FARMINGTON — Western Maine Audubon Society will hold its monthly program, “The Butterflies and Skippers of Maine,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, at UMF, Thomas Auditorium.

Herb Wilson, professor of biology at Colby, is known as one of the state’s premier ornithologists, but he also studies butterflies. He is the leader of the Maine Butterfly Study, an effort to create an accurate atlas of the state’s butterflies.

During his talk Wilson will help with butterfly identification and also discuss the lives of these animals. Butterflies are enchanting and beautiful; they also tell a great deal about the health of the ecosystem around them. Expect to see lots of images of spectacular butterflies. The program and free and open to the public.

A warbler walk field trip will take place Saturday, May 12, on the West Farmington Whistle Stop Trail. With good vantage points and varied habitat, this is usually a very productive walk. Rain or shine, the group will meet at the Whistle Stop parking lot at 7 a.m. The annual walk typically lasts until 10 or 11 a.m. For more information call Steve Bien at 897 5215.

A field trip, the Perham Stream Bird Walk, will take place Saturday, May 26.  The easy walk through a variety of rich habitats for birds in the Perham stream interval will be a sneak preview of a trail under development by the Sandy River Land Trust. The guide will be Pete McKinley, a professional ornithologist. McKinley will help participants find late migrants passing through and the migratory and resident breeding species of the Orbeton/Perham stream valleys. He will point out bird identification by sight and sound and he will discuss their foraging and breeding behaviors. If time and energy permit, the walk may continue to the Orbeton stream valley and its beautiful cascades for its mixed-wood habitat and scenery.

Participants should meet at 658 E. Madrid Road at the red house where Perham stream crosses the East Madrid Road, at 6:30 a.m., rain or shine. For more information contact Hope Alexander at 639 5550 or [email protected], or Steve Bien at 897 5215 or [email protected].