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Wild Moosehead By Ear
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This unique tour gets a major
upgrade for 2012. It's the perfect place and the perfect time
for birding by ear. (Don't misunderstand - you also get to see
them all, too.) Moosehead Lake is located in the transition zone between the southern deciduous and northern coniferous forests, which explains the extraordinary variety of wildlife that can be found here. Perhaps a hundred different species of birds will be in full voice during this tour. What better time to learn or improve birding-by-ear skills? It's a lot easier to remember bird vocalizations when you can actually watch them sing. We’ll spend up to three days in the field dodging moose and looking for over 20 species of warblers. Difficult target birds include Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, and Lincoln’s Sparrow. Possible warblers include Mourning, Bay-breasted, Cape May, and Blackpoll, plus Olive-sided and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. This tour is dedicated to learning the birds by ear on field trips that make skill-building easy for novices and rewarding for intermediate birders. Even experts will enjoy the abundance and variety of all the species to be seen and heard in the wild areas of Moosehead Lake. Participants will receive audio materials prior to the tour to make it even easier to learn the songs in the field. Birding by ear is surprisingly easy once you know the tricks. This tour is offered through The Evergreen Lodge. Guests may book the adventure directly with the inn. The package includes two night's lodging, all meals from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon, two full days of guided birding into many of the area's secret hot spots, led by the founder of the Maine Birding Trail, Bob Duchesne, training materials, and local transportation by 15-passenger van. In order to accommodate differing arrival times for participants, the tour officially begins at the inn on Friday evening with an after dinner social and a birding-by-ear workshop. It ends Sunday afternoon around 5pm. For those able to arrive earlier in the day on Friday, a full day of side trips near the inn has been scheduled, followed by dinner in town on your own. This tour is not strenuous. Hikes will be short, slow, and on level ground. Each morning starts with an optional warbler walk before breakfast, followed by a day-long adventure that emphasizes the unusual habitat and species to be found in the area. Picnic lunches and copious snacks are provided. Binoculars are a necessity. The guide will provide a spotting scope and guidebooks. This is a good tour for personal spotting scopes. The guide follows the ABA Code of Ethics. Tapes will be used on a limited basis with the consent of the group. Mosquitoes and black flies are prevalent this time of year. Good clothing and optional repellent are recommended. For information about the itinerary, conditions, and target birds contact the guide: Bob Duchesne: duchesne@midmaine.com or 207-827-3782. To reserve the tour, contact The Evergreen Lodge directly. Tour price is $140/person PLUS the room cost. (Rooms and rates vary and this package allows participants to choose the room best suited to their needs.) Evergreen Lodge: info@evergreenlodgemoosehead.com or call 1-888-624-3993. |
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