Events

CAMDEN
Audubon presents birding in Costa Rica
Mid-Coast Audubon and Camden Public Library will host a free online Zoom pictorial overview of the 2020 Maine Audubon trip to Costa Rica at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Maine Audubon’s staff naturalist Doug Hitchcox will head the presentation, detailing a trip he and 10 Audubon members took to Costa Rica, which is considered a birding paradise. This travelogue will follow the group’s travels day by day, highlighting the birds, food, and stunning vistas, as well as the conservation issues of the area and importance of ecotourism.
To register for the event, please email Julia Pierce at jpierce@librarycamden.org to request the Zoom link.

Winter horticulture series spotlights native plants
The Camden Garden Club Winter Horticulture Series continues at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday with a talk by Avy Claire and Cathy Rees from Native Gardens of Blue Hill via Zoom.
Native Gardens has undertaken the creation of a public garden to give a diverse group of gardeners, potential gardeners and non-gardeners, an opportunity to see how a garden made exclusively of native plants can benefit the local landscape. The presentation will cover the use of native plants in the garden and how they function in the ecosystem.
For more details about the club and its activities, go to camdengardenclub.org or contact camdengardenclub100@gmail.com.

KENNEBUNK
Webinars aim to teach kids about caring for animals
Four of Maine’s nonprofits are teaming up to present a weeklong, virtual webinar series “Kindness to Animals Week.”
The Animal Welfare Society (AWS), Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals (MSSPA), Center for Wildlife, and Marine Mammals of Maine will offer the free, 40-minute webinars, that focus on winter wellness for Maine’s wild and domesticated animals and are intended for kindergarten through Grade 8 students. They will take place daily at 10 a.m. starting Tuesday via Zoom.
The AWS webinar will cover community or feral cats, teaching students how to tell when outdoor cats need help and how to provide for them, especially in the winter. The MSSPA will head a talk on the welfare of horses, discussing how horses keep warm during Maine winters and the ways humans care for them.
The Center for Wildlife will focus on animals that live in Maine, introducing different wild animals that the center cares for medically and discussing how to support wild animals, especially when the temperatures drop.
And, the Marine Mammals of Maine’s webinar will dive into a discussion on two species of seal that can only be found during winter. Students will be taught what makes these snow-loving marine mammals unique and what to do if the seals need help.
To reserve a spot and get the Zoom link, go to animalwelfaresociety.org/youth/kindness-week.

UNITY
Learn about fermentation, salves with MOFGA
The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association will offer the following online programs this week:
A screening of the film “Follow the Drinking Gourd” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday as the second installment in MOFGA’s winter film series. A Q&A with the film’s director Shirah Dedman will follow the 60-minute documentary that details the legacy of slavery, land loss and climate change to the Black food justice movement and fight for food security. Registration, viewing and discussion will be hosted via kweliTV. Cost is $10. To register, go to kweli.tv/programs/mofga_maine_farmland_trust.
UMaine Extension professional Jason Lilley will head the online talk “Backyard Maple Production” from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday. He will share about how to identify and tap maple trees, collect and boil sap, as well as filtering, grading and canning syrup. Lilley will focus on homesteading-scale systems that require a limited initial investment in equipment. This course is designed for beginners with a suggested fee of $10. To register, go to 78270.blackbaudhosting.com/78270/Backyard-Maple-Syrup-Production.
“Making Herbal Salve,” a two-part series on the beneficial qualities of herbs in healing salves, will be offered from 3-4 p.m. Feb. 16 and March 4 online with a suggested fee of $30. To register, go to mofga.org/event-calendar/making-herbal-salve/all.
And, “Fermentation for Beginners” will be offered from 3 to 4:15 p.m. Sunday, teaching how to make various types of fermented vegetables. Suggested fee is $25. To register, go to mofga.org/event-calendar/fermentation-for-beginners.

CARRABASSETT VALLEY
Marine mammal experts host seal presentation
Carrabassett Valley Public Library will host the virtual Marine Mammals of Maine (MMoME) presentation “A Seal’s Journey” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday via Zoom.
Join MMoME staffers as they cover seal basics such as whether it’s normal for them to be out of the water and why you might see a baby on its own, and then dive into when and why seals need our help. The talk also will detail the role MMoME plays in seal rescues, the animals they care for, and how the public can help.
To join this Zoom meeting, go to networkmaine.zoom.us/j/89690905010?pwd=UmIwWHQ2MHc4TUVKaGZOdFkvTGxvUT09. The meeting ID is: 896 9090 5010.
For more details, go to mmome.org.

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