Appalachian Mountain
Club - 100 Mile Wilderness Tour
May 12-14, 2008
Timing
is everything. Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 was all one could wish for at
Medawisla – one of the Appalachian Mountain Club's sporting
camps in Maine's 100 Mile Wilderness. The previous night was cold and
clear, with a waxing moon, suggesting that newly arrived migrants would be
present to greet newly arrived guests, including Bob Duchesne with Ron and
Shirley Patten (left). By 6:30am, a half hour before the
scheduled warbler walk was to begin, the birds were in full voice. Frost
was already beginning to melt off the canoes lined up by the edge of
Second Roach Pond, where Medawisla is the only sign of humans on the
lake.
As the warbler walk began, it became quickly obvious how good the timing
was: lots of birds, but no foliage to block the view and no bugs! There
were neither mosquitoes nor black flies for the entire two-day tour. The
walk started on a humorous note, as a pair of male Hooded Mergansers
huddled on the same midstream rock with a female Common Merganser:
ménage-a-duck. Nearby, a Greater Yellowlegs allowed us to within 40 feet,
and then moved to the other side of the stream with an indignant tu-tu-tu.
It's a five-minute walk up the driveway and around the corner to the
bridge. It took us ten times that long to cover the distance, gathering up
the warblers along the way – first a Northern Parula, then a
Black-throated Blue, then a Magnolia, followed by a zillion Yellow-rumps.
A couple Black-and-Whites added character, if not color, to the count. A
Palm Warbler snuck in for a peek at us as we were peeking at him. A
particularly loud Northern Waterthrush remained audible for the entire
walk, while a persistent Blue-headed Vireo chimed in. At one point, a
Yellow Warbler settled in directly above us, which was surprising because
he's usually down by the stream. Equally surprising, American Redstarts
and Chestnut-sided Warblers were not down by the stream. They had not yet
arrived. We also missed the Tennessee Warbler that AMC's Shannon LeRoy had
seen the day before. But Nashville Warblers were among the most abundant,
as we encountered them at every stop on the tour.
Before the walk was finished, we scored multiple Hermit Thrushes,
White-throated Sparrows, and Winter Wrens. Then, after stuffing ourselves
at breakfast, we boxed up a lunch and headed out for the day. The first
stop was close by, just a stone’s throw down the road from Medawisla,
where there is a good concentration of boreal habitat. Boreal Chickadees
were right where they always are. So were the Lincoln’s Sparrows. These
are particularly aggressive on their breeding grounds and we received
quite a scolding. A Gray Jay also came in right on cue, making the guide
look like a genius. On a side road to a secluded marsh, we were treated to
Ring-necked Ducks and a Broad-winged Hawk, the latter chased by a
Red-winged Blackbird.
Lunch overlooking Lazy Tom Stream was abnormally quiet, mostly due to a
stiff breeze, but also because the American Redstarts and Chestnut-sided
Warblers that usually infest the place hadn’t arrived yet, and the
Wilson’s Snipes had not yet begun doing their sky dance. They are prolific
in the area. We did have a Solitary Sandpiper plop onto a nearby rock,
unfazed by our proximity, and enjoyed distant views of the day’s only
Common Goldeneye.
After lunch, we headed toward Greenville, slamming on the brakes just
north of Kokadjo at the sound of a Cape May Warbler out the driver’s side
window. This proved to be the most frustrating bird of the day, as no
amount of coaxing could lure him from his perch in dense foliage, singing
merrily just out of our view. At one point, we were surrounded by Boreal
Chickadees, but ignored them while trying to figure out a successful
vantage point. No luck.
So off we headed for the B-52 crash site on Elephant Mountain. As
expected, the Blackpolls normally found just below the site had not yet
returned, but we did encounter additional raptors along the way, including
a couple Turkey Vultures and a soaring Sharp-shinned Hawk. A stop at the
group campground at Lily Bay State Park produced very close looks at a
Pine Warbler (left) that took umbrage at our presence. Returning to Medawisla by
way of another secret logging road, we turned up more Boreal Chickadees
and Nashville Warblers, and brushed past a cow moose that had shed most of
her winter coat. She was the definitely the winner of the weekend's
Ugliest Moose contest. After an hour of relaxation, we
stuffed ourselves once again on good, sporting camp cooking.
Since the warbler watching had been so good the previous morning, we got
up a half
hour earlier the next day and started out again.
This time, a
nearby pack of coyotes joined the dawn chorus, but their voices were soon
lost in the din of warblers, thrushes, wrens, sparrows, and woodpeckers.
Many migrants
had come in the night before, and the number of Common
Yellowthroats, Yellow-rumps, Northern Waterthrushes, and others increased
five-fold by dawn. Although the guided part of the tour was due to end
after breakfast, we were having such a good time that we extended it to
give us a chance at visiting Shirley Bog just south of Greenville. So many
birds; so little time.
Timing
is everything. Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 was all one could wish for at
Medawisla – one of the Appalachian Mountain Club's sporting
camps in Maine's 100 Mile Wilderness. The previous night was cold and
clear, with a waxing moon, suggesting that newly arrived migrants would be
present to greet newly arrived guests, including Bob Duchesne with Ron and
Shirley Patten (left). By 6:30am, a half hour before the
scheduled warbler walk was to begin, the birds were in full voice. Frost
was already beginning to melt off the canoes lined up by the edge of
Second Roach Pond, where Medawisla is the only sign of humans on the
lake.
It's a five-minute walk up the driveway and around the corner to the
bridge. It took us ten times that long to cover the distance, gathering up
the warblers along the way – first a Northern Parula, then a
Black-throated Blue, then a Magnolia, followed by a zillion Yellow-rumps.
A couple Black-and-Whites added character, if not color, to the count. A
Palm Warbler snuck in for a peek at us as we were peeking at him. A
particularly loud Northern Waterthrush remained audible for the entire
walk, while a persistent Blue-headed Vireo chimed in. At one point, a
Yellow Warbler settled in directly above us, which was surprising because
he's usually down by the stream. Equally surprising, American Redstarts
and Chestnut-sided Warblers were not down by the stream. They had not yet
arrived. We also missed the Tennessee Warbler that AMC's Shannon LeRoy had
seen the day before. But Nashville Warblers were among the most abundant,
as we encountered them at every stop on the tour.
Before the walk was finished, we scored multiple Hermit Thrushes,
White-throated Sparrows, and Winter Wrens. Then, after stuffing ourselves
at breakfast, we boxed up a lunch and headed out for the day. The first
stop was close by, just a stone’s throw down the road from Medawisla,
where there is a good concentration of boreal habitat. Boreal Chickadees
were right where they always are. So were the Lincoln’s Sparrows. These
are particularly aggressive on their breeding grounds and we received
quite a scolding. A Gray Jay also came in right on cue, making the guide
look like a genius. On a side road to a secluded marsh, we were treated to
Ring-necked Ducks and a Broad-winged Hawk, the latter chased by a
Red-winged Blackbird.
Lunch overlooking Lazy Tom Stream was abnormally quiet, mostly due to a
stiff breeze, but also because the American Redstarts and Chestnut-sided
Warblers that usually infest the place hadn’t arrived yet, and the
Wilson’s Snipes had not yet begun doing their sky dance. They are prolific
in the area. We did have a Solitary Sandpiper plop onto a nearby rock,
unfazed by our proximity, and enjoyed distant views of the day’s only
Common Goldeneye.
So off we headed for the B-52 crash site on Elephant Mountain. As
expected, the Blackpolls normally found just below the site had not yet
returned, but we did encounter
additional raptors along the way, including
a couple Turkey Vultures and a soaring Sharp-shinned Hawk. A stop at the
group campground at Lily Bay State Park produced very close looks at a
Pine Warbler (left) that took umbrage at our presence. Returning to Medawisla by
way of another secret logging road, we turned up more Boreal Chickadees
and Nashville Warblers, and brushed past a cow moose that had shed most of
her winter coat. She was the definitely the winner of the weekend's
Ugliest Moose contest. After an hour of relaxation, we
stuffed ourselves once again on good, sporting camp cooking.
Since the warbler watching had been so good the previous morning, we got
up a half
hour earlier the next day and started out again.
This time, a
nearby pack of coyotes joined the dawn chorus, but their voices were soon
lost in the din of warblers, thrushes, wrens, sparrows, and woodpeckers.
Many migrants
had come in the night before, and the number of Common
Yellowthroats, Yellow-rumps, Northern Waterthrushes, and others increased
five-fold by dawn. Although the guided part of the tour was due to end
after breakfast, we were having such a good time that we extended it to
give us a chance at visiting Shirley Bog just south of Greenville. So many
birds; so little time.
