Southern New England Outdoor and Nature Site: Brownfield Bog and Pondicherry

Brownfield Bog

Some of the things on my bucket list aren't very hard. Some of them require nothing more than driving in a direction I don't normally drive. Such is the case of Brownfield Bog in Maine. This place has been on my to do list for a few years. I don't know how or when I read about it, but I have wanted to explore it for a while. Brownfield Bog is a great place to see many of the nesting birds that migrate through RI/MA in May. In fact all four vireos can be seen right from the parking area. Wilson's Snipe also breeds there. When I did my research earlier in the week, I was pleasantly surprised to find out it is only three hours and fifteen minutes from my house.

I set my alarm for 3 am Thursday morning and when it went off I actually got up and made the drive to Maine. I reached the parking area at 6:40. Brownfield Bog is a Wildlife Management Area. There aren't a lot of trails. There is one main trail (a dirt road) that goes through multiple marshes and intermittent woods for a few miles. There is another much shorter path that leads to the Saco River. I followed both, though did not complete the one that goes along the river. The area is beautiful. Any time the trail opened up to marshes the backdrop behind it was rolling hills. I saw many species of birds on my hike. To make a long post somewhat shorter (most of this post will be about Pondicherry) I saw or heard thirty five species. I did not get the one I most wanted, Yellow Throated Warbler, however I did see some other nice birds. The species I was most pleased with were Least Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, and a great view of a Yellow Billed Cuckoo.

All in all, Brownfield Bog lived up to the hype I had given it. It was a bit buggy, but it is a swamp in June, so that is to be expected. I'm sure I would have a higher species count if I knew more warbler songs. That is something I am going to work on much harder. I am quite sure I will make the pilgrimage there again next year or the year after.

In Between time

My plan for my two days was to go to Brownfield Bog Thursday morning and work my way to the White Mountains in NH after that. I hoped to find a campsite by noon or 1 pm then go for an afternoon hike. Friday morning I would bird Pondicherry. However, I knew there was a pretty good chance I'd be really tired and might need a nap. After my morning birding I headed north. I knew of some free campsites and if I was tired, find one and take a nap. Well, I was tired so I pulled into a vacant site. I only slept for an hour before moving on. Between birding an hour longer than I expected, napping, and grossly under estimating the distance to the mountains I didn't have my tent set up until well past 3:30. At that point, there wasn't any short hikes I felt were worth driving to. So I decided I'd go for an afternoon walk at Pondicherry. I was still planning on going Friday morning anyway.

Pondicherry Friday Afternoon

Since birding is much better in the morning than afternoon, I really wasn't expecting much. I know Alder Flycatchers are a common breeding bird so if I heard one, that would be enough. Sometimes Lady Luck deserts you and sometimes she is on your shoulder making all of the right decisions. Friday afternoon she was on my shoulder and very generous sharing her luck with me. Pondicherry was so amazing, the best way to describe it is to write about it in sequential order.

As I was driving to the parking area down Airport Rd out of the woods comes a MOOSE! It stood in the middle of the road while I was about fifty yards away. My big lens is in the shop so I had to make due with my 70-300 mm. The moose did not move while I was taking photos of it. Then I drove closer and it did decide to walk across the road. The way I looked at it, no matter what, going to Pondicherry was already worth it and I wasn't even parked yet!

To reach the Cherry Ponds (Big and Little) you walk down a 1.5 mile access road. It is a wide gravel bike path that is almost completely flat. While I was walking down the road I came upon two butterflies I didn't recognize and tried to get some photos so I could ID them later. I found it rather amazing that in nature one minute you can be looking at megafauna like a moose, the next you hope a delicate butterfly stays still long enough for an ID photo.

White Admiral

Aphrodite Fritillary Butterfly

Once I got to the ponds I went to Little Cherry first, birding along the way. I took the path off of the railroad track to the pond. While I was walking down the path I flushed a Ruffed Grouse. Pondicherry is a very reliable spot to see Grouse, but they are still by no means easy.

Continuing down the trail I heard a woodpecker banging. I looked up and found a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker climbing a dead snag. I watched it for a minute and it flew to a snag out my sightline. Then I heard another close tapping. I assumed it was the Sapsucker's mate. To my unbelievably happy surprise it was a Black Backed Woodpecker! This woodpecker is usually seen at very high elevations. However, they may be present in swampy areas. Though my photos suck I got to watch this bird for a solid five minutes. This was easily the best bird I saw on my little getaway.

Bad photo of a Black Backed Woodpecker

After I left the Black Backed Woodpecker I went to Little Cherry Pond I didn't see much there except a duck too far away to ID. The trail to the pond is a loop. I decided to go back the way I came in case the Black Backed was still around. As I was walking back, I saw this very big bird glide through the woods and land out of sight in front of me. I knew it could be a Pileated Woodpecker. As I edged closer, I could see that it was a Pileated! It was on a cut stump about four feet off the ground. It was climbing and banging on the wood. My view was partially obstructed by some leaves of a nearby bush. This actually worked out for me because the woodpecker couldn't see me. Although the leaves made it impossible for a good photo, like the Black Backed, I got to watch the Pileated for a solid five minutes.

The head of the Pileated Woodpecker

As if that weren't enough to watch a Pileated Woodpecker feed, as I was getting closer to it, I flushed another Ruffed Grouse. This one was only a couple feet from me when it flushed.

After I came out of the woods I crossed the tracks and walked along big Cherry Pond (I don't think Big is part of the name so I didn't capitalize it). While walking along the water's edge a Red Squirrel climbed a branch on a spruce about three feet over my head and started scolding me. Now, if you spend enough time in pine woods you're going to see Red Squirrels, it's not as exciting as say a Moose or Black Backed Woodpecker. However, this guy just went at me forever exclaiming his displeasure from three feet from my face. I took some photo upgrades and moved on.

Though, I didn't go far. I scanned the pond and saw a Common Loon and two babies trailing behind her. I don't remember the last time I saw baby loons if ever. I watched them for a few. Later on, I also heard the loon call. God I love that sound!

Wait, there's more! The path along the pond is short, maybe five minutes not including watching the squirrel and loon. When I came out of the woods I was back on the railroad track. I always scan up and down the track with my bins ever since I saw the bear last year. As I looked down the track, about 120 yards ahead of me was a black moving blob. When I focused I could see it was a porcupine! Now, I'm not faster than most animals but I knew I could probably get close enough for decent photos. So I walked quickly up the wooden supports. I got to within 30 yards and stopped to look at the porcupine. To my surprise it wasn't walking away from me but towards me! I slowed down and got to within 20 yards, got on my knee, and started taking photos. I'll say this, sloths got nothing on a porcupine. This animal was moving so slowly I had time to play with my settings. It was walking right down the middle of the track towards me.

It walked straight at me

He kept coming totally oblivious that I was in front of it. Finally it got to within eight feet of me and I thought if I don't get out of the way and it realizes I'm there, I could be in a world of hurt. So I stood up and backed off, and that is when it finally saw me! It walked off the tracks just far enough to go around me and walked back on the tracks. Since I had to pass it to get back to me car, it finally moved into the woods where I felt it was safer anyway. The tracks do have active trains.

Uncropped, small lens

Not wanting to go back to my car because I knew how special this afternoon was I went to the observation deck. It was covered in dragonflies. While I was sitting there an Alder Flycatcher started singing its song "free beer". I just smiled.

I finally left and went back to my car. I drove back to my campsite. You're not going to believe this but only a couple hundred yards from my tent I had to stop because a bear cub was in the road! Yes, after all I had seen, my day ended with seeing a bear.

Despite knowing there was a mother bear and her baby within a five minute walk of where I was sleeping, I fell asleep before it was dark. I did wake up multiple times though. I brought my summer sleeping bag and it got cold. When I finally got out of my bag at 6:30, my car thermometer said it was 40 degrees. I know it was colder than that during the night because I was warmer in my bag at 6:30 than I had been when I woke up at 4 am. So I'm sure it was in the thirties!

I did go back to Pondicherry this morning. It was not nearly as good. I didn't see any of the woodpeckers, grouse, or loon. The best thing I had were three singing Alder Flycatchers. I saw one of them. I left for home around noon time. As I was driving past the exit for Rt 132 in the Lakes Region I saw some little birds chasing a big bird. When I got a closer look I thought" that is a really big bird, it might be an eagle". Then it extended its wings to glide the way eagles do and I was pretty sure it was an eagle. Lastly it turned in the sunlight and I saw its white tail and white head. And I just laughed because, it couldn't have been a better way to end my trip.

More photos below of other cool things