What We Learned at Acadia National Park

We learned many things today with Ranger Kate and Ranger Lisa. One of those things was the specialty of Phenology. Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these events are influenced by seasonal and annual variations in climate. They are especially interested in this study because of the implications of Climate Change at Acadia. For example: the extreme dry weather this year caused the leaves to drop a few weeks early. This act impacted the birds looking for nesting places before they flew south. Everything is connected. John Muir once said, " “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” 

We learned about the "warbler"- these small colorful birds (and the favorite of Ranger Lisa) love Acadia because of the diverse forests and wetlands. They especially love the many insects they can find. If you listen closely during our virtual field trip, you may hear a few pips and cheeps. We also talked about the white-tailed deer who escape their predators by hiding, running quickly, and moving quietly. Not too quickly though, as we saw several on our drive today. We heard about the tide pools where you can catch a rock, spider, or green crab. You can also find periwinkles, mussels, and sea slugs. We had a unique opportunity to see the peregrine falcon. That was pretty lucky as they can dive as fast as 200 miles per hour as they kill their prey and have a midday snack.

All in all- we learned that many people loved this area so much that they donated the land and fought hard for its protection. They were determined that everyone should see this beautiful place so they worked until it became Acadia National Park in 1929. We hope that you all have an opportunity to visit here in the near future. There are many exciting things awaiting you!