Weekend Trip to Northern Maine, July 1-4th 2011
The 2011 Brookline Bird Club Trip to Northern Maine met at the Bluebird Motel in scenic Machias Maine on Friday, July 1. We quickly got the sense that we weren't in Massachusetts any more - one of the first birds of the trip was a juvenile bald eagle that flew over the parking lot of the motel.
Juvenile Bald Eagle from Bluebird Motel parking lot. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
We headed to a nearby spot with good boreal habitat, near Roque Bluffs State Park.
Ida Giriunas leads the group to boreal specialties. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
A number of Winter Wren were heard alongside the trail, however, in typical Winter Wren fashion eluded good looks. An exceedingly obliging Black-throated green Warbler sat still long enough for everyine to get good looks in the scope. The highlight was a boreal chickadee, which briefly made an appearance. A highlight of any trip to Machias is dinner at Helen's restaurant! Don't pass on the pie. The blueberry is noteworthy for the use of local fruit – buckshot sized bits of summery goodness, quite a different beast than the chickpea-sized bloated fruit which makes it to markets across the country. We were up bright and early the next morning, heading north to the Topsfield area in search of the big four of Maine boreal birding: Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay, Black-backed Woodpecker and Spruce Grouse. We had arranged to meet Marion Bates, a local birder to show us the ropes.
Birding the Burn Road. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
We quickly found a boreal chickadee along the road, in a spot that had been previously staked out. Our next stop was exceptionally productive. We walked a short distance down a side road, and stoped dead in our tracks – ahead on the road there was a pair of White-winged Crossbil eating grit. Just as the crossbills were sighted, a call came out - “Spruce Grouse flying!” It had been feeding on the ground along side the road, and had flown a short distance into some trees. As many a birder can attest, Spruce Grouse, are quite frankly, a pain. I don't think there is any good way to find them, you need to let them find you. We crept along the road, looking for where the grouse had landed. An outline in nearby spruce trees yielded somewhat obscured, but good looks.
Spruce Grouse along the Burn Road. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
We had exceptionally good luck with Olive-sided Flycatcher – 3 birds were seen over the course of the day.
Olice-sided Flycatcher. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
As the day went on, we became alarmed that we had not yet found Gray Jay – typically an “easy” bird to find. In the eleventh hour, as we were driving back, the car caravan came to a halt – Marion had heard a Gray Jay while driving. We stopped, and looked around, eventually finding one, then two, then three juvenile birds. Playing a Gray Jay tape eventually drew in the adults. The big dip was the black-backed woodpecker, which has unfortunately become much less common along the Burn Road. A good deal of logging has been taking place in the area, and the woodpeckers seem to be quite sensitive to changes in the habitat, especially the loss of mature trees. In addition a respectable 15 species of warblers were tallied over the course of the day. On the drive to the Burn Road, a rapture was perched alongside the highway. At 65 miles, per hour, I didn't make the ID, although it was clear it wasn't a Red-tailed Hawk. We were fortunate to find on the ride back that the bird was still in the same area – a Broad-winged Hawk!
Broad-winged Hawk. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
The next morning was more typical for Maine – fog as thick as pea soup at the harbor in Cutler, Maine, but that was not going to stop us from seeing the puffins of Machias Seal Island!
Fog as thick as pea soup. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
Captain Andy motored us out the ten miles or so to the vicinity of Machias Seal Island. The fog unfortunately, cut down on the sighting of pelagic birds, although we were able to see a gannet or two on the way out. As we drew close to the island, alcids came into view, at first ones and twos of Razorbills and Atlantic Puffins, then fives, then ten, and within sight of the island, hundreds.
Atlantic Puffin in flight. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
The landing on Machias Seal Island involved a transfer into a smaller skiff, which could be taken to the small dock on the island. The island has a number of small blinds, affording great views of the puffins, Razorbills, and Common Murres. Unfortunately, due to a deteriorating weather forcast, with increasing wind and surf, the visit to the island was abreviated to about an hour. We next birded Quoddy Head State park, although again the fog limited visibility. The highlight was a perplexing young warber which none of us could identify, until the parent Yellow-rumped Warbler come in to feed it! A short hike at Quoddy Head took us to a remarkable bog – with an of unique plant life, including the carnivorous Pitcher Plant, as well as two species of Sundew.
Stunted Black Spruce trees in Bog. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
Members of the Brookline Bog Club. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
We had dinner at Murphy's Village restaurant in Lubec, Maine, and had the good fortune of arriving just in time for the 4th of July parade! We watched as a couple of firetrucks paraded by, a couple of marching bands, all while enjoying our lobsters. The next morning we headed back to MA – with two stops for birding, Lake Messalongskee for Black Tern and Weskeag Marsh for Nelson's sparrow.
Black Tern at Lake Messalongskee. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
Nelson's Sparrow. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
A great time was had by all – additional photosets are at the links below:
Myer Bornstein
Naeem Yusuff
George Gove
Full Trip List:
Juvenile Bald Eagle from Bluebird Motel parking lot. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
We headed to a nearby spot with good boreal habitat, near Roque Bluffs State Park.
Ida Giriunas leads the group to boreal specialties. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
A number of Winter Wren were heard alongside the trail, however, in typical Winter Wren fashion eluded good looks. An exceedingly obliging Black-throated green Warbler sat still long enough for everyine to get good looks in the scope. The highlight was a boreal chickadee, which briefly made an appearance. A highlight of any trip to Machias is dinner at Helen's restaurant! Don't pass on the pie. The blueberry is noteworthy for the use of local fruit – buckshot sized bits of summery goodness, quite a different beast than the chickpea-sized bloated fruit which makes it to markets across the country. We were up bright and early the next morning, heading north to the Topsfield area in search of the big four of Maine boreal birding: Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay, Black-backed Woodpecker and Spruce Grouse. We had arranged to meet Marion Bates, a local birder to show us the ropes.
Birding the Burn Road. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
We quickly found a boreal chickadee along the road, in a spot that had been previously staked out. Our next stop was exceptionally productive. We walked a short distance down a side road, and stoped dead in our tracks – ahead on the road there was a pair of White-winged Crossbil eating grit. Just as the crossbills were sighted, a call came out - “Spruce Grouse flying!” It had been feeding on the ground along side the road, and had flown a short distance into some trees. As many a birder can attest, Spruce Grouse, are quite frankly, a pain. I don't think there is any good way to find them, you need to let them find you. We crept along the road, looking for where the grouse had landed. An outline in nearby spruce trees yielded somewhat obscured, but good looks.
Spruce Grouse along the Burn Road. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
We had exceptionally good luck with Olive-sided Flycatcher – 3 birds were seen over the course of the day.
Olice-sided Flycatcher. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
As the day went on, we became alarmed that we had not yet found Gray Jay – typically an “easy” bird to find. In the eleventh hour, as we were driving back, the car caravan came to a halt – Marion had heard a Gray Jay while driving. We stopped, and looked around, eventually finding one, then two, then three juvenile birds. Playing a Gray Jay tape eventually drew in the adults. The big dip was the black-backed woodpecker, which has unfortunately become much less common along the Burn Road. A good deal of logging has been taking place in the area, and the woodpeckers seem to be quite sensitive to changes in the habitat, especially the loss of mature trees. In addition a respectable 15 species of warblers were tallied over the course of the day. On the drive to the Burn Road, a rapture was perched alongside the highway. At 65 miles, per hour, I didn't make the ID, although it was clear it wasn't a Red-tailed Hawk. We were fortunate to find on the ride back that the bird was still in the same area – a Broad-winged Hawk!
Broad-winged Hawk. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
The next morning was more typical for Maine – fog as thick as pea soup at the harbor in Cutler, Maine, but that was not going to stop us from seeing the puffins of Machias Seal Island!
Fog as thick as pea soup. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
Captain Andy motored us out the ten miles or so to the vicinity of Machias Seal Island. The fog unfortunately, cut down on the sighting of pelagic birds, although we were able to see a gannet or two on the way out. As we drew close to the island, alcids came into view, at first ones and twos of Razorbills and Atlantic Puffins, then fives, then ten, and within sight of the island, hundreds.
Atlantic Puffin in flight. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
The landing on Machias Seal Island involved a transfer into a smaller skiff, which could be taken to the small dock on the island. The island has a number of small blinds, affording great views of the puffins, Razorbills, and Common Murres. Unfortunately, due to a deteriorating weather forcast, with increasing wind and surf, the visit to the island was abreviated to about an hour. We next birded Quoddy Head State park, although again the fog limited visibility. The highlight was a perplexing young warber which none of us could identify, until the parent Yellow-rumped Warbler come in to feed it! A short hike at Quoddy Head took us to a remarkable bog – with an of unique plant life, including the carnivorous Pitcher Plant, as well as two species of Sundew.
Stunted Black Spruce trees in Bog. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
Members of the Brookline Bog Club. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
We had dinner at Murphy's Village restaurant in Lubec, Maine, and had the good fortune of arriving just in time for the 4th of July parade! We watched as a couple of firetrucks paraded by, a couple of marching bands, all while enjoying our lobsters. The next morning we headed back to MA – with two stops for birding, Lake Messalongskee for Black Tern and Weskeag Marsh for Nelson's sparrow.
Black Tern at Lake Messalongskee. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
Nelson's Sparrow. Photo by Naeem Yusuff.
A great time was had by all – additional photosets are at the links below:
Myer Bornstein
Naeem Yusuff
George Gove
Full Trip List:
Canada Goose 8 American Black Duck 4 Common Eider 10 Common Merganser 1 Spruce Grouse 3 Common Loon 3 Northern Gannet 2 Double-crested Cormorant 10 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 4 Snowy Egret 10 Turkey Vulture 2 Bald Eagle 3 Accipiter sp. 1 Broad-winged Hawk 2 American Kestrel 1 Killdeer 2 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Black-legged Kittiwake 1 Herring Gull X Great Black-backed Gull X Black Tern 10 Arctic Tern 3 Common Murre 500 Razorbill 4000 Black Guillemot 2 Atlantic Puffin 6000 Rock Pigeon X Mourning Dove X Chimney Swift 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 Belted Kingfisher 1 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 2 Olive-sided Flycatcher 3 Eastern Wood-Pewee 1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 3 Least Flycatcher 2 Eastern Phoebe 2 Eastern Kingbird 4 Blue-headed Vireo 10 Warbling Vireo 1 Red-eyed Vireo 7 Gray Jay 4 Blue Jay 10 American Crow X Common Raven 5 Purple Martin 3 Tree Swallow 6 Bank Swallow 6 Barn Swallow 5 Cliff Swallow 2 Black-capped Chickadee 8 Boreal Chickadee 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 5 Winter Wren 6 Golden-crowned Kinglet 10 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3 Veery 2 Swainson's Thrush 2 Hermit Thrush 14 American Robin 14 Gray Catbird 3 Cedar Waxwing 41 Nashville Warbler 9 Northern Parula 2 Magnolia Warbler 7 Black-throated Blue Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 7 Black-throated Green Warbler 12 Blackburnian Warbler 2 Pine Warbler 12 Palm Warbler 5 Black-and-white Warbler 5 American Redstart 3 Ovenbird 1 Common Yellowthroat 6 Wilson's Warbler 1 Canada Warbler 2 Chipping Sparrow 5 Savannah Sparrow 10 Nelson's Sparrow 8 Saltmarsh Sparrow 1 Song Sparrow X Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 25 Dark-eyed Junco 10 Red-winged Blackbird X Common Grackle X Purple Finch 2 Red Crossbill 1 White-winged Crossbill 2 American Goldfinch 5
EBIRD LISTS: I kept a detailed bird lists for the locations visited- These lists have been submitted to eBird and we can share these detailed lists, to anyone who would like copies of those lists. Whether you already have an eBird account or not, this checklist sharing process can copy these lists to your account, and once there, you can modify them as needed to reflect the birds that you did or didn't see at various points during the trip. To receive copies of those lists, please email me and tell me if you'd like the detailed lists, summary list, or both. Please provide either an eBird username (preferred) or an email address. (The eBird username is the name you use to log in to eBird with; if you don't have an account yet, just provide an email address).
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