By Asst. Regional Biologist Amanda DeMusz

Fall is a beautiful time of year. The leaves are changing and colors abound. However, trees are not the only ones with unique colors. With trapping season upon us, I thought it would be a great time to highlight a popular game species that is near and dear to my heart: the American Marten (Martes americana). Many non-trappers have probably never seen one, but marten come in a variety of colors.

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.

By Research Technician Dylan Whitaker

Years ago, lake whitefish were considered a popular sport fish in Maine and were readily caught in many waters across the state. Whitefish even supported a commercial fishery in northern Maine for a short time at the turn of the 20th century. However, many of Maine’s whitefish populations have experienced significant declines. Since then, whitefish lost much of its notoriety.

On October 9th, our Environmental Studies class at Nokomis Regional High was fortunate enough to have wildlife biologist, Danielle D’Auria, come to our class and talk to us about the Great Blue Heron nests that are located on our school grounds. We took a trip to the Heron Rookery right on our school property, where we were able to tag and measure 33 nesting trees and identify 39 heron nests.

By Wildlife Biologist Sarah Spencer

Back in 2012, I discovered that my septic was failing and required an overhaul. Although it was a major inconvenience familiar to many residents of rural areas, it turned into a success story for pollinators!

By Fisheries Biologist Kevin Dunham

By Wildlife Biologist Kendall Marden

It was predicted to be a less than perfect year for monarch butterflies in the northeast due to the cold, wet weather that lasted into the early summer. That may be true, but as always with wildlife, it's easy to assume something about a larger population from individual experiences that may only be true in a small area.