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. 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 - a pristine water body where Medawisla is the only sign of humans.

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 of 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 their sky dance. They are prolific in the area. We did have a Solitary Sandpiper (right) 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 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 of 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 (right) 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 (left). She was 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.