Big Spencer’s listing as reserve will aid birds Black-throated blue warbler, Bicknell’s thrush have home

Our small group sat on the weathered gray deck as the clouds lowered and a strong wind swept tendrils of mist over the mountaintop. The day had started out warm, with the sun shining through a muggy haze. Now our entire world seemed different. I felt as if we were sealed off in this rarified atmosphere, and it was easy to imagine that we were alone on the earth.

Yet, the group’s mood was not at all gloomy or desolate. Rather, it was one of celebration. We sat in circle as our hike leader, Liz Burroughs of the Forest Society of Maine, pulled out two bottles of sparkling cider from her backpack, along with small plastic champagne glasses. We toasted each other and our reason for being there as the clouds surrounded us completely, cutting off all views from our 3, 230 foot elevation.

Big Spencer Mountain, long known for its spectacular views and a familiar landmark in the Moosehead Lake region, had just been purchased through negotiations with Wagner Forest Management by the Maine Department of Conservation. This move was part of a plan to permanently conserve areas surrounding the West Branch of the Penobscot River and the headwaters of the St. John River. The result would protect these areas from development while ensuring public access and continued management of a working forest.

Big Spencer, however, was accorded special status as an ecological reserve through a conservation easement held by the Forest Society of Maine – its slopes would be off-limits to logging. This is because it contains one of the largest tracts of mature hardwood forest in northern Maine, which is vital habitat for bird species such as the black-throated blue warbler. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife considers this bird a high conservation priority because almost 20 percent of the world’s population breeds in this state.

Another unique, and perhaps even more important feature of the mountain is its high-elevation flora. Its summit is covered by thick, stunted balsam fir and black spruce, which provides absolutely crucial habitat for a bird called Bicknell’s thrush.

The populations of this bird are of grave concern to scientists and conservation organizations. It is considered the most at-risk songbird in eastern North America. It is a bird besieged on both its breeding and wintering grounds: in the Northeast, loss of its montane habitat – restricted to begin with – in New York and northern New England, coupled with air-born pollutants, may have contributed to local extinction on certain mountain summits. In the Dominican Republic, their preferred habitat of wet, broadleaf forests has been reduced to less than 10 percent of their former size.

No wonder the bird is in such dire straits.

This is why we were so glad to celebrate the foresight, responsibility, and progressive thinking that had led to Big Spencer’s listing as an ecological reserve. We didn’t see or hear a Bicknell’s thrush on the mountain that day (this bird sings only during the very early morning hours, and we had gotten there too late), but this new venture gave us hope that we would yet have the chance to do so in the future.

Chris Corio, a volunteer at Fields Pond Nature Center in Holden, can be reached at fieldspond@juno.com