Third Down East Birding fest set for Cobscook Bay in May

Birders in Maine won’t have to travel far this spring to find like-minded friends.

The four-day Down East Spring Birding Festival takes place over Memorial Day weekend, May 26-29 in coastal Washington County.

The weeklong annual convention of the American Birding Association follows June 19-25 in Bangor, with dozens of daily field trips well beyond Interstate 95.

The nationwide boom in birding as a hobby clearly is touching down in Maine.

The sales pitch for the ABA convention is this: “The Pine Tree state is a must visit for birders, offering a beautiful, rugged, rocky coastline, sandy beaches, salt marshes, deciduous woodlands, boreal forest, peat lands, inland waters and freshwater marshes.”

But bird enthusiasts in Washington County already knew that.

“Birders are drawn to Maine’s Cobscook Bay Area during the spring nesting season because of the area’s diverse habitats and the great variety of birds that live here or visit,” said Mike McCabe, chairman of the festival’s planning group.

The area’s avian attractions include numerous waterfowl, a variety of raptors (including three accipiters, or small hawks), sandpipers, alcids (including the Atlantic puffin), woodpeckers, flycatchers, vireos, about two dozen warblers and several boreal species.

This will be the third year for the Down East festival, which is organized primarily by the Cobscook Bay Area Chamber of Commerce – McCabe is the president – and the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge.

Festivalgoers the last two years said what they really want, besides big bird counts, is to experience a true Down East community supper.

McCabe’s got that covered this year. The women who serve suppers in Dennysville will prepare one on the Sunday evening for the group of 100, complete with all the fixings of a traditional “suppah,” McCabe said.

The festival will again draw about 100 keen birders from far beyond Washington County. Word of mouth has allowed the festival to grow since the first year.

In May 2005, 84 participants came from 15 states and New Brunswick, according to organizers’ figures. They recorded 176 birds, stayed in at least 18 different accommodations and generated a total estimated direct economic impact of more than $39,000.

In May 2004, the festival’s first year, 77 participants came from nine states and New Brunswick. They recorded 151 different birds, stayed in at least 16 different area accommodations, and generated a total estimated direct economic impact to the area of more than $33,000.

Festival participants can take part in:

. Birding canoe trips along the Little River from Grand Lake Stream and along the Dennys River.

. Sea kayak birding trips in Cobscook Bay.

. Birding boat tours from Cutler, Eastport, and Campobello Island.

. Guided hikes at Moosehorn and Petit Manan-Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuges, Shackford Head and Quoddy Head state parks, Roosevelt Campobello International Park and on Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife lands.

Registration for the bird walks, talks and tours are filling fast already. If you are turned away as a registrant because of number limits, McCabe suggested, consider taking part in the festival as a volunteer.

Birders who come to Maine a month later for the ABA convention – yes, black flies will still persist – will have a number of choices both coastal and inland for daylong field trips.

These include a boat trip out of Bar Harbor to whale feeding grounds 40 miles offshore; tours of Acadia National Park; hikes on the Schoodic Peninsula and Washington County’s blueberry barrens. There are also walks at the Sunkhaze National Wildlife Refuge, the Penobscot Experimental Forest and the Fields Pond Audubon Nature Center.

Popham Beach, Reid State Park, Eastern Egg Rock, Hog Island and Clary Hill are more of the field trip options during the convention.

Another trip is to the Burn Road and the Northern Boreal Forest in Topsfield of easternmost Washington County. Last year, experienced bird guide Marion Bates led a Down East Birding Festival tour there. This year, Bates is leading a similar tour for the ABA convention.

More information on the national convention is available through the ABA’s Web site at www.americanbirding.org. More information on the Down East Birding Festival may be found at www.downeastbirdfest.org.