Summer 2005 Week 1

As we drove up I-95 into Maine, Sandy said, “Remember all that sunshine we had on our trip last year? Well, I think it may be payback time!” We were in the middle of the second of two back-to-back spring Nor’easters. It was raining hard and the wind was blowing 20-30 knots with gusts over 40. The weather has been so ugly that last Tuesday night the wind blew out one of the hallway windows in our condo building in Lowell. Glass everywhere, what a mess. The gusty wind was mostly on our nose and traffic was light so driving was not a problem. Carl had gotten a small GPS receiver for the computer and a copy of “Street Atlas 2005” so we were entertained by watching the GPS position on the computer screen track along the highway as we drove. It was really neat as the computer displayed the distance to the next turn and talked to us as the turn got close. Unfortunately the rain and wind noise made the little man inside our laptop very hard to hear. We arrived at Cobscook Bay State Park near Eastport, ME around 5 PM. We have the best site in the park with a 180 degree view of the bay and no other campers in sight. Tomorrow when the sun comes out it will be perfect!

We had reservations to take the 7 AM boat to Machias Seal Island to see the 3,000 Puffins today. However, the high winds resulted in cancellation of the trip. Instead, we hiked the nature trail in the campground. It was two pretty but soggy miles through the dense Maine woods. While hiking back to our campsite along the park road we spotted several types of warblers and a pair of Hermit Thrushes. Mid morning we drove to the Birding Festival Headquarters where we learned that the trip to Machias Seal Island had been rescheduled for noon. We rushed back to the coach for warmer clothes and cameras, threw some snacks in the backpacks in lieu of lunch then careened down the road to Cutler, arriving at 12:15. We need not have rushed. Captain Andy was “doing some maintenance” on the boat and we didn’t leave until almost 1:30. While we waited we chatted with the other six birders on the trip. On the way out of the harbor we saw Black Guillimott, a Bald Eagle with a chick in the nest and several Common Loon. It was still overcast but the ocean had settled down to two to three foot swells and little wind so it was an easy and pleasant ten mile trip offshore. The water surrounding the island were covered in birds. We quickly saw Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Common Murre, Common Eider and Arctic Terns. It was too rough to get ashore but that was OK since the birds had not yet established breeding territories so most of them were feeding in the waters around the island. After an hour watching the antics of these birds ( they are the Northern hemisphere equivalent to penguins) and a brief stop at North Island to check out the seals we made our way back to Cutler. We then headed for Machias for the festival welcome reception where we met more of the birders and some of the trip leaders.

We arose to overcast skies and by the time we were dressed and had breakfast it had started to rain, hard at times. We took our time getting ready then drove some back roads in search of a Black Backed Woodpecker. We didn’t see one but we did see Northern Waterthrush. We drove on to Calais where we found a delightful used book store. We then went to the Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge for an interesting presentation about Ospreys. Following the presentation and slide show, we drove down the road to a viewing platform where we could see two Osprey nests and a Bald Eagle nest. We even caught a glimpse of the eagle chick. On the other side of the platform, we were surprised to see an American Woodcock sitting up in the grass nearby. As we drove through the refuge we watched for the Black Bear that had been reported along the road. We didn’t see her but a young bull moose was running along through the woods and cut across the road right in front of our car. Our next presentation was “Birding by Ear, It’s not that Difficult”. This was a wonderful talk and slide show that showed techniques for grouping and remembering bird calls. Identifying bird calls is still very hard for us but this presentation gave us hope. After this presentation we were off again, driving 35 miles to Eastport for dinner and a lecture about the visits of J. J. Audubon to Eastport Maine in 1832 and 1833. The lecture was given in the same house where Audubon stayed; it is now a B&B. The information was very interesting. Unfortunately the presenter, a local historian, read the entire six pages to us in a monotone. Also, the “light supper” turned out to be one scoop of an apple and walnut salad with a few pieces of turkey. Oh well. After the presentation we drove home to get ready for our 6 AM bird walk tomorrow morning.

We are exhausted. What a long but wonderful day. We were up at 4 AM to get to our 6 AM birding walk in Eastport. We spent about four and a half hours hiking across Shackford Head with beautiful views of the water and trees full of warblers. One of the trip leaders was Roland Lavalle, the bird carved who created the cedar waxwing we have in the coach. After the hike we went to his shop and struggled to decide which bird to add to our collection. We decided upon a Red Bellied Wookpecker that we hung next to the mirror by the dinette. Then it was back to the campground for lunch and a quick trip to the dump station for a sewer dump and fresh water. While Carl was filling the water tank, Sandy went birding and found a gorgeous, uncommon Bay Breasted Warbler. Next we were off to Pembroke for another bird walk, once again with wonderful views and lots of great birds. The favorite of the afternoon was the Blackburnian Warbler, a gorgeous little bird with black and white on top and a brilliant orange face. Back to the coach once again to freshen up before driving to Calais for dinner and a presentation on bird vocalizations. The dinner was much better than last night and the talk was more interesting, though rather technical with lots of graphs of bird songs..

Another 4 AM wake up for a 6 AM birding hike, this time in Lubec at Quoddy Head State Park. It was raining when Carl woke to the 4 AM alarm clock. There was a temptation to roll over and declare the day a washout. However, several of the previous days had started like this yet turned out well, so he got washed & dressed and woke Sandy. He also turned up the heat in the motorhome so the noise of the furnace would drown out the sound of the rain. It worked. Sandy was up and dressed before she realized it was raining. We drove to the meeting point of the morning hike through a mixture of light rain, drizzle and no rain. We were among nine people who showed up for the hike. The warblers and flycatchers were all around, even before we got out of the parking lot. The guide for this hike was wonderful, very informative and knowledgeable. We spent about four hours hiking through the spruce forest, alpine bog and seaside cliffs. It was a very diverse habitat with lots of different birds. It rained for about half the hike but never very hard. This hike brought our total sightings for the festival to 81 birds. Back at the motorhome we discussed various possible activities and decided upon a nap. After about two hours we were refreshed and ready for more birds. The rain had stopped and we hiked around the campground spotting eight different warbler species. As we walked back to the campsite, we realized we had an entire evening free since the birding festival was over. There was still no rain so we cooked and ate outside, then built a big campfire. As we sat there by the fire looking over Cobscook Bay we saw four Common Loons swimming along offshore. Soon thereafter, a Belted Kingfisher flew into our site, bringing our bird total to 82. Life is really good; wet but good. Perhaps tomorrow there will be sun.

Destination PEI. We got an early start but gave back an hour when we crossed into the Atlantic time zone at the Canadian border. It was a pleasant drive through pastoral countryside. Carl hooked up a GPS receiver to our laptop and plots our route with a program called “Street Atlas”. With the laptop on the dash, we can see our position on the map with a large display of the distance and time to the next turn. When we get close to the turn, the computer tells us. Yes, it talks, although it is not too loud and sounds like a 1960’s science fiction movie. Neat technology that is both informative and entertaining. At about 2:30 the sky turned mostly blue and soon there was this unfamiliar yellow circle in the sky. After five days of rain when the temperature didn’t go above 56, it was suddenly a sunny 72 degrees! After we crossed the Confederation Bridge into PEI, we stopped at the info center to find out about campgrounds (we had read that the National and Provincial Park campgrounds did not open until mid-June). A very helpful woman at the info desk pointed out a few potential campgrounds and drew out the route on a map. The campground is beautiful. Once again we have a water view site. As we were getting set up, a Bald Eagle flew along the river and perched in tree. Sandy cooked a gourmet dinner of Salmon Florentine. Delicious, followed by a campfire overlooking he bay for dessert. We are at the western edge of the time zone so it stays light very late, We could still read outside at 9:30.

Yesterday’s weather was no fluke. We awoke to bright sunshine and high 60 degrees temperatures. Today we will look for birds at PEI National Park. This park is a thin ribbon of beach and sand dunes along the north shore; very picturesque. We selected a couple of trails and hiked about three miles through spruce forest and along small lake shores. The birds were pretty quiet since it was getting warm (75 degrees) but we spotted a few new ones for the trip, including Ring Necked Duck, Purple Finch and Bobilink. We also stopped to explore a small, 150 year old hotel within the park. The Dalvay Hotel was not yet open so we could wander throughout the hotel without bothering anyone. All 26 rooms were open and we decided we liked number four the best. It is a large room with a sitting area in a bay window overlooking the adjacent lake. After lunch back at the coach we drove along the north shore soaking in the scenery and treating ourselves to some wonderful ice cream. Unfortunately, many places are closed, including the aquarium that has 750 stuffed birds and the provincial park on the northwest corner of the bay. Late June would be a better time to visit. Back at the campground, Carl did laundry while Sandy cleaned up the motorhome. Dinner and a campfire completed another wonderful day. The Bald Eagles were back tonight and Sandy saw one catch a fish and eat it!