The Kennebec Estuary Land Trust and the Midcoast Conservancy invite the public to discover the fascinating lives of the most widespread heron in North America, the great blue heron. Join Danielle D’Auria at the Bath Freight Shed on Tuesday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m. to learn about her work with great blue herons. In 2009, she started the Heron Observation Network of Maine, which is a group of over 100 volunteers who help monitor wading bird colonies across the state to better understand distribution and abundance. This free event is great for naturalists 10 years old and up interested in the lives of these majestic, long-legged birds.

D’Auria is a wildlife biologist working in the Research and Assessment Section of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Bangor. Her work focuses on statewide populations of colonial wading birds, secretive marsh birds, black terns, and loons, as well as land management issues affecting wetland habitats. Over the past two years, she has tagged great blue herons with GPS transmitters to better understand their movements and limiting factors, all the while involving students of all ages in the field work and online tracking elements of the project. She hopes to get students across the state following Maine's Great Blue Herons online to learn about the birds' habits and the wetlands they depend on.

The Bath Freight Shed is located at 27 Commercial Street in Bath. Parking is available along the street or in the lot to the south of the building. Preregistration for the lecture is not required, but it is appreciated for help with program planning. For more information or to sign-up, visit www.kennebecestuary.org/upcoming-events/2019-great-blue-heron-lecture or call (207) 442-8400.

This talk is the second in the “Maine Creatures Great & Small: Four Organisms Important to Our State’s Aquatic Habitats” series co-hosted by KELT and the Midcoast Conservancy this summer. Make sure to join us on August 20 for the next talk focusing on phytoplankton and red tide. For more information, visit www.kennebecestuary.org/upcoming-events/2019-phytoplankton-lecture or call (207) 442-8400.