I had some airline miles to burn and was looking at possibilities a month or so ago when I noticed direct flights have started from ILM to Boston's Logan. My brother lives in Portland, ME and its been a couple years since we saw them so I scheduled the trip for a long weekend. Our departure was on the day that Tropical Storm Elsa was hitting but somehow the plane took off and we made it with no delays. Our first day there was a total wash due to Elsa but we connected with family and played some Risk. On Saturday we did more family activities including stand-up paddle boarding around a lighthouse and some mushroom foraging. The latter was unsuccessful in turning up some choice edibles but we did find some things.
No idea on this one...
Wood Ear Mushroom - good in Hot and Sour Soup but we left it.
No idea.... but probably an Aminita.
I think this is the lead morph of the Eastern Red-backed Salamander
Another unknown...
On Sunday we took our big hike in the mountains about 2 hours north of Portland. Old Speck Mountain is Maine's fifth highest peak at only 4160 feet, but it felt a lot higher than our mountains in NC. This is because the alpine zone starts at much lower elevation in Maine. I was targeting 4 lifers that live in that zone and I have dipped on previously. White-winged Crossbill, Bicknell's Thrush, Black-backed Woodpecker and Spruce Grouse. I ended up doing pretty well.
The trail itself was a section of the Appalachian Trail and was pretty challenging with lots of steep steps through dense spruce fir forest so there was not much birding on the way up until the canopy starting opening up into the alpine zone. I did however hear tons of vireos and thrushes singing but the wrong kinds.
As we got about 3 miles into the hike my brother spotted our first Bicknell's.
Bicknell's Thrush - the lack of a reddish tail eliminates Hermit Thrush and the lack of buffy spectacles eliminates Swainson's Thrush. Gray-cheeked are not found in these mountains in July.
Very similar in appearance to Gray-cheeked but maybe a little warmer toned on the cheek. The eye ring is grayish in color.
After this sighting we continued up a little and the dog we had with us flushed a Spruce Grouse before I could get a visual but my brother saw it and said it was real dark like a male Spruce. I hate to count a heard-only bird especially when the sound I heard was the flapping of the wings flying away from me.
At the peak, there was a fire tower and it was beautiful but like the usual idiot I am, I didn't take any scenery pics.
On the way back down I lagged behind the others to get more personal with a Bicknell's that I was hearing call. I recorded the calls and got some nice close-up pics. Recording here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S91639308
As I hiked down to catch up with the crew, I heard a slight tapping and followed it to the source.
Black-backed Woodpecker!!!
Was a shame that my brother was too far ahead on the trail and cell reception was poor so he missed it.
Although Maine is somewhat limited in species diversity, it makes up for it with quality. Can't wait to go back and with the direct flights to Boston it may be sooner than later. Maybe next time to Acadia in the fall to peep some leaves and look for Spruce Grouse and White-winged Crossbill.
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