LEWISTON — The Stanton Bird Club of Lewiston and Auburn will hold two field trips in February, giving participants a chance to see Maine birds and animal tracks in the snow. 

Stanton Bird Club Leader’s Choice field trip, led by Dan Marquis, will head for a bird-watching outing Saturday, Feb. 4, at a location to be determined. Marquis will study online reports of bird sightings around the state to determine the best destination for the trip.

If the trip is to the coast, participants may have the treat of seeing attractions such as common eider, buffleheads, black guillemots, as well as a variety of gulls. A trip to a wooded area may include sightings of evening grosbeaks, pine grosbeaks and even a snowy owl, which has been seen in the Brunswick area recently. It is not uncommon to see more than 30 different species on the club’s field trips.

The group will meet at 8 a.m. at the Promenade Mall, 855 Lisbon St. Carpooling will be arranged. The trip will return to Lewiston about noon. Questions about the trip may be addressed by contacting 207-513-8213. 

Trip leader Steve Reed will lead the Winter Tracking at Woodbury field trip Saturday, Feb. 18, to hunt for tracks left by resident animals. This is a good opportunity for a winter hike in a beautiful sanctuary.

Those participating in this field trip should dress warmly and bring snowshoes or winter boots. The outing is scheduled from 8 to 11 a.m. and will meet at the Promenade Mall, 855 Lisbon St. Questions about this trip can be addressed by contacting 207-319-6630. 

The field trips are free and anyone is welcome to attend. 

Michael Perry, speaker of the month and founder-director and photojournalist at Dreams Unlimited, will present “Summer on a River: Maine’s Allagash Wilderness Waterway,” at the club’s next meeting on Monday, Feb. 6. 

Perry specializes in multimedia programs about the outdoors and founded and managed the L.L.Bean Outdoor Discovery Program, which offers instruction in outdoor sports for L.L.Bean customers. An experienced and accomplished outdoorsman, Perry has climbed Mount McKinley (now Mount Denali) and paddled his sea kayak from Maine to New York City. His talk will offer an alternative approach to experiencing the run of the river for real. 

This slide show begins in the shadow of Katahdin and ends at Allagash Village, at the junction with the St. John River. Along the way, participants will see locomotives, a steamboat, log haulers and lumbering operation, all signs of a bygone era. 

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. in Room 285 at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College, 55 Westminster St. The event is free and open to all.

The Stanton Bird Club manages the Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary as well as the Woodbury Nature Sanctuary in Monmouth and Litchfield. It seeks to encourage both the enjoyment and protection of natural surroundings.

FMI: StantonBirdClub.org, facebook.com/Stanton-Bird-Club-124412894909/.