Maine wildlife


The field at Turtle Hill is beautiful. Late season flowers cater to the late season pollinators. Bees of all sorts, and many other flying things, go from bloom to bloom. Plants wave in the wind. Insects add to all of the motion and commotion. It’s a peaceful scene, and yet […]

A Minute in Maine – Autumn Pollinators



Here in southern Maine, we have both invasive and native species of thistles. Pollinators love all of them, but not farmers. They render pastures and hay fields useless. Goats are one of the few animals to eat thistles, and even for them it’s a plant of last resort.   Thank […]

Thistle



Here at Turtle Hill, this year’s resident porcupine is a female that I call Hattie. She has a distinctive band of white across her head. Looks like a hat. You can see her full markings in this photo of her climbing Oak Tree # 1 – a favored place to […]

Name the Porcupette


There’s not much that truly scares Tonka on the trail. He’s a confident, curious horse who likes to go places. We go out on our own, and even without the companionship of another horse, Tonka is levelheaded. Once in awhile he’ll spook at a sound or unexpected movement in the […]

Trail Tadpoles


I named the eleven acres that Steve and I own in southern Maine, Turtle Hill because it’s prime real estate for these animals. The field has sandy, pebbly soil, with bare areas, but also a wide variety of plants, from native blueberries to grasses and wintergreen. It has sunny slopes […]

Prime Porcupine Real Estate



For the first two years here at Turtle Hill we had a resident porcupine named Po. Last year she spent a lot of time in the oak trees in the field. Just look at that adorable wide smushy nose!   Last summer she brought her porcupette into the oaks. We […]

Clover Sports A Mohawk


We have two trail cams set up at Turtle Hill. One of them is in the Beaver Sculpture Park. This time of year the marsh is frozen over and the beavers stay in their lodge. But we were curious about who else might be enjoying their artistic efforts. Other than […]

Artists at Turtle Hill


New works keep getting added to the sculpture garden at Turtle Hill.   Here’s a site tour:   The artists are active at night. Steve set up a cam so that we could watch them carve.   Each tree sculpture is unique and possesses its own beauty, but they are […]

Beaver Sculptors