September 8-17, 2024 with Sam Wilson
It hardly felt like fall with 80 degree highs and clear blue skies for the entirety of the tour but we certainly weren't complaining about the perfect weather. A sizable cold front is always nice but we had enough light and favorable NW winds to send us some nice flocks of neotropical migrants our way. Sea conditions for our pelagic trip out with Maine Audubon couldn't have been any calmer and continued for for a second exciting and beautiful marine excursion out into Canadian waters Passamaquoddy Bay.
Our first full day took advantage of south coastal Maine's mix of sandy beaches and more typical rocky outcrops to find later migrant shorebirds. We were fortunate to get great looks at some sought after and sometimes difficult to find migrants like White-rumped and Baird's Sandpiper, both Dowitcher species, and an exciting flyover American Golden-plover. We also targeted some local breeders and were lucky to find a pair of Piping Plovers who nearly ran by over our feet! It was great to see the next generation of these endangered birds so close and at this late date as most of these birds have already begun their journeys south to their winter home in the Bahamas. A couple families of American Oystercatchers out on the rocks at East Point was also a nice surprise hanging out on the rocks amongst the hundreds of Common Eiders, seemingly always present near rocky headlands. We finished off a big day of birding with some lobster rolls at a restaurant on the marsh watching Black-crowned Night-Herons fly in at sunset.
Moving north and on our way to Monhegan Island, we stopped at some inland locations for pond and marsh birds like Pied-billed Grebes and Wood Ducks. Unfortunately, a flat tire stalled our progress while pulling out of a parking lot and after a tire change we hit the road again! Time had been built in to insure our departure on the Monhegan Ferry and we quickly forgot about vehicle woes on a beautiful passage day off the coast to the very special Monhegan Island. Cape May Warbler's greeted from the island fur trees before our first dinner at Monhegan House. The cuisine we enjoyed each night at MOHO was agreed to be the best of the trip with a set menu of upscale local fare highlighting Maine's diversity of delicious food beyond just the lobster roll.
One of the charms of Monhegan island is the lack of vehicles for visiting tourists, the island being small enough to leisurely walk from one side to the other in less time than it takes to watch an episode of Seinfeld. Each morning we began the day with coffee and some fresh baked goods before an excursion looking for new island arrivals spotting a slew of warblers, vireos and other passerines. We enjoyed the 'pink pink' calls of Bobolinks, the squeeks of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and zits, zeeps, and buzzes of migrant warblers arriving on the island. After a delicious multi-course breakfast later in the morning we set out again to different areas of the island finding exciting seabirds like White-winged Scoters, Black Guillemots, Great Cormorants and the procession of migrants fueling up even into the afternoons. Raptors were not in short supply some of them probably kicked off the coast by winds and others like the 3 species of falcons we saw on the island like there with a purpose, hunting migrant songbirds. Other bird highlights on the second and third day included Solitary Sandpiper Philadelphia Vireo, Winter Wren, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, good numbers of Baltimore Orioles, and Red-eyed Vireos seemingly everywhere we looked. Monhegan is a delight and the summery weather actually made it quite warm for most of our stay there!
After leaving the island, a vehicle swap, and our own migration north to Bar Harbor we enjoyed a day of scenic day birding in Acadia National Park while unintentionally challenging our palates to see how many different lobster rolls we could try in a 24hr period. Besides the natural beautiful Acadia and Mount Desert Island afforded us both some fun forest and coastal birds. A morning stop in the wetlands of Sier de Monts Spring netted Swamp Sparrow, Northern Parulas, and an extremely cooperative Ovenbird. We moved on to some retention ponds by the highschool for some migrant birds like Solitary Sandpiper and a quick look at Purple Finch. After a lunch on the water at beautiful Southwest Harbor, went to a seawall area spotting Red-necked Grebe, Common Loon, and local Black Ducks. It was nice to see the road opened here as there had been a powerful winter storm that caused lots of damage to these exposed headlands.
The next day was the highly anticipated Maine Audubon Pelagic trip and we were not disappointed. It may have been the calmest seas I have seen for a pelagic trip on the Atlantic seaboard. For most of the time it appeared more like a flat lake in the Gulf of Maine! We encountered all sorts of offshore marine life including Atlantic White-sided Dolphins in abundance and bowriding the boat, many Long-finned Pilot Whales, and an impressive show of feeding Humpback Whales, Minke's, and a couple of Fin Whales. There was even a bit of tropical meets polar feel with many sightings of Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) sunning themselves on the surface while streams of Northern Gannets flew overhead. Bird life produced well for us despite the complete lack of winds we all saw all three jaegars along with a fantastic close flyby of the beastly South Polar Skua. We encountered both Phalaropes, two tern species, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake Wilson's and Leach's Storm Petrels, Great and Manx Shearwater, and great looks at 3 alcid species, Atlantic Puffins, Black Guillemots, and Razorbills.
Our last day we headed all the way Downeast to Eastport - the eastern most point in the US for a half day boat trip out Passamaquaddy Bay.
We were tipped off by the Captain Butch to a possible rarity in the area hanging out by over by the famous Old Sow whirlpool bridging the Canadian-US marine border and after sifting through Bonaparte's Gulls managed to find a Sabine's Gull! Quite the exciting rarity almost anywhere, this individual was a sharp, fresh looking juvenile that allowed close approach as we spun in the turbulent whirlpool. We capped off the boat trip with point blank Razorbills, Great Cormorants, and the impressive spectacle of Bonaparte's Gulls.
We spent some additional time that afternoon at the paradoxically named West Quoddy Light (eastern most point in US) and a patch of coastal spruce forest where we had a few flocks of warblers moving through the dense canopy. We spent one last night in beautiful Bar Harbor before having to bid Maine adieu. Logistical challenges aside this small group tour got to experience some of the best of Maine's bounty, great food, beautiful coastlines and islands, and spectacular birds.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: