Things to do in Portland, Maine: Gilsland Farm Audubon Center

Traveling alone is not only liberating in a cripplingly social way, its also sometimes just necessary for me. Who else wants to get up on their "vacation" to hang out with strangers and watch birds? 

Wherever I travel now I'm sure to scout out nature centers and arboretums and I was lucky enough to land upon Gilsland Farm - Portland's Audubon Center and they just happened to be having a birding walk that Thursday morning of my trip. 

As I pulled into the parking lot I spied a tiny gathering of birdies, bundled and swathed against the wind, hugging their binoculars tight. They looked up curiously as I stepped out of the car. 

"Is she lost?" I could feel them thinking. 

I don't know if it's a lack of patience that seems to naturally push youth from the scene. Or perhaps the intimidation of trained eyes and ears that soar to identifications quicker than one's fingers can type out a Google. Or is it just a lost art, like so many others, that has slipped from the forefront as technology took center stage, usurping sticks and stones, in the lives of youth?

Whatever the case, you can't help but feel a little out of your element when you show up to your first birding walk. All the bells and whistles of a bingo game don't even begin to compare to how disorientingly seductive this art they call birding can be to the uninitiated. 

I sidled up to the tiny group and acted nonchalant as I waited for the magic to unfold. 

They noticed.

"Oh just visiting. I go somewhere new every month and this month it's Portland," I explained, smiling weakly back at the surprised stare I received. "No I don't have any binoculars, this is kinda my first time doing this." I stomped my feet for warmth and again cursed my decision to come to Portland over the welcomingly warm arms of the lower laying lands down the coast. 

"Well we've actually got a nice little group out today, this is great," came a voice from behind us. I turned to see another fledgling join the group, his plumage still youthful and vibrant against the peppered whites and grays of the rest of the group. 

"Our fearless leader," one of the gray's quipped, "last week it was just the two of use out here and it was colder than today. Let's see how long we all last today."

Fearless leader? He can't be any older than I am! How did he happen to master this retiree ridden past-time before acquiring achey joints and a walking stick?

Doug led us through the woods and out to the first blind where he panned the scope out over the water.

Mergansers, Buffleheads, Goldeneyes, Double Crested Cormorants - despite the frosted temperatures the count started to climb and more bizarre, outlandish names were called out and the scope swung and trained quickly under Doug's direction.

As with anything, the first time is always a bit harry, a bit awkward. As I looked through the scope I asked questions to help establish some parcel of association for my brain to form a memory around.

"So the mergansers are the ones with the bad hair day?"I asked.

The woman next to me laughed, "I hadn't thought of it that way but yes," she replied. 

"So you're here all alone?" she asked as we followed Doug and the scope to the next spot. 

I imagine she inaccurately but endearingly perceived me as a duckling on my first adventure away from home pond.  We walked and chatted about the benefits of ample free time and hobbies that require that life. 

"Oh look out there in the grass. A Flicker. Didn't expect to see him today!"

The speckled dot flit and fluttered away from the scope before I could see him. 

Patience and acceptance are truly honed virtues in this trade. 

My feeble attempts to photograph a bird through the scope resulted in an artful bum shot. 

Eventually we wound completely around the grounds and back to our cars and my first taste of professional list making and ear bending was at a close. 

Bittersweet - Celastrus orbiculatus 

Judy, my walking companion

Check out the Center and walk the beautiful grounds if you ever make it to the Portland area. 
Doug and his followers walk to trails every Thursday morning from 7 to 9am.

20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, ME

207-781-2330

What to do in Flagstaff: The Arboretum

The Arboretum in Flagstaff is a pleasant drive just out of downtown. I've made it a practice now to visit arboretums, conservatories and other natural museums and spaces on my trips.

We drove through stands of Ponderosa and parked in a gravel lot next to a long, squat wooden building with floor to ceiling windows. The light dripped through the needles above and shaded us from the strongest of Arizona rays. 

We had arrived just in time for a wildflower and trees tour by an arboretum volunteer so we eagerly gathered round the already budding group of tourists. Surprisingly many of the tourists, like my uncle, were in fact locals. A Michigan couple, a Florida couple and I were the only out of staters.

We started the tour with the Arizona staple - the Ponderosa. 

The Abert's squirrel lives in and off of ponderosas exclusively so we looked for signs of these long eared plateau natives. We also learned two ways to identify a ponderosa. Each bundle of needles contains three long needles. Another way, smell the bark.

Each of us pressed our faces to the bark and inhaled deeply. 

Vanilla.

Next we moved to the Quaking Aspen. 

Fun facts about quaking aspens:

They usually propagate not through seeds but through their roots. Whole groves of aspen can actually be the same tree as they shoot out roots and produce clone trees. 

Their name comes from the flattened petioles of the leaf stem. This allows them to flexibly move from side to side - making them look as if they are trembling or shaking.

The Native Americans used the bark as a painkiller and for its anti-inflammatory properties.

We walked through the herb garden, smelling and tasting and talking about their individual histories and then into the wildflower garden to see the gorgeously blooming yarrow plants. 

The arboretum hosts an impressive amount of native wildflowers.

In fact they have a whole greenhouse and laboratory dedicated to preserving and restoring the plants that are native to the Colorado Plateau. 

Luck just seemed to be with us that day. Shortly after the walking tour ended the raptors tour started. We sat with a group of young school children and enjoyed the show and then patiently waited at the end to take pictures up close. The birds here have been brought to the arboretum for rehabilitation and preservation. Some are released after healing and some stay in captivity if their wounds are such that a long life in the wild is unlikely. 

The show focused heavily on the role birds play in ecosystems and how their habitat is being effected by human involvement in natural places.

What I valued about this show is how the birds are trained. They are never forced to do stunts they don't want to perform and therefor their training is long and slow. One little performer, a tiny zebra finch, wasn't feeling up to tricks and instead hopped off the trainers finger and onto the ground where it hopped around a bit. She let it wander, occasionally whistling to it and offering her hand and eventually it came back to her and then hopped back into it's cage. 

Peregrine Falcon in flight. 

This Eurasian Eagle Owl was keeping a very close eye on me as I took his picture. 

4001 S. Woody Mountain Rd. 

Open 9am - 4pm Every Day except Tuesday

Closed for the winter between November 1st and April 30th

Adults - $8.50

Seniors - $6

Youth - $3