It’s a hungry time for owls, we’re told, what with the heavy snow pack all over the state. The little critters - mice, shrews, and voles – that they normally feed on, are safely tunneling under the snow. Not only are our native owls hungry, but Arctic snowy owls have made their way south due to a shortage of lemmings, preferred food in their native habitat.

Our neighbor, Jerry Bernier over on Ducktrap Road, spotted what he thought was a snowy owl one day last week. Not long after that our Senegal parrot, P.J., came under siege. First, before dawn one morning we were startled by a thump at our sunroom window; P.J. began screaming a high-pitched scream we’d never heard from him.

The dog ran in to check on him, with Wally and I right behind, but except for a terrified parrot, there wasn’t a sign of anything outside in the darkness.

Then that same night another THUMP! followed by a screeching P.J. 

The dog and I ran to the window again, and there on the towering snow bank, not a foot away from the parrot, sat a large white owl. Within a second or two it melted away into the darkness. I immediately checked “owl images” and decided it was a barred owl, as it had dark markings on its white plumage. Now I’m not sure, as Arctic snowy owls have markings, too.

After that we covered P.J.’s cage as it was clearly visible through the window when lights are on inside. The owl’s been back twice since then, once when the cage was covered and once in broad daylight. We worried it would break its neck, but apparently owls attack feet first. Hope it doesn’t break the window.

All of this just confirms my theory that most of us spot more wildlife through our own windows than on excursions into the woods and fields. Over the many years that I’ve written about life in Lincolnville, animal sightings are the most popular feature, if calls from readers are any indication. When our sons were growing up, they’d tease me about the phone messages reporting the first robin of spring or the fattest squirrel. A story that came with our house told of the old woman, probably Frances Clayter, who lived here alone in the 1950s. She spent hours in her rocker by the kitchen window looking out at Beach road, here at the top of Sleepy Hollow. One day she saw a mountain lion step into the road and stand in the middle for some minutes.

Mountain lion sightings seem to run in cycles of several years.

I haven’t heard any in quite a while, but at times they’re quite common. One summer what was described as a smallish mountain lion was seen by three different people just south of the Beach.

One woman, driving on Route 1, saw it run across the road, its long tail clearly visible. That long tail is always mentioned. Knowing that these large cats cover large territory, I imagine that when there are several sightings in a short period of time, that “our” cat is just passing through, pausing as long as the food supply holds out. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has traditionally denied the existence of these animals in our state, but now, in a seeming move to placate the hundreds of folks who swear they’ve seen one, they have this to say about mountain lions: “Are there really mountain lions in Maine? There are hundreds of reported sightings, yet not one good photograph, video; or actual body or scat.  Keep a camera handy while you are out in the woods; a great picture of a wild mountain lion would make the news!”

But we do have bears here in Lincolnville, or at least, bears wander through from time to time. A few years ago a bear careened through town from Youngtown road to Pitcher Pond, raiding bird feeders over a period of a week. In early spring, after their long winter’s nap, bears wake up hungry, and that’s when they sometimes go after your bird feeder. Generally, people find their feeders on the ground, their strong metal poles bent over. I think I’d happily sacrifice a feeder in order to see a bear out my window.

We often see foxes here; they hang out at the edge of the woods, gazing with great interest at our hen yard. Since it has a pretty secure fence, all they can do is look. In the winter we’ve seen them walk along the road, across the end of our driveway. A mother fox with a nest of kits chased our neighbor’s cat right in front of us as we walked along Ducktrap Road. We distracted her by yelling, and the cat escaped. And years ago, Nettie Hammond, who lived with her sister Dorothy on Chester Dean Road, (they didn’t drive, and always took a taxi to town for their groceries), told us she saw our Siamese cat sitting side by side with a fox on the side of the road just up from our house.

Pond Bridge, just down from Drake’s Corner Store, is a great place to see wildlife. This time of year you might see eagles feasting on the perch and pickerel left on the ice for them by fishermen. A friend said he’d been late for work the morning he stopped at the bridge for half an hour, captivated by the antics of a beaver. One time Fritz Trisdale called with a story that had us both laughing: he’d been watching a pair of otters there, clearly mating, frolicking on the ice, in and out of the water.  Wally and I saw an otter swimming in the Ducktrap River at Camp Tanglewood, and last summer he saw one in little Frohock Brook.

In recent years, we’ve become aware of the ravens that nest on Frohock Mountain across from our house. I don’t think it’s anything new; I’ve heard their “underwater” croak for years, but didn’t know what was making it. Two and sometimes three of these black birds, bigger than crows with heavier bodies and beaks, hang out in our hen yard, eating the kitchen scraps Wally throws out every morning. We keep the binoculars at the window where we have the best view.

Every summer morning, almost to the minute of 6:30, a loon flies from Coleman Pond (I guess) to the Beach for breakfast. By the time we get to the Beach it’s already swimming around, diving and fishing. We see eagles and ospreys, herons and kingfishers around Ducktrap and the Beach. Bring your binoculars down to the Trap on a summer afternoon (it’s usually the coolest spot in town) and watch an osprey dive bombing into the sea, then flying off with a fish in its beak.

Turkeys are relatively new, or rather, newly re-introduced in Maine, and so are turkey vultures. Bluebirds have caused alot of excitement in the past few years as they'd almost disappeared from this area. Now with people putting out birdhouses there are many pairs returning year after year. Harriet Mahoney, who passed away earlier this year, was my favorite bluebird reporter as she and Ronnie McIntyre always had feeders full of interesting birds. Margaretta Thurlow (did you know Margaretta? Lived to be 94 in the house she was born and died in on Fernald’s Neck, where as a girl she learned all the bird songs) could always be counted on for bird information. One time I brought a tiny nest to her that I’d found on the ground in our pasture; it was made totally, and only, of our pony’s white mane and tail hairs. “Oh, that’s a chipping sparrow’s nest,” she told me. “They prefer using horse hair for their nests if they can get it.” I used to save ends of the cotton warp we weave with for her; she put them out for the orioles, saying they’d much rather use cotton than synthetic string! Barn swallows, loons and redwing blackbirds return nearly "to the day" in some neighborhoods, and people watch anxiously for them each spring.

Lincolnville Central School News

Tonight, Monday March 9 at 6:30 p.m., the K-2 Concert will feature the musical The Cheese Stands Alone.

Sixth grader Sam Moody, winner of the LCS Geograpy Bee, has been notified that he qualifies as a semi-finalist to compete in the 2015 Maine National Geography Bee to be held at the University of Maine Farmington on March 27. Good luck, Sam!

Congratulations to February’s Students of the Month: K- Willa Yetman, first – RJ Bixby & Abby Strout, second – Iain Larsen-Leavins, third – Kaden Wood & Mikayla Talbot, fourth – Althea Dayhoof, fifth – Dakota Pendleton & Julia Peasley, sixth – Rosa LaChance & Hanna Hallundbaek, seventh – Tristan Black, eighth – Gabby Englander.

Guiding Good Choices, the series of parenting workshops designed for parents to help their kids avoid drugs and other unhealthy choices, to set guidelines, and build effective family communications, will be held at United Christian Church this spring. The sessions start March 17 and continue through April 14 on Tuesday nights, 5:30-8 p.m. Bring the children along; dinner is served and childcare will be provided. Facilitators will be Ed O’Brien, parent and LCSW, and Alex Owre, parent and Development Director for Five Town CTC (Communities that Care). To sign up call CTC at 236-9800.

Lincolnville Community Library

All children and parents are invited to Story Time each Friday at 10 a.m. at the library. The program is geared for children up to age five, but everyone is welcome. 

Paul McGurren of Maine Sport Outfitters will offer a fly tying workshop on Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. at the library. Paul will demonstrate how to tie a fishing fly and then each person will have the opportunity to tie their own. McGurren is a registered Maine fly fishing guide and the manager of the fishing department at Maine Sport in Rockport. He started the store’s Fly Tying School and has taught the craft to hundreds of students in the past 25 years. Space is limited to ten participants and registration is required; contact the library to reserve a space; call 763-4343 or email. 

This Saturday, March 14 is Craft Day at the Library; everyone is invited to come and decorate cloth tote bags (no sewing: they’re already made) from 10 a.m. to noon. People may use fabric markers and dog, flower, dinosaur and other fun stencils to decorate the bags . The program is free and all materials will be provided. 

The book group meeting next Tuesday, March 17 will be at 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. This month the group is reading “All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr . We hope many can come join the discussion!

 The March Library Presentation and Concert, Wednesday March 18, features writer Robert Reilly. Born in Manchester, England, Robert left school at sixteen to work and travel, laboring along the way in factories and forests and on farms. In 1988 he moved to London and signed recording and music publishing contracts. In 1992, his music took him to Nashville. After deciding to stay in America, he played everywhere from New York to Los Angeles and from Birmingham to Boston. In 2001, out of financial desperation, he left professional music and became a prison guard, his first “real job.”  Over the next seven years Robert worked at a large county jail in eastern Pennsylvania and a state run super-max prison in Maine. ‘Life in Prison Eight Hours at a Time’ is the result of those years working in the trenches of the American Industrial Prison Complex.

 The music half of the program is David Dodson singing the great songs that “cover a wide variety of topics and range from poignant to hilarious.  He plays a mean guitar, tells a good story, sings like a bird, and he’s got rhythm.”

The program starts at 7 p.m. sharp; reserve seats by calling Rosey Gerry, 975-5432. Tickets are $10 and proceeds benefit the library.

Sympathy to the family of Chuck Loper, a former selectman, who’s lived here since 1991. He was 89.

 Throughout the winter members of Camden’s Seventh Day Adventist Church take monthly orders for citrus fruit which is trucked up directly from Florida. We’ve been getting it for several years and are always pleased with the quality. You can buy it by the case or half case and pick it up at the church on Camden Street (next door to the Animal Shelter). If you’re interested contact Lanita, 230-0569 or Kay 338-4877  or Pendra 542-5320. Order by March 16; this is the last order of the year. By getting on their email  list for next year, you’ll get a monthly list of what’s available throughout the winter.

Do you ever make fried apples? They go great with pork. Saute an onion or two, sliced up, in butter, then add sliced apples, peels on if you want, and fry until soft. Sprinkle with nutmeg and crumble some maple sugar candy on top. 

Lincolnville Resources

Town Office: 493 Hope Road, 763-3555

Lincolnville Fire Department: 470 Camden Road, non-emergency 542-8585, 763-3898, 763-3320

Fire Permits: 763-4001 or 789-5999

Lincolnville Community Library: 208 Main Street, 763-4343

Lincolnville Historical Society: LHS, 33 Beach Road, 789-5445

Lincolnville Central School: LCS, 523 Hope Road, 763-3366

Lincolnville Boat Club, 207 Main Street, 975-4916

Bayshore Baptist Church, 2636 Atlantic Highway, 789-5859, 9:30 Sunday School, 11 Worship

Crossroads Community Baptist Church, meets at LCS, 763-3551, 11:00 Worship

United Christian Church, 763-4526, 18 Searsmont Road, 9:30 Worship

Contact person to rent for private occasions:

Community Building: 18 Searsmont Road, Diane O’Brien, 789-5987

Lincolnville Improvement Association: LIA, 33 Beach Road, Bob Plausse, 789-5811

Tranquility Grange: 2171 Belfast Road, Rosemary Winslow, 763-3343