Volume I, Issue 6
Will you walke the woods soe wylde
Wandering, wandering, here and there…
These lines from the 16th century are said to have been favorites of King Henry VIII, who perhaps liked wandering his own wild woods, as Peaks Islanders might wish to do this September now that tourist season is mostly in our rearview mirror. Even though our island is relatively small, there are so many wonderful places to wander ‘here and there’, not only along the shore, but also in the less well-known woods of the interior.
In the last issue of the Peaks Island News, I mentioned that Charlie Moreno, a practicing Licensed Professional Forester for over 40 years in southern New Hampshire and Maine, had visited the woods of Peaks Island this spring—accompanied by seven members of the Peaks Island Land Preserve board—to offer insight into the nature of our woods. While here, he noted that many of the trees in the interior of Peaks Island have similar ages, most likely because of past fires on the island. He estimated that our oldest tree is probably no more than 150 years old.
The relatively young woods of Peaks sequester carbon and provide food for many species, and as our woods age, the older trees will still sequester carbon and also offer an even richer habitat for birds, insects, and other forms of life.
Mac Hunter, an emeritus professor of conservation biology at the University of Maine, wrote in a recent Maine Audubon Habitat issue: “…bigger older trees have deeper fissures in the bark and are more likely to have cavities and areas of sloughing bark; all are potential habitats for myriad tiny species…The single most conspicuous feature of a really old forest is the abundance of deadwood, both standing snags and logs moldering away on the forest floor. All that organic matter represents food for a staggering diversity of species from microbes and fungi on up the food chain.” Hopefully, the future will bring this good news for our woods.
In the areas we visited this past spring, Charlie Moreno spotted—among other species—Aspen (Quaking and Big-Toothed), Beech, Red Maple, Red Oak, White Pine, White Birch as well as Grey and Yellow Birch, Red Cedar, White Ash, Spruce, and Mountain Ash. Viburnum, Bayberry, Northern Arrowwood, and Blackberry inhabit the understory, along with other deciduous shrubs, and invasives like Multiflora rose, Bittersweet, Barberry, and Buckthorn (which many on the island are working hard to keep in check).
Visitors to Peaks—as well as residents—tend to be more familiar with the perimeter of the island with its open water vistas than with the interior, which offers a different kind of pleasure, and often a quieter experience. From woods to marshes, there are many surprises awaiting an explorer: tiny mushrooms, unfurling spring ferns, the gleam of a painted turtle’s back or the slap of a beaver’s tail, the sudden twang of a green frog, the smell of sweet fern and cedar. Under our feet are unseen networks of fungi, over our heads a pileated woodpecker chipping away at a tree.
Patty Wainright, a year-round resident, has been an appreciator of birds—both ocean and forest—for many years, and Sam Wainright, her husband, has been an ardent birder all his life, both in this country and in countries as distant as Nepal and Columbia. Today, when the three of us talked, Patty and Sam spoke with enthusiasm about the birds that can be found in the Peaks Island woods and marshes, both summer and winter—some common, some more rare. Because the island is a finite, small enough area, they noted, it is possible to keep track of the species that are here throughout the year. In the next issue of the Peaks Island News, Sam and Patty will write about the birds of Peaks, both sea birds and birds that enjoy marsh and woodland habitats.
Maine Audubon has identified particular Maine birds that belong to ‘priority species’ (needing special protection). As you wander the woods of Peaks, you may be lucky enough to spot, or hear, some of them: Great Crested Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager, Veery, Ovenbird, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Wood Thrush. If you have the “Merlin” app on your phone, you will be able to hear and identify the presence of birds, even if you cannot spot them in the treetops and undergrowth. This app has opened up a rich birding world for many of us who are relative newbies.
When I first came to Peaks to live, I remember setting forth for my first exploratory walk, crossing the ballfield and happening upon a long-time resident with her tousle-haired daughter. Pointing to the road leading away from the open field, I asked, “Where does that go?”
“Why don’t you find out?” was the answer.
Stumbling away, my first thought was, Huh. That was kind of rude. But I discovered where the road went and also realized that I’d just received one of the best pieces of outdoor advice ever. Why don’t you find out? I can get lost just about anywhere, but living on an island that’s less than four miles in circumference, it’s hard to get so lost that you never come out of the woods. Eventually you hit ocean, and then you’re found again!
You may have heard of something called ‘forest bathing,’ or shinrin-yoku that became part of Japan’s national health program in 1982. The idea is that spending quiet time in the woods can improve your mental health, lower blood pressure and heart rate, and increase your overall well-being. Find a spot where you can be quiet and undisturbed, turn off your phone, breathe deeply and just pay attention to what’s around you. It might be a leaf, the sound of wind, the rough bark of a tree, the smell of earth at your feet.
If you’re unsure where you might wish to wander in the woods, the following map pinpoints some of the larger wooded areas protected by the Peaks Island Land Preserve—Parker Wildlife Preserve, the Hundred Acre Wood, Daveis Sanctuary, and Skillings Woods. https://www.peaksislandlandpreserve.org/places-we-protect.
I hope you’ll enjoy your wanderings, and your simple time being quiet and paying attention. Every day is a chance to get to know these woods a little better and love them a little more.
A few lines from Tony Hoagland’s poem “Into the Mystery” is a fine place to start:
There is a gap you never noticed,
Dug out between the gravel and the rock, where something lives.
There is a bird that can only be heard by someone who has come to be alone.
Eleanor Morse
Member of the Board
Peaks Island Land Preserve
Acquiring, preserving, and stewarding open space for public use on Peaks Island.
