Nature Notes: A Maine Naturalist Afield 5/24/26: Rare birds – Are more visiting Maine

Host/Producer: Glen Mittelhauser

In this episode, Celeste reads an essay by Rob Speirs exploring whether the apparent increase of rare birds in Maine reflects real change or simply more observers equipped with better tools. From early phone trees to modern platforms like Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird and Merlin apps, he traces how advances in communication and technology, combined with a growing and increasingly skilled birding community, have transformed the detection and documentation of avian rarities.

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.

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What’s the Word on Maine Street? 5/23/26

What’s the Word on Maine Street?, hosted by Sarah Pebworth, is a weekly short feature Saturdays at 9:30am looking at local literary and visual arts events and offerings!

About the host:
Sarah Pebworth leads the steering committee for Word—a Blue Hill Literary Arts Festival, founded in 2017 and held each October. She serves on the boards of the Cultural Alliance of Maine and Lawrence Family Fitness Center YMCA. Since February 2023 Sarah has written “Shared Seas and Common Grounds,” a column published in the Penobscot Bay Press’s Weekly Packet. She and her wife Julie Jo Fehrle live in Blue Hill.

Theme music: Ross Gallagher is a bassist who grew up in East Blue Hill, ME, and currently lives between Bath, ME and Brooklyn, NY, where he works with a wide variety of musical artists. Infinite Blues is a cut from his recently released neon night, an excursion into an ambient/electronic musical world built around rhythmic bass ostinatos, clouds of processed looping electronic atmospheres, and melody. By turns both subtle and unapologetically noisy, the songs are a collection of luminous constellations, roved between by a band of texturally minded instrumental improvisers.

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Earthwise 5/23/26: Fate vs. Free Will

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley

About the host: Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine.

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Coastal Conversations 5/22/26: The Coastal Spruce Fir Forest

Host: Julia Rush
Editorial Help: Natalie Springuel
Theme Music: Paul Anderson – A Following Sea

Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program.

Ecology, natural history, scientific research, forest surveys.

Guest/s:
Gillian Audier.
Camilla Seirup.
Dr. Ron Davis.

FMI:
Sea to Trees – Season 4, episode 3 schoodicinstitute.org/sea-to-trees-season-4-episode-3/

About the hosts:

Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation’s since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland’s Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio.

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Around Town 5/22/26: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

The Wilson Museum in Castine opens May 27th with an exhibit in honor of the United States’ Semiquincentennial, that looks at historic events connected to Penobscot river and bay around the time of the revolution. Executive Director Julia Gray joins us with the details.

NOTE: Around Town will be away next week. Be sure to list your events on our groovy new community calendar!

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

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Justice Radio 5/21/26: Can Art Change the World?

Host/s: Linda and Nicole
Editor: Sarah Johnson
Music: Samuel James
Justice Radio is a WMPG production.

Justice Radio: Tackling the hard questions about our criminal legal system in Maine.

This week: Part 1 – Discussion of art and humanities project Still Becoming, for justice-impacted women and their families in Maine.

Guest: Ashley, Damariz, and, Jon

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Creative Maine 5/21/26: Who Are the Folk in Folk Music?

Producer/host: Adina Salmansohn
Other credits: Theme music written and performed by Ariel Chapman.
Theme music written and performed by Ariel Chapman
“Restless” written and performed by Larry and Leslie Latour
“Partie de Danses Acadienne”, Traditional, performed by Molly Gawler
“Dominion of the Sword”, performed by Waxwing

A monthly show exploring Maine‘s culture, art and crafts that enrich our lives and bring us joy.

5 guests discuss the definition and evolution of folk music in Maine.

Guest/s:
Larry and Leslie Latour, singer/songwriters; www.larryandleslielatour.com
Molly Gawler, singer/dancer/fiddler/teacher; Gawler Family Band on Facebook; www.bagaducemusic.org
Eloise Schultz, singer/songwriter/musician/author; www.eloiseschultz.com
Pepin Mittelhauser, singer/musician/actor/digital operations manager, WERU; radio.pepin on Instagram
waxwing.band on Instagram

About the Host:
Adina Salmansohn started learning to play the trombone at the age of 8.  Her undergraduate years were at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Robert F. Boyd of the Cleveland Orchestra.  After returning to her native New York, she played freelance in the NY Metro area, including multiple orchestras, big bands, and a 17 year stint with The Soundview Brass Quintet, which she founded in 1980. In addition, she had a busy career as an arts administrator, directing and teaching in Community Arts schools, light opera companies, and season programming for other non-profit organizations. Adina founded the Hudson School of Creative Arts in inner-city Yonkers, NY.

After her second child was born, she returned to school, and earned a degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America. Her family then moved to the Chicagoland area, where she became Principal Trombone of the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, and also served as a board member and Personnel Manager for many years.  In that time, she also taught Culinary Arts in high school.  She earned a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies from Northern Illinois University in 2018. Upon retirement, she and her husband moved to Orland, Maine; she came out of retirement to teach in the JMG program. She performs with the Bangor Band, where she has been a Board Member at Large for four years, and is a member of a trombone quartet based at The University of Maine, The Bear Bones.

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