Host/Producer: Glen Mittelhauser This episode features a discussion with Coco and Tracey Faber, Alison Ballard, and Peyton Caylor, seabird researchers who worked on Maine’s offshore colonies this summer. Together they reflect on the role of these islands beyond nesting seabirds, describing their importance as stopovers for migrating shorebirds and staging areas for gulls. They share observations of sandpipers, plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, and other migrants, and note how islands like Eastern Egg Rock can host large flocks during peak migration. More information about Maine Natural History can be found at mainenaturalhistory.org. About the hosts: Glen Mittelhauser founded Maine Natural History Observatory (MNHO) in 2003 to fill the need for an organization that specializes in collecting, interpreting, and maintaining datasets for understanding changes in Maine’s plant and wildlife populations.  Glen received his Bachelor’s in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic in 1989 with a focus in the biological sciences and received his Master of Science degree in Zoology (with a focus on ornithology and statistics) from the University of Maine in 2000. Glen was the Managing Editor for Northeastern Naturalist and Southeastern Naturalist for 18 years and has served as external graduate faculty for 3 graduate student committees at the University of Maine.  Glen currently serves on the Baxter State Park Research Committee. Logan Parker is an Ecologist residing in Waldo County, Maine. Logan started the Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project in 2017 and brought the project (and his passion for bird conservation) to MNHO when he joined the team in 2018. Logan is heavily involved in the ongoing Maine Bird Atlas where he both coordinates and participates in the project’s special species surveys. When “off the clock”, Logan enjoys birding, writing, gardening, and working alongside his wife, Hallee, on their off-grid home in the Maine woods. Logan is also a wildlife photographer and shares photos and field notes through his project, Here In The Wild.

The post Nature Notes: A Maine Naturalist Afield 12/21/25: A Conversation with Seabird Researchers, 2025 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.