David Cole moved to Gorham in 1994 to become the Town Manager. After retiring in 2017, David has refocused his energy on the environment through bird watching, gardening with a speciality in native plants, climbing all the 4,000 foot mountains in New England, and is on the Board of the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust.

David has been bird watching since high school. With retirement and the pandemic, he has become more invested in the process and reports his sightings to the Cornell University Ornithology laboratory which asks “citizen scientists” to keep a list of what birds are seen each day. People from all over the world participate in this program. David describes bird watching as a worthwhile, fun experience and is much better at bird identification than when he started. The pandemic has provided him with lots of free time to recognize different bird behaviors, their locations, seasonality, and what plants and seeds they eat. During the winter months, he sees 14-18 different species on his walks, far more than can be seen in the summer when many are hidden in the leaves. David is out with his binoculars just about every morning, and we wave to him from inside our house as he walks by on Queen Street.

In the warmer weather, David turns to gardening with a specialty in native plants, which are much more productive for local wildlife, especially birds. Native plants are also better for migrating birds, as they host more caterpillars. Even seed-eating birds enjoy baby caterpillars instead of seeds. For human consumption, he grows raspberries, blueberries, mulberries and apples.

Though David and his wife, Kathy, finished the 4,000 foot mountains about five years ago, they continue to do a lot of climbing. Last fall, David and Kathy climbed the North and South Face Circle trail, a 10 mile hike in New Hampshire. They also climbed the Tuckerman Ravine Trail up Mt. Washington. Their daughter, Erin, joined their hikes this year.

When he is not outside, David is on the Board of Directors of the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust (PRLT) which works with interested landowners who want to preserve property. Last October, PRLT opened their 15th property, the Pride Preserve in Westbrook. Southern Maine is developing quite rapidly and PRLT is focusing on developing family friendly trails that provide healthy and safe outings for families.