Damariscove Island & Boothbay Harbour, Maine - summer '26

From our time in Maine: a trip to visit the lovely Bob (Steneck) and Jo at their summer house on the shore at Boothbay Harbour, a long inlet on the mid-Maine coastline, and a ride out on his small motorboat out into the Atlantic.

We've had the pleasure of spending time with Bob and Jo several times already thanks to their friendship with Kate, George and Indigo, at both their summer and winter homes here in this beautiful landscape, and it's always a treat to see them.

We were anticipating a leisurely lunch and a quick razz around the bay on the boat, but Bob had other (better) ideas, and it turned into a fantastic trip way out to Damariscove Island, a nature reserve well offshore and an unexpected treat to hike around on a hot and sunny afternoon (more on that to follow).

Over the water, we had the pleasure of about 15 Wilson's Storm-petrels passing the boat and stopping to feed, as well as plenty of other common species, including two (early) Bonaparte's Gulls among the Laughing, and American Herring Gulls.

Snowy Egret (above), Bonaparte's Gulls (below)

Loons and Eagles, Damariscotta Lake, Maine - July '26

Damariscotta Lake, our now-familiar local swimming spot a short distance from Kat and George's house, is an idyllic spot (especially to jump into after a run); as an added bonus, there are very accommodating Common Loons and young, sparring Bald Eagles to entertain you as you swim or dry off.

Damariscotta Ospreys, Maine - 30th July '26

Ospreys are pretty much everywhere along the coast of Maine (and New England generally) where there's suitable habitat, and they often don't really care about how public their chosen nest site is...

... as evidenced by this one, in the middle of a Damariscotta, a local smalltown. The nest - complete with about-to-fledge juvenile - is located on the floodlights over the little league baseball triangle, sandwiched bewteen a construction site, a main road and retail outlets.

Maine, July '26 - local birds

Male Eastern Bluebird - proud parent of offspring which fledged from a nextbox in the garden while we were there 

After a lovely time with the family in Vermont, we headed back to Western Mass for a couple of days and then onto our annual trip to Maine and a week with our dear friends Kat, George, Indigo and their flock of wayward rescue hounds. It was our fourth trip to see them in as many years, and it's a part of our New England summers we especially look forward to - proper holiday mode with wonderful humans.

Our itinerary consisted of lots of daytimes hanging out in and around their expansive yard, swimming in the lake, birding / hiking at local reserves, running, enjoying cool local towns, and hooking up with other good people (see forthcoming post), with evenings necking too many cocktails, eating fabulous food, and howling into the Karaoke mics. Kind of the perfect trip, all things considered.

Common Yellowthroat 

Of the birds? Plenty to enjoy. We visited Green Point a couple of times, a nearby preserve with a lovely mix of habitats (and therefore species - see eBird checklist here), a memorable day out offshore (see next post), and lots of collateral opportunities here and there.

Birding at Green Point

Yellow Warbler - soooo abundant this trip

Alder Flycatcher

A (sadly expired) Pileated Woodpecker we found on a road near the house during a morning run - taken back and examined carefully by Indigo

Monarch

House Wren - two pairs with young in the garden nest boxes

Broad-winged Hawk over the garden - one of four species of raptor that checked out the chickens (the others being Cooper's and Red-tailed Hawk, and Bald Eagle)

Plenty more from Maine to follow shortly!