT steward, Kirk Gentalen So, here’s something both new and unexpected—I now have a favorite tree species. Crazy. I (the royal “I”) have played favorites with many individual trees over the years but having a species that I call my favorite is new for me. Playing favorites makes me a human, or […]
April 1, 2022
Nature Bummin with MCHT steward, Kirk Gentalen Written March 2021, published April 2022 In “nature-speak” there are many words for transition: molting, shedding, and metamorphosis come to mind right off the bat. These particular transitions occur on a somewhat regular basis (often with implications of life and death). Amphibians have to get metamorphosizing and “out […]
March 17, 2022
Nature Bummin’ with MCHT land steward, Kirk Gentalen The trick for most, if not all, nature observation comes down to tracking, as in tracking down a critter. If you hear a Northern Parula sing and follow the song to the singer on its perch, you’re tracking. If you follow the hyper-active flight path of a […]
