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Acadia National Park in Winter |
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OK...sometimes the guide just
gets lucky. Finding a Black-backed Woodpecker and a Thick-billed Murre within the first hour on Schoodic Point is a feat not soon
to be duplicated. Winters along the coast of Maine can be stormy, windy, and cold. Surprisingly, this is not the norm. Most days are sunny and pleasant. Even on windy days, many of the sea ducks show preference for protected coves and harbors so that both birds and birders can enjoy each other with some relief from the elements. Such was the case over this terrific weekend tour of Acadia National Park. Saturday was awesome. Winds were light, the day was sunny, and temperatures hovered in the high-20's. The day started at the Seawall Motel in Manset, just a few hundred yards from one of the best sea duck viewing spots in North America. Highlights included Horned and Red-necked Grebes at Seawall Beach in Manset, plus Black Scoters, Great Cormorants, and the usual assortment of American Black Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, Buffleheads, Black Guillemots, Long-Tailed Ducks, and Common Eiders. We added a White-winged Scoter at Bass Harbor Head Light and many more Buffleheads and Long-tailed Ducks in Bass Harbor. The Long-tailed Ducks were especially noisy in this location. A quick stop at Hull's Cove revealed many Common Goldeneyes and White-winged Scoters. While scooting up to Schoodic Peninsula Saturday afternoon, we encountered a Northern Harrier in Trenton. Due to the gentleness of breezes, few waterfowl were present in the lee of Frazer's Point, so we pushed up along the loop road. Normally, it's a good spot to find Purple Sandpipers, but they eluded us. However, a quick foray up the road to Schoodic Head hit the jackpot: a Black-backed Woodpecker presented itself for easy viewing just a few hundred yards up the road. The male remained in place the whole time we watched him, his yellow cap gleaming in the sun. This is also a great area for crossbills, and we did find some evidence that they had been around, but nary a crossbill turned up. Probably due to the lack of strong surf, there were no Harlequin Ducks at Schoodic Point either, but at the Blueberry Hill parking lot, we had long, satisfying looks at a Thick-billed Murre and many fly-bys of Great Cormorants. At the cannery in Prospect, we easily picked up two Glaucous and seven Iceland Gulls. We also added some very distant Surf Scoters to round out the day's scoter totals. Sunday was tougher. The stiff, northeast breeze made sea duck watching teary-eyed. Nonetheless, we enjoyed a male-female pair of Peregrines over The Beehive near Sand Beach, Purple Sandpipers at Thunder Hole, and a tree full of Pine Grosbeaks and Bohemian Waxwings on the square in downtown Bar Harbor. Every sheltered harbor, including Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, and Southwest Harbor seemed full of Common Goldeneyes. The weekend's total of 36 wintering species included a dozen Bald Eagles and an uncountable number of Common Loons. |