The Outdoor Insider
Maine Outdoor School's Quarterly E-Newsletter
Most of the MOS staff (except Pogy) pictured at MOS's 8th birthday party celebration in June.
The Outdoor Insider Archive
Issue #31
JULY 2024
"Every time I go on an OWL hike, I become more deeply connected to nature and return home more knowledgeable and aware of the birds, trees, wildlife, and flowers surrounding my home....you expand my world a little more each time I walk along with you."
- OWL Outing Group participant, June 2024
Tracks:
How did MOS leave its mark this quarter?
OWL Fundraising event at Fogtown Brewing Company
Hancock Grammar School 2nd Grade Students at Carter's Beach
Ella Lewis teachers learning teambuilding activities
OWLette Campers going to Flint Island
Guided 4 OWL-Outdoor Women Lead outings: the ecology and geology of the Bold Coast in Cutler, flowers at Pike Lands in Lubec, birds and flowers at Taft Point in Gouldsboro, and nature journaling on Great Wass Island.
Led 2 OWL Skill-Building Workshops on Orienteering.
Led 2 field trips for MSAD 37 gifted and talented students.
Finished the 2023-24 school year having taught regular school programming at 18 schools.
Taught programs for local homeschoolers on the solar eclipse, vernal pools, the night sky, and bird songs.
Had another fun year of OWLette Camp with Women for Healthy Rural Living (WHRL).
Raised funds to support OWL programs with WHRL at Fogtown Brewing Company’s annual event.
Started summer school at 8 schools.
Began our Riverside Family Scientists series with Frenchman Bay Conservancy and Ellsworth Public Library.
Check out the “MOS in the News” page to see where we’ve shown up in the press!
Community Commendations:
Volunteer Carrie, black shirt, Forest Camp 2024 (top left), Volunteer Andy, red shirt, Forest Camp 2024 (top right), Volunteer Zoie Zanoni, blue shirt and pants, OWLette Camp 2024 (bottom)
This quarter’s community commendation goes to some of the people who make our free summer camp opportunities possible!
Zoie Zanoni, Carrie Cobb, and Andy Steinharter each gave 4 days of their valuable time to volunteer at one of our summer camps so far this summer: Zoie at OWLette camp with Women for Healthy Rural Living and Carrie and Andy at Forest Camp with Downeast Coastal Conservancy. Having these extra adults on hand not only helps camps run smoothly but also helps us give campers more individualized attention. We couldn’t do it without you and we’re so grateful!
Biomimicry:
Once July comes, moments of shoreside watching and thinking become much more possible—until a massive section of calm surface erupts in a torrential rush, and moments later, a harbor seal rising for a breath of air. This surface disruption is caused by none other than a school of pogies.
Pogies are members of the herring family and have a distinctive dark spot near their gills. Because pogies are such efficient filter-feeders, they are a critical part of the food chain converting energy from tiny plankton into their own big fish bodies that in turn are perfect food for stripers, bluefish, seals, a variety of seabirds, and even as bait for human fishermen. With adult pogies able to filter seven gallons of water a minute, we can be grateful they join the ranks of a variety of filter-feeding bivalves that help keep our coastal waters clean.
Nature at once teaches you to follow the school, as with the shimmering pogies on a hot summer day, and to fight every riffle, rip, and waterfall, like a solitary Atlantic salmon taking its autumnal pilgrimage to its ancestral spawning grounds. In both cases, they leave the world a little more clean or nourished after passing through. Which lesson do you follow?
This edition of Biomimicry is an adaptation of an episode of The Nature of Phenology, a radio show that MOS Co-Founders Hazel and Joe produced weekly for WERU-FM from 2018-2024. You can read or listen to entire past episodes here.
Resilience Tip:
Walking as little as two hours a week can reduce the risk of disease and help you live a longer life.
To learn more, read this article.
What's Upstream:
Register for our Riverside Family Scientist Series with Frenchman Bay Conservancy and Ellsworth Public Library. This series runs weekly until August 13th and we have lots of upcoming topics!
Come to an OWL Outing for women ages 16+: Canoeing on the Narraguagus River on September 15th.
Discover Plants with us at Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor August 3rd.
Schedule your own MOS experience. We offer private guided hikes, canoeing, and fishing.
Talk to us about programming at your school this fall!