The Steller’s sea-agle continues to create excitement. Reports that it has been flying up and down Townsend Gut brought about a dozen people to the Southport Bridge on Sunday morning in spite of the icy rain. Binoculars and a camera on a tripod were being used to bring any sighting into focus and record it. As we were driving to church and as we came home, folks were still there, enduring the weather in hope of seeing and documenting an experience of this special bird. Similarly on Monday morning about three stalwart people still had their equipment out ready to photograph the bird, but said they had not yet had a sighting.

How lucky our Southport school children are. How often do you see pictures of kindergarten children holding violins and learning to make music with them? Or other children making Matisse cutouts as part of art class? How often do you see second graders and third graders outside studying habitats, specifically micro-habitats, around the school grounds, learning what these places might offer for Maine’s wildlife? Did you even know in elementary school, what a tessellation is, let alone get together with all your school mates to make one. (A tessellation is a pattern of shapes that fit together perfectly, without any gaps.) These are some of the experiences our children have had this past week. Well done, everyone!

Southport Town Hall is open again with both Donna Climo and Ashlea Tibbetts in charge. Several meetings are scheduled, one for the committee discussing improvements in the school grounds, meeting on Thursday, Jan. 13 at 4 p.m., and one for the town budget committee on Monday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. If you plan to attend, please wear a mask and please do not attend if you have been exposed to Covid and have not had a negative Covid test.

Bruce Wood, a Southport homeowner, is coming to look for the Steller’s sea-eagle, as are many bird watchers from near and far. ’Tis a surprise to me that one bird creates so much interest, particularly in weather that is not conducive to outdoor adventures, but this bird is so far from home, Siberia, and so rare a sighting, with its huge wing span and black and white body, that to add him to your bird list is a real victory. Good luck, everyone.