The ancient trail across Mount Desert Island – unmarked and unmaintained, so travel is at your own risk – has been trodden by footsteps for hundreds of years.

Inspired in part by Henry David Thoreau’s “The Maine Woods,” the author and two pals explore a remote and frozen wilderness.

One of them was a Hammond’s flycatcher spotted on Monhegan Island on Oct. 12 – a first for the state.

From wild turkey and waterfowl to deer and moose, hunters fared well despite less-than-favorable weather conditions.

Other highlights include Venus moving into Scorpius, two comets, and the annual Quadrantid meteor shower.

Your wildlife questions are answered by Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox.

More than 14 million hunters contribute $45 billion to the U.S. economy annually, including a growing proportion of youth and females.

Inspired in part by Henry David Thoreau’s ‘The Maine Woods,’ the author and two pals explore a remote and frozen wilderness.

From deer hunting and turkey hunting to big-game pursuit of lions, tigers and bears, these classic books will keep you enthralled.

So far, this winter seems to be a poor one for northern finches in Maine, but that could change as seed crops to the north are depleted.