AUBURN, ME — Winter tracking will be the focus of the Stanton Bird Club’s February 5th meeting at the Auburn Public Library. Ben Nugent, District Supervisor for USDA Wildlife Services in Maine, will be the guest speaker. Looking for animal tracks is a fun activity to do any time of year, but it is especially easy to do in the winter. Snow covers the ground and lets us see traces left by animals of where they’ve been and what they are up to.

Nugent grew up in VT and graduated from the University of Vermont. Prior to working with the USDA Wildlife Services, he worked for Hodges Outfitters in Alaska, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Institute for Wildlife Studies in California. He will be sharing photographs on winter wildlife tracking, with pictures and examples from the wildlife in our local area. In addition, he will share a rare and special winter wildlife experience he had in Thorncrag in 2011.

The talk will be held on Monday, February 5th from 4-6pm at the Auburn Public Library. The public is welcome. The lecture series is free of charge. With the rise in respiratory cases in Androscoggin County, we encourage participants to wear masks.

The Stanton Bird Club, a leader in environmental awareness, owns and manages the Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary in Lewiston as well as the Woodbury Nature Sanctuary in Monmouth and Litchfield. More information about other activities of the Club can be found at www.StantonBirdClub.org and on its Facebook page.

Winter Tracks – photo by Bird Club member Dan Marquis