Down East Spring Birding Festival

BIOGRAPHIES

Ninth Annual Down East Spring Birding Festival, May 25-28, 2012
and Seventh Annual Birding Elderhostel (Road Scholar) on Campobello Island,
May 25—May 29, 2012

Chris Bartlett
Chris has been exploring the shores of Cobscook Bay for 21 years and is interested in all aspects of nature in the area. As field staff for the Maine Sea Grant Program, he has conducted numerous research and educational programs on marine ecology. Chris and his family live in Eastport, where he enjoys birding on a regular basis.

Mark Berry
Mark has served as the Executive Director of Downeast Lakes Land Trust(www.downeastlakes.org) since 2006. Based in Grand Lake Stream, the trust has since 2001 conserved 350,000 acres and 450 miles of lakeshore. It owns a 33,700-acre Community Forest that it manages for wildlife habitat,
public recreation, and a sustainable timber harvest. The trust is currently working to conserve a 22,000 acre property around the village of Grand Lake Stream. Mark has undergraduate and graduate degrees in ecology and evolutionary biology from Dartmouth College and the University of Colorado. Before returning to Maine in 2006, he managed the Pine Creek Conservation Area in north central Oregon for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. He has taught and conducted field research in the outdoors
from Antarctica to Wyoming.

Julia Berry
Rocks, birds, wildlife, Julia is fascinated by it all. Julia moved to Maine five years ago, and has loved the opportunity to learn more about this amazing ecosystem. Julia teaches science at Calais High School during the school year, and has over 10 years of experience leading outdoor science adventures for children of all ages.

Tom Boutureira
Tom is Executive Director of the Downeast Coastal Conservancy. Prior to the Downeast Coastal Conservancy, Tom was the Executive Director of Great Auk Land Trust. From 2003-2005 he served as a rural natural resource volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in Vallegrande, Bolivia. He was then invited to work as a technical specialist for the Peace Corps Natural Resource Management Program in Cochabamba, Bolivia until 2007 when he returned to Machias. Tom’s previous experiences include working as a conservation organizer with the Sierra Club in Maine, trail steward and operations assistant at Little Lyford Pond Camps in the 100 Mile Wilderness of the Appalachian Trial, watershed field assistant with the Maine Department of Conservation, and as a native pollinator researcher for Downeast blueberry growers. He graduated in 1999 from the University of Maine at Machias with a B.S. in Environmental Studies. Tom lives on a small farm with his wife Chloe and two children, Arlo and Darwin.

Carrie Callahan
Carrie has finally found her dream job and joined the CLCC as Director of Education and Programs. After many years of navy ship design, including ten years at BIW in Bath, stints in Hawaii, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland & Connecticut, she’s maintained her lifelong passions in the worlds of art and yoga, practicing and teaching both. When she’s not at work she can probably be found either on a mat or bicycle, messing in her gardens, slapping watercolors about, creating at her printmaking or beading tables, or simply hanging out in East Machias with her partner and herd of kitties.

Anna Hunt, Chewonki Foundation
The story of Chewonki began in 1915, when their founder first set up tents for his boy’s camp along the shores of Lake Champlain. Three years later, the tents were moved to an old farm field along the shores of Montsweag Bay, on Chewonki Neck in Wiscasset, Maine. Today, Chewonki has evolved into one of Maine’s most highly respected institutions. The name and reputation extend well beyond the state’s borders, and their work has gained regional and even national recognition. Chewonki is a recognized leader in what they offer young people and the results they achieve in creating lifetime stewards of our natural world.

Anna began working at Chewonki in 1997 for the Environmental Education and Outreach programs, and she has coordinated the summer nature activity for Camp Chewonki. She received her B.S. in Environmental Biology from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. She also completed the Professional Residency in Environmental Education program at the Teton Science School in Kelly, Wyoming. In addition to coordinating Chewonki’s Outreach program, Anna is a licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator who enjoys exploring Maine and teaching in its classrooms.

Bob Duchesne
Bob became interested in birds in the first grade. Interest grew to passion and today Bob is currently President of the Penobscot Valley Chapter of Maine Audubon, and serves as a State Trustee. Bob is a frequent field trip leader for Audubon, and now operates his own guiding service with his wife, Sandi. Together, they have led trips from Atlantic Canada to the Florida Everglades. He spearheaded creation of the Maine Birding Trail, which launched in 2009, and wrote a guidebook for the state. When not birding, Bob is a member of the Maine House of Representatives, where he serves on the Natural Resources Committee.

Sandi McRae Duchesne
Sandi McRae Duchesne likes nothing better than an adventure in the Maine woods – even during the height of black fly season. She spent many memorable summers working as a wilderness camp counselor and a Registered Maine Guide for whitewater rafting, and her mid-life career change to civil engineering and planning has allowed her the privilege of being paid to explore the length and breadth of Washington County. Sandi has been active in many environmental and active-lifestyle organizations in Maine, including nearly 20 years as a board member and officer of the Penobscot Valley Chapter of Maine Audubon, six years on the board of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, and her current service as President of the Greater Pushaw Lake Association. Along with her husband, Bob, she has planned and led numerous field trips for birders, photographers, and nature lovers in the United States and Canada. Sandi and Bob spend their rare weekends at home in their log cabin on Pushaw Lake, where the loons sing them to sleep.

Steve Ftorek
Steve Ftorek adopted Cobscook Bay and Passamaquoddy Bay as his home over 25 years ago and has learned to love and appreciate their beauty. His years of exploration on the bay can take you to many special places. Steve is also a Registered Maine Sea Kayak and Recreation Guide.

Tess Ftorek
Tess Ftorek is a native Eastporter who grew up playing on the shores and on the waters of Passamaquoddy and Cobscook Bays. Her lifelong love of the area will be evident as she shares her knowledge with you. Tess is a Registered Maine Sea Kayak and Recreation Guide.

Kirk Gentalen
Kirk Gentalen lives on Vinalhaven Island in Penobscot Bay where he works as a steward for the Maine Coast Heritage Trust and the Vinalhaven Land Trust. Kirk has been birdwatching for 20 years and has spent the last 18 years working as a naturalist. He has worked in 13 states and led birding trips in Alaska, California, Georgia, & Massachusetts. Most recently Kirk has lead bird trips for both the Maine and National Audubon Society, as well as Elderhostel (now Road Scholar) birding trips to Monhegan Island. On Vinalhaven Kirk leads an afterschool adventure club (“Outdoor Explorers”) for 5th thru 12th graders, as well as edits the “Vinalhaven Sightings Report,” a monthly summary of natural history sightings from around the island. He also counts Harlequin Ducks and Purple Sandpipers aboard “The Fluke.”

Fred and Linda Gralenski
Fred and Linda Gralenski left their secure jobs and home in the Boston area (Fred was a project engineer for Raytheon Missile Systems and Linda was a medical secretary at Mass Gen Hosp) and attained their dream in 1988 by building a log home on the shore of Cobscook Bay on land that they could almost afford. They have been involved with nature even before they got here – with MA and NH Audubon societies – and they continue to this day being involved with birds, amphibians, and reptiles being their favorites, presently participate in the Maine Butterfly Survey. Mammal study, botany and photography are not far behind. In their spare time Linda is Chairperson of the Board of Calais Regional Hospital, and, along with Fred, puts in many volunteer hours each week at the Pembroke Library.

Jeanne Guisinger
Jeanne is the Program Coordinator for Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostle) programs in Down East Maine. This is her sixth year with the birding festival. While she is not an experienced birder, she enjoys absorbing as much as possible each year. Her favorite finds have been the Eastern Bluebird, a very cooperative American Woodcock, a chestnut-sided warbler, and last year’s pick-of-the-flock--a ruffed grouse. (When you’re a true novice, you get a treat every time you go out.) Jeanne coordinates eleven other Road Scholar programs in the Passamaquoddy Bay area.

Captain Butch Harris
Born and raised in Eastport, Captain Harris has been a seafaring man all his life - as a fisherman, boat builder, and boat captain. Butch has fished for lobsters, scallops, and urchins, has worked in the farmed salmon business, and has been taking fishing parties out to sea for decades. During the summer, he captains the Sylvina Beal, a three-master schooner, for bird watching, whale watching, and dinner cruises in the bay. Butch also has built both wooden and fiberglass boats, and recently completed a large two-masted schooner, the Haley Matthew, which he captains for 2-3 day cruises.

Fred Hartman
Now retired, Fred Hartman was a Wildlife Biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He has been a birder for more than 50 years and has banded waterfowl for 50 years. Fred has been instrumental in the research and management of migratory game birds in the Atlantic Flyway (U.S. and Canada). His waterfowl research in Maine was a landmark study. In recent years, Fred has turned to creating wildlife art in his DownEast Drawings Gallery.

Ed Hawkes of Bar Harbor, Maine is a master bird carver and avid bird watcher. He started birding at the age of twelve in Southern Maine. And since moving to Mount Desert Island in 1977, Ed has become well-acquainted with his 'backyard' -- Acadia National Park -- and has served for 12 years as a volunteer ranger with the park's Peregrine Watch in the spring/summer and Hawk Watch in the fall. After retiring from teaching, Ed has found more time to pursue his lifetime fascination with birds. And while birding, his thoughts quickly turn to creating his lifelike wooden sculptures, with such fine detail you expect them to take flight. Whether bird watching or bird carving, one passion feeds the other. Ed and his wife, Debbie, regularly lead birding hikes for their Downeast Audubon Chapter. And leisure time means they’re off birding -- whether on Mount Desert Island or further afield such as recent trips to Texas, Florida, Arizona, Southern California, Alaska, Newfoundland, and Costa Rica.

Debbie Hawkes of Bar Harbor works as a paralegal in Bar Harbor, Maine. She served as president of the Downeast Chapter of Maine Audubon for eleven years. Like her husband, Ed, Debbie is always birding -- while on her noon exercise walks, biking the carriage trails of Acadia National Park, tending her flower gardens, or perhaps off following a 'hot bird' report. She and Ed, regularly lead birding hikes for their Downeast Audubon Chapter. And when Debbie takes time off from her job, she’s off birding -- on Mount Desert Island or further afield such as recent trips to Texas, Florida, Arizona, Southern California, Alaska, Newfoundland, and Costa Rica.

Bill Kolodnicki
Bill is a Refuge Manager with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has been stationed at Moosehorn NWR since 2004. Previously he was at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Long Island NWR Complex, and with the National Audubon Society. He has been a bird watcher all is life and his graduate work dealt with colonial nesting waterbirds.

Roland LaVallee
Born in Connecticut, Roland spent his early life observing wildlife and nature. While growing up, he practiced carving and spent many hours hunting and fishing. Roland began carving birds and other wildlife seriously in 1982 and has been carving full time since 1997. He produces and sells about 300 pieces a year from his studio gallery CROW TRACKS. Roland volunteers his time as Secretary of the Eastport Area Chamber of Commerce, and as a Board Member of the Eastport Arts Center and the Friends of Moosehorn. Mr. LaVallee is a member of the Eastport Gallery and of Ducks Unlimited.

Rich MacDonald
Rich is a lifelong birder, naturalist, and field biologist. He can often be found outdoors with binoculars strapped over his shoulder and an ear tuned to the birds. Much of the past 25 years have been spent investigating the natural world for organizations such as The Nature Conservancy and Audubon. His studies have encompassed Lake Champlain’s colonial waterbirds, northern forest boreal birds from the Adirondacks to Newfoundland, and migratory songbirds in the Dominican Republic. In 1989, Rich led his first bird tour for the Buffalo Ornithological Association. Through no small degree of luck, he managed to find all of the birds on their wish list . . . a feat he laughingly admits to never repeating since. In recent years, Rich has served as lead naturalist for Garrison Keillor on each of the four cruises of National Public Radio’s ‘A Prairie Home Companion.’
Recently, Rich opened a new business in Bar Harbor: The Natural History Center, offering nature-based tours and conducting avian research from its retail shop base located on the Bar Harbor Village Green. Rich lives in Bar Harbor with Natalie and his four-year-old daughter, Anouk.

Dr. Carl Merrill
Dr. Merrill is a biologist and Director of Suffolk University's Friedman Field Station (FFS) in Edmunds. He has been studying and teaching about intertidal and near-shore ecology of the Cobscook Bay since 1976, and has led field trips about intertidal ecology for groups ranging from grade school to undergraduate to Elderhostel (now Road Scholar) at various locations in Maine, most often at or near the FFS.

Maurry Mills
Maurry is a Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has been stationed at the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge since 1985. He also has worked at the Rachel Carson Refuge in southern Maine and the Great Swamp Refuge in New Jersey. Maurry has been watching birds and other wildlife since the early 1970s. Although his primary interest is in migratory birds, Maurry also has worked with mammals, herps, wetlands, and computer mapping. Maurry is an officer and volunteers with the Dennys River Watershed Council and the Dennys River Sportsman's Club.

Jennifer Multhopp
Jennifer worked for twelve years as a naturalist for the Delaware State Parks system where, among other things, she conducted bird walks and established the Hawk Watch at Cape Henlopen. Since moving to Maine nine years ago she has led hikes and bird walks for Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Downeast Coastal Conservancy and the Lubec Consolidated School. She appreciates any opportunity to introduce people to the unique natural areas protected by Maine's land trusts.

Captain Andrew Patterson
Captain Patterson has operated Bold Coast Charter Company, a birdwatching and sightseeing boat tour operation out of Cutler Harbor, over the past 22 years. Andy has extensive knowledge of the coastal Maine and Bay of Fundy marine environment, and of its seabirds and marine mammal inhabitants. Captain Patterson also volunteers time and resources each season to assist with area seabird restoration and research.

Bill Robinson
Bill Robinson has been a Registered Maine Guide for 7 years. Bill has participated as a guide during the down east birding festival for several years. Bill's family owns and operates Robinson's Cottages on the Dennys River. The outing that Bill guides for bird enthusiasts includes an easy paddle on a small remote pond accessible by vehicle. A field lunch is provided immediately following the paddle which usually lasts a little more than an hour. Canoes, paddles, and life jackets are provided; however, if you wish to use your own kayak or canoe, that is fine. Common bird species are eagles, ospreys, various ducks, cormorant, herons, and other small shore birds - an event that everyone will enjoy!

Daphne Savage
2010 was Daphne’s first birding festival. She has been employed at the Roosevelt Cottage International Park for the past eleven years, guiding tours of the cottage and grounds. She has spent a lot of time studying for her new position as RCIP naturalist under the expert guidance of Steven Smart. Her birding skills are general, but she is very excited with the learning process and enjoys being outside.

Meg Scheid
Meg grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Integrating her interests in arts, science and education she earned a degree in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. She began her career with the National Park Service in 1983 as a naturalist in Acadia National Park. In 1995, she moved to Nova Scotia where she started a business guiding tours for visitors to historic Acadia (Eastern Canada and Maine). Today, Meg works as a park ranger at Saint Croix Island International Historic Site in Calais, where she continues to interpret historic Acadia.

Andrew Slater
Andy is the president of the Friends of Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, a group which actively works to promote and support the refuge. An active photographer, Andy is a life-long resident of Calais and enjoys opportunities for wildlife photography that are afforded by living so close to national wildlife refuge. Andy has been taking photographs at Moosehorn for over 20 years; eagles have always been his favorite subject.

Barry Southard
Originally from New Jersey, Barry has been birding actively for about 30 years. He has done BBS in New Mexico and has participated in surveys for the endangered southwestern Willow Flycatcher and Northern Goshawk in New Mexico and Colorado. Barry also was a nature/birding guide for an eco-lodge in Costa Rica, and has most recently worked for the Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District trying to help reclaim Atlantic salmon habitat. Barry has participated in 2 years of MAPS banding, currently performs BBS for the US Fish & Wildlife Service in Milbridge, and has led hikes for the Down East Spring Birding Festival for three years.

Carroll Tiernan
Carroll is a 25-year employee of Maine Audubon and has been selling optical equipment for that long. She has trained with Nikon, Swarovski, Swift, and at Birdwatch America, and has been teaching optic clinics at Hog Island, Fields Pond, and Gilsland Farm, as well as at the LL Bean Kayak Symposium, for several years. Carroll’s approach is to teach you about optics so you can select the best for your use and budget.

Patty Vinzani
Born in Bangor, Maine, Patty was raised on the banks of the Stillwater River. She graduated from UMM with an English degree and a minor in Art. She lives with her husband, children, dog, cat, chickens, and ducks in Whiting. Her favorite pastimes are gardening, hiking, reading, and beachcombing; invariably those experiences converge in her art. She says, “What I can't share through words, art expresses. I'm most content when interacting with nature.”

Dr. Herb Wilson
Herb Wilson is a Professor of Biology at Colby College. He has done research on the migration and feeding behavior of Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers, winter foraging behavior of chickadees and nuthatches, the breeding biology of Palm Warblers, vocalizations of Red-eyed Vireos and the impacts of global warming on the spring arrival date of migratory breeding birds in Maine. He writes a biweekly birding column that appears in the Sunday edition of the Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel and Maine Sunday-Telegram.

Amy Zipperer
Amy is an herbalist and plant lover who lives in Perry with her two children. She owns and operates Dogwood Herbs, a small business that specializes in creating healing herbal skin care products with locally grown and gathered herbs. She has been studying herbalism for eight years, and her teachers include Gail Faith Edwards, Linda Conroy, Demetria Clark and the Wild Weeds.

Barry Southard
Originally from New Jersey, Barry has been birding actively for about 30 years. He has done BBS in New Mexico and has participated in surveys for the endangered southwestern Willow Flycatcher and Northern Goshawk in New Mexico and Colorado. Barry also was a nature/birding guide for an eco-lodge in Costa Rica. Mr. Southard most recently worked for the Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District trying to help reclaim Atlantic salmon habitat. Barry has participated in 2 years of MAPS banding, currently performs BBS for the US Fish & Wildlife Service in Milbridge, and has led hikes for the Down East Spring Birding Festival for three years.

Carroll Tiernan
Carroll is a 25-year employee of Maine Audubon and has been selling optics for that long. She has trained with Nikon, Swarovski, Swift, and at Birdwatch America, and has been teaching optic clinics at Hog Island, Fields Pond, and Gilsland Farm, as well as at the LL Bean Kayak Symposium, for several years. Carroll’s approach is to teach you about optics so you can select the best for your use and budget.

Amy Zipperer
Amy is an herbalist and plant lover who lives in Perry with her two children. She owns and operates Dogwood Herbs, a small business that specializes in creating healing herbal skin care products with locally grown and gathered herbs. She has been studying herbalism for eight years, and her teachers include Fail Faith Edwards, Linda conroy, Demetria Clark and the Wild Weeds.

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