Epic Three Days Off, Birding, Hiking, and Fishing- Part 1 Birding

Saltmarsh Sparrow

Wednesday, I departed for three days of adventure. My plan was to bird in southern Maine in the morning then go on a Puffin Cruise in the evening. After the cruise, I had an hour drive to the campsite so I could go to Monhegan Island in the morning. Thursday was devoted to hiking and sightseeing Monhegan. After I got back from the ferry at 5:45, I had a four and a half hour drive home. I had an early start on Friday to go fishing with my friend Eric Meyer for Black Sea Bass on Buzzards Bay...but first we start with Wednesday.

I got up early Wednesday so I could go birding at Scarborough Marsh in southern Maine. The main goal were two sparrows. It is the best place in the world to see both Nelson's and Saltmarsh Sparrows nesting together. This is one of the few spots their ranges overlap. Besides the sparrows, the place is just awesome anyway. There is always a chance yo see Tricolored Herons (I did) and Glossy Ibis are common. 

The two species of sparrow look very similar. There are only slight differences in their appearance.First off, getting a good look at them was difficult. They are only three inches tall and they nest in foot high grass. Usually they fly quickly out of the grass and drop just as quickly into their next destination. Unlike the sparrows of bird feeders and city parks, these guys are very shy. It took a lot of patience just to find some willing subject. Once one pops up high enough to look at, you have to look for the field marks before it flies away. I ended up seeing a few Saltmarsh Sparrows in the first couple of hours, But I thought I was going to strike out with the Nelson's.

Nelsons have a very distinct song. It sounds like the sizzle of one drop of water on a frying pan. It only last a second or two. Hearing it once, even the most bored non-birder would remember it. I heard the Nelson's multiple times but they never popped up.  Finally after three hours, one decided to come up on a stump. We watched it fill its throat with air (like a bullfrog) and sing out its sizzle of a song. This might sound like I was annoyed waiting, but truthfully it was fun to put in effort of finding these little guys. It made the reward that much sweeter. 

Besides the two sparrows, there other birds around. the highlight was the Tricolored Heron that I came really close. I got to photograph it in  good light. By far, the Tricolored was the photographic highlight of my trip to Maine

More trip description below the pictures from the marsh. 

Tricolored Heron

Nelson's Sparrow

After I left the marsh I drove to New Harbor, ME for my puffin cruise. I arrived a couple hours early. Instead of sitting in a parking lot for hours, I looked for a good spot to go for a walk or eat my lunch. I didn't have to look very hard. Just a half mile up the road was a pull off. On one side of the street was the ocean. On the other was a nature preserve. I went for a 45 minute walk but mostly I saw mosquitoes around my head.

After my walk I sat by the water and ate my lunch. The picture below was my view.

New Harbor

A lobsterman sorting his catch.

The end result

 Puffins are a really cool looking seabird. It so happens that Eastern Egg Rock, a 30 minute boat ride is the most southern breeding colony of Atlantic Puffins in the United States. A Puffin Cruise is like a whale watch, except you go looking for birds. The cruise I took was Hardy Boats. It lasts 90 minutes, leaving roughly 30 minutes to circle the island. It costs thirty dollars.

There are two boats that go to Eastern Egg Island. There is Hardy Boats and also the Monhegan Island Ferry. I chose Hardy because they had a 5:30 pm offering. This way, I had my day to casually go up there.

The Puffin Cruise was awesome. It was the highlight of my two days in Maine. On the way out we saw harbor porpoises. That was a first for me. Besides the puffins, there is another sea bird that breeds and raises young on the rock, Black Guillemots. They are a black bird with a big round white wing patch. They also have bright red legs. They were another life bird, I ended up seeing hundreds of them.

As for the puffins, about 300 nest on the island. Most of them are down in the rocks incubating eggs. Still some were out feeding. I saw about ten puffins. I got great looks of them flying, diving, and loafing. My pictures were disappointing, but the views were spectacular.

Besides the puffins, guillemots, and porpoises, we also saw a couple of seals swimming and two whales. One of the whales was a Minke and it was very close to the boat. The other, I don't know the species, but we watched it exhale through its blowhole twice.

If I could, I'd go on another puffin cruise right now. There was so much to see. It was well worth thirty dollars.

Pictures from the Puffin Cruise below

Unfortunately, this is probably my best puffin picture

Black Guillemots swimming

Black Guillemots on the island