Quoddy Head State Park

Posted on July 26, 2016July 26, 2016 by Dusty Roads

A short drive from Lubec and we arrived at Quoddy Head State Park.

Quoddy head

Once again everyone was excited about the birds. I was out of step as I was excited about the landscapes. This is truly spectacular Maine Coast country, a real example of “Down East”.

Maine Coast

Right off the parking area was a trail that followed along the cliff tops before jogging into a peat marsh.

A Walk In The Woods

The birders were stopping along the trail to listen to bird calls and look for birds. I was busy trying to capture the essence of the place.

The Birders

The peat marsh was open space with a boardwalk. There were lots of little signs along the boardwalk describing the plants and flowers. There were lots of pitcher plants but that was bout the extent of my flora knowledge.

Pitcher Plant

Still it was pretty in a stark kind of way. The sky was still overcast so the light was soft, no shadows.

Peat Marsh

After our hike we rendezvoused back at the parking area for a picnic lunch.

Quoddy head Light

We wrapped up with a brief visit to the light house. Quoddy Head is the eastern-most point in the US, the first place the rising sun can be seen on US soil.

Lubec Sand Flats

Posted on July 23, 2016July 23, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Day 2 of the great Audubon adventure and the first full day of birding.

Breakfast was at 6 am. Better than 3:30 but still not my normal wake up time.

We all piled in the 2 vans for the short drive to the Lubec Sand Flats. The weather was overcast and threatening to rain. It made me glad I’d decided to buy some rain gear at Bass Pro Shops for this trip.

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It was low tide when we arrived and the clam diggers were already at work. They drive right out to the water’s edge. A Bald Eagle perched on a rock . The clammers drove right past the big bird but it didn’t seem to phase him. Maybe this is a routine?

light house copy

No one from our group seemed excited about the eagle except me. I love bald eagles. What had my fellow team members excited were all the little birds. Right off we saw swallows. The guides identified tree swallows, cliff swallows and barn swallows.

This is just one shot of the trees where the birds were flying around. I count 6 birds. Do you? I’m beginning to see this birding thing can be quite challenging. Not quite like sitting in the backyard and counting blue jays.

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After taking our time watching the swallows we walked across the sand flat to a swale. There was a little puddle and lots of bushes. We spent quite a bit of time there watching little sparrows and other little birds flit about. The birders had spotting scopes so when one would sit long enough we’d all take turns getting a look.

Shortly before we left to pile back in the vans someone spotted a black duck. Can you see it? That was my view.

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The enlargement below is the actual duck.

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Next Stop, Quoddy Head State park.

New Posts are Coming!

Posted on July 23, 2016July 23, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Sorry I’ve been so lazy. The busier it gets at work the less time I want to spend on the computer during my “off hours”. Not only that but I’m finding that instead of rush , rush, rush to do things and find things to write about, there is something to be said for enjoying the slow lane.

It’s amazing how tired I get this time of year. The mental work is as exhausting as running a mile! Last Saturday I had all these big plans and instead slept all day! Oops!

Well enough said. I’m feeling more energized today so I’m going to work on catching up on some posts for you. You still need to see the Puffins!

3:30 am is sooo early!

Posted on July 11, 2016July 11, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Thursday morning it was time to rock and roll. Get out of bed, get moving. It was time to head to Marshfield MA where I would meet up with the Audubon Society for a tour of Maine’s Peatlands culminating in the PUFFINS of Machias Seal Island!

By 5 AM we were loaded into the Audubon van and headed to Ipswich River Sanctuary where we hooked up with another van. Altogether there were two leaders, Scott and Sue and 12 participants.

For the most part these are hard core Birders so I was about to be introduced to a whole new way of looking at birds. We were still on the road at lunchtime so when a Subway came up we pulled in and made the clerk’s day. The poor girl was faced with 14 hungry travelers and she was working all alone.

After lunch we all piled back into the vans and soon we were entering blueberry country. Our Birding stop was the Blueberry Barrens.

Blueberry bush

The birders were looking for Upland Sandpiper, Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow to name just a few species.

UplandSandpiperOntarioCropped

We traveled on another long dirt road. It made me think of the time Sandy and I got twisted around on an Indian Reservation. We called it the “Longest dirt road in the world”. This one was a close 2nd.

Maine Dirt Road

The scenery was beautiful. The day had turned cool and damp and eventually it started to rain.

Maine

We stopped to check out a marsh with a beaver dam. The birders used powerful spotting scopes and saw all kinds of birds.

Beaver lodge

We finally arrived at our home away from home at about 5 pm. For the next 4 days we’d be staying at the Machias River Inn.

Dinner was at 6:30 at Helen’s Restaurant and then we wrapped up our day. We’d be up bright and early the next day. Breakfast was at 6 am!

Orca!

Posted on July 6, 2016July 6, 2016 by Dusty Roads

My neighbors and I were discussing my whale watch adventure and one of them kept asking if I saw any pretty black and white whales. I said not, Orca’s don’t come down to our coast.

That night on the news the headline was ORCA SIGHTING OFF CHATHAM, CAPE COD!

Orca