Midcoast

The Midcoast region represents the “Maine” many first-time visitors imagine: lighthouses, quaint villages, sailboats, lobster pounds, and idyllic inns. Fractured by glaciers, pounded by surf, and sliced by rivers, there is no place on America’s eastern seaboard that has more bays, sounds, coves, and estuaries. These geologic features contribute to the overall excellence of birding experiences.

Two of Maine’s largest rivers—the Kennebec and the Androscoggin— converge shortly before entering the ocean. The Kennebec River drains all of central Maine while western Maine pours into the Androscoggin River. They join at a place aptly named Merrymeeting Bay. This is a major migration stop for waterfowl that feed on the wild rice in the rivers. Bald Eagles are common nesters around the bay.

Pemaquid Point is a good example of the fragmentation of the coastline. This is the cliff that appears alongside the 4-masted schooner Victory Chimes on the Maine version of the U.S. quarter. Rachel Carson summered nearby, and found inspiration for some of her publications there. Two of Maine’s best birding beaches are located in this region. North of Popham Beach State Park and Reid State Park, there are no long stretches of sand beach before Prince Edward Island, Canada. One of Maine’s largest Great Blue Heron colonies is located on Wreck Island in Muscongus Bay. Black-crowned Night-herons are uncommon residents of the bay. At the outskirts of the bay lies Eastern Egg Rock, the southernmost colony of Atlantic Puffins in the world. Hog Island is located off Bremen, renowned as the headquarters of National Audubon’s Field Ornithology Camp. Roger Tory Peterson was its earliest instructor.

Maine’s coast from Thomaston to Camden is a stretch of working villages. Thomaston is noted for boat building, Rockland for its fish cannery, and Camden/Rockport for tourism and windjammer sailing vessels. Rockland is enjoying a renaissance. Main Street has been transformed into a unique shopping district, centered on the Farnsworth Art Museum - home to the collected works of Andrew Wyeth and his family, and the world’s second-largest collection of Louise Nevelson sculptures. The city is home to the Maine Lobster Festival, one of the largest summer events in the state. Many of Maine’s fabled windjammers dock in Rockland. The new Project Puffin Visitor Center is here, as is the Maine Lighthouse Museum. Camden and Rockport have always been tourist destinations, sandwiched between scenic harbors and coastal mountains. Their windjammer fleets rival Rockland’s. All of the Mid-Coast towns have been home to sea captains and land barons. Their mansions now provide the highest concentration of bed & breakfast inns anywhere in the state.

Salt Bay

Ten miles offshore, Monhegan Island is internationally famous. As a migrant trap, it has few rivals. Weskeag Marsh in Thomaston presents a different experience every time it is visited. Arguably, it is second only to Scarborough Marsh in Portland as Maine’s most productive wetland, but it receives far fewer visitors. Mid-Coast has an unusually high number of small ponds and streams that attract waterfowl in migration, and many are adjacent to the road. In spring and autumn, just a quick “stop and peek” can prove rewarding.

Maine’s coast is under tremendous development pressure. In answer, land trusts have sprung up from Kittery to Calais, and some of the most effective are in the Mid-Coast area. Dozens of precious tracts have been preserved, and some offer good birding opportunities. Quiet islands, such as Vinalhaven, North Haven, and Islesboro lay just offshore. A few pelagic birds are can be glimpsed from the ferries that serve these islands each summer.