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Travelogue: Acadia
National Park in Winter
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 seaducks 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 While scooting up to Schoodic Peninusla 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 |
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.
Seawall Motel in Manset, just a few hundred yards from one of the best
seaduck 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 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. 
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 seaduck 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. 