Quit reading this. Grab your binoculars, and get outside. We’ve arrived at peak bird-finding season. Here are my top three places to go in the immediate Bangor area.
Rolland F. Perry City Forest is the official name for Bangor City Forest. If I could bird only one place in the area, it would be here. This is why.
The forest is managed for tree diversity in both species and age. There are so many different trees at various heights that habitat is plentiful for every woodland bird. In fact, if I stand near the outhouse, I can identify a dozen warblers within 20 minutes.
The road is easy to walk on. It’s wide enough to create a sunny edge. Sunny woodland edges favor insect life.
They are the first to warm up on a cool morning, making bugs most active when birds are the hungriest. The trees are sparse enough along the road that it’s relatively easy to spot birds in the foliage. Side trails provide access to birds that prefer denser foliage.
The Orono Bog Boardwalk offers an entirely different habitat within the forest. Palm warblers and Lincoln’s sparrows are bog specialists. They can be tough species to find, since most bogs are difficult to walk through. This boardwalk is as good as it gets.
There are two entrances to the forest. I usually park in the Tripp Lane lot off Stillwater Avenue, close to the bog boardwalk.
But the entrance at the end of Kittridge Road is also enticing. It passes an old, capped landfill that is home to nesting bobolinks and savannah sparrows. Along the powerline corridor, look and listen for indigo buntings.
Essex Woods is my second favorite birding spot in Bangor. It’s the wetland you see from I-95, below the hill used for sledding in winter. Enter from Watchmaker Street off Essex Street, or Drew Lane off Stillwater Avenue.
The walking path around the wetland is awesome for birding. It’s also popular for strolling, jogging and biking. Because people never leave the path, birds and other wildlife get accustomed to the activity and lose their fear of humans.
Ducks get so tame, mama mallards bring their chicks out to meet children, hoping for a snack. Song sparrows, yellow warblers and gray catbirds barely budge as people walk by. Warbling vireos and Baltimore orioles are active in the treetops, taking little notice of folks on the path.
Other birds here are naturally unafraid of people. Up to four species of swallows forage over the water, including a swarm of tree swallows that nest in old woodpecker holes. Eastern kingbirds and belted kingfishers are fearless and noisy.
Highway noise is about the only downside of birding Essex Woods. I-95 passes right by. It’s a little quieter on the west side of the marsh, where the path enters woods. You’ll find more warbler species here.
Listen for a veery to call or sing. These thrushes have a little commune back there. Least flycatchers and eastern wood-pewees call, too. I’ve even heard ruffed grouse drumming.
Rounding out my top three: Caribou Bog Conservation Area in Orono. From Forest Avenue, turn onto Taylor Road and park near the Orono landfill.
In the 1970s, wetlands were altered to create three ponds for the commercial production of bait fish. The Taylor Bait Farm eventually closed, but the name remained until the area was acquired by the Orono Land Trust.
It was always good for birding, and I’ve been going there for years. It’s now extraordinary, thanks to land trust efforts to reclaim the wetlands and improve the paths.
The main trail is an old railroad bed, so it runs straight as an arrow through the refuge, exposing a mile of adjacent trees to the bug-friendly warmth of sunrise.
I visited at daybreak a week ago, and the cacophony of bird song was deafening. Some of the birds are best located by sound, especially black-throated blue warblers, northern waterthrushes and scarlet tanagers.
After the bait farm closed, water levels in the ponds fluctuated wildly. Reclamation has now stabilized the levels, making the ponds more consistently attractive to waterfowl.
Ducks and geese see a lot of people walking by, so they’ve become used to having company, lingering in view.
These and other locations are part of Penobscot Valley Audubon’s Neighborhood Bird Walks. In last week’s column, I listed the start times for walks as 7:30 a.m. Wrong. They run from 7 to 8:30 a.m. My bad. Get the schedule at pvc.maineaudubon.org.
