Downeast Audubon Birdathon

Twenty-six May came way too early! As part of my zero-carbon little big year, I set out to once again do the Downeast Audubon Birdathon by bicycle. Headlight and taillight fully charged, fresh batteries in my headlamp, I saddled up and left my house at 1:30 a.m.

So what is the Downeast Audubon Birdathon? This is the Downeast Chapter of Maine Audubon’s signature event. Each year (this was my 17th), they field teams to spend a long—very LONG—day of birding, all in the interest of raising money to send local, Hancock County (Maine) youths to summer camp (it is NEVER too late to send in a donation…). This year was my 17th to participate in the event. Usually I field a team of birding friends, but last year with the pandemic, and again this year, I did it by bicycle. 

For the first few hours, my aural accompaniment was a chorus of Spring Peepers, Green Frogs, and a solitary Wood Frog. I pedaled to Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s Kittredge Brook Preserve, then walked my trusty steed the 1½ miles along the trail from Pine Heath Road to Mount Desert Island High School with nary a bird.

My first bird came at 3:00 a.m. when an Ovenbird belted out one iteration of its distinctive “teacher Teacher TEACHER” song.

4:13 a.m. Birds trickled in until I reached Acadia National Park’s Great Meadow. There, in the half hour before the sun crested the horizon, I was greeted to a medley of avian music. An American Bittern was thunder-pumping it’s bass “oonk-a-choonk.” There was the “peent” of an American Woodcock. The wind moving over the tail feathers of a Wilson’s Snipe in a step aerial dive was making a mysterious “hu-hu-hu-hu” sound, a sound recognizable from scary scenes in movie sound-tracks. “Kiddick kiddick kiddick” was the Virginia Rail calling. A large, bat-like Common Nighthawk was swooping for insects above the wetland. And the raspy call of a Marsh Wren was unexpected as they are relatively uncommon on MDI. Current tally: 14 species so far.

6:11 a.m. Highlights from an hour and a half birding at Acadia National Park’s Sieur de Monts Spring included juvenile Barred Owls begging to be fed; the raspy, robin-like song of a Scarlet Tanager; the lyrical song of a Baltimore Oriole; 4 species of flycatcher; and 12 of warblers. The day’s list now stands at 55 species!

7:08 a.m. The pair of Peregrine Falcons were vocal and active at Acadia National Park’s Precipice (species #61) while an American Bittern is calling out “oonk-a-choonk” from the nearby Schooner Head wetlands. A Black-billed Cuckoo repetitively calling “cu-cu-cu-cu” was species #62. And I was buzzed by a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (#63).

8:25 a.m. I sat down at Acadia National Park’s Otter Cliffs for a 30-minute seawatch. Looking through my spotting scope, a distant Atlantic Puffin was identifiable as a sort of flying football with white cheeks! (I would have missed it if not for my spotting scope.) Species #68!

9:25 a.m. I left Acadia National Park and headed to Bar Harbor for all those urban birds (think European Starling, House Sparrow, Rock Pigeon, and House Finch). Current tally: 71.

12:00 noon. I lost time in Bar Harbor: my new bike got a flat tire and I didn’t have the 5mm Allen wrench to remove the wheel. So, I walked to the good folks at Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop. In no time, I was back on the road (thanks Joe and Adam!). Meanwhile, I scored all the town birds I hoped for. Current tally: 88 species.

2:50 p.m. I picked up Bobolink, Savannah Sparrow, Tree Swallow, and Barn Swallow at College of the Atlantic’s Peggy Rockefeller Farm. Tally stands at 95 species.

5:00 p.m. I don’t know why (I write facetiously), but I was exhausted! Heading north, the pace of finding new species was down to a trickle. On the left was Knox Road. My road! The siren song of my couch was too tempting to resist, so home I went, unloaded my bike, stretched out, and was down for the count.

This morning, as I finalized my tally, I realized I broke 100 species! 47 miles and 14 hours, 101 was the magical number!!! And more importantly, I have raised over $1,500! (Remember: It is NEVER too late to send in a donation….)

In case you are interested in which species I observed, here is the list in taxonomic order:

1.     Canada Goose

2.     Wood Duck

3.     Mallard

4.     American Black Duck

5.     Common Eider

6.     Wild Turkey

7.     Rock Pigeon

8.     Mourning Dove

9.     Black-billed Cuckoo

10.  Common Nighthawk

11.  Chimney Swift

12.  Ruby-throated Hummingbird

13.  Virginia Rail

14.  Sora

15.  Black-bellied Plover

16.  American Woodcock

17.  Wilson’s Snipe

18.  Spotted Sandpiper

19.  Black Guillemot

20.  Atlantic Puffin

21.  Bonaparte’s Gull

22.  Laughing Gull

23.  Herring Gull

24.  Great Black-backed Gull

25.  Common Loon

26.  Northern Gannet

27.  Double-crested Cormorant

28.  American Bittern

29.  Green Heron

30.  Turkey Vulture

31.  Osprey

32.  Bald Eagle

33.  Broad-winged Hawk

34.  Barred Owl

35.  Belted Kingfisher

36.  Red-bellied Woodpecker

37.  Downy Woodpecker

38.  Hairy Woodpecker

39.  Pileated Woodpecker

40.  Northern Flicker

41.  Peregrine Falcon

42.  Eastern Wood-Pewee

43.  Alder Flycatcher

44.  Least Flycatcher

45.  Eastern Phoebe

46.  Great Crested Flycatcher

47.  Blue-headed Vireo

48.  Red-eyed Vireo

49.  Blue Jay

50.  American Crow

51.  Common Raven

52.  Black-capped Chickadee

53.  Tree Swallow

54.  Barn Swallow

55.  Golden-crowned Kinglet

56.  Red-breasted Nuthatch

57.  White-breasted Nuthatch

58.  Winter Wren

59.  Marsh Wren

60.  European Starling

61.  Gray Catbird

62.  Swainson’s Thrush

63.  Hermit Thrush

64.  American Robin

65.  Cedar Waxwing

66.  House Sparrow

67.  House Finch

68.  Purple Finch

69.  American Goldfinch

70.  Chipping Sparrow

71.  Field Sparrow

72.  Dark-eyed Junco

73.  White-throated Sparrow

74.  Savannah Sparrow

75.  Song Sparrow

76.  Lincoln’s Sparrow

77.  Swamp Sparrow

78.  Bobolink

79.  Baltimore Oriole

80.  Red-winged Blackbird

81.  Brown-headed Cowbird

82.  Common Grackle

83.  Ovenbird

84.  Northern Waterthrush

85.  Black-and-white Warbler

86.  Tennessee Warbler

87.  Common Yellowthroat

88.  American Redstart

89.  Cape May Warbler

90.  Northern Parula

91.  Magnolia Warbler

92.  Blackburnian Warbler

93.  Yellow Warbler

94.  Chestnut-sided Warbler

95.  Blackpoll Warbler

96.  Black-throated Blue Warbler

97.  Pine Warbler

98.  Yellow-rumped Warbler

99.  Black-throated Green Warbler

100. Scarlet Tanager

101. Northern Cardinal