A tour of the stars and some nature walks end the summer
Friends of Merrymeeting Bay is hosting several end-of-season outings in early September. All take place in Bowdoinham and require preregistration by calling Ed Friedman at 207-666-3372.
On Thursday evening, Sept. 3, from 7:30-9:30 p.m., Southern Maine Astronomers Secretary and former President Rob Burgess will host “An Evening with the Stars.”
At the opposite end of the day, ornithologist Will Broussard will lead one of his always popular bird walks from 8-10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5.
And, wrapping up this season’s FOMB Outside Series will be FOMB Chair Ed Friedman giving a “Wildlife Walk/Taxidermy Talk” for an hour in the Bowdoinham Public Library on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m.
AN EVENING WITH THE STARS
Maine features some of the darkest, most star-filled night skies east of the Mississippi River, including New England’s only official International Dark Sky designated public lands. Dark sky conservation benefits wildlife and their habitats, the science of astronomy, reduces health and safety risks to humans, saves energy, and reduces costs. Conversely, light pollution has devastating effects on migrating birds, native plants and pollinators, human health and astronomy.
Rob Burgess has been active in Maine’s amateur astronomy scene for the last 30-plus years. He rekindled a childhood interest in astronomy in the 1990s first joining the Astronomical Society of Northern New England, heading up its fundraising effort to build the Talmadge Observatory in Kennebunk, and later becoming club president for several years. In 2004, several Talmadge members decided to offer a club closer to where they lived (and their kids went to school) so started Southern Maine Astronomers. Burgess was a board member from inception, serving as club president from 2019 to 2025, now serving as club secretary. He was a NASA Solar System Ambassador as well as having served on the board of the Maine Space Grant Consortium for several years, including as board chair.
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Some resources include:
• southernmaineastronomers.org
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BIRD WALK
Will Broussard (Courtesy of Ed Friedman)
Merrymeeting Bay is internationally recognized for its unique tidal freshwater ecosystem. This environment attracts a diversity of birds drawn to its special qualities and the bay is recognized by The American Bird Conservancy as a Globally Important Bird Conservation Area. To educate others about this habitat and its avian array, Will Broussard will lead this morning walk on mixed terrain.
Broussard has been outreach coordinator for the Mount Washington Observatory and since 2021 has been science and writing specialist for the Maine-based mushroom company North Spore. He studied conservation biology at Antioch University New England graduate school and years ago was the youngest person certified by Cornell’s Ornithology Lab to record bird sounds. A Bowdoinham native, Broussard is passionate about the birds found around Merrymeeting Bay. Attendees can learn, observe and hopefully listen to songbirds, raptors, and everything in between.
WILDLIFE/TAXIDERMY WALK
FOMB has about 48 taxidermy mounts used in its education program. The specimens including birds, mammals, invertebrates and fish are housed in Bowdoinham’s public library giving the library quite a unique character. How did these wildlife ambassadors end up in the library and what were their life histories like? Join FOMB Chair Ed Friedman for a “story hour” of a different sort on a walk through this eclectic collection of critters.
Friedman has a broad based environmental science background and has worked from the arctic to Antarctica for among others, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducting research on caribou and sea otters. Other species he has worked with include snowshoe hare, bald eagles, carp and freshwater mussels.
The FOMB Summer Outside! Series is the warm weather counterpart to FOMB’s popular Winter Speaker Series beginning this season on Oct. 14 with a presentation entitled Aldo Leopold and “The Oldest Task in Human History” featuring Stan Temple, professor emeritus of conservation, University of Wisconsin, Madison and science advisor to the Aldo Leopold Foundation Board. This will be the 30 year of FOMB’s winter series and presentations are now held via Zoom. Events are usually free and are open to the public. Preregistration is required unless otherwise noted.
For more information about FOMB’s programs call Ed Friedman at 666-3372.
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