Follow that Feather
Sep 11, 2012 | Comment Below
Fall migration is a compelling time for bird watchers, a great time to find migrating raptors as well as songbirds. Every Thursday this fall, from 10 to 11 a.m., College of the Atlantic naturalist Anna Stunkel will be leading bird walks around the college campus. The walks begin and end at the George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History at the north entrance to campus.
Anna Stunkel surveys a field for wildlife.
Stunkel, now a senior at COA, has been taking people on bird walks since she started at the college four years ago. An experienced birder and knowledgeable naturalist—as well as a talented artist—Stunkel is focusing her COA studies on field ornithology and animal behavior. Each session, she searches nearby trails for common and uncommon birds, and heads to the pier with a spotting scope for possible views of loons, ducks, gulls, and other seabirds.
Do remember to dress for the weather and bring a pair of binoculars if you have them. A spotting scope will be provided to view distant birds. All ages are welcome. The walks go on, rain, shine, or snow. For more information, contact Stunkel at astunkel@coa.edu or call 207-288-5395.
As COA’s Director of Public Relations, my role is to celebrate and inform through press releases, web postings and COA, the magazine—a delightful, if overwhelming task. There’s so much to celebrate! Favorite campus moments? Hearing our students' passion for their studies and their dreams. Favorite off-campus moments? With home, hearth, and commute shared by a founding faculty member, it’s COA 24/7, but we do escape through bike rides, mountain climbs, movies, novels, and spicy meals. This year’s highlight? Watching my son (an almost-college graduate) light tortillas and chili seeds on fire in a garden in Oaxaca, Mexico—just one stage in the two-day process of making of mole negro with old, old friends—rivaled only by the fireworks that rained down on us (yes, literally) that night.