Maine Natural History Observatory Through the Years
2003
Inspired by Manomet (formerly Manomet Bird Observatory) and The Rhode Island Natural History Survey, Glen Mittelhauser formed Maine Natural History Observatory (MNHO) as a non-profit dedicated to collecting, interpreting, and maintaining datasets crucial for understanding changes in Maine’s plant and wildlife populations.
Photo: Glen Mittelhauser circa 2002
2004
The first plant inventories of Maine's coastal islands were completed. A few more inventories have been done almost every year since with over 75 islands completed to date.
Photo: Glen Mittelhauser conducting a botanical survey on Shipstern Island in 2015
Collaborators: Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Davis Conservation Foundation, Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative
Learn More: Interactive Island Plants Map
2005
Work began cataloging and curating the William Procter Collection which contains thousands of insects and marine invertebrates collected from the Mount Desert Island area in the first half of the 20th century. The collection is invaluable for assessing how the status and distribution of these species have changed over the past 100 years.
Collaborators: Acadia National Park
Learn More: Curating Collections
2007
Between 2002 and 2007, MNHO and the Maine Dept of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife teamed up to research Maine’s never-before-studied Purple Sandpiper population. The study found an almost 50% decline in the Purple Sandpiper population.
Photo: Glen Mittelhauser and Lindsay Tudor using an antenna to track nano-tagged Purple Sandpipers
Collaborators: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Coastal Islands NWR
2008
Glen Mittelhauser and Bryan Windmiller conducted an inventory of select aquatic beetles on Mount Desert Island to assess changes in status and distribution based on historic data collected by William Proctor in the first half of the 20th century.
Photo: Glen Mittelhauser and Bryan Windmiller surveying aquatic insects on Mount Desert Island
Collaborators: Acadia National Park
2010
Building on the data collected by Dr. Craig Green of College of the Atlantic, The Plants of Acadia National Park was published - the first field guide of its kind for the area.
Photo: Authors and major contributors to The Plants of Acadia National Park. (Left to right) Marilee Lovit, Linda Gregory, Glen Mittelhauser, Jill Weber, Donna Kausen, and Sally Rooney
Collaborators: The Garden Club of Mount Desert, Friends of Acadia
Learn More: The Plants of Acadia National Park
2011
MNHO developed a database to house Maine breeding seabird data from the last 50 years and published an atlas to make those data available to the public.
Collaborators: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, USFWS Gulf of Maine Coastal Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Friends of Maine Seabird Islands,
Learn More: Maine Atlas of Breeding Seabird and Coastal Wading Bird Colonies 1960-2011
2013
Sedges of Maine: A Field Guide to Cyperaceae was published.
Collaborators: Stantec Consulting Services, The Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Davis Conservation Foundation
Learn More: Sedges of Maine: A Field Guide to Cyperaceae
2015
The Petit Manan Point Owl Monitoring Station was opened to record data on the fall migration of Northern Saw-whet Owls and Long-eared Owls in Downeast Maine.
Photo: Northern Saw-whet Owl by Logan Parker
Collaborators: David Brinker of Project Owlnet, The Baird Foundation, Downeast Audubon, Keefer Irwin, and all the amazing volunteers that keep the station running
Learn More: Petit Manan Owl Monitoring Station
2016
After 5 years of botanical surveys conducted with the help of small groups of volunteers, The Plants of Baxter State Park was published.
Collaborators: Baxter State Park, Friends of Baxter State Park
Learn More: The Plants of Baxter State Park
2017
Initial planning for the Maine Bird Atlas began. After 5 years of breeding and wintering bird surveys and the help of thousands of volunteers, the data collection phase of the Maine Bird Atlas was completed in March 2023 – publication of the Atlas is slated for 2026!
Photo: Balckburnian Warbler by Logan Parker
Collaborators: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Audubon, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Biodiversity Research Institute
Learn More: Maine Bird Atlas webpage
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MNHO ecologist Logan Parker initiated the Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project, a grassroots, citizen-science-driven effort to monitor Maine's two declining nightjar species: Eastern Whip-poor-will and Common Nighthawk. Every year volunteers and MNHO staff conduct surveys on over 60 pre-defined survey routes across the state.
Learn More: Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project
2019
Grasses and Rushes of Maine was published.
Collaborators: Stantec Consulting Services, The Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Essex County Community Foundation, Maine Natural Areas Program
Learn More: Grasses and Rushes of Maine
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In 2019 work began on Aquatic Plants of New England - the next photographic field guide in the series that brought you The Plants of Acadia National Park. The authors (Don Cameron, Matt Arsenault, Melissa Cullina, and Glen Mittelhauser) are hard at work finishing this guide. It is expected to be available for purchase in 2024.
Photo: White Pond Lily (Nymphaea odorata) by Logan Parker
Collaborators: Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Maine Natural Areas Program, Stantec Consulting Services, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
Learn More: Aquatic Plants of New England
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Despite some cavity-nesting species being listed as of conservation concern in Maine, there has not been a comprehensive effort to monitor cavity-nesting breeding birds in Maine. To address this gap in knowledge, (MNHO) initiated a nest box monitoring effort throughout Maine in 2019. This project enlists the help of volunteers to build, install, and monitor nest boxes for Cliff Swallow, Tree Swallow, American Kestrel, Eastern Bluebird, and Northern Saw-whet Owl.
Collaborators: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Lapointe Lumber Company, Mara Silver of Swallow Conservation, and all the amazing volunteers who have helped build, install, and monitor nest boxes
Learn More: Nest Box Monitoring
2020
Work began on the Seaweeds of Maine field guide. This guide will feature hundreds of full-color photos and identification keys that emphasize characteristics that are simple to distinguish making it a useful tool for both experienced phycologists and casual learners.
Collaborators: Jordan Chalfant, Amanda Savoie, Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative, Davis Conservation Foundation, and all of our generous donors!
Learn More: Seaweeds of Maine, Facebook, Instagram
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In the spring of 2020, MNHO launched its field journal, The Maine Natural History Observer. The Observer publishes insights, studies, and observations about the natural world, information on the latest research, projects to participate in, tips on how to identify confusing Maine species, a look at natural history observations in the state 75-100 years ago, and interesting facts about Maine's natural history.
Photo: 2023, Issue 1 of The Observer
Learn More: The Observer field journal
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The first free digital guide was published in July 2020. These mini infographic guides to Maine species show the key characteristics to look for when trying to tell oft' confused species apart.
Photo: Downy Woodpecker (left) & Hairy Woodpecker (right) by Frank Mantlik. Design by Celeste Mittelhauser.
Collaborators: Thank you to the many authors who have shared their decades of expertise and to the many folks who have contributed photos and audio recordings.
Learn More: Free Digital Guides
2021
Wildflowers of Maine Islands: The Downeast and Acadia Coasts was published.
Collaborators: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge, Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative, Essex County Community Foundation
Learn More: Wildflowers of Maine Islands
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In 2021, MNHO started collaborating with the Maine State Museum to help catalog its extensive insect collection. The goal is to make sure the collection is maintained, cataloged, and accessible to researchers now and in the future.
Collaborators: Maine State Museum
Learn More: Curating Collections
2022
The Maine Owl Survey was started to look at the distribution and habitat preferences of Maine's owl species. The Maine Owl Survey is a multi-year effort to record owl observations during the courtship and breeding season through playback surveys and monitored nest boxes.
Image: Detail of "Owls of Maine" by Emily Renaud
Collaborators: Dave Brinker of Project Owlnet, Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and all the amazing volunteers that conduct surveys and install and monitor nest boxes
Learn More: Maine Owl Survey, Support the project by buying a Maine Owl art print
