Past Events

  PVC board member Bob Milardo will present a travelogue about his recent birding trip to the Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica.  Species highlights will include footage of multiple penguin colonies, albatrosses, prions, giant petrels, and snow petrels, along with the sheer magic of the Southern Ocean. This will be an indoor program at FPAC.

Leaders: Gloria Vollmers and Paul Markson.  This perennial Bangor birding hot-spot has earned the nickname of “Little Penjajawoc,” since it is part of the larger Penjajawoc-Caribou Marsh wetlands ecosystem that covers a huge swath of the greater Bangor region.  No matter what you choose to call it, this is always a lively place to look for puddle ducks, marsh species, year-round residents, and early-returning migratory species.  Meet in the Essex Woods parking lot at the end of Watchmaker Street, off…

Leader: Bob Milardo. Join Bob for a leisurely walk through portions of the Caribou Bog Conservation Area (CBCA), an Orono Land Trust property where volunteers have been rehabilitating the former Taylor Bait Ponds to provide improved habitat for ducks, shorebirds, wading birds, and other species that breed and feed around ponds and freshwater marshes. We’ll keep an eye out for species that typically migrate through our region, resting and feeding up before flying on toward their Canadian breeding grounds. The…

Please join us to elect new board members and officers, followed by a presentation from the 2022 recipient of the Inez Boyd Environmental Research Award (IBERA). Trina Wantman will present findings from her academic research on “Nest site selection and hatchling success of Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) in central Maine.”  Wood turtles are an internationally-listed endangered species and a Priority 1 Species of Concern in Maine, so their ability to successfully reproduce is of great interest to researchers.  Trina, a…

Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge offers ideal habitat for a large colony of Atlantic puffins.  Razorbills, common and Arctic terns, and common eiders also nest here, and it’s the southernmost breeding colony for the great cormorant.  Other seabirds and raptors are often spotted on or near the island, and we expect to have good views of harbor seals and gray seals with their pups.  Meet your trip leaders at the ferry terminal in Stonington at 12:30 p.m.  The boat leaves…

In late summer and early fall, it’s not unusual to spot transient great egrets and migrating shorebirds at Essex Woods.  We also will look for multiple species of ducks, green and great blue herons, pied-billed grebes, and songbirds in migration, or getting ready to migrate. You never know what might pop up here!  Directions:  Meet at the Watchmaker Drive entrance to Essex Woods, off Essex Street in Bangor. Leader:  Bob Milardo

Leaders:  Bob Milardo and Sandi McRae Duchesne Join us for a fall migration tour of productive birding hotspots in central Maine, focusing on species that rest and refuel around ponds, rivers, and lakes.  We will make multiple stops to survey birds at Plymouth Pond, Sebasticook Lake-Durham Bridge, Sprague’s Mill, and Corinna Bog/Corundel Lake.   We’re likely to spot a wide variety of waterfowl, along with smaller numbers of late-migrating shorebird species - and possibly a few unexpected delights.  Last fall, a…

Leader:  Paul Markson and Gloria Vollmers In late summer and early fall, it’s not unusual to spot great egrets and migrating shorebirds at Essex Woods.  Bob Milardo has nicknamed this special place Little Penjajawoc, since it is an extension of the larger Bangor marsh system and just as magical throughout the year.  We also will look for multiple species of ducks and other waterfowl, green and great blue herons, and songbirds. Directions:  Meet at the parking lot entrance to Essex…