WHITING – There are no motel or fast-food chains or even traffic lights in the Cobscook Bay area of Washington County, but woods, water and more than 200 species of birds are plentiful. More than 50 visitors from out of state found that out over the weekend.

The second Down East Birding Festival drew 85 birders to Whiting, the headquarters and focal point for the event, all but 30 from New Brunswick and 15 states beyond Maine. The festival featured several dozen hikes and talks from Campobello to Calais to Topsfield.

The four-day festival continues through today, but its impact on the local economy will linger. Birders have found accommodations from Machias to Calais and are spending money on food and gasoline as well.

“Last year the birders spent more than $30,000 over the weekend,” said Michael McCabe, a Whiting resident and the festival’s main organizer. “We expect to beat that this year.”

Event planners may keep an eye on those economic figures, but the one calculation that the birders themselves care most about is how many species they tally, as a group and as individuals.

One experienced birder from Arlington, Va., Philip George, was able to add seven birds to his lifetime list just on Saturday.

Birding has become big business as a recreational activity across the country. The American Birding Association lists about 350 birding events nationwide each year.

At last year’s first Down East festival, birders spotted 151 different species. By 2 p.m. this Sunday, the unofficial count for species spotted stood at 120.

“We are short a couple of warblers that we had last year, and we have no owls yet,” McCabe reported, “but the evening hike is tonight [Sunday].”

A complex schedule had events starting at 6 a.m. and lasting through darkness, with birders offered the choice of dozens of walks and talks.

Destinations included Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec, Shackford Head State Park in Eastport, Cobscook Bay State Park in Edmunds, and MoosehornNational Wildlife Refuge in Baring.

Two dozen birding experts and enthusiasts served as volunteer guides.

Gayle Kraus, a professor of marine ecology at the University of Maine at Machias, led a walk among tidal pools Sunday morning at Quoddy Head State Park.

Kraus’ group was in search of shorebirds – common loons, common eiders, common goldeneyes, buffleheads, black guillemots and a range of gulls. All wearing colorful rain gear, the birders followed her as she led them among seaweed-slicked rocks without sliding.

Kraus instructed them to pretend they were shorebirds looking for their breakfast. They used tweezers and plastic containers to pick through tidal pools.

Back at the Whiting municipal building, which was set up for slide presentations and for mingling, McCabe was pleased with the mix of registrants. Twenty were repeats from last year. McCabe reads that as an indication that participants are returning, but more significantly that “we have spread the word around enough to gather new people.”

Two of the festival’s first-timers were Bill and April Mullins of Nashville, Tenn.

The Mullins had enjoyed a week in Eastport last summer and placed their names on the Quoddy Regional Land Trust mailing list, through which they learned about the birding festival and other Cobscook Bay-area events.

For more information, visit the festival’s Web site at www.downeastbirdfest.org.