The Maine Attraction

Today was a fine day with a warm southerly breeze. Michael Good, from  Down East Nature Tours was our bird expert and naturalist for today. He turned up at the inn bright and early and we set off with one other couple, in his six-seater vehicle with appropriate license plate.

Even before we'd left the hotel car park, we heard a mewing which turned out to be the call of a cat bird sitting in a tree just above our heads. We would definitely have mistaken it for a cat but for our guide. Fortunately, we were each provided with a set of binoculars and Michael took us first inland and proved to be the most knowledgeable chap, spotting birds, setting up and focusing his telescope even before we'd begun to look in the right direction!  We went off road and into some lovely woods which have self-seeded since a devastating fire in 1947 which destroyed most of Mount Desert Isle.

This area was full of yellow-bellied warblers darting in and out of the dense undergrowth; impossible to catch on camera. Next we moved on to Mount Desert Isle High School's septic pond which turned out to be an excellent site for all kinds of exotic-sounding birds such as yellow-bellied sapsuckers, as well as blue jays, chickadees and a host of others birds the names of which I've already forgotten.

Next we explored Michael's own 60 hectare 'garden' which was a haven for wildlife such as this garter snake

and many kinds of fungi.

Next stop was at the coast where we spotted loons, sandpipers, gulls of many types and seals.

At another stopping off place we saw great blue herons, but the piece de resistance was the sighting of a bald eagle soaring above us just as we were driving back to our hotel. In all, Michael recorded over forty different species of bird, all of them new to us. It was a thrilling experience - five hours of sheer pleasure thanks to Michael.

After lunch we explored the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, a very modern, airy building given over to exhibitions and information on Maine's Native American heritage. We saw how the Wabanaki people have preserved traditions in exquisite basketry and wood carving (beautiful examples on display in the shop but very expensive to buy and too delicate to bring home in a suitcase anyway).
We finished off the day with haddock and fries at the Thirsty Whale on a busy Saturday night in Bar harbor on Columbus Day holiday weekend.