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Tours and Packages
Freeport Wild Bird Supply MonhegZEN Birding Spring Migration Weekend:: May 18-20, 2012. Visit Monhegan during the height of migration for 1-3 days searching the island for regular visitors, rarities, and vagrants. Late May is a fantastic time to visit Maine’s Monhegan Island. Warblers in their summer finery are pouring through the Northeast, and many will drift over the Gulf of Maine on their nocturnal flights. Come dawn, the birds seek refuge on land, and Monhegan Island is perfectly positioned to catch arrivals. Rapidly changing weather conditions can result in massive “fallouts” of tired migrants, many of which will forage in the rocks on the shoreline. The possibility of overshoots from the south and vagrants from almost any direction adds icing to the cake of the fantastic birding afforded by this quaint little island. Trip Leader: Derek Lovitch.
Moosehead Moose Wild Moosehead By Ear: June 8-10, 2012. Moosehead Lake is located in the transition zone between Maine’s southern hardwood and northern coniferous forests, which explains the extraordinary number of songbirds to be found here. This exceptional tour is dedicated to learning the birds by ear on field trips made easy for novices and rewarding for intermediate birders. We’ll spend nearly three days dodging moose while seeking over 20 species of warblers, including Mourning, Bay-breasted, Cape May, and Blackpoll, plus scores of other birds. Difficult targets include Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, and Olive-sided and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. You won't believe your ears! Trip leader: Maine Birding Trail founder Bob Duchesne.
Pittston Farm Historic Pittston Farm & the Maine North Woods: June 12-14, 2012. We're going deep into Maine's northern forest, visiting places that few birders even know about. Those with an allergy to moose need not apply. Pittston Farm is over 100 years old and was once the major logging encampment and bread basket for Great Northern Paper. It was a bustling place during its heyday. Today, however, it is a secluded oasis of fields and pastures located at the confluence of the north and south branches of the Penobscot River, bordering Seboomook Lake, surrounded by a huge expanse of working forest. The diversity of habitat is amazing. This has been our most popular spring trip for the last two years in a row. Trip leader: Maine Birding Trail founder Bob Duchesne.
Mount Katahdin Katahdin's Splendor: June 17-19, 2012. Forever Wild - Baxter State Park’s 200,000 acres surround Mt. Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak. Nearby, the West Branch of the Penobscot River tumbles out of the North Maine Woods. The scenery on this three-day adventure is equal to the variety and rarity of birds to be found here. While cruising the park’s perimeter road, we’ll pursue Spruce and Ruffed Grouse, Philadelphia Vireos, Gray Jays, and Boreal Chickadees, plus American Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers. Bay-breasted and Blackpoll Warblers forage right next to the road. Expect Least, Olive-sided, Yellow-bellied, and Great-crested Flycatchers. Up to 20 warbler species are possible. Moose are common. Trip leader: Maine Birding Trail founder Bob Duchesne.
Freeport Wild Bird Supply Claybrook Mountain Lodge Birding Weekend: June 21-23, 2012 This new tour is sure to become a regular feature, as once you spend some time with Greg and Pat Drummond at their charming lodge in Highland Plantation, you won’t be able to wait to go back! The trip begins on Friday evening with one of Pat’s scrumptious dinners. We’ll rise early on Saturday to spend the day birding and enjoying other wildlife, scenery, and habitats. Greg will be our co-leader for the day, and in addition to his local knowledge of birding hotspots, we’re more than likely to learn about the tracks and signs of other wildlife, from White-tailed Deer to Coyotes to Black Bear. Greg is a wealth of Maine Woods expertise, and you’ll really enjoy spending time in the field with him. Trip Leader: Derek Lovitch.
Mass Audubon Mass Audubon's Puffins & Peatlands: July 12-15, 2012. Join Mass Audubon to explore the unique ecology of the Downeast region, including boreal forests, raised bogs, and an offshore seabird nesting colony. Visit Machias Seal Island, 10 miles from the mainland, to view Atlantic puffins in their colorful breeding plumage, along with razorbills, nesting Arctic terns, and common murres. This is the spot to see and photograph Atlantic puffins up close and personal. In addition to searching for boreal nesting birds, explore Cobscook Bay, Campobello Island, and Quoddy Head Light, scanning for seabirds, whales, and dolphins from the cliffs and ledges. Trip Leader: Carol Decker and Sue MacCallum.
Swallowtail Lighthouse Grand Manan: August 16-19 and September 1-4, 2012 (Labor Day Weekend) This tour certainly met the definition of "by popular demand" in 2011. The first trip sold out as soon as birders found out about it. As the news spread, a second tour was pulled together and it, too, sold out right away...leading to a third tour later the same week. Small wonder: besides extraordinarily good birding, we'll be going offshore for whales. Humpbacks, finbacks, minke, and the endangered Northern Atlantic Right Whale were all seen during the tours. The whales share these waters with shearwaters, gannets, puffins, razorbills, murres, kittiwakes, phalaropes, fulmars, jaegers, and a host of other pelagic bird species. It'll be the height of shorebird season, too, so we've upgraded the trip this year to include one night in Lubec, Maine, for the best shorebirding and Spruce Grouse possibilities. Trip leader: Maine Birding Trail founder Bob Duchesne.
Wings Tours The Maine Coast in Fall - with WINGS. September 9-16, 2012 The coast of Maine is one of those treasures—beautiful, of course, and rugged, yet also accessible. Our short tour will visit three of our favorite places, Scarborough Marsh, Mount Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park, and Monhegan Island. We'll begin in Scarborough Marsh for Saltmarsh and Nelson's Sparrows, as well as lingering shorebirds. We'll also visit a variety of migrant traps along the coast. Next, we'll head to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, where we’ll spend our time seeing the sights, all of which are good for birds, and take a boat trip into the Gulf of Maine to look for seabirds and whales. Then it's off to Monhegan Island! Trip leaders: Derek Lovitch and Will Russell.
Mass Audubon Mass Audubon's Monhegan Island Weekend: September 21-23, 2012. Join Mass Audubon for a weekend of birding and naturalizing on Monhegan, located 10 miles off the coast of Maine. This is the place to be for exciting views of the fall migration. Hawks will be on their flight south, and, in past years, groups have had incredible aerial displays from migrating falcons. Explore a variety of habitats including a freshwater pond, coniferous forest, and rocky shoreline. Seals can be seen from the island, and sighting a whale is always a possibility. Accommodations at the Trailing Yew, a rustic inn situated above Monhegan Harbor. Trip Leader: Carol Decker and Scott Santino.
Freeport Wild Bird Supply Monhegan Island with New Jersey Audubon. September 22-28, 2012 Monhegan Island lies twelve miles off the rocky Maine coastline and is arguably the best fall migrant trap in New England. This small and isolated island is steeped in rustic New England charm, with characteristic lobster boats, spruce forests, and rocky headlands. Our tour focuses on fall bird migration, which can be spectacular if the winds are right. A wide variety of both water birds and songbirds may be present and include Common Eider, Great Shearwater, Black Guillemot, Parasitic Jaeger, vireos, flycatchers, thrushes, 20 species of warblers, and sparrows. Monhegan is a great location for both expected migrant songbirds as well as unusual strays from the south and west…one never knows what might appear on the island’s beautiful forests, headlands, and fields! Trip Leader: Derek Lovitch.