LEWISTON — The Stanton Bird Club of Lewiston and Auburn will once again resume monthly meetings at the USM Lewiston-Auburn College, 55 Westminster St., after taking its annual summer break. The meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and are held in Room 285. They are free and open to everyone.

The Monday, Nov. 6, meeting topic will be “Grassroots Seed Propagation of Native Plants” by Wild Seed Project.

The speaker, Heather McCargo, is executive director of Wild Seed Project. She has 30 years of experience in landscape design and plant propagation for conservation. She is widely published in horticultural magazines and has lectured across the nation. She has previously served as head plant propagator with the New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods in Massachusetts.

Wild Seed Project is a three-year-old nonprofit organization, working out of Blue Hill and Portland, that ethically collects native seeds and educates the public on how to reintroduce the plants.

They work together with gardeners, schools, land trusts, scientists and interested citizens on a variety of community projects. These include planting migration and pollinator corridors and private and public native gardens, learning to identify native plants, and training in seed collection and propagation.

Wild Seed Project also maintains a helpful interactive website, which provides pictures and information on native plants, as well as an online store selling over 60 types of seeds and gardening books.

The Wild Seed Project works to increase the use of native plants in the Maine landscape. Development results in the diminishing of wild landscapes. Every type of ecosystem in Maine has native plants that are suited to it. The loss of plants in each ecosystem has a ripple effect, resulting in a loss of the animals, insects, birds and other fauna that were related to those specific plants. It is often difficult to obtain native seeds and to find information.

It is nearing that time of year when ducks and other waterfowl migrate through the area. Sabattus Pond is an excellent place to see a variety of ducks, as is Lake Auburn and the Androscoggin River. Some of the waterfowl that are seen more often this time of year are the Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser and the Ruddy Duck.

The Stanton Bird Club manages the Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary as well as the Woodbury Nature Sanctuary in Monmouth and Litchfield.

FMI: www.StantonBirdClub.org, tinyurl.com/zxakq6n.

Fringed Gentian, a fall flower native to the Northeast, is found in special places and is not particularly common. The Stanton Bird Club program for Nov. 6, will discuss seed propagation by native plants. (Dan Marquis photo)

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