Lubec Sand Flats

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?

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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.

3:30 am is sooo early!

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.

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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.

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

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

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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.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!