GUIDES
(alphabetical by last name)
Wildlife
artist and Maine Master Naturalist from North Yarmouth, Michael
Boardman is know for his watercolor bird portraits and nature
journal sketches. He has connected his art to wildlife science through
artist residencies at Acadia National Park, Hog Island Audubon Camp,
and Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Southeast Alaska. He fulfilled
a lifelong dream by becoming the artist in residence in Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge in the summer of 2019, and spent 2 glorious weeks
at the Canning River bird Camp on the coastal plain. He spent most
of the pandemic tracking down all the Arctic birds that migrate through
Maine, and sketching them when possible. When not in the field he
frequently teaches drawing workshops to help instill an appreciation
for the natural world. He can also be found running his art business
Coyote Graphics, creating cards, prints and t-shirts of his wildlife
and nature artwork.
Evan
Dalton has been a student of nature for as long as he can remember.
He majored in biology at Earlham College (surprise!), where he studied
herpetology and ornithology. Evan earned his M.S. studying Wood Thrushes
in western Massachusetts, and has worked in field jobs ranging from
capturing iguanas in the Bahamas to radio-tracking overwintering American
Oystercatchers on the gulf coast. An NABC certified bird bander, Evan
now works at Manomet Bird Observatory in Plymouth, Massachusetts where
he helps supervise the 55-year-old migration banding operation and
shares the results through educational programing. An avid birder,
Evan has led bird walks for over 15 years. He enjoys teaching birders
(of any skill level and age) all about bird identification, vocalizations
and ecology.
Molly DellaRoman studied environmental science in both college
and graduate school. She had always been interested in birds since
a young age and after taking Cornell's Spring Field Ornithology course
in 2004, she has been a very active birder. She has been an organic
farmer in MA since 2006 and bought an organic orchard with her partner
in 2017 in Brooklin, ME. They have been enjoying birding all over
the Blue Hill Peninsula and MDI.
Michael J. Good, MS. Biologist/naturalist, President of Down
East Nature Tours in Bar Harbor, Maine and Founder of Warblers and
Wildflowers Festival (1998-2007), Acadia Birding Festival (2008-present)
and the Penobscot Watershed Eco Center, Bar Harbor. He has over 30
years experience studying the birds of North America and brings a
wealth of knowledge about Neotropical migrants and the avifauna of
the Eastern United States. Michael has traveled extensively in the
US, Alaska, Europe, Australia, South America and Cuba. He is a regional
business leader promoting sound ecologically practices in business,
government and land development. A Registered Maine Guide, Michael
has been guiding professionally for many years through his company
Down East Nature Tours focusing on avian ecology in the Gulf of Maine.
In his spare time he maintains Three Pines Bird Sanctuary in Town
Hill, Maine, studying micro-habitat of Neotropical migratory birds
on Mount Desert Island, Maine and winter ecology in various Neotropical
countries when given the opportunity.
Julia Hanauer-Milne is a lifelong birder who does not remember
a time Before Birds. Her parents fostered that interest with their
active feeders and appreciation of the birds who visited in New Jersey,
Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Julia has lived in Maine now for
33 years, currently in Sidney. A teacher and writer, Julia has shared
her love of birds with students for the past 25 years through bird
walks, projects, and citizen science. A Fund for Teachers fellowship
in 2017 allowed her to bird in the Peruvian Amazon and to help her
students learn how birds connect Maine with other parts of the world.
Matthew Gilbert is a 17 year old birder from Cumberland, Maine.
Although he has been interested in birds since preschool, he became
serious in 2019 when he started using eBird. Last year he was the
top year-lister for Maine, even without a driver's license. He has
attended Hog Island Audubon Camp and Cornell's graduate seminar in
ornithology, and dreams of exploring the boreal forest more. He's
happy to share knowledge with anyone!
Billy
Helprin Billy is the Director of the Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary
(right behind Festival Center in Somesville). Before working for the
Sanctuary, Billy was the Mt. Desert Island Steward for Maine Coast
Heritage Trust, managing Preserve properties and monitoring many conservation
easements. He has a Master of Science degree from Utah State University
and a Master of Arts in Teaching. Billy has enjoyed leading wildlife
explorations and studies in the Rocky Mountain region for Great Plains
Wildlife Institute, the Teton Science School, and Abercrombie and
Kent; and in Kenya for the School for Field Studies. He has been involved
with avian research and inventory projects in Ohio, Maine, Wyoming
and Guatemala. Whenever possible, Billy enjoys getting out with friends
or on his own to see and hear which bird species are nearby and what
they are up to.
Ed Jenkins is an Avian Biologist with the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) in Portland, Maine, where he works with migratory songbirds, seabirds, and marine renewable energy issues. Always a birder, Ed is originally from the UK, but has conducted research on birds in New Zealand, Australia, Malta, Israel, and China, with a focus on seabird ecology and conservation. He first came to Maine in 2013 to spend the summer working for National Audubon on Maine's offshore seabird colonies, and returned the next year to supervise research on Seal island NWR. After receiving his M.Sc. in biology from the University of Manitoba in Canada, where he studied the foraging ecology of Newfoundland's seabirds including puffins, murres and storm-petrels, Ed returned to Maine where he now spends his spring and fall banding birds at River Point Bird Observatory in Falmouth and assisting on various research and conservation projects.
Patrick Kark fell in love with bird life histories when obtaining
a B.S. in Zoology from Colorado State University. After graduating,
Patrick first came out to Maine to work for Acadia National Park as
the raptor intern. It is in Acadia, that he fell in love with birding.
Patrick continued to work at Acadia National Park for the next 7 years
as an ornithology ranger guiding bird walks, nature hikes, and boat
programs. He also led the peregrine falcon watch program and the Cadillac
Mountain hawkwatch for the park during this time. Patrick enjoys the
year round birding opportunities that Downeast Maine provides and
loves to share this remarkable place with others.
Craig Kesselheim is a recently-retired educator living in Southwest
Harbor on MDI. He has been birding ever since he was hooked by a college
ornithology course in 1973. Craig birds and travels elsewhere in North
America whenever possible, but has been Maine-based for about 25 years.
Adrian
Lesak has been a birder since childhood and fondly recalls the
early mornings of spring migration; birding while delivering newspapers
until the school bell rang. He has studied forest songbird communities
for the US Forest Service in Washington and in Master's and PhD research
in Alabama and Wisconsin, respectively. As part of the Eagle Optics
sales team for 5 years, and now as the birding and nature observation
manager at Vortex Optics, he has gained extensive knowledge and field
experience with the latest the sport optics industry has to offer.
Adrian enjoys the challenge and reward of pairing birders with the
right optics to help them enjoy the pursuit and the passion for birds
and birding he shares with them.
Don
Lima has been an avid birdwatcher ever since his grandfather first
gave him a pair of binoculars at age 8. He pursued his passion of
wildlife and the outdoors at the University of Maine, Orono, where
he received his B.S. in Wildlife Management in 1986. He soon began
a career that has, so far, spanned 32 years with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS), which has allowed extensive opportunities
to live, travel and bird all over the U.S. Don has conducted restoration
projects in grassland and saltmarsh habitats, waterfowl banding for
the USFWS and Black Duck Joint Venture, point count surveys, and was
an active member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s, Partners
for Wildlife Program. His greatest passion is continuing to share
his love of birds, wildlife and being outdoors with his sons.
Kristen Lindquist is a published poet and freelance writer
with a monthly natural history column in the Pen Bay Pilot. She regularly
leads bird walks for various nonprofit organizations around the state.
She is a past member of the Maine Bird Records Committee, past board
member of Friends of Maine's Seabird Islands, and a past member of
the Conservation Commission in her hometown of Camden, ME. Recently,
she was a contributing writer for the new "Birdwatching in Maine:
A Site Guide."
Becky
Marvil lives with her family in Yarmouth, Maine. She has a background
in Biology (Earlham College) and in Ornithology and Computer Science
(University of Colorado), and runs her own computer programming/webpage
design business. She is pleased to be the Executive Director of the
Acadia Birding Festival, combining her knowledge of webpage design,
organizational skills, and love of birding. She is also the Secretary
for the Maine Bird Records Committee, and eBird Hotspot monitor for
Maine. During her free time, she helps with local bird surveys, chases
after rarities, and she loves to travel and enjoy birds in new locations.
Daniel McDermott, originally from Lowell, MA, is a seasonal Park
Ranger at Acadia National Park, a PhD student at the University of
Rochester, and avid birder. Daniel fell in love with birds and birding
when he first worked for Acadia in the summer of 2017 and has been
hooked ever since. For Acadia, Daniel regularly leads birding programs
and walks, while out of season, volunteers at numerous hawkwatch sites
and Christmas Bird Counts. He especially enjoys birding local patches
and contributing to state breeding atlas projects.
Greg Miller has been birding for over 50 years.... really before
he can even remember. It was his father who got him into birding at
an early age and he has birded in all 50 states and much of Canada,
always smitten by the birding bug. Every trip out is an adventure!
In 1998 Greg zigzagged across the continent–traveling 130,000 miles
while trying to hold down a full time job at a nuclear power plant–to
try to see as many species of birds in one calendar year as possible.
It was an incredible experience passing the 700-species mark—an achievement
many birders aspire to in a lifetime. But there was competition. Two
other birders, Sandy Komito and Al Levantin also did Big Years the
same year and also broke the 700-mark. These three competitive quests
are documented in the 2004 non-fiction book, The Big Year, by Mark
Obmascik, and later in 2011 made into a movie. Greg had the fortunate
opportunity to be the Bird Consultant for the movie. Greg now guides
for Wildside Nature Tours.
Bill Sheehan lives and birds in northern Maine, where he grew
up. He is a registered Maine Guide and has been leading trips and
guiding birders in the woods and wetlands of Maine for over 25 years.
Bill is the president of the Aroostook Birders birding club and has
been involved with the Maine Bird Records Committee since its inception.
A reviewer for Maine eBird, Bill has a deep interest in the distribution
and status of birds in Maine and is currently working with Peter Vickery
on a book on this subject. An avid duck-a-phile, Bill loves most scanning
his favorite local patches for rare waterfowl and waders. He can be
seen observing a Ross's Goose in Limestone, Maine on Google Earth
at the coordinates (46.913309, -67.824541).
Tom Stephenson has been birding since he was a kid under the
tutelage of Dr. Arthur Allen of Cornell University. His articles and
photographs are in museums and many publications including Birding,
Birdwatcher's Digest, Handbook of the Birds of the World, Handbook
of the Mammals of the World, Birds of Madagascar, and Guide to the
Birds of SE Brazil. His latest book, The Warbler Guide, is published
by Princeton University Press and recently won the National Outdoor
Book Award. The Warbler Guide App, for iOS and Android, includes 3D
rotating models and won the 2015 Design Award for AAUP Book, Jacket
and Journal Show. His app, BirdGenie, is a "shazam" for bird song
that helps bird enthusiasts identify over 150 common vocalizations
in eastern and western US by recording them on their smart phone.
BirdGenie won the prestigious PROSE award from the American Association
of Publishers.
Doug
Suitor, a reverse migrant, moved with his wife and daughters to
Maine from Fort Myers Beach, FL in 2007. To date he still claims this
was a good idea. He became interested in birds while working with
Manatees and Sea Turtles in Southwest Florida. He is currently an
aquatic ecologist with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's
Lakes Program and enjoys exploring Maine's scenic beauty. A board
member of Merrymeeting Audubon he leads trips for the chapter and
thoroughly enjoys birding and playing around in the midcoast area.
As
an Environmental geologist, Ann Thayer chose a career that
allowed her to spend her work-life outdoors where she could observe
the natural world around her. Backyard birding and long time association
with Audubon fed her curiosity about birds and led to more varied
birding in Maine and Florida. More recently, she's honed her birding
skills in the varied terrain of Maine, and during expeditions to the
American Southwest, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
Ann contributes to the birding and geology units of the Maine Master
Naturalist program, and thanks to mentors along the way, she now leads
birdwalks in Maine and Florida, where she's just as likely to point
out an interesting rock or favorite tree species-though she's happiest
when she learns something new along the way.
Terry
Towne is a life-long amateur naturalist and USCG Licensed Captain.
He uses his outdoor enthusiasm and skills as the Regional Steward
for Maine Coast Heritage Trust to steward the islands around Mount
Desert Island’s bays and offshore on Marshall Island and Long Island
Frenchboro. After learning how to make a living in Maine more than
30 years ago by commercial fishing and municipal government, he is
a graduate of the University of Maine. He has introduced many to the
beauty and ruggedness of Maine’s islands through his trail building
and public awareness programs.
Margaret
Viens , a native Mainer, who grew up in Connecticut, has been
a backyard birder since she was a young child, but only became a more
"serious" birder once she retired in 2007. She is one of 5 siblings
who bird together and was lucky enough to have some great local birding
mentors, as well as the opportunity to travel extensively both domestically
and internationally where she is rarely seen without her binoculars
and camera. She volunteers with several citizen scientist projects,
is a Maine eBird reviewer, serves on the Maine Birds Records Committee
and is active with the Augusta Birding Club, both giving presentations
and leading walks in central Maine. She has lived in Waterville since
1973.
Jill
Weber is a consulting botanist/ecologist. She received her B.A.
in Botany from the University of Northern Colorado and her M.S. in
Botany from the University of Maine. Jill has done field botany in
Maine since 1988, working for Nature Conservancy, the Maine Department
of Conservation, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Acadia National Park,
and many land trusts. She is coauthor of The Plants of Acadia National
Park and Sedges of Maine: A Field Guide to the Cyperaceae. She is
currently an instructor and herbarium curator at the College of the
Atlantic. Plants touch every facet of our lives, from food, to art,
economics, and politics. Every plant has a story, and Weber’s passion
is to learn as many of them as she can and share her sense of wonder
with others.
Magill
Weber was born into a family of non-birders, but had the good
fortune to grow up down the road from the Wind Point lighthouse, one
of the best migrant traps on Lake Michigan. She taught herself to
bird in early elementary school via steady supply of field guides
gifted by family members in the hopes of avoiding actually having
to go birding themselves. Magill has worked as a bird bum on field
projects around the country, wrote a masters thesis on the spring
stopover ecology of Blackpoll Warblers, and served as a project director
for The Nature Conservancy's California migratory birds program. Magill
is currently an attorney for a Portland, Maine-based technology company.
She sits on the Arizona Bird Records Committee and the American Birding
Association board of directors, and has had a number of articles and
photos published in national birding publications and field guides.
She has birded on five continents and in every US state and Canadian
province-the Maine coast is, hands down, her favorite place to bird.
Chuck Whitney is a local educator, who has lived in Hancock County
since 1978. When not birding he can be found making Uilleann bagpipes
and playing them in Irish music sessions.
