Tell Me A Story About Maine

I'm delighted to be a part of this show: Tell Me A Story: About Maine - Children's Book Illustrations by Maine Artists.
July 26th - Nov. 23rd at the Atrium Art Gallery, USM Lewiston-Auburn College. Opening reception is July 26th from 5-7. Work by 15 artists, including Dahlov Ipcar, Charlotte Agell, Jeannie Brett, Jamie Hogan, Laura Rankin and Chris Van Dusen.

The gorgeous image above is by Maine's Treasure, Dahlov Ipcar.

Here's one of mine that will be in the show. It's from Pond Babies.

A new brood of ducklings!

These are a new batch of mallard ducklings. They were on their way from a little overflow area back to the pond.

Audubon friends

A couple of days ago I met with my extraordinary marketing maven, Kirsten Cappy, and the wonderful folks at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center to make plans for my participation in their October 1st Apple Day festivities. I will have two story-time activities with interactive readings, searching games, and art activities during the day. One will be for Pond Babies, and the other for Gobble, Gobble. During our meeting to discuss plans, this fellow strutted right by the window. He must have know that Gobble, Gobble is all about wild turkeys!

After our meeting, Kirsten and I wandered down to the pond where the Pond Babies story time will happen, and met a local resident.

On our way back through the apple orchard, this little rascal and a few friends were happily lunching on windfalls. I'm looking forward to the event, and will post further updates.

Summer on the road

Summer time in Maine, and that means getting out and meeting with kids to share books, art and nature. Last week found me in Grand Lake Stream, Maine--way up "down east"--with the Downeast Lakes Land Trust's summer program for children. A few days later I was closer to home--at the North Gorham Library for "stories around the pond." Later this week I'll be at the Friend's School of Portland on Macworth Island for "stories by the garden."

A young hiker

A special find: a robin's egg shell!

After a production of Turtle Splash and some craft activities, Grand Lake Stream kids and parents headed out for a nature walk.

The North Gorham Library kids had a great time making turtle puppets.

UPDATE: We had nearly 50 children for stories on Macworth Island today! And then we made little critter stick puppets. The creator of these was too shy to have his photo taken, but he let me take one of his duck (left) and turtle (right).

Another New Baby at the Pond!

As I was heading toward the treehouse today, a nestful of baby phoebes flushed from beneath the floorboards. This little one perched on a nearby pear tree, and promptly began calling for mom. I hustled away to let the family settle down.

Pond Babies!

Just in time for the release date of Pond Babies:

The wood duck ducklings have hatched on Frog Song Pond! Mama and the kids are rather camera-shy, but here's a glimpse of them shot from a distance. There are at least a dozen--maybe 13. We are thrilled to see them! In the fifteen years we've lived on this pond, this is a first. Many mallard duckling fleets have been raised here, along with a couple of Merganser families, but the elusive wood ducks usually only drop by for a few days. Please wish them well!

UPDATE: Just added another photo, taken by the dock this morning!

Teeny Tiny Turtles!

From Pond Babies, to be released next week from Down East Books.
The new little Chrysemys picta picta I wrote about a couple of weeks ago apparently has peers!

Look closely at this photo (click to enlarge) and look for THREE baby turtles!

First POND BABIES are here!

That's a pine needle across his (or her) shell. See the tadpole?


Here's one of the tree tassels next to a quarter so you can see the size of the tiny hatchling!

After several rainy days, sunshine spilled over the pond today. A tiny ripple near the edge caught my eye.... a turtle hatchling! The first spotting of a pond baby this spring! Then I looked again.....the water was also FULL of tiny tadpoles! You can see one next to the turtle.

My new book, Pond Babies, will be out in June from Down East Books.

Spring, spring, SPRING!

In case anyone has wondered why our pond is called Frog Song Pond, listen to the wood frogs in this short video. These chatterers are Spring's first arrivals, followed very closely by the peepers. I'll try to get a recording of them next. The pond is FULL of frogs right now! Here are two up close. And all those little shiny spots on the photo with the turtle in the middle? FROGS! Hundreds of them! While walking around the pond this afternoon, a sudden whistling and a flash of flushing feathers caught my attention. Five drake wood ducks! Here's a glimpse of the one that remained on the water--the rest sprung into the sky. Isn't he gorgeous?

The Pond is Waking Up!

Half the ice is off the pond, there are whole areas without snow, and the critters are tired of waiting for Spring. This pair of mallards moved back last week. Look closely and you'll see the first brave (48 degrees F) turtle at the end of the log.

My neighbors have their sap buckets out on their maples, too, and this little finch and his mate have chosen my front porch for their nest.

Pond Babies Swimming

The completed artwork for Pond Babies has been delivered to the art director's clever hands at Downeast Books. Editor Michael Steere seemed surprised to have everything arrive two months ahead of deadline.

Kirsten Cappy from Curious City checked out the book before it fluttered up to Rockland, Maine. Pond Babies, and the book by the same title, will be out next spring.

Dear deer...

More about the Maine Wildlife Park, which I mentioned in the previous post:

Since I'm working on the artwork for Pond Babies now, the visit was a great chance to photograph baby animals. Well-intention hikers and woods walkers sometimes come across what they think is an abandoned or "lost" fawn, scoop it up, carry it away, and then call wildlife management folks for help. The truth is that a white tail doe carefully "parks" her fawn in a safe place while she grazes nearby. The human would-be rescuers have actually kidnapped the baby. Five of these little critters now make their home at the Wildlife Park, since their moms couldn't be located again. There's a fawn in the book, so this was a good opportunity for me to observe them.

My good friend Nancy went along on this expedition, and came to my rescue with her own camera when mine ran out of battery power. She took this great image of three of the fawn.

Babies at the Pond

Tadpoles are growing fast! Little legs have sprouted, propelling their bodies around the pond.

I've been searching for other "babies" because Down East Books has agreed to publish my new picture book for toddlers, Pond Babies, next Spring! Ta-da! Should be fun.

I photographed this adolescent loon chick last summer on No Name Pond, about 50 miles north of here. Click HERE to HEAR the loons on my Frog Blog.

Pond Babies

Sample art for proposed project, POND BABIES.

Okay....so I haven't actually seen any babies yet this year, but I keep looking.

The mallard drake has been swimming around and annoying the turtles all by himself the last couple of days, so perhaps the mama-to-be is egg sitting. We've had ducklings on Frog Song Pond nearly every year. The turtles have been out in herds....(hmmm....what's the collective noun for Eastern Painted Turtles?) but I haven't spotted any hatchlings.