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.

Put in at the small boat launch site located on Route 35 about halfway down the eastern shoreline of Bear Pond in Waterford. Look across the road and you will see a jumble of gigantic boulders strewn about under the towering vertical cliffs of Bear Mountain. These majestic cliffs will tower over you throughout your 3-mile circuit of the pond.

In late summer and autumn, skilled fly rodders in Maine often choose two vastly different categories of flies for trout: 1. Large, dark nymphs and baitfish imitations or 2. micro mayflies and caddises to imitate specific bugs.

Apple-picking time in Maine normally starts around Sept. 9, but the season has begun already this year. When apples ripen, Jolie, my intrepid companion, and I spend part of an afternoon, picking Cortland, McIntosh and sometimes Golden Delicious.

Some 45 miles up scenic Route 27 from Kingfield lies a magical unit of the Maine Public Reserved Lands comprised of five interconnected ponds ideal for kayaking and fishing.

I have written several times in this column about the value and utility of eBird (www.ebird.org). This online resource is a powerful way to share bird sightings with the world at large. eBird can be valuable if you are planning a trip to an unfamiliar location.

Murphy never met a boat he didn’t like. I’m not a pessimist, just a realist. Spend enough time around boats, and something is bound to go awry.