The Nature of Phenology | WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark This fish that forms big schools near the ocean surface along the coast through the summer has a lot of names, but we can also simply think of it as “the most important fish in the sea.” Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com. About the host/writers: Joe H...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Fishing spiders are very large, with their bodies measuring upwards of an inch long and their leg-span being as large as five inches. And yes, they hunt and eat fish. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com. About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro,...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Each individual adult can eat anywhere from thirty to hundreds of mosquitoes each day, which shows not only how important dragonflies are to our comfort and safety, but also how important mosquitoes and other biting insects are to the wellbeing of dragonflies and, by extension, the birds, fish, and amphibians that rely on them as a food sourc...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark If you’re seeking a bright trailside nibble or something to adorn a salad or pasta dish, look no further than wood sorrel. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com. About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and i...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Learn about Atlantic salmon, written and performed by Lamoine Consolidated School 6th-grade students, thanks to partnerships with teacher Tiara Woods, Frenchman Bay Conservancy, the Fish Friends program, and Maine Outdoor School.  Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordp...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Learn about ospreys, written and performed by Lamoine Consolidated School 6th-grade students, thanks to partnerships with teacher Tiara Woods, Frenchman Bay Conservancy, and Maine Outdoor School. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com. About the host/writers: Joe Ho...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Contrary to the plant’s common name, blue-eyed grass is not a grass at all, but rather a member of the Iridaceae, or iris family.  Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com. About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Main...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Want another excuse to not mow your field? Look no further than the bobolink. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com. About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Red trillium has an unpleasant, sickly smell that attracts carrion flies as pollinators, pointing to its other common name of “stinking Benjamin.” Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com. About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Mai...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Our smallest, most common hawk, the broad-winged hawk, has returned from its winter haunts as far away as Central or South America. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com. About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor Scho...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Red maples are the most common broad-leaved tree in New England and are responsible in large part for why our corner of the country is known for its leaf-peeping season. But each spring, they put on a different display of colorful beauty in the form of their blossoms which now are popping across the region. Photos, a full transcript, referen...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark This time of year, male turkey heads and necks transform into vivid shades of blue, red, and white. They puff up their feathers, lower their wing tips, fan their tails, and gobble in the early hours looking for mates. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About th...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Yellow-bellied sapsuckers have just returned to the area and have a particularly distinctive drumming sound that some compare to Morse Code. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark The tinder polypore has many names including hoof fungus, amadou, or, scientifically speaking, Fomes fomentarius. This perennial mushroom is growing a new pore layer now, one that becomes an especially useful material for humans. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress....

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Unlike human beings which have a notably large range of foolish behavior seemingly without consequence, truly foolish behavior rarely exists beyond one generation in other species. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gou...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Muffler season or maple sugaring season? It’s all a matter of perspective. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark The ecosystem importance of this fish where they are native cannot be overstated. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter....

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Now is the time to start listening for the distinctive song of the white-throated sparrow. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and C...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Do you know what a saw-whet owl sounds like? It’s probably not what you expect. Now’s the time to listen for them. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Regi...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Each day since the winter solstice, we have been gaining daylight by a few minutes per day—an almost imperceptible daily change that now, at the tail end of our coldest month, is finally noticeable. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Perhaps no winter noises are quite as peculiar as those produced on a frozen lake or pond. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and C...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark “Black” guillemot is an appropriate name for these birds in the summer, when breeding adults are almost entirely black with white wing patches and bright red legs and feet. But in the winter, their bodies transform into frosty white and gray shades. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureof...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark One clue of a shift in dining focus for one local arboreal rodent is the scattering of spruce tips you can now find all over the forest floor. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoo...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark The coloration and size of these little birds camouflages them incredibly well against the tree bark where they spend most of their time. But even if you can’t spot one close up due to this camouflage, their behavior easily reveals their identity. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofph...

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark When you put a glass jar or bottle full of liquid in the freezer, what happens to it? It breaks. What happens when water inside a rock freezes? Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdo...