Acadian Paradise

If you should ever make a trip to New England, be sure to visit the Acadia National Park. This is where we spent the whole day today, and it is truly beautiful.
We might have availed ourselves of the two bicycles on offer at Ullikana Inn for the sole use of Inntravel customers, but most of you reading this blog will know that in the past, bicycles and I haven't had a very harmonious relationship. So.... we opted for the Island Explorer bus which drops off and picks up from various hiking places around the island.
Our first stop was Jordan Pond. We walked the three mile circuit and were swept away by the rugged beauty of the place. The photos speak for themselves.

We didn't actually see any beavers but we saw evidence of them

Later we hopped on the bus again and travelled to North East Harbor (which is actually in the south west of the island!). In the quiet harbour we saw luxurious yachts belonging to the rich and famous as well as smaller fishing boats. It was all very peaceful and relaxing. After a stroll down the main street we caught the bus once more this time heading for the wild gardens of Acadia. Not at their best at this time of year but interesting for one or two species

By this time  it was late afternoon and it was getting cold and darker so we didn't have time to explore any further on foot. We boarded the bus for one last time and took the loop road which showed us all the wonderful sights such as Sand Beach and Thunder Hole that we'll have to return to one day. At one point a couple of white tailed deer stood by the roadside and watched unconcernedly as the bus drove by.
The log fire in the lounge of Ullikana was very welcome when we got back around 5.30pm. (sunset is about 6 o'clock.). We've discovered that the hotel will be closing in two weeks for the winter and will re-open again in April. Lucky for us we made it before then.

For any birders reading this blog here is a full list of identified species, confirmed by our ornithologist buddy

Summary Oct 6 Number of Species 42 Number of Individuals 907 Number of Checklists 7 Total Number of Birds   (sample size) Species Name Oct 6 Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 2 (1) Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 15 (1) American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) (Anas rubripes x platyrhynchos) 1 (1) Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 5 (1) Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) 250 (1) Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) 1 (1) Common Loon (Gavia immer) 6 (2) Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) 3 (2) Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 6 (1) Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1 (1) Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 1 (1) Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 2 (2) Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1 (1) Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 11 (1) Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) 21 (1) Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 10 (2) Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 267 (5) Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 1 (1) Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle) 1 (1) Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 1 (1) Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 3 (2) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 3 (1) Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) 1 (1) Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 6 (2) Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 8 (3) American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 16 (4) Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 5 (1) Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) 1 (1) Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) 1 (1) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 1 (1) American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 4 (3) Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 1 (1) European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 40 (1) Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 4 (2) Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) 3 (1) Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 59 (3) Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 4 (1) Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 5 (1) Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 109 (5) Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) 2 (1) White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 20 (1) American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 5 (1)