Upland-bird hunting for central and mid-coast Maine woodcock and grouse once appealed to me in a huge way, and one allure began with lots and lots of action. It was unbelievable at times.

In childhood, my whole family hunted deer, grouse, squirrel and hare. My father concentrated on deer and dabbled with grouse and hare, and my mother chased deer and squirrel, the latter since we had oak stands by home to attract these gray rodents. Naturally, those critters interested me.

Most hunters own a .22 rimfire rifle — and for good reason. For starters, novice shooters can easily master the mild recoil, and in fact, this rifle has virtually no kick. Period.

Often enough each October, Maine’s upland-bird hunting offers woodland wanderers a magical experience that may include agreeable temperatures, snapping dry air and cerulean skies splotched with fleecy white clouds. Nature’s touches prove really enticing up north, where lighter development means more open land for hunting grouse and woodcock.

The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) hosts a Coyote Hunting and Trapping Workshop on Sept. 29 from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at SAM’s headquarters on 205 Church Hill Road off Route 3 in Augusta. For info, please call (207)-623-4589 or check www.sportsmansallianceofMaine­.org.

Recently, Tom Seymour of Waldo spotted a 24-inch black snake on bare gravel by his home and assumed it was a black racer, rare in Maine, so rare that state official’s have placed it on the Endangered Species List.

Back in the heart of summer, myriad bicyclists caught my eye in the Belgrade Lakes region week after week, and all the pedalers often prompted me to whisper in genuine awe, “Wow.”

I’ve been looking at a lot of shorebirds recently, now that migration has commenced. Have you ever seen a shorebird bob its head up and down rapidly? That behavior is the way that a bird with monocular vision can measure distance.

Although on many trips Down East we had noticed the signs for the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge on Petit Manan Point a few miles past Steuben on coastal Route 1 between Sullivan and Milbridge, it was only recently on the way back from a few days’ camping on Campobello that we journeyed down Pigeon Hill Road on Dyer Neck to the refuge for a closer look.