Join Schoodic Institute and the Wendell Gilley Museum for late-fall and early-winter birding on western Mount Desert Island. A variety of habitats near Wendell Gilley Museum are great for resident birds and early winter waterfowl alike. Purple sandpipers and razorbills are real possibilities too. These excursions will start at Wendell Gilley Museum at 8:30am with a brief orientation and a hot beverage, then we’ll venture afield. Normally two to three hours in duration, the excursions will improve your birding skills and introduce you to trends in bird populations and relevant topics in bird conservation. Space is limited and registration is required. $10 per person, per excursion. Birders of all experience levels are welcome. Bring binoculars and dress for the prevailing weather. Walking, if any, will always be gentle and on easy terrain such as asphalt, gravel, and dirt paths.

Note: Excursions may be cancelled due to difficult/unsafe weather conditions. You will be notified by 6pm the previous day if this happens.

Leader: Seth Benz, Schoodic Institute Bird Ecology Director.

Photo of Purple Sandpiper by Ellen & Tony/thisisforthebirds.

Maine artist Diana Roper McDowell, our People-Nature-Art presenter for November, translates natural landscapes into geometric shapes while retaining the warm and organic feel the scenes she paints.

“I explore both abstractionism and realism in art, and I work to combine the two art forms,” she says. “The outline of my subject matter leans towards realism, but the shapes of color inside the subject, are abstract. I use color and line to meld the two art forms together.” Her work is shown widely throughout the region at public venues and art galleries.

Diana will be with us Tuesday, Nov. 9 beginning at 7pm. Attendance is free but registration is required. Sign up HERE. You will receive a Zoom link after you register. People-Nature-Art is the Gilley’s signature monthly year-round series that brings artist, writers, carvers and creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to share how nature impacts their art and how that art affects their approach to the natural world. This month’s event will be held online.

Use wood burning and paint in this two-part online class to make an ornament that looks like an American goldfinch in its winter plumage. Students receive a kit including all the materials needed to complete their ornament including a basswood blank. We can lend wood burners with advance notice. This is a two-part class online via Zoom that begins on Nov. 10 from 1 to 3 pm and continues on Nov. 17 from 1-3pm. Limited to 10 students. Fee $20.

The Gilley is open five days a week, Tuesdays - Saturdays, through Oct. 30 from 10am to 4pm except for Fridays, when we're open 10am to 1pm.

Beginning in November, the museum is open Thursdays from 10am-4pm, Fridays from 10am-1pm, and Saturdays from 10am-4pm except for Thanksgiving when we're closed. We'll keep this schedule through Dec. 18 and then will be closed to the public for the rest of 2021, reopening with limited hours in January 2022.

Now is a great chance to see our current exhibit, "Light, Sky, Land and Edges" and to do a little holiday shopping in our gift shop.

Reservations required, but walk-ins are welcome if room allows. We are still limiting the number of people who can be inside the museum at any one time, and we are requiring masks indoors as part of our continuing pandemic safety precautions.

Register for your visit online HERE.