A Steller Day!

Sea-Eagle, that is.

Saturday was a bitter cold -14° F (-26° C) with winds blowing 25+ knots. At 12:45 p.m., an intrepid observer observed the Steller’s Sea-Eagle close to where it had been regularly seen close to one year ago (for a chronicle of this bird, see Doug Hitchcox’s Maine Audubon blog posts of 04 April 2022 and 04 February 2023 This is a species of the Asian northeast, with the bulk of its estimated 4,000 birds centered on the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, they are known to infrequently (very infrequently) turn up in Alaska. What the heck it was doing in Maine is anyone’s guess.

Now, I have long struggled with the idea of chasing birds very far, in part because when weighing the choice between a multi-hour car ride to see a rare bird and going hiking, skiing, canoeing, kayaking, or most anything else outdoorsy, for me, the choice is clear. But on Sunday, the day after the sea-eagle was refound, when my dear friends Deb & Ed Hawkes asked whether I might be interested in taking them down to see the bird, there was only one answer. Since the pandemic started, our—Ed & Deb’s and my—interactions have been limited to weekly time in their yard helping with outdoor projects. We have not gone birding together in years and I sorely missed that. Yes, of course I would take them!

Monday, as we were driving, Deb was checking social media to track the status of the bird. It was seen that morning from the Arrowsic bridge. So far so good.

Two and a half hours after leaving Bar Harbor, we arrived at the Route 127 bridge over the Back River. Both sides of the road were lined with parked cars and there must have been 60 people on the bridge, all sporting some combination of binoculars, spotting scopes, and cameras with limb-length lenses. We quickly learned the bird had flown around the bend to the north an hour before.

While standing there, hoping the sea-eagle might opt to fly back south, a car slowly drove by, the passenger-side window open with someone leaning out who said, “The bird is at Flying Point.” And we were off!

Flying Point Road takes you to Flying Point Preserve, owned by The Nature Conservancy. We walked in, across a causeway through a tidal wetland where seven Eastern Bluebirds were hanging out in a bunch of old snags. At the first intersection, we took the trail heading west toward Lookout Point. Someone walking out told us, “At the top of the hill, look for a trampled out clearing, then follow the herd path to the shore.

As soon as we approached, easily 30 people were milling about, everyone trained on a specific spot on the far side of Back River. With binoculars, a large bird, clearly an eagle, was only just visible. But the telltale white shoulders and tail jumped out, screaming STELLER’S SEA-EAGLE! And to really put its size into perspective, a very cooperative juvenile Bald Eagle was on a branch about 3 feet (1 meter) away—the Steller’s is easily 30% bigger than the Bald. Over the course of the next two hours, Ed, Deb, and I took turns watching this amazing bird, helping people find it, and sharing our spotting scopes with newcomers.

There were so many wonderful facets to the day, in addition to seeing this mega-rarity. Reconnecting with dear friends in a way that only comes with spending time together. The camaraderie among the birders was wonderful, everyone friendly, helpful, curious, all smiles. Getting to explore a new place was inspiring; specifically, I now want to seek out more land trust preserves in areas I have not yet visited. And on the drive home, we had a glorious sunset.