A RARE PLANT WALK will take place in Bowdoinham Friday, Aug. 28.
Andy Cutko of Friends of Merrymeeting Bay and the Maine Natural Areas Program will lead a rare plant walk through the intertidal zone of the Cathance River from the Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area in Bowdoinham from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28.
The tidal shores of Merrymeeting Bay are home to nearly a dozen types of rare and endangered plants — one of the largest concentrations of rare plants anywhere in Maine. Some of these species grow in only a few places in the world, and Merrymeeting Bay has healthy populations of many of them.
Learn about the importance of this habitat and how to identify some of these elusive plants at one of the bay’s most scenic spots. Cutko is a botanist, ecologist and forester and a former FOMB Steering Committee member. Participants must pre-register at (207) 485-8969.
Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area near the mouth of the Cathance River offers a view of Merrymeeting Bay, including mouths of the Muddy and Androscoggin rivers as well as the Cathance. The more than 300 acres of fields and forest are owned by the state and managed by the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.
Participants should be prepared to walk about three-quarters of a mile to the water.
The last FOMB Outings of the season will be on Swan Island with local historian Jay Robbins of FOMB and Friends of Swan Island. Robbins will lead tours from 9:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, and again on Sunday, Sept. 13. Participants must pre-register at (207) 737-2239.
Merrymeeting Bay, at the junction of six rivers drains nearly 40 percent of Maine and is recognized as an internationally significant resource for its migratory waterfowl, migratory fish populations including sturgeon and salmon, as well as its bald eagles and rare plants.
Friends of Merrymeeting Bay works to protect and improve the Bay through land protection, education, research and advocacy. For more information on FOMB programs, contact Ed Friedman at (207) 666-3372 or visit the website at www.fomb.org.
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