by Elizabeth Byrd Wood
“Blueberry muffins and juice will be ready when you return,” my aunt used to call out as my sister and I, along with our children, would make our way over the damp paths to the blueberry fields behind her house, carrying tin pails and blueberry rakes. Berry picking was a favorite activity of our summers in Maine, from the time when our children were toddlers to when they were youngsters, then teens. The morning sun would warm us as we crouched in the fields, picking the tiny wild berries. Breezes mercifully kept the bugs away, and after the first plink, plink, plink of berries landing in the pails, the only sounds we heard were the chirps of the goldfinches and chickadees flitting among the birches.
These blueberry fields and the surroundings woods and wetlands now make up the Davidson Nature Preserve, a 97-acre preserve in North Vassalboro. In 2005 my aunt, Elizabeth Davidson, who had retired and moved to Maine thirteen years earlier, donated the land to the Kennebec Land Trust. Today the property welcomes visitors of all ages and interests who come to pick berries, hike down to the fen to watch the herons, or seek out the many varieties of birds found in the woods and open fields.
My aunt’s love of the natural world, especially the birds, and her attachment to Maine prompted her gift of land to KLT. During her time in Maine (she now lives in a retirement home near Boston), Elizabeth was a keen observer of what was occurring in the preserve over the seasons. She recalls a magical expedition organized by KLT Advisory Board member Ron Joseph to watch the aerial displays of the woodcocks, and hearing their insistent peenting calls during courtship rituals in the early spring. She remembers seeing golden-crowned kinglets in the hemlocks on the path to the fen and scarlet tanagers on the now-named Tanager Trail. My aunt is a musician, and the flute-like call of the shy evening thrush echoing through the deep woods was a particular delight to her. She is pleased that the Davidson Nature Preserve not only provides a sanctuary for birds, but also serves as a critical habitat for bees and other insects that pollinate the blueberries.
Last summer my aunt and I visited the preserve late in the afternoon. Bright coral-colored Canada lilies and Queen Anne’s lace dotted the fields, and a few blueberries still remained. My aunt noted—with approval—the dedicated work of the KLT summer interns to remove invasive plants and keep the trails cleared. We checked the visitor log, and she was delighted to see that her former neighbors continue to make use of the property along with newcomers from other states.