Woody Gillies: Wintering Birds of Downeast Maine

Pembroke resident Woody Gillies, who’ll lead off Eastport Arts Center’s Sunday series at 3 pm, January 12, notes that an amazing variety of birds can be found during the cold winter months in Downeast Maine. “Some of these birds are residents the entire year while other birds are seen only in the winter months, notes Gillies. “Rare birds which show up in the winter may delight and surprise you!”

Gillies will share many of his photos and tales of these hardy birds seen at bird feeders, in the fields and forests as well as on the water, at his presentation. The event (and all January Sunday series programs) will be held at the Eastport Port Authority, 141 Water Street, Eastport, while floor refinishing is underway at the Arts Center.

Gillies has had an interest in birds since his mother introduced him to backyard birding at an early age. When he was in junior high, he tagged along with his older brother who was taking a field ornithology course in college. He is a retired Professor Emeritus from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, where he taught chemistry and carried out research in microwave spectroscopy. He was a member of the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club in upstate New York as well as Mass Audubon and is a member of Maine Audubon. In addition to many areas of the US, Woody has birded in Canada, Central America, Australia, Europe, UK and recently Peru. He has been interested in nature photography most of his adult life and photographs birds wherever his travels take him.

EAC's Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center series, will run at 3 pm each Sunday, January 12 to April 27 (no program on April 20, Easter). An Eastport winter tradition, the series features interactive and casual presentations with a mix of popular returning presenters and new faces. January programs will be held at Eastport Port Authority building while floors are refinished at EAC; programs will be offered downstairs at the Eastport Arts Center beginning with February 2.

The lineup is as follows: January 12: Woody Gillies on Wintering Birds of Downeast Maine; January 19: Barbara Cantalupo introducing Jewish-American Author, Emma Wolf (1865-1932); January 26: Brian Beal on Climate Change from a Downeast Clam’s Perspective; February 2: Ellis Zipperer-Sánchez and Robert Sánchez playing and talking Jazz; February 9: Richard Klyver Talking About His Work; February 16: Danny Holt with ‘Music & Conversation: Behind the scenes of a concert program’; February 23: Stage East presenting ‘The Identity Project’; March 2: Brian Altvater with the History of the Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Co.; March 9: Anna Maria Baeza, Joachim Woitun and Gregory Biss with a clarinet, cello and piano concert; March 16: Paul Cox with Chris Bartlett on Scalloping in Cobscook Bay; March 23: a dramatized reading by the Lubec/Campobello Community Theatre; March 30: Gregory Biss with the annual Harpsichord Hour; April 6: Mark DeVoto with a Music Talk; and April 27: Jane Crosen on her new edition of Colby’s 1881 Atlas of Washington County.

Sunday series programs are offered by donation, with no one turned away for lack of funds. Proceeds will be shared between the presenter at the EAC, committed to sustaining programs like these. A series snow date of April 13 has been reserved for any program requiring rescheduling.