I hope more birders will follow Bob's lead to do some exploring up at the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument as a way to show support for bird conservation. Bob highlights one of the reasons that the area is so important as many people don't realize how crucial northern Maine is for many deciduous and mixed forest species. In fact, few birders are probably aware that Maine forests are estimated to support more of the global population of Black-throated Blue Warblers than any other U.S. state.
Finding the spots for boreal birds in the 87,000 acres of the National Monument lands (some of the parcels are not adjacent, some parts require different access points and some require hiking) is one of the fun challenges in the early stages of the Monuments existence.
For those who do find time to get up there and want to know some specific locations for boreal birds, the areas in the general vicinity of Sandbank Campsite and Lynx Pond are good to check with Black-backed Woodpecker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Gray Jay, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Boreal Chickadee, and Spruce Grouse.
Here is a short column we did about birding the Monument that may be helpful for those interested in visiting: http://www.boothbayregister.com/article/black-backed-woodpeckers-and-more-katahdin-woods-and-waters-national-monument/88073
If you want to see these locations on a map, here are my eBird checklists for the locations. If you click on the link, an eBird checklist will come up and at the top you will see a heading that reads "Location." After the name of the location you will see a link that reads "map". If you click on this it will open a new window in Google maps showing the exact location. You can zoom in and switch it to satellite view and see the specific site in fine detail.
Road near Mink Frog Pond (Gray Jay photos & various sound recordings included): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37646764
Ridge Trail: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37648196
Road near Sandbank Campsite bridge (GC Kinglet & Mag Warbler recording included): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37647624
Sandbank Campsite (Nashville Wbler recording included): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37647445
Lynx Pond (BB Woodpecker photos and various sound recordings included): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37649168
If you do visit, hope you will share your bird sightings as Bob has here, put them into eBird, and share photos on any social media with which you engage!
Jeff
Jeff Wells
From: maine-birds@googlegroups.com [mailto:maine-birds@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Bob Duchesne
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2017 5:14 PM
To: maine-birds@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Maine-birds] KWW Monument
I FINALLY had a chance to bird the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument this morning, leaving home at 4am, and birding by 6am.
My first overwhelming impression: Veeries everywhere. I heard more Veeries in two hours than I've totaled in my entire life. And since much of the loop is early successional forest, there was an abundance of chestnut-sided warblers. The usual plethora of Magnolias and Nashvilles, too.
Mostly, the 16-mile loop is predominantly deciduous, so I didn't find many places that looked good for boreal species. At a high point at Mile 8, I was surprised to hear a Fox Sparrow. They're common in those parts, of course, but the spot seemed too deciduous to be inviting. I don't usually hear them in close proximity to Veeries and Black-throated Blue Warblers.
Encountered both crossbills. I had one flock of 15 red crossbills picking up gravel right in front of me. I'm not certain of subspecies, Doug Hitchcox. Which one is dead silent?
Bob Duchesne
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