Birding Maine

This is the authorized guide to the Maine Birding Trail, which opens in 2009. The book features more than 260 sites in Maine and includes bonus material on Campobello and Grand Manan islands. Unlike most guides, which emphasize species identification, this book highlights the sites themselves. Bird enthusiasts will count on it to lead them to the best birding locations in Maine and to list the species they will most likely find at each destination.

BIRDING MAINE Over 80 Prime Birding Sites at 30 Locations (Falcon) Tom Seymour An all-new guide for novice and veteran birders This all-new guide for birdwatchers in Maine features several sites never revealed before, a complete local species guide, and details on how, when, and where to spot your favorite feathered friends. This helpful book also includes black and white photos, anecdotal sidebars, and up-to-date lists of local restaurants, campsites, and other amenities for visitors. This is a great book for the growing number of birders—both local and vacationers. *Review mailing to East Coast newspapers and nature columnists Tom Seymour is an award-winning outdoors columnist and author of several books, including Hiking Maine. He lives in Waldo.

From inland peaks and forests to the bold and rocky shore, Maine provides habitat for more than 400 species of birds--roughly half of the species that can be found in all of North America. That wealth of birdlife, coupled with spectacular scenery, has ranked the state high on many birders' lists, and few have observed its loons and puffins, owls and eagles, more thoroughly than Liz and Jan Pierson and Peter Vickery. The Piersons, who have been birding together for more than twenty years, coauthored A Birder's Guide to the Coast of Maine in 1981. Deciding it was time to revise and expand the scope of that book, the Piersons spent two years in the field doing research and enlisted the help of another longtime Maine birder - avian ecologist and author Peter Vickery. The result is this fascinating and comprehensive new guide, which covers both coastal and inland areas of the state. Want to see a Willet? Need a Green Heron to cap off a bird list? Salt marshes are the place to look. Where are the best spots to watch hawks? Try York's Mt. Agamenticus or Popham Beach State Park. Broken down by region - from the waters of Biddeford Pool to the mountains of Baxter State Park - this handy book offers birders an in-depth look at the birds characteristic to the various ecosystems found in Maine. It also provides a timetable for birding as well as easy-to-follow directions to the best sites. An invaluable resource, A Birder's Guide to Maine deserves a spot next to the binoculars in any birder's backpack.

"This book fills an important niche for the birdwatching community by offering comprehensive entries detailing the best locations for finding birds throughout the state for enthusiasts of all levels of skill and interest. It contains descriptions of 201 birding sites in Maine, with explicit directions on how to get there, for all sixteen of the state's counties (several as large as other New England states!). Each chapter features a county map, a brief overview by Derek J. Lovitch, numerous specific site guides, and a list of rarities. The book also contains a detailed and useful species accounts guide for finding the most sought-after birds"--

Written by well-known birders and native Mainers, and based on their years of experience answering questions, leading bird walks, and teaching people about birds, Maine's Favorite Birds puts the focus on Maine's most-loved and best-known birds. This makes the book uniquely suited to bird enthusiasts who want to identify and learn more about the birds around them without the expense and confusion of more advanced field guides. Maine's Favorite Birds features each bird beautifully illustrated in large format, accompanied by clear and concise identification tips, habitat references, and easy-to-remember song descriptions. It also includes birding hot spots and ways birders can put their observations to use for science and conservation. Maine's Favorite Birds is perfect for everyone from kids to grandparents, parents to teachers, Mainers and tourists alike anyone who wants to know and better appreciate the birds they see in backyards, parks, wild areas, and nature preserves.

A comprehensive and beautifully illustrated overview to the birds of Maine The first comprehensive overview of Maine’s incredibly rich birdlife in more than seven decades, Birds of Maine is a detailed account of all 464 species recorded in the Pine Tree State. It is also a thoroughly researched, accessible portrait of a region undergoing rapid changes, with southern birds pushing north, northern birds expanding south, and once-absent natives like Atlantic Puffins brought back by innovative conservation techniques pioneered in Maine. Written by the late Peter Vickery in cooperation with a team of leading ornithologists, this guide offers a detailed look at the state’s dynamic avifauna—from the Wild Turkey to the Arctic Tern—with information on migration patterns and timing, current status and changes in bird abundance and distribution, and how Maine's geography and shifting climate mold its birdlife. It delves into the conservation status for Maine's birds, as well as the state's unusually textured ornithological history, involving such famous names as John James Audubon and Theodore Roosevelt, and home-grown experts like Cordelia Stanwood and Ralph Palmer. Sidebars explore diverse topics, including the Old Sow whirlpool that draws multitudes of seabirds and the famed Monhegan Island, a mecca for migrant birds. Gorgeously illustrated with watercolors by Lars Jonsson and scores of line drawings by Barry Van Dusen, Birds of Maine is a remarkable guide that birders will rely on for decades to come. Copublished with the Nuttall Ornithological Club

Why would a successful Maine software developer in his early 60’s close his laptop and spend an entire year chasing a little known Birding Record? Follow the author’s 2021 adventure as he travels from Kittery to Caribou to Camden to Fryeburg in an attempt to see every species of bird in the State of Maine. Every Bird in Maine is a stunning visual narrative of the Birds of Maine and the challenge of seeing them all. You will join the author in his: • Hike to the top of Saddleback Mountain to find a bird that nests at the tree line • Lobster boat trip in stormy seas to find a wayward bird that belongs in the tropics • Freezing winter excursion to glimpse a rare owl • Interactions with birders and non-birders as he travels throughout the state Every Bird in Maine includes over 400 wildlife photos by the author, tied together with his humorous chronicle of an attempt to break the State’s Big Year Record. Introduction: In 2011, 20th Century Fox released “The Big Year”, a comedy starring Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black. The movie was characterized as a box office failure and was quietly retired to the rear of various movie streaming services. One evening while watching HBO, the author stumbled across “The Big Year” and thoroughly enjoyed the story of three ‘competitive’ birders, striving to see the highest number of North American bird species in a calendar year. At the time, his knowledge of birds consisted of those that visit his feeders and the Bald Eagles and Ospreys that patrolled the river by his Wiscasset home. A few months later, the author met Ingrid, a beautiful 4th grade teacher who was also a birder. He was smitten from the moment he met her. In a desperate effort to impress Ingrid, on their second date he took her to a marsh where he had seen dozens of Snowy Egrets the previous September. The author had no idea that they had all migrated south four months earlier. Despite his birding ignorance, Ingrid continued to date him, and they married a year and a half later. Over time, their shared birding excursions became far more successful. Ingrid patiently taught the author how to identify different species, bought him a decent pair of binoculars, took him to birding festivals and slowly created a birding addict. By 2015 the couple began taking their vacations at birding hotspots in Texas, California, and Arizona. They would rush out the door every time a rare bird was spotted and spend all of their free time in marshes, bogs and at shorelines. A few years later, the author asked Ingrid how she would feel about him doing a ‘Maine Big Year’ in 2021, spending an entire calendar year seeing how many species of birds he could find. To do it right, he’d have to retire early, get his bad knees replaced, and spend even more time training for his Big Year. Ingrid immediately said, “I think you should do it!!!” Every Bird in Maine is a memoir of that Maine Big Year adventure. The state record sat at 317 species. Could he find 318?

With nearly 450 species of birds recorded, Maine offers an abundance of birding opportunities for people of all levels of interest and experience, from those looking beyond their backyards for the first time to knowledgeable visitors looking to plug a hole in their list of sightings. The state's wealth of undeveloped land and its extensive coastline, countless islands, and varied habitat combine to host an impressive diversity of birds at all times of year. Birders travel to Maine from near and far to seek hard-to-find species, from the only Atlantic Puffins breeding in the United States on offshore islands to Bicknell's Thrushes high in the mountains. This book fills an important niche for the birdwatching community by offering comprehensive entries detailing the best locations for finding birds throughout the state for enthusiasts of all levels of skill and interest. It contains descriptions of 201 birding sites in Maine, with explicit directions on how to get there, for all sixteen of the state's counties (several as large as other New England states!). Each chapter features a county map, a brief overview by Derek J. Lovitch, numerous specific site guides, and a list of rarities. The book also contains a detailed and useful species accounts guide for finding the most sought-after birds. Lavishly illustrated in color throughout, Birdwatching in Maine is the best available resource for finding birds in the largest of the New England states. Contributors: Derek Lovitch Kirk Betts Dan Nickerson John Berry Allison Childs Wells Jeffrey V. Wells Herb Wilson Kristen Lindquist Seth Benz Rich MacDonald Ron Joseph Luke Seitz