*We host workshops for children and adults, many of them on our Drawing Room deck in Seal Harbor.*

Our Full Day-by-Day Schedule of Summer Workshops and Events

July 16, 2014

On top of all the learning, interacting and shopping that the two Naturalist's Notebook locations offer seven days a week, we're putting on some great summer events:

• Children's art/nature workshops five days a week, most in Seal Harbor, some in Northeast Harbor. Parents are welcome too. In fact, we suggest that children under 7 be accompanied by a parent or other adult.

• Adult and teen art workshops in Seal Harbor in August, led by Dina Helal (below) of the Whitney Museum and Margaret Krug (second photo below) of Parsons The New School and the author of An Artist's Handbook. Margaret's workshop, on color, will be Sunday, Aug. 17 from 1 to 4 p.m., with a fee of $40. Dina will lead encaustic-painting workshops on Tuesday, Aug. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. and Wednesday, Aug. 20, from 1 to 4 p.m., also with a fee of $40. Spaces are limited.

*One of the encaustic workshops taught last summer by Dina (second from left).*

Here's Margaret leading one of her past workshops at the Notebook in Seal Harbor. She is not only a teacher but also a superb artist, art historian and writer (in books and for American Artist magazine).

• July 23 Q-and-A in Seal Harbor with Katie Stack Morgan (below) of the Mars Rover project

*Katie gave Pamelia and me a tour of the Jet Propulsion Lab in March. That's where the Mars Rover project is based.*

• Aug. 12 talk by one of the world's foremost astronomers, Alex Filippenko (below) of the University of California at Berkeley (offsite at a larger venue, the Schoodic Institute, the talk’s co-sponsor)

*Pamelia with Alex in our Big Bang Room when he visited last September for his keynote speech at the Acadia Night Sky Festival.*

• Aug. 13 talk by one of the world's greatest naturalists and most popular nature/science writers, Bernd Heinrich (offsite at a larger venue, the Schoodic Institute, the talk’s co-sponsor)

*Pamelia and I with Bernd at his cabin in western Maine last year.*

• Aug. 15 reading and signing in Seal Harbor by Bernd Heinrich

At his Notebook talk and signing last summer, Bernd gave us a peek at the cover of his latest book, which didn't come out until April 2014. You never know what scoops you'll get if you come to the Notebook!

• Aug 18 reading and signing in Seal Harbor by College of the Atlantic ecology and natural history professor John Anderson from his book Deep Things Out of Darkness: A History of Natural History

• Aug. 22 reading and signing in Seal Harbor by Eileen Rockefeller

*Eileen, a Seal Harborite, will read from her new book.*

• Our annual Sweet 16 Honey-Tasting Tournament (below) every day in Seal Harbor starting in late July

*Taste two honeys per day and vote for your favorite—the winner moves on to the next round of the tournament! Can Maine Wild Raspberry defend its 2013 title?*

And much more. Below is the current day-by-day schedule, which we will update as changes occur. Remember to like and follow the Facebook page for The Naturalist's Notebook for daily reports!

DAY-BY-DAY GUIDE

MONDAY, JULY 21

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring Maine Forests and Tides”

With Jordan Chalfant (below)

$15 per child ($25 for two)

*Jordan is both a gifted artist and a serious naturalist and biologist.*

TUESDAY, JULY 22

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman (below)

$15 per child ($25 for two)

*Shannara (right, with fellow Notebooke Gem Lawrence) ran our color-themed 13.8-billion-year art workshops at the Northeast Harbor Notebook Annex last summer.*

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon (below)

$15 per child ($25 for two)

*Amy, an artist and horticulturalist, has been painting an Acadia National Park carriage road scene in the Notebook in Seal Harbor.*

*Pamelia and I and animation genius Dan McCoy of Pixar took part in one of Amy's botanical drawing workshops last summer. Her class is for all ages!*

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, A SPECIAL APPEARANCE

Seal Harbor Naturalist's Notebook, 3:30-5 p.m.

Q-and-A about Mars and the Mars Rover with Katie Stack Morgan (below), a scientist from Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif., who works on the Mars Rover project. Katie is young, dynamic, incredibly nice and a great role model for girls in particular. Come meet her! She is going to curate a Mars Room at The Naturalist's Notebook over the next two years. She'll be around until 5 p.m. to talk and answer questions.

Katie with me in March at the JPL's Mars Yard, which is used to test Mars Rovers.

THURSDAY, JULY 24

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant (below)

Free

Jordan has been painting the walls and ceiling of our Forest and Tidal Room in Seal Harbor with a scene that extends from Mount Katahdin to the rocky coast.

ALSO ON THURSDAY, JULY 24

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings (below)

$15 per child ($25 for two)

Robin has been curating our Ocean Room in Seal Harbor. She has been painting the floor and walls and building ocean-themed installations.

Robin led needle-felting workshops last summer at which children created ocean animals to help us build a healthy coral reef. She'll do that again as part of her workshop series.

FRIDAY, JULY 25

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Northeast Harbor Birds”

With Eliza Rockefeller

Free

Eliza, who helped us create a downtown Northeast Harbor birding walk last summer, also helped out at a marbleizing workshop in Seal Harbor. Stay tuned—we may be holding another of those with teacher Shira Singer.

In fact, here's Shira Singer leading a marbleizing workshop last summer. We created planets!

MONDAY, JULY 28

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring Maine Forests and Tides”

With Jordan Chalfant

$15 per child ($25 for two)

Jordan is a natural explorer herself. Here's a shot of her from a few years ago doing a gull count on Egg Rock.

TUESDAY, JULY 29

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman

$15 per child ($25 for two)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon

$15 per child ($25 for two)

THURSDAY, JULY 31

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant

Free

ALSO ON THURSDAY, JULY 31

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings

$15 per child ($25 for two)

FRIDAY, AUG. 1

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Northeast Harbor Birds”

With Eliza Rockefeller

Free

MONDAY, AUG. 4

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring Maine Forests and Tides”

With Jordan Chalfant

$15 per child ($25 for two)

TUESDAY, AUG. 5

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman

$15 per child ($25 for two)

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 6

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon

$15 per child ($25 for two)

THURSDAY, AUG. 7

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant

Free

ALSO ON THURSDAY, AUG. 7

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings

$15 per child ($25 for two)

FRIDAY, AUG. 8

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Northeast Harbor Birds”

With Eliza Rockefeller

Free

MONDAY, AUG. 11

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring Maine Forests and Tides”

With Jordan Chalfant

$15 per child ($25 for two)

TUESDAY, AUG. 12

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman

$15 per child ($25 for two)

SPECIAL EVENT ON TUESDAY NIGHT, AUG. 12:

Moore Auditorium, Schoodic Institute in Winter Harbor, 7 p.m.

Alex Filippenko (below) of the University of California at Berkeley, one of the world's best known and most entertaining astrophysicists, will give a Naturalist's Notebook-organized talk hosted by the co-sponsor, the Schoodic Institute (SERC) in Winter Harbor at 7 p.m. Alex, who has been named the national educator of the year and been voted the best professor at Cal nine times, has playfully entitled his talk, "Exploding Stars and New Planets and Black Holes, Oh My! Frontier Research at Lick Observatory." He will weave together the fascinating story of Lick, one of the world's historic observatories, and the exciting discoveries that are still coming out of it. He'll also offer insights on the Perseid meteor shower, which will be peaking at that time. It's a talk not to be missed, and Alex will stick around afterward to field questions, pose for photos and share his boundless enthusiasm for astronomy.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 13

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon

$15 per child ($25 for two)

ALSO: SPECIAL EVENT ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, AUG. 13:

Moore Auditorium, Schoodic Institute in Winter Harbor, 7 p.m.

Naturalist and writer Bernd Heinrich (below) will reveal some of his latest field discoveries in a fun and enlightening talk entitled, "Blue Jays: American Chestnut Tree Planters," hosted by the co-sponsor, the Schoodic Institute (SERC). Pamelia and I were lucky enough to be with Bernd when he was doing some of his research on this subject at his cabin in western Maine. Bernd’s talks are always filled with surprises, insights and humor and this one will be no exception. It will be a great evening, and Bernd will field questions and be available to chat and sign books afterward.

Bernd Heinrich illustrates all his books. The Notebook currently has a show of 14 paintings that will appear in his next book, on birds, which is due out in 2015.

THURSDAY, AUG. 14

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant

Free

ALSO ON THURSDAY, AUG. 14

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings

$15 per child ($25 for two)

FRIDAY, AUG. 15

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Northeast Harbor Birds”

With Eliza Rockefeller

Free

ALSO, SPECIAL EVENT ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON, AUG. 15

Seal Harbor Notebook, 3:30-5 p.m.

Reading and book signing by Bernd Heinrich. Bernd will read from his latest release, The Homing Instinct, and possibly tell us about his top secret book-in-progress, due out next year. We will have all of Bernd's book titles available to purchase as well as exclusive prints of his art.

Bernd with Pamelia on the deck of the Notebook in Seal Harbor last summer.

SUNDAY, AUG. 17

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 1-4 p.m.

Art workshop on color

With Margaret Krug, Parsons The New School

$40 (spaces very limited)

MONDAY, AUG. 18

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 3:30-5 p.m.

Book reading and signing by John Anderson of College of the Atlantic, author of Deep Things Out of Darkness: A History of Natural History.

John (below) is a professor of ecology and natural history and holds the W.H. Drury, Jr., Chair in Evolution, Ecology and Natural History. He is currently researching nesting seabirds and island ecology.

TUESDAY, AUG. 19

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 1-4 p.m.

Teen and adult encaustic painting workshop

With Dina Helal (below), Whitney Museum of American Art

$40 (spaces limited)

TUESDAY, AUG. 19

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman

$15 per child ($25 for two)

TUESDAY, AUG. 19

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 1-4 p.m.

Teen and adult encaustic painting workshop

With Dina Helal, Whitney Museum of American Art

$40 (spaces limited)

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 20

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon

$15 per child ($25 for two)

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 20

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 1-4 p.m.

Teen and adult encaustic painting workshop

With Dina Helal, Whitney Museum of American Art

$40 (spaces limited)

THURSDAY, AUG. 21

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant

Free

ALSO ON THURSDAY, AUG. 21

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings

$15 per child ($25 for two)

FRIDAY, AUG. 22

Seal Harbor Notebook, 4 p.m.

Reading and book signing by Eileen Rockefeller (below) of Seal Harbor, author of "Being a Rockefeller, Becoming Myself: A Memoir."

We made an unplanned stop at the Luray Caverns in western Virginia. This mirror-like pool in the caverns was but one of many stunning sights.

Our Holiday Hours and the Road to 2014

November 20, 2013

We had never driven through nine states in a day, not even when co-piloting a support van for Pamelia's stepbrother more than a decade ago as he bicycled in the nonstop Race Across America from Oregon to Florida. But that's an advantage of living in the compact Northeast: If you hit the road at dawn in Maine, you can see nearly one-fifth of the U.S. states before you pull into Winchester, Va., for dinner.

That's exactly what Pamelia and I did in kicking off what should be an eventful and creative Naturalist's Notebook off-season.

I say "off-season" even though The Naturalist's Notebook never really sleeps. Indeed, we're re-opening the Seal Harbor Notebook the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday), the day after that (Small Business Saturday) and every weekend from then through Dec. 22. We will open it on Wednesdays as well during that stretch. Please check our website (thenaturalistsnotebook.com) or our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Naturalistsnotebook) for updates and hours.

While on a hike in Virginia we paused to study the beautiful inner structure of a milkweed pod.

During a hike in Virginia we saw a lot of milkweed and found these lovely insects crawling over some of it. These are milkweed bug nymphs, one of the few insects that can tolerate eating the plant. The bugs' bright coloration warms potential predato… — During a hike in Virginia we saw a lot of milkweed and found these lovely insects crawling over some of it. These are milkweed bug nymphs, one of the few insects that can tolerate eating the plant. The bugs' bright coloration warms potential predators that the bugs are bad-tasting or even poisonous because of the milkweed they eat. Those little yellow guys are aphids.

Even apart from those holiday dates in Seal Harbor, however, the months ahead will be almost as busy as the past season, during which (among other things) we opened two additional Notebook locations (in Northeast Harbor and Bar Harbor), began turning the Seal Harbor Notebook into a 13.8-billion-year environment, continued to develop our color-coded 13.8-Billion-Year Hue-Story of Our Life science-and-art initiative, ran art workshops ranging from encaustic painting (13.8-billion-year themes designed and taught by the amazing Dina Helal of the Whitney museum) to botanical drawing (Amy Gagnon) to anatomical drawing (Robin Owings) to ROY G BIV (Shannara Gillman), met a zillion great new people, added a puppy, worked on our new website, collaborated on a diorama-in-the-round, launched greeting cards and limited-edition giclee prints with the naturalist Bernd Heinrich, crowned Maine Wild Raspberry the champion of our Fifth Annual Sweet 16 Honey-Tasting Tournament, held a Maine hot-sauce tasting event in the middle of solar flares shooting out of our upstairs Sun, delighted an audience at the Northeast Harbor Library with a talk on animation by Dan McCoy of Pixar, welcomed the great astrophysicist Alex Filippenko of Cal Berkeley to the Big Bang room in Seal Harbor and began a sidewalk birding trail with the cooperation of shops in Northeast Harbor.

We did plan to rest after all that. But, well, the road to 2014 beckoned. And so Pamelia, Rocky the puppy and I climbed into our Notebook-mobile and set off on a series of autumn trips—not only to Virginia (where we did squeeze some down time in Hot Springs) but also to several closer destinations, including Dartmouth College; the Museum of Math and Sports Illustrated's offices in Manhattan; and the Maryland home of one of America's top geophysicists. These road trips are continuing as we meet with new and old Notebook collaborators, catch up with our families, work on SI's preparations for the Sochi Winter Olympics, and generally brainstorm.

At one of the Notebook's summer workshops, we marbleized paper and fabric under the tutelage of artist Shira Singer. Here we're floating paint on the surface of thickened water. We then set a large circle of paper on top of the paint, removed the pa… — At one of the Notebook's summer workshops, we marbleized paper and fabric under the tutelage of artist Shira Singer. Here we're floating paint on the surface of thickened water. We then set a large circle of paper on top of the paint, removed the paper and rinsed it in the first step toward creating the planet Jupiter.

Later on, at our house, special guests Dan McCoy of Pixar, Dina Helal of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Margaret Krug of Parsons the New School worked with Pamelia to the Jupiter painting. It will become one of our planet tables in the 2014 Not… — Later on, at our house, special guests Dan McCoy of Pixar, Dina Helal of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Margaret Krug of Parsons the New School worked with Pamelia to the Jupiter painting. It will become one of our planet tables in the 2014 Notebook.

Our annual Sweet 16 honey tasting tournament crowned its first two-time champion, Maine Wild Raspberry.

Jellyfish, anyone? Notebook visitors made needle-felted ocean life for our coral reef.

Pianists young and old tested out our electromagnetic spectrum keyboard.

We had the pleasure of spending a day in September with world renowned astrophysicist Alex Filippenko, Cal Berkeley's nine-time educator of the year. He was in Maine to deliver the keynote address at the Acadia Night Sky Festival.

While in our Moon room, Alex checked out an out-of-this-world piece by New York artist Rocco Alberico, another of our collaborators.

On an October trip to Hanover, N.H., Pamelia discussed our 13.8-Billion-Year Hue-Story of the Universe project with Dartmouth physicist Miles Blencowe.

During a stop in New York, I met the new president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, when he sat for an interview with one of my SI Olympic colleagues, Brian Cazeneuve.

Today's Puzzlers Here are three to mull over. The first is an art-and-politics quiz. Can you identify the three U.S. presidents in the portraits below? The paintings hang at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., a retreat that 22 sitting presidents have visited.

Here's an art-and-politics quiz for you: Which three U.S. presidents are these? The portraits hang at The Homestead in Hot Springs, a retreat that 22 sitting presidents have visited.

The second Puzzler: What type of leaf is shown below?

a) Tulip poplar b) Southern oak c) Sassafras

The final Puzzler is one to which I don't know the answer. Can you identify this gigantic leaf we found on the ground during a hike in Virginia?

Here's Luke in South America holding a tit-tyrant, a tyrant flycatcher that is one of the 1,800 bird species he has seen. You can read more about his South American adventures on his blog, grallarianramblings.blogspot.com.

An Extraordinary (And Inspiring) Young Birder and Artist

July 11, 2011

I first heard about Luke Seitz last fall in a newsletter from the Maine Audubon Society.
It noted that he was giving a slide show of some of his beautiful bird photos—and that he was just 17 years old.

Pamelia and I couldn't make the three-hour trip to the Portland area for the talk, but I began reading his blog and following his birding adventures. I quickly discovered what an exceptional person he is.

Luke, who graduated from high school a year early (he skipped fourth grade), has a passion for life rarely seen in people of any age. He taught himself guitar and piano. He's such a good artist that at age 16 he was asked to do all 75 paintings to illustrate a birds-of-Maine folding guide. He has seen 1,800 bird species and has competed in the World Series of Birding four times. He spent the first few months of this year birding in South America. Still just 17, he is working as a naturalist on a whale-watch boat this summer.

We're lucky enough to be showing and selling some of Luke's photographs and paintings at The Naturalist's Notebook this season. He might come up for a visit. We asked him some questions about his background, his birding and his art. His answers are remarkably astute and inspiring:

Luke illustrated this Maine bird guide at age 16.

Q: Did you grow up in Falmouth?

Luke: I was born in Rochester, N.Y., then moved to Simsbury, Conn., then to Phoenix and finally to Maine in 2003.

Q: When and how did you become interested in birds?

Luke: I was six years old when I saw a male scarlet tanager in my yard in Connecticut. That was the first spark, and there was a local nature center nearby where the director, Jay Kaplan, really got me interested in more serious birding. Wherever I've lived, there have been great mentors to keep me going and teach me. None of my family members are quite as obsessed as I am, but my mom and brother are both interested and know quite a lot.

Q:When did you start photographing and painting birds?

Luke: I started out using my mom's Nikon film SLR when I was about 11 years old. Then I gradually got more into photography, and started purchasing my own equipment over the next several years. I now use a Canon EOS 7D and a Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens. I've always been into drawing, starting with doodles when I was really young…and I just kept practicing and trying to improve over the years. Once I started seriously drawing birds (when I was 10 or 11), I actually had a strong aversion to using color. So most of my illustrations from back then are just black-and-white pencil sketches. I finally started using watercolor and gouache about five years ago, and that's now my medium of choice.

This painting by Luke was at the Notebook for only a few days before it sold.

Q: Do you come from an artistic family? How and when did you get into art?

Luke: I remember being in elementary school and asking my mom to draw the birds from the book with me—and she was quite good! So while nobody in my family does anything artistic professionally, I think the members of my family all have an artistic mind in one way or another. My art was just a gradual evolution from doodles to sketches to serious attempts at illustration.

A Siberian tiger painting by Luke that's in our biodiversity area.

Q: What art mediums do you work in when doing birds?

Luke: I almost always use watercolor and gouache, though I will still occasionally do a simple pencil drawing.

Q: Do you have a favorite artist?

Luke: My two favorites, for very different reasons, are Ian Lewington and Lars Jonsson. I met Ian a couple years ago on Monhegan Island here in Maine and I consider him to be the one of the best bird illustrators in the world. He does phenomenal plates for field guides as well as full paintings with spectacular backgrounds. Lars Jonsson does amazing plates for field guides, too, but I am more in awe of his field sketching ability. This is something I've never been particularly good at, but he can sit down with paper and paint and recreate a scene with perfect lighting and shape in a style that is more loose and fluid…and I really love it!

Q:Describe how you did all those paintings to illustrate the Maine bird guide.

Luke: I did those paintings over the course of about a year, though I admit I procrastinated and did most of them at the last minute. I do most of my work from my own photos, but sometimes I'll gather a bunch of other guides, photos, etc., and try to create something based on all of those. My art desk at home is usually covered with books and papers and photos of whatever bird I happen to be painting. And I nearly always have music on in the background!

I'm surprisingly fickle with artwork, and I have to be in the right mood to do something that I am happy with. Music tends to help me find that state of mind…Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift are my (radically different) favorites! All the birds that I painted for that guide were common backyard species, so I had a lot of photos and field experience with them. I think field experience is very valuable when doing an illustration, because it allows you to draw upon your entire knowledge of the species, and make adjustments for the many variations found in individual birds.

Three of Luke's bird photographs at the Notebook. From top to bottom, the birds are an Inca tern, a velvet-purple coronet and a Blackburnian warbler. They look even better when you see them in person.

Q: You also play piano. Do you have a good ear for bird songs? Do you have a favorite one?

Luke: I am a self-taught, not-very-good piano and guitar player. I mostly try to figure a song out after listening to it, which often ends poorly! But I am very passionate about many different kinds of music (some might say I'm obsessed with Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift), and that may translate into an interest in bird vocalizations. People often say that I have a good ear for birds songs and, especially, calls. I think of it as similar to any other learning experience. If you practice enough, you can learn the majority of bird calls.

One of my big interests right now is flight calls of migratory songbirds. A large percentage of songbirds migrate at night, so on a good night I can step outside and hear dozens and dozens of these flight calls overhead. The problem is, most of these flight calls are high-pitched, similar to each other, and last only a few milliseconds! Still, these flight calls are also given during the day, so enough practice matching them up and listening to them repeatedly can lead to a better success rate for identification. Songs are, for the most part, MUCH easier to learn (though it still takes practice, of course). It's hard to pick a favorite, but I am quite fond of the winter wren's song, especially for such a small bird. Leach's storm-petrel is probably another favorite—it's not exactly beautiful, but quite an entertaining noise to come out of a bird!

Q:Any idea how many species of birds you've seen? Do you have an all-time favorite sighting?

Luke: I've seen about 1,800 species worldwide, about 600 of them in the United States. It's impossible to pick an all-time favorite sighting among all of those! There are so many to choose from, especially in the tropics. One of my more memorable recent sightings here in Maine was a yellow-billed loon last fall. I work on a whale-watch boat, and on my last trip of the season late in October, I spotted a distant loon that I assumed was a common. I talked about it over the mic to the passengers, before we got closer and I realized that it had a massive, all-yellow bill! I was able to get many photos for documentation, as this was the first record of this species for New England (and, I believe, the entire Western Atlantic). There are a couple inland records of stray birds in the East (from New York, Pennsylvania and Georgia) but this bird nests in the high arctic of Alaska and winters south to British Colombia. So it was not supposed to be here!

Q:How many states, countries and continents have you traveled to look for birds? Which was the most interesting or unusual place?

Luke: I've traveled to Ecuador, Peru, and Costa Rica on birding trips, as well as many other states here in the U.S. (California, Colorado, Arizona, Florida, New Jersey). I think Peru ranks as my favorite, for the spectacular scenery as well as some incredible birds!

Q: How did you end up going to South America to bird this past winter? What did you do there?

Luke: I graduated from high school at 16, and decided I wanted to take some time before going to college. I had been to Ecuador twice before, so decided to go there again as a volunteer guide and artist at Tandayapa Bird Lodge (run by Tropical Birding tour company). I was at Tandayapa for about two months, and the rest of my four-month trip was spent traveling to other parts of Ecuador as well as Peru looking for birds.

Q: What have been some of your favorite birding experiences?

Luke: So hard to choose! I have really enjoyed every moment spent in the tropics. I've been lucky enough to see some very rare and interesting birds down there (like white-bellied cinclodes, a species with an estimated population of 50 to 200 individuals left in existence, displaying and singing right in front of me for about an hour!) Closer to home, the yellow-billed loon that I mentioned earlier is quite memorable.

But I think one of the cool things about birding is that even an average day can be simply spectacular—dawn chorus in the boreal forest around Rangeley, for example, or a nice fall day enjoying migrants on Monhegan Island.

Q:How many times have you been in the World Series of Birding, and how does that event work?

Luke: I have participated in the World Series of Birding four times (each year from 2007 through 2010). This is a competition to see as many species of birds in 24 hours as possible. It is held in New Jersey every spring, run by New Jersey Audubon. Many teams from around the country (and world!) come and spend days scouting out the route, trying to pinpoint all the difficult species. Then, on "game day," the clock strikes midnight and each team races around the state trying to see or hear as much as possible. It's ridiculously exhausting, but definitely a fun dose of the competitive side of this hobby!

Q:If you could be any kind of bird, what kind would it be?

Luke: Probably something pelagic [open sea]. I've always thought it would be fun to be an albatross or shearwater or something, just flying around effortlessly and enjoying the ocean. My work on the Odyssey Whale Watch in Portland has given me a real affinity for everything offshore!

Q: As you were growing up, did other kids think it was cool that you knew and liked birds?

Luke: It depends. Most kids accepted it just fine, but it wasn't really "cool" and I didn't talk about it much. I was quite shy in elementary and middle school, and not everyone even knew about it. But especially as I got older and found good friends in high school, it just became my thing, and more and more people got interested and wanted to hear about it!

Q: What would you tell a non-birding person to get him or her to try birding?

Luke: I wouldn't force anything, BUT….I think a lot of people don't really understand how many aspects there are to birding. That's one of the reasons why it's so appealing to me. Some people will just take a stroll in the woods and enjoy whatever they see, others prefer keeping a close eye on weather patterns and try to strategize finding vagrant birds, others take a more scientific approach and study a specific bird intensely (breeding habits, migration patterns, etc)...you can focus on drawing, or photography…there are birding competitions…so maybe ONE of these many different things might appeal. And a lot of people do it. There's a great community of people to learn from, and whatever specific thing you focus on (and it might be everything!), it's a great chance to enjoy something about the natural world that you may not have known even existed!

Q: What are your future plans? College? Career? Any goal related to birds, such as seeing a certain number of species or becoming an ornithologist?

Luke: I have no idea! I am planning on going to college some time in the next year or two, but I want to keep doors open. I love writing, art, science, music, Spanish…so maybe I can find some combination of these and make a career out of it. I definitely want this hobby to become a permanent part of my life. And I've completely fallen in love with traveling. I know there is no shortage of places to visit and things to learn about birds (and everything else!) all around the world.

*****************

What Is It?

Can you identify the type of moth that was trying to blend into the siding of the Notebook this afternoon? The answer will be in the next post.

Answer to the Last Puzzler:

Of the more than 1,000 Americans per year who are hit by lightning, what percentage is men?

a) 36%
b) 59%
c) 82%

Correct answer: 82%. Draw your own conclusions.

Today's Puzzler:
At the Notebook we have a display on the history of apples. Did you know, for example, that Maine once had 10,000 varieties? Anyway, here is an apple logic puzzle for you: If Granny Smith gives Mac one apple, they will have the same number of apples. If Mac gives Granny one, Granny will have twice as many as Mac has. How many apples does each have?

Don't Forget...
Margaret Krug's "Create a Field Notebook" workshop is this Saturday, Kathy Coe's art classes for children start next Monday (7/18) and our Earth News kid-reporter program launches on the morning of Wednesday, July 20.

Sign Up for Workshops

June 26, 2011

There it is, at last—a sign hanging above our front door at 16 Main Street in Seal Harbor, Maine. We found the sign—painted with the name of a funeral home—at an antique shop last winter. Pamelia and Haley transformed it, I gave it a coat of polyurethane and Spencer the sign guy hung it sturdily enough that it won't blow down next January when a Nor'easter blows through.

Now that our sign's up, it's time to sign up. That is, let us know if you, your children or a friend of yours might be interested in any of our upcoming workshops and programs. Here is a quick rundown on four of them:

• July 16: Create a Field Notebook, with Margaret Krug.
Margaret, an artist and renowned art historian, teaches at Parsons The New School in New York, writes for American Artist magazine and is the author of An Artist’s Handbook. Participants will use a variety of drawing media to create nature-based field notebooks and explore line, value, composition, volume, movement, perspective, the element of time and abstract motifs. Workshop is limited to 12 participants, age 16 or older, and runs from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (including an instant art show and reception at the end of the day). Cost: $125 plus $25 materials fee.

Last summer the participants in Margaret's workshop ventured down to Seal Harbor beach and elsewhere to find inspiration and images.

• July 18: First day of Kathy Coe's three-times-a-week children's art classes.
Kathy, a brilliant oil portraitist and sensitive teacher, has led our kids' art program for three years. Each workshop this summer will have a theme linked to nature or science. Schedule: Mondays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesdays 1 to 4 p.m.; Thursdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost: $25 per workshop, plus $5 for materials. Participants can drop in for just an hour of the workshop if they wish. If you would like a day-by-day schedule of the workshop themes, let us know.

Kathy holds her classes on our beautiful deck unless the weather turns bad.

• July 20: Kickoff of Earth News, our be-a-reporter program for kids and teens. Participants get to play TV reporter, write fun stories and create images for a blog and a newsletter and learn what it’s like to be a real journalist. Led by Sports Illustrated's Craig Neff and College of the Atlantic film students Julie Olbrantz and Eli Mellen. Every Wednesday morning, 10 to noon, starting July 20. Free.

• July 22: First day of Kathy Coe's once-a-week portrait and drawing workshops for adults and teens. These will held every Friday from 2 to 5 p.m. Fee: $60.

• August 13: Drawing and Water-Based Screen Monoprints, led by the Fashion Institute of Technology's Cynthia Gallaher and master printmaker Roni Henning. The workshop will run from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., including an instant art show and reception at the end of the day. Limited to eight participants. Cost: $125 plus $20 for materials. Cynthia will give a free talk the night before.

Follow the blog for more on other summer events, including sketch/photo walks, Geology Day, our Sweet 16 Honey Tasting Tournament, literary agent Regina Ryan's "So You Want to Write a Book" talk, a visit by a mobile greenhouse and much more.

Two of the one-of-a-kind endangered-animal pieces that Anne Woodman will be showing this Thursday at our next special event.

And don't forget that we're holding a special event this Thursday, June 30, from 4 to 8 p.m. at which New York artist Rocco Alberico will unveil two of his amazing multi-media constructions and Anne Woodman, also a New York artist with a strong Maine connection, will introduce new, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces, some of them inspired by endangered species. Oh, and a volcano is going to erupt outside the Notebook at 7 p.m. Seriously.

At our book signing and kickoff party on Friday night, author Judy Paolini gave a terrific talk on the 24 New England artists whose gardens she and photographer Nance Trueworthy explored in The Inspired Garden. Note in the background that the Arizon… — At our book signing and kickoff party on Friday night, author Judy Paolini gave a terrific talk on the 24 New England artists whose gardens she and photographer Nance Trueworthy explored in The Inspired Garden. Note in the background that the Arizona Diamondbacks are currently atop the standings of The Natural League—the group of nine major league baseball teams with names taken from nature.

Book Spotlight
Here's Eli Mellen on another of the more than 1,000 titles in The Naturalist's Notebook collection: Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny Le Couteur & Jay Burreson

The intriguing title of this engaging book brings to mind the proverbial rhyme:

For the want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For the want of a horse the rider was lost.
For the want of a rider the battle was lost.
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horse-shoe nail.

Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia failed in part because of extremely cold weather that disintegrated the tin buttons on his soldiers' uniforms through a chemical process called "tin pest." That molecular weakness of tin caused Napoleon's soldiers to freeze and gave Le Couteur and Burreson their catchy title. The two authors, who are chemists, chronicle how 17 different chemicals each changed the world in their own tiny-molecular way. Their book offers compelling examples of how the smallest changes can have the most profound consequences, presenting an enlightening perspective on both world history and chemistry. An excellent summer read.

Music From a Garden Hose?
Thanks to Melanie, the gifted young cellist from Connecticut, for passing along this follow-up to our recent post about people who turn carrots and other vegetables into musical instruments. Here Linsey Pollak, an Australian musician, performs on a garden hose he has transformed into a contra bass clarinet; he also cleans the cobwebs out of your ears with a feather duster clarinet.

Answer to the Last Puzzler:
The prefix paleo means ancient, very old, pre-historic.

Today's Puzzler:
What is the chemical symbol for tin?

a) Au
b) Tn
c) Sn
d) Espn

Birthday:
William Thomson, better known as Lord Kelvin, the Belfast-born mathematical physicist and engineer who established the scale of temperature that bears his name, would have turned 187 years old on Sunday. Unless you live in outer space, you probably don't need a Kelvin thermometer outside your kitchen window. Zero on the Kelvin scale is absolute zero (minus-459.7 Fahrenheit). Ice melts at 273 degrees Kelvin and water boils at 373.16 degrees Kelvin.

Part of the American robin flock that showed up in our part of Maine this past week.

Aristotle's Robin and Joe Torre's Heron

March 29, 2011

Like the rest of us, scientists make mistakes. They—or their successors—catch the errors over time, because science is a process of testing and retesting to make sure that propositions are true.

Aristotle wasn't a scientist per se. He lived in the fourth century B.C., more than 2100 years before the word scientist was ever used. (Before then, people who studied the physical world were called natural philosophers.) But besides being Plato's most famous philosophy student, Aristotle was in effect the first great naturalist and scientist. He wrote a multi-volume history of animals and mused about all manner of natural phenomena. However, as I learned last fall while doing an article on North America's Pacific Flyway migration, Aristotle had an unusual theory about small birds. It came to mind the other day as I watched the first spring robins pecking in the grass here in Maine.

Aristotle had noticed that common redstarts, a bird he saw regularly in Greece in the summer and early autumn, disappeared as fall turned to winter. Coincidentally, that is when he would begin to see European robins, a somewhat similar-looking bird that also has a red-orange breast. He didn't realize that small birds migrate—an understandable mistake at a time when people never traveled far and had no way to know where birds went. He therefore came up with the hypothesis that each fall redstarts transformed (or "transmuted") themselves into European robins. To explain why other types of birds disappeared and were not replaced by similar-looking species, he suggested that those birds (including swallows, storks, kites and doves) hibernated for the winter in holes in trees or even under mud.

Aristotle regularly saw common redstarts like this one in Greece in the summer.

Those myths persisted for many centuries—well into the 19th century in the case of hibernation. Needless to say, if Aristotle had been able to use radar, bird banding, radio tracking transmitters and field reports from people around the world, as avian researchers can today, he would never have suggested that redstarts turn into robins. But he deserves credit for using his powers of observation. Those are the first tools of any naturalist or scientist. Observed Aristotle, "He who sees things grow from the beginning will have the best view of them."

The European robin, which is quite different from the American variety. The European robin is part of the flycatcher family; our robin is a thrush.

The Joe Torre of Birds
I recently finished reading an extremely entertaining book called A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All, by Luke Dempsey. In recounting the travel and bird-watching adventures he shared with two friends, Dempsey, a New York-based book editor, mentions a sports chat he had with one of the friends while the trio was having lunch and watching the previous night's baseball highlights at a cafe near the Jay Norwood Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island in Florida. (More on Ding Darling at a future date.)

A black crowned night heron we saw last November at the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge in California.

The two men started discussing which New York Yankees resembled which types of birds. Keep in mind, this took place several years ago, so the team roster was different. The two men agreed that Yankees manager Joe Torre reminded them of the black-crowned night heron: "deliberate, glum but effective" and slugger Gary Sheffield was "a peregrine falcon, attacking the baseball the way the raptor falls on an oblivious passing duck."

Joe Torre, baseball's black-crowned heron?

It's a game that sparks the imagination of anyone who watches birds. Dempsey and his friend went on to compare Tom Wolfe, the ever white-suited author, to the snowy egret. I've occasionally compared myself to a dodo or a loon, and remember plenty of athlete-bird comparisons from years past, including former Dodgers relief pitcher Phil Regan (known as the Vulture because he would swoop in and devour the final batters in a game) and NFL linebacker Ted Hendricks (called the Mad Stork because he stood a gawky 6'7").

So put out plenty of seed for those spring migrants and turn on your sense of fun the next time you're bird-watching. Perhaps you'll see someone you recognize. Oh, and if you're about to remark that someone you know "eats like a bird," recall that that in the fuel-up weeks before they fly north or south, some migrants eat so much that they double their body weight.

Italy, Anyone?
I'm happy to report that artist and art historian Margaret Krug of Parsons The New School and American Artist magazine will return to The Naturalist's Notebook this July to give another one-day workshop. I'll offer details on that in an upcoming post, but in the meantime I wanted to let you know that the deadline is May 15 to sign up for Margaret's August "Painting on Panels" program at the Spannocchia Foundation estate in Italy. It's a fantastic program that Pamelia has taken many times. For more details, go to http://www.spannocchia.org/education/program.cfm?id=84 or http://www.margaretkrug.com.

One of Margaret's photos of the view from the villa at Spanocchia.

Weekly Nature Walks on Mount Desert Island
For those of you in Maine, naturalist Billy Helprin of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust has again begun hosting his weekly walks at the trust's Babson Creek Preserve in Somesville. From now through April 14, the walks will take place every Thursday from 3 to 4 p.m. After a one-week hiatus, they will resume on Thursday, April 28, but at the much earlier hour of 7:30 a.m. The hikes are relaxed and friendly and offer a mix of birding, botany and general exploration of the marvels of spring. We hope to see some of you there.

One of our hikes at Babson Creek last year.

Answer to the Last Puzzler:
Turn one switch on for a minute or so, then turn it off. Turn a different switch on. Go upstairs. The non-illuminated light bulb that feels warm is linked to the first switch you turned on. The bulb that is still on is linked to the second switch you turned on. And the other bulb is connected to the third switch.

Today's Puzzler:
1) This one comes from Alice In Wonderland author Lewis Carroll, who was also a mathematician and logician and came up with many puzzles: A rope is hung over a frictionless pulley that is attached to a building. At one end of the rope is a weight. At the other end is a monkey. The weight and the monkey are perfectly in balance. What happens if the monkey starts climbing the rope? Will the weight rise, fall or remain in the same position?

2) This one is based on an ancient Hindu puzzle:
Three travelers stop at a tavern and order a platter of baked potatoes for dinner. When the tavern keeper brings the platter, all three men are asleep. The first man wakes up, eats one third of the potatoes and goes back to sleep. The second man wakes up and eats one third of the remaining potatoes and falls back asleep. The third man then wakes up and eats one third of the remaining potatoes and goes back to sleep. Eight potatoes are left. How many potatoes were originally on the platter?

Birthdays:
Vincent van Gogh, the sublime Dutch painter, would have turned 158 on Wednesday. For all the joy he brought future generations with his strong, colorful post-Impressionist works, he was little appreciated in his own lifetime. He suffered from numerous physical and mental ailments (none of which has been definitively diagnosed, but one of which may have poisoning from the lead paint he used) and took his own life at age 37. It is still being debated whether he cut off his left earlobe with a razor in a moment of self-torment after a fight with his friend and fellow painter Paul Gaugin or whether Gaugin lopped it off during the fight. Doesn't much matter. Very few of us have ever even learned to pronounce van Gogh's name correctly. For the record, here is the correct pronunciation:

Jethro Tull, the English agricultural inventor and namesake of the rock group, would have turned 337 on Wednesday. He invented the horse-drawn seed drill, which in the description of Notebook favorite Bill Bryson "allowed seeds to be planted directly into the soil rather than broadcast by hand. Seed was expensive, and Tull's new drill reduced the amount needed from three or four bushels per acre to under one; and because the seeds were planted at even depths in neat rows, more of them sprouted successfully, so yields improved dramatically." The Ian Anderson-led band, by the way, was named in its early days by an agent who happened to be an English history buff.

Brooke Astor, the New Hampshire-born philanthropist, would have been 109 today. She spent much of her time in Maine, not far from The Naturalist's Notebook, and showed extraordinary generosity to all sorts of organizations on Mount Desert Island, including public gardens and arts programs. She developed a love of nature while spending time with Buddhist monks in China as a child (her father was a Marine officer who served around the world) and never lost that appreciation.

The Asticou Azalea Garden (about 3 miles from the Notebook) was one of the beneficiaries of Brooke Astor's generosity.

Santorio Santorio, or Sanctorius of Padua, the Italian physician who originated the study of human metabolism, would have turned 450 today. He developed history's first medical machine (a pulse-measuring apparatus) and one of its first thermometers. He also is known for his meticulous research. Every day for 30 years he weighed himself, everything he ate and drank, and every bit of his feces and urine. He invented the concept of "insensible perspiration" to explain why the body didn't produce waste products as heavy as its food intake. Alas, that concept has gone the way of Aristotle's bird transmutation.

Santorio Santorio in his weighing chair.

Margaret's first article appears in the February issue, now on newsstands.

Margaret Krug in American Artist

January 6, 2011

"While I was a graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I got into the habit of taking a walk every evening after dinner. I found myself drawn to the luminous interiors of the row houses and elegant mansions..."

So begins an article in the new issue of American Artist magazine by Margaret Krug, the renowned art historian, teacher, author and artist who taught a wonderful workshop last July at The Naturalist's Notebook. I'm happy to report that on top of her other creative endeavors (including teaching at Parsons The New School in New York, where she lives), Margaret has begun writing regularly for American Artist. Her first article, entitled, "Inside," discusses artists who depict interior spaces, including Edward Hopper and Vilhelm Hammershoi, and is very enlightening (though I had to look up the word grisaille, which refers to gray-tone paintings or a gray-tone layer of under-painting beneath the final surface).

Margaret teaching her workshop at the Notebook last summer.

We are hoping that Margaret will offer another workshop at the Notebook this summer. If you're interested in a longer creative session with her—and would love a trip to Tuscany—you should consider her April "Seeing and Drawing" program at the Spannocchia Foundation's thousand-year-old villa. For details you can go to http://www.spannocchia.org/education/program.cfm?id=69 or htpp://www.margaretkrug.com (click on courses)

Today's birthdays:

Jacob Bernoulli, who would have been a spry 356, was the first mathematician in the horde of brilliant Swiss Bernoullis who became mathematicians. Among many other achievements, he advanced probability theory and applied it to games of chance—clearly a man ahead of his time. But (what are the odds?) his final request turned out to be a losing proposition. On his gravestone he wished to have engraved a logarithmic spiral, the type of spiral you see so often in nature, and even in the logo of The Naturalist's Notebook. Unfortunately, the stone masons doing the work were less savvy about curved lines and mathematical theories; whether by flipping a coin or an old-fashioned crapshoot, they selected an Archimedean spiral instead of the logarithmic and chiseled that onto the stone.

Jozef Maximillian Petzval, the Hungarian-born physicist and optical pioneer who was a father of modern photography and cinematography (because of the types of lenses he invented), would have been celebrating birthday number 204. Alas, he didn't get to celebrate much in his life; he passed away 120 years ago in despair and abject poverty, never having received the credit or profit he was due.

David Fleay, the Australian naturalist who one of the first people to breed endangered species in captivity (including a platypus) and was the last to photograph the now-extinct Tasmanian tiger, would have been 103 years old today. Before Fleay took his photo (in 1933), the tiger bit Fleay on the buttocks, leaving him with a lifelong scar of honor. Rather than seeking revenge, Fleay went on to try to protect all species on the verge of extinction.

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