An update

Joan Ashley of Falmouth has sent me the recent copy of the Guillemot, the newsletter of the Sorrento Scientific Society in Bar Harbor. It is a very interesting publication listing reports of animals, birds, fish and reptiles seen in Maine, where they were sighted and some details. Astronomy, the weather and geology also get mention.

Under Mammals, a report was given and a photo sent to the newsletter for an adult lynx, with three kits, crossing a road in Van Buren.

Gray seals were at Pine Point in Scarborough Nov. 20, an immature humpback whale was entangled in lines off Grand Maran Island Dec. 22-23, but managed to free itself.

Long-tailed ducks (Old Squaws) were all along the coast. Bald eagles were across the entire state. Unusual for Maine was a screech owl reported from Biddeford Dec. 29.

Common redpolls were too numerous to cite individually. Goldfinches, present about everywhere, were reported, but in low numbers.

Joan Ashley told me that they have several goldfinches at their feeder. She said that they do eat a lot of thistle seeds. They also have lots of cardinals. She enjoyed seeing many Brants, small wild geese that breed in the Arctic Circle and come south in great flocks in autumn. She enjoyed seeing and hearing them when she was walking along the beach at Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth. Joan said that she learned a lot about birds from Joe Kocknavate, who led hiking trips that many of us enjoyed a few years ago. Ruby Harris was in that group, too, and my cousin, Betty Stearns.

I’ll add that the redpolls that our son Tom enjoyed seeing in the field at Hiram were lighting on goldenrod plants and feeding on the seeds. I had mentioned reading how fond they are of birch trees and that we had many on the Hiram property. But that day Tom said they looked very pretty against the brown of the goldenrod stalks.

A snowbird

We wrote last week about flocks of robins that have been seen in our area recently, including many in trees along the river off Dana Street, Westbrook, stripping the wild rose bushes in front of the Southern Maine Newspaper Printing office.

We listed other reports, too, and today I talked with George Sharpe, a birder, who lives at Park Danforth, on Stevens Avenue in Portland. He had seen robins recently, too, on Poland Street, the street beside his apartment. I wanted to consult George, as he has been interested in birds for years, and knows them well. I thought that he could inform me about seeing all those robins in winter. He said that these flocks probably were in Quebec, and had come this far south to winter here.

Also, after talking with George, I read in my 1972 paperback, “Enjoying Maine Birds,” that most robins arrive here in mid-March and leave by mid-November. Although their appearance is regarded as a sign of spring, a considerable number winter in Maine, especially near the coast.

Aha, so now George Sharpe and the Maine Audubon Society, which published and revised my book, have clarified for me the robins’ winter appearance.

An intellectual

I am reading a 1941 book, “I Remember Emerson,” by Mary Miller Engel, and am interested in the chapter about the Alcott family of Concord, Mass. Among Bronson and Abigail Alcott’s daughters, Louisa wrote the famous book, “Little Women.”

Bronson was a teacher, reformer and philosopher. In 1834 in Boston he opened a private school in the Masonic Temple. His new and original methods of teaching attracted much attention. But he was obliged to close the Temple School when the patrons, who represented many of the best families in Boston, rapidly withdrew their children because he espoused the cause of anti-slavery and even admitted a Negro child as a pupil to his school.

The whole chapter is interesting, but I was shocked by that paragraph and the reason for his having to close his school.

He was a very bright man. As the Encyclopedia Britannica sums him up, “Ralph Waldo Emerson said that for pure intellect he had never seen Alcott’s equal. Henry Thoreau said that Alcott was the sanest man he ever knew. They were both Concord friends of Alcott. Most of the reforms Alcott fought for eventually triumphed. Many who had laughed at his impracticality came to admire his serene wisdom.

The literary success of his daughter, Louisa May Alcott, brought his financial security.”

A classic

We’ve printed this casserole recipe before, but bake it often at our house. It is filling, easy to prepare, and very good healthwise, too.

SPINACH CASSEROLE

1 pound cottage cheese

1/4 pound sharp cheese, grated

1/4 cup butter, melted

Salt (I don’t use it)

3 eggs beaten

3 tablespoons flour

1 package chopped, frozen spinach (I use fresh spinach, cut up)

Mix all together in a greased casserole and cook for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Ramblings