eBird was the primary topic with one group focusing on use of the eBird mobile app on their phone, while another looked at using the eBird website on a computer laptop. I have provided the Cornell link to access eBird's online support which has a comprehensive table of content to answer every question you have! As usual we also shared the birds we are seeing in our yards and that Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings have been seen in multiple Central Maine locations, often gorging on crabapple trees. In addition I have included 4 very short videos by Cornell looking at bird behaviors of a few common winter birds folks often see locally.
Friday February 13th - Monday February 16th
Great Backyard Bird Count
The Great Backyard Bird Count is co-sponsored by Cornell Lab, Audubon, and Birds Canada/L'Oiseaux Canada begins this week. Spend time in your favorite places watching birds. In as little as 15 minutes identify and count the birds around you and submit your counts to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world. If you already use eBird or Merlin, your submissions over this 4 day period count toward the GBBC.
Hover over the box below for a link to watch a video and learn more about the count.
Thursday, February 19th at 6:00pm.
LISTERS (runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes)
Schupf Center for Performing Arts
1 day and time only AND FREE!
Listers is an irreverent romp of a docu-comedy about two brothers who decide to do a Big Year with no prior birding experience. The audience may delight in, wince at, and envy their bird-journey all at once! Ashton Wesner PhD, a Colby College professor and birder, has arranged for this special screening designed to bring our central Maine birders, including some Colby birders too, together for a fun evening reprieve during the dark winter! We aim to have some brief time for discussion/reactions in the cinema afterward. This event is sponsored by the Center for Arts and Humanities and the "Thinking With Animals" Public Humanistic Inquiry Lab.
Wednesday March 25, 2026 Lunch & Learn 11:30 am - 1:00 pm P
Serena Sanborn
Bird Drawings and Explorations
Serena Sanborn, a local artist, who is also the manager of outreach and community partnerships for Waterville Creates, will help us understand the artistry of drawing birds during this lunch and learn session.
Tuesdays March 17, 2026 - March 31, 2026
Spring Birdwatching
TU, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Waterville Site - Mid-Maine Adult Education
Ian Lynch, Instructor
This course is designed to help you move beyond your backyard to identifying the birds that surround us, particularly those that will be passing through our area in the spring. The level of experience of the participants will shape what material is covered. The first class will cover the basics of equipment and technique, unless all the students have taken a previous course with the instructor. We will practice identification by sight as well as sound, focusing on warblers, thrushes, and raptors, concentrating on expected species and moving into rarities as time allows. Registration Fee: $35.00
