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Down East Spring Birding Festival |
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For the third year in a row, Washington
County retained its title as "America's Birdiest
Atlantic Coastal County" - a national competition that
coincides with the birding festival. That's a pretty high
achievement, considering that the Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills,
Common Murres, Arctic Terns, and pelagic species seen on the
Machias Seal Island boat trip, or any of the specialties seen on
New Brunswick's Campobello Island, don't count. No wonder this
festival is so popular! For next year's festival, go to
downeastbirdfest.org. Friday afternoon got the festival off to a
fast start, with a singing Cape May Warbler right behind the
check-in table. The first of several singing Tennessee Warblers followed shortly after, during a walk in the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, which borders Canada. (So a singing Canada Warbler was also not hard to find, naturally.) Typically, nearly two dozen warblers species are seen during the weekend. Now going into its seventh year, the festival is always held over the Memorial Day Weekend at the height of birding activity. Moosehorn is managed for American Woodcock, and the evening mating displays are always a highlight of the festival. It also happens to be a place full of Saw-whet Owls (right) and other denizens of the northern forest and wetlands. "Bruce" (left) is a Spruce Grouse who often stands directly on the boardwalk to challenge pedestrian passage on the Boot Head trail in Lubec. Habitat in Washington County is extraordinarily diverse. The county boasts some of the highest tides in the world, exposing huge foraging areas for shorebirds. It holds many zones of transition from hardwood to boreal forest, containing uncountable bogs and wetlands - places favored by Black-backed Woodpeckers, Gray Jays, and Boreal Chickadees. Extensive blueberry barrens are home to grassland species such as Upland Sandpipers and Vesper Sparrows. Quoddy Head State Park is the easternmost point in the US. Its cliffs are good for viewing alcids and pelagic species that stray close to shore, while its bog is noted for Yellow-bellied Flycatchers and Lincoln's Sparrows. Make plans now to attend next year. |
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