READFIELD — The Union Meeting House in Readfield is presenting a talk by internationally-renowned author, illustrator and naturalist Dr. Bernd Heinrich at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30.
The talk will focus on his current study of the American chestnut tree and how the blue jay is helping to spread seeds across the western Maine landscape.
The American chestnut, nearly wiped out by a fungal blight, is now recovering in some northern areas, including Heinrich’s expansive woodland terrain where blue jays are common. When he saw young chestnut shoots popping up in adjacent fields, his sense of naturalist sleuthing went into high gear. He will give a status report on his investigations to date.
Other topics may emerge during the evening, taken from his 60-plus years of natural history investigations.
Admission to the discussion will be $12 for adults, $6 children 10 and under. Event posters, and a limited number of the author’s books, will be available for sale. Heinrich will be available to sign books after the talk.
Heinrich has generously agreed that all proceeds from the event will be donated to restoration of the Union Meeting House, a building on the National Historic Register. The building contains the only intact surviving examples of trompe l’oeil (“fool the eye”) artwork by Charles Schumacher from the 1860s.
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