Read Part One Here.

Jonathan catches a bit of evening down-time.

We awoke to dead-calm conditions on Thursday (the 26th), which allowed us to hear a number of songbirds from the two islands (McGlathery and Round), including Pine Siskins, Dark-eyed Juncos, and a Blue-Headed Vireo. Unfortunately, this calm also meant that we would not be heading farther offshore today. With very little wind, the French would not be powering through a developing swell, but instead we would be feeling each and every wave – a very uncomfortable experience indeed.

Instead, we stuck to inshore waters once again. A large Herring and Great Black-Backed Gull and Double-crested Cormorant colony on Southern Mark Island, however, provided one of the major avian highlights of the trip. A total of 7 Bald Eagles (four adults, two 3rd Cycle, and one 1st Cycle) were wreaking havoc. I was fascinated by the behavior of the adults – instead of flying around randomly, they would land in tall vegetation at the edge of a cluster of gulls or cormorants and just wait. I assume that they are waiting for a mistake – a young gull to wander too close, or possibly for a very young cormorant to be left unattended by its parents. We were fascinated by this stealth tactic, but then all of the sudden there was a bit of commotion near the interior of the island – one of the adult eagles had apparently pounced on a fledgling gull. It was mantling it, flapping wildly to get off the ground, while adult gulls were desperately trying to drive away the predator. The eagle was trying to lift off, but the meal was too heavy – it would have to withstand the barrage of gull beaks in order to enjoy today’s meal.

Southern Mark Island.

5 migrant Short-billed Dowitchers passed by, but the chatter on our boat revolved around the eagle performance that we were treated to. As we headed up Jericho Bay, through Casco Passage, and past Ship and Barge Islands, we spotted many more Harbor Seals and 5 Harbor Porpoises. Other than Black Guillemots and a few Common Terns, however, the day’s trip – since we stuck to inshore waters – did not produce any true pelagic species. Essentially, it was just TOO nice out! So, we enjoyed the weather, the scenery, and time to read and relax.

Jeannette dives into the new Harry Potter book.

Northhaven

The Sparkplug.

Eventually, we turned around, and headed back south a short distance to a sheltered cove off of Pond Island (one the west side of Tinker Island), where we dropped anchor. A relatively large beach was our reason, as tonight was a special dinner: fresh lobster (picked up the day before on Spruce Head) cooked on the beach. We all rowed ashore, and the fire was started. Jeannette, Tom, Donna, and I poked around the island, checking out who might be breeding here. We found a cluster of White-throated Sparrows – many with mouths full of food for hungry young – in a blowdown, and we very surprised to find a Lincoln’s Sparrow that responded to my pishing. I was not expecting to find this species breeding out here.

A Spotted Sandpiper worked the incoming tide gleaning the rocks for treats, a Common Loon loafed offshore, and some pishing in the woods added more landbirds to our trip list, including Magnolia Warbler and American Redstart.

Come sunrise, a Northern Cardinal was singing from Pond Island – also a surprise for me in this habitat. Meanwhile, a Semipalmated Plover or two called as they passed by, unseen.

But, another beautiful day was another mixed blessing. There was almost no wind whatsoever; we even needed to yawl boat to get us going. There was no chance for us to make it out to Seal and/or Matinicus Rock, so there would be no Red-billed Tropicbird twitch. Nearby Mahoney Island, however – home of another gull and cormorant colony, produced another good eagle show, with 4 birds (one adult, one 2nd-Cycle, one 3rd-Cycle, and one 4th-Cycle-type) keeping an eye on things. Two more Lesser Yellowlegs passed overhead, and a Savannah Sparrow sang from the island.

We sailed up Eggemoggin Reach, turning southwest just south of Cape Rosier, tacked our way past Spectacle Island (whose gull colony was surprisingly eagle-less!), and with the wind finally picking up, sailed down East Penobscot Bay. 2 fly-by Northern Rough-winged Swallows were added to the trip list, a couple more Harbor Porpoises were seen, but overall there really were amazingly few birds.

Jonathan and Garth plot the course.

The Deer Island bridge.

A tight squeeze.

We tacked back and forth, then up through Brackett’s Channel into Gilkey Harbor on the west side of Isleboro. Bird activity picked up a bit with more Ospreys, Common Terns, and a few Laughing Gulls being spotted.

We dropped anchor off of Thrumcap on Isleboro Island for our last night on the Lewis R. French, right alongside the other two big schooners of Camden – the Mary Day and the Angelique.

The Mary Day.

The sunset over the Angelique and the Camden Hills.

We awoke on our final day of the trip to very dense fog and no wind. Once again, we needed the yawl boat to get going, and actually needed to employ it for a while this morning (and again later), as the wind just didn’t feel like getting out of bed this morning - to guide us in today. It was tough to see birds in the pea-soup, but as we rounded Seven Hundred Acres island (before tacking south through the West Penobscot), an Eastern Phoebe sang from shore, our 75th species of our adventure. And finally, as we entered Camden Harbor, two nestling Ospreys watched as we eased the French into the dock, bringing our journey to a close.

One of the things I really enjoyed about our experience on the French was the amount of excercise we could get ourselves into! Jeannette and I regularly volunteered for such energy-intensive activities, such as hauling sails, if only as a lame excuse to be able to eat more at the next fantastic meal!

Chad and Sharon raise the foresail.

The French remains as "ol' skool" as possible, with as little mechanization as they can. That means no power winch for the anchor. It's cranked in by hand! This was REALLY hard work, especially when the anchor was deep in muck.

Jeannette and Tom on one side.

Bill and I took the other.

I even accepted the job (despite being a total wuss) of helping Jonathan out on the bowsprit.

As with the end to any trip, Jeannette and I gathered up our belongings with bittersweet feelings. We were ready to head home – and free Sasha from the kennel. However, no one ever wants a vacation – even a “working” vacation – to end. We knew we needed to get back to the store, but one never really wants to get back to work after a vacation, do they?

The group.

This was the first birding themed trip for Captain Garth and the crew of the Lewis R. French, and the first time I have ever been on a sailboat – let alone lead a trip on one for 6 days! Not only was this the longest time that I have ever spent on the boat, the vast majority of the area that we traveled through was completely new to me. Birding-wise, based on the weather (first lousy, then far too pleasant!), I think we amassed a great trip list, highlighted by our astounding visit to Eastern Egg Rock. Sure, I wanted to see more tubenoses, spend more time at Matinicus (and see that tropicbird!), but when you’re sailing, you’re at the mercy of the winds (but how else can you bird for a week over such a wide area on only about 5 gallons of gas?). Overall, I think the trip was a great success, and I know I really enjoyed it. Many people would call such an adventure a “once in a lifetime experience,” however, I think it’s safe to say that this won’t be the last birding trip on the Lewis R. French!

Here’s the complete trip list from our journey. The number following the species is the number of the days in which we observed it.

Mallard, 4 out of 6 days.
Common Eider, 6.
Ring-necked Pheasant, 1.
Common Loon, 6.
Greater Shearwater, 1.
Sooty Shearwater, 1.
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, 3.
Norther Gannet, 3.
Double-crested Cormorant, 6.
Great Blue Heron, 3.
Osprey, 5.
Bald Eagle, 4.
Merlin, 1.
Lesser Yellowlegs, 2.
Spotted Sandpiper, 3.
Whimbrel, 1.
Ruddy Turnstone, 1.
Semipalmated Sandpiper, 2.
Least Sandpiper, 1.
Phalarope sp, 1.
Parasitic Jaeger, 1.
Laughing Gull, 6.
Bonaparte’s Gull, 4.
Ring-billed Gull, 4.
Herring Gull, 6.
Great Black-backed Gull, 6.
Roseate Tern, 1.
Common Tern, 6.
Arctic Tern, 2.
Common Murre, 1.
Razorbill, 1.
Black Guillemot, 6.
Atlantic Puffin, 2.
Rock Pigeon, 2.
Mourning Dove, 3.
Downy Woodpecker, 3.
Northern Flicker, 1.
Eastern Phoebe, 1.
Blue-headed Vireo, 1.
Red-eyed Vireo, 1.
Blue Jay, 5
American Crow, 6.
Common Rave, 3.
Tree Swallow, 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow, 1.
Barn Swallow, 5.
Black-capped Chickadee, 4.
Carolina Wren, 1.
House Wren, 1.
Winter Wren, 4.
Golden-crowned Kinglet, 2.
Swainson’s Thrush, 2.
American Robin, 2.
Gray Catbird, 2.
European Starling, 1.
Cedar Waxwing, 6.
Northern Parula, 1.
Yellow Warbler, 5.
Magnolia Warbler, 1.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, 4.
Black-throated Green Warbler, 2.
American Redstart, 1.
Common Yellowthroat, 5.
Savannah Sparrow, 2.
Song Sparrow, 6.
Lincoln’s Sparrow, 1.
White-throated Sparrow, 2.
Dark-eyed Junco, 2.
Northern Cardinal, 2.
Red-winged Blackbird, 1.
Common Grackle, 1.
Purple Finch, 1.
House Finch, 1.
Pine Siskin, 1.
American Goldfinch, 5.