Acadia Birding Festival

June 3 

Day 2 was the beginning of more local trips, within about an hour’s drive of Acadia National Park. My co-leader and I carpooled together to Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge. Driving through some open fields lined with scrub on the way, I picked up my year Bobolinks at 60 mph. I eBirded an incidental checklist for that spot, and made a mental note to try to get a photo or video of these guys at some point in the coming days. Repping Swarovski, I unloaded my binoculars, scope, and three extra pairs of binoculars for participants to use.
Bobolink a few days later near Portland. 

We had a great walk, with Common Eiders also new for the year. Once we finished the walk, I gifted all the participants Birdie alarms  and explained my project. (If you'd like to purchase for yourself, follow this link: https://bit.ly/3khhTt4, and use code TIFFANYKERSTEN10 for 10% off - 10% of the sales also goes toward funding my project!) The women have been really receptive to my project and it’s been really rewarding to have these conversations with women and to feel like I’m making a difference. 

After finishing the guided walk, I headed over to Ship Harbor Trail within Acadia National Park, in search of a possible late Purple Sandpiper. No Purple Sandpiper, but I did hear a thinly-sounded Bay-breasted Warbler singing, which was new for the year. I’d taken off out of Texas just before some of the later migrants came through, and I’m also still needing Canada Warbler. 

June 4

No new year birds on the morning walk at Sears Island, but I did walk Blagden Preserve in Bar Harbor, successfully finding (in typical flyover fashion) a few Red Crossbills that were reported there the day before. It’s important to know the flight call of this species in order to find it - a rich double chip note. I had barely made it 100 yards into the preserve when they flew over, and it sure was a beautiful space. Now what? Go back to the hotel and take a break? Keep walking? Although I was still not recovered from getting in at 2 am and the few hours of sleep I got before the Bicknell’s trip the first night, the walk was too beautiful to pass up. I found myself in literal tears over how beautiful it was - watch for another blog post in the near future outlining my revelations with this. 

Blagden Preserve, Mount Desert Island, Maine

June 5 

Today was the day so many guides and participants were waiting for: the pelagic trip with over 100 participants on board! We would head over to Petit Manan Island as well as several other neighboring islands in search of Razorbills, Atlantic Puffins, and more! Arctic Tern was new for the year, and after checking a few islands, we were able to scrounge up a few Great Cormorants as well! I’d hoped to happen upon a Roseate Tern on this trip, but there weren’t any, so I would have to plan for my backup with that at Scarborough Marsh when I go to look for Little Egret on my way to Boston in a few days. 

After the boat trip, several guides gathered for brunch. Lobster Benedict yes please! My year has been a bit bipolar - most times spending very, very carefully, with a handful of Swarovski trips thrown in, where my meals are covered. These Maine guides are characters! Bill told a story about driving in a snowstorm and watching two snowshoe hares hop side by side down the street in front of him - until he suddenly realized it was the back two feet of a moose! The hilarious stories kept coming from all sides of the table. I realized how isolated I’ve felt over the past year, living alone and dodging covid. The company and camaraderie of this week has felt great. 

In the afternoon, I co-led a trip to Otter Cliffs, where we had a very quiet afternoon walk with only 17 species. Yikes! 

Evening plans included another social meal in Bar Harbor. What a strange world it feels, to finally be vaccinated and have life start feeing a bit more normal again! 

June 6 

The final day of the festival, and no new year birds for me today. I co-led a field trip to a place called Pretty Marsh, within Acadia National Park in the morning, and to Otter Cliff again in the afternoon. I gifted Birdie alarms to all the women in my group at the end. 

I’d made plans with new friend and Portland birder Doug to look for the Little Egrets that have been hanging around the Portland area for several years now. I set at 3:15 alarm for my final night in Acadia National Park. (I highly recommend the Seawall Motel if you’re planning a visit!) I’d drive the 3.5 hours first thing and meet him at 7 am to try for Roseate Tern, Saltmarsh Sparrow, and Little Egret. 

The final count of alarms gifted during the festival was 19. I’d one left to carry for myself the rest of my travels these coming weeks, and I’d wished I had brought more with. I’ve now given away 60 alarms for the year - with 70 at home remaining to be gifted! 

June 7

Up well before the sun, I drove down to Scarborough to meet Doug. Our 7:00 am meeting spot was supposed to near-guarantee Roseate Tern, but none were to be found. We headed over to look for Little Egret at Scarborough Marsh and found Saltmarsh Sparrow flying through out scopes, but no Little Egret. Then we tried for the Little Egret up closer to Portland, also with no success. At this point, Doug needed to leave for work. 

Recognizing I wouldn’t make it to the airport on time, I changed my flight from today to tomorrow, and from Denver as a destination, to Seattle. The Yellow Grosbeak was gone from Colorado, which had been my main reason for going there. 

I headed south about 45 minutes for yet a third Little Egret that had been seen there recently. Nothing there either, so I headed to look for Roseate Tern again at the Pine Point spot in early evening. After sifting though the dozen terns there, I’d only found Common and Least. Finally, a Roseate Tern flew in, landed on a sand spit for a few minutes, and then wasn’t seen again. 

Next back to Scarborough to check those sites again. Scoping white birds distantly against a dark marsh with the sun lowering, I finally came upon a bird with two distinctively long white plumes!!!! Only the head of the bird was showing when I first located it in my scope. Over the next minute or so, it walked over and out from behind a bank in the marsh. Nooooo…the bird was speckled with blue, making it the assumed Little Egret x Tricolored Heron that’s been present for a few years now. 

In the evening, Doug and I went to go look for Northern Saw-whet Owls at a location outside of Portland where an adult and a fledgling had been banded recently. We walked around a natural area with lots of long grass- tick haven for sure. We heard some calling in the woods, and saw a silhouette in the dark against a slice of light from the moon. We both gathered together, and shined a light on the bird. I gasped almost audibly. I'd forgotten that the juveniles look like some crazy rare owl from the tropics! Saw-whet is a bird I've never seen, and only heard, and I was definitely not expecting my very first experience to be seeing a juvenile! 

Juvenile Saw-whet Owl near Portland, Maine 

June 8 

Doug and his wife Alex were gracious enough to host me for the night at their place, and my plan for the morning was to try all the Scarborough Marsh spots, while Doug tried the Portland spots before beginning work for the day. Neither of us had any luck, and around noon I headed to Revere Beach in Boston, where several Manx Shearwaters mysteriously hang out at the beach and sometimes fly over the beach homes. 

I got to Revere Beach and parked along the beachfront, scoping for about 30 minutes. Just as I  was about to accept defeat (it sure had been a rough couple of days!), I saw some low-to-the-water seabirds flying in from very distantly over the ocean. I  drove further south down the beach, popped out of the car, threw up my bins, and there they were, eight of them just hanging out together on the water near to the beach, full of people on the first summer weekend. So strange! 

I drove the 20 minutes to the Boston airport, and flew in to Seattle, where I would be meeting my friend Christian. 

Year List: 629