Head out to Owls Head to spectacular Crockett’s Beach, at the end of Crockett’s Beach Road just past the airport. This beach offers high views of the ocean from a glacial moraine, allowing for great scope spotting from the parking area. As the tide goes out, we can attempt a stony scramble down to the beach, or wander along the roadside looking for migrants and sparrows. Are any of our winter ducks still present? Will we find a cool migrant (like the dickcissel or Western grebe)? Come to the end of Crockett’s Beach Road and find out!

Trip Leaders: Ann Boover and Kate Doiron

This is one of our favorite locations! We often find over 40 species of birds on our Clark Island walks. Clark Island is partly owned by Maine Coast Heritage Trust and has a nice flat hiking trail that runs through the mixture of different upland habitats on the island. As a result, expect the unexpected this time of year when just about anything can show up during spring migration. Park and meet at the designated preserve parking behind the Craignair Inn, carpool if you can as there are limited spots!

Trip Leaders: Lee Anne Beausang and Kate Doiron

Join us for a co-lead bird walk at Sears Island in Searsport alongside Midcoast Audubon! The Friends of Sears Island manage this beautiful coastal treasure, and by this time it will be brimming with migrant birds. We’ll check out the shoreline and follow the road through the middle of the island, keeping eyes and ears out for warblers and thrushes. To find the island, take Route 1 north through the town of Searsport. Massimo's Restaurant will be on the right when you leave town, and the next road on the right is Sears Island Rd. Turn right onto Sears Island Rd. and follow the road to the end across the causeway. The Friends of Sears Island note to park along the causeway before the gate. Meet us at the gate.

Please email midcoastfieldtrips@maineaudubon.org to sign up for this walk!

The Fort Point Trail, a Town of St. George property, will take us through pine and then dense deciduous forest on the boardwalk to listen and look for warblers and other songbirds. American woodcock and Swainson’s thrush have been seen in this preserve. At the end of the trail is the wide open field with old oak trees that juts out into the tidal St. George River. Look for woodpeckers and shorebirds and read about historic Fort St. George. From Thomaston, take Route 131 south to Wiley's Corner Rd. Turn right onto Wiley's Corner Road and the parking area will be on the right. From St. George, take Rt. 131 north to the second entrance of Wiley's Corner Rd. Turn left onto Wiley's Corner Rd. and the parking area will be on the right. The parking area is visible from the road. Meet in the parking lot. Bring a jug to fill up on spring water at the edge of the parking lot after the walk!

Trip Leaders: Ann Boover and Eddy Edwards

Beech Hill Preserve is owned and managed by the Coastal Mountains Land Trust, featuring blueberry barrens, deciduous woods, and grasslands. This week is peak spring migration so expect big numbers of warblers, along with plenty of birds who are nesting for the summer: eastern towhees, field sparrows, prairie warblers, great-crested flycatchers, and many many ovenbirds. We’ll even try for a yellow-billed cuckoo! This can be a fast moving trip going up and down hilly terrain so bring your walking stick and good footwear. There are two parking areas at Beech Hill, but our group will be meeting at the parking area off of Beech Hill Road.

Trip Leaders: Sue Keefer and Steve Norris

This is our first time doing a walk at the amazing Owls Head Transportation Museum! Local birders know: the road and field edges on this large property are top notch for finding rare songbirds. We want to be there at peak migration to see what we turn up! Park at the museum end of the road in the parking lot near the museum and we will meet at the entrance. This is a primarily flat, roadside walk.

Trip Leaders: Lee Anne Beausang and Eddy Edwards

This is a new birding trip for us – join us for the adventure! Trip is limited to 15 participants due to the size of the shuttle boat. Your adventure begins at the Maine State Ferry terminal in Rockland, where you’ll catch the 7 AM ferry for Vinalhaven. From there the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership (HICSL) shuttle boat will take you to Hurricane Island for a bird walk and to hear about their summer educational programs. BYO lunch, snacks and water. We’ll leave Hurricane Island in time to catch the 1 PM ferry back to Rockland.

You’ll pay for the round-trip ferry from Rockland to Vinalhaven, and tickets for the Hurricane Island Adventure are $50 each.

The funds raised will be split between FOMCI and HICSL.

This week we will visit Erickson Fields Preserve owned by Maine Coast Heritage Trust. This former dairy farm features a 1.4 mile trail that meanders through vegetable gardens, open pastures, and coastal forested habitat making for a wonderful diversity of bird life. Some of our targeted birds this week will be field sparrow, black-throated blue warbler, and black-billed cuckoo. The hike is a gradual uphill but easy walking. From the junction of Route 1 and Route 90, follow Route 90 west 0.3 miles and look for the parking lot at the farm.

Trip Leaders: Eddy Edwards and Kate Doiron

Join us at Weskeag Marsh (“The Marsh”) for an excellent morning of shorebird, waterfowl, egret, and heron watching! Come see how many of our spring migrants have returned to the marsh and woods and watch what the incoming tide pushes into the marsh. Weskeag Marsh is a State of Maine wildlife management area. Spotting scopes will be provided for all to get excellent views. Wear boots and we will take a trek into the woods to go to the back viewing platform for a different angle on the marsh. Park and meet at the designated parking lot on Buttermilk Lane in South Thomaston, less than a mile south of Route 1.

Trip Leaders: Don Reimer and Eddy Edwards

The Hayfields Preserve, a Georges River Land Trust property, is a great place to watch the bobolinks practice their aerial displays and view other grassland birds moving through the fields. The wide open prairie-like setting makes it easy to find birds. The trip includes a nice overlook of the St. George River where everyone can get good scope views of waterbirds swimming below. Park and meet at the preserve parking lot off Route 73 south of Thomaston.

Trip Leaders: Sue Keefer and Steve Norris

Everyone will get a great view of Puffins and other seabirds on the M/VLaura B as we limit this boat trip to 35 participants. Although Eastern Egg Rock isn’t one of our Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge islands, it is a wonderful duplication of our efforts protecting nesting seabirds offshore.  Expect to see nesting Atlantic puffins, common & Arctic terns, laughing gulls, black guillemots, and common eiders. If we are lucky enough, we may be able to pick out some endangered roseate terns in the colony or even a non-breeding razorbill. As this is a special cruise, a $65 cost is associated with this trip. This trip is a fundraiser to help support our island internships.  Don’t wait too long because this trip will fill up early! 

Meet and park at Monhegan Boat Lines in Port Clyde, Maine. The M/VLaura B will depart at the Port Clyde dock. Boarding will begin at 12:45pm.

Rain date is:  Sunday, June 14, 1-3 pm

By late June, the only way to catch songbirds… is by their song! Join us for a walking Birding by Ear Workshop at Merryspring Nature Center in Camden, and learn all about what to listen for, how to use mnemonics, and when and how to use the Merlin app. Merryspring is a nice easy stroll through the open fields and gardens and is a perfect way to start the day. The trails can be wet with the morning dew so waterproof footwear is strongly recommended. Park and meet at the parking lot by the visitor center at 30 Conway Rd. in Camden.

Trip Leaders: Kate Doiron and Lee Anne Beausang

Join us on our annual grand trip to see Puffins with FOMCI in 2026! Travel in style on the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company's Friendship V for our annual fundraising event to benefit the Refuge.  The Friendship V takes us on a swift, quiet and eco-friendly ride to Petit Manan Island, which is home to terns, puffins, black guillemots and more.  While we can’t go ashore, we will have the opportunity to chat with the Island Interns and ask questions about the seabirds and what it’s like to live on the island during the summer.  There is a very good chance of seeing Wilson’s storm-petrels or shearwaters on this trip. 

We will raffle off two Puffin-themed gift baskets, so bring some cash!  Sweet and savory finger foods are provided by the Friends, and the boat will have a cash bar.  You may bring your own non-alcoholic drinks and food, but nothing in a glass container or hard cooler. 

Tickets are $65, and 100% of each ticket supports the Friends of Maine Coastal Islands NWR and the Refuge. Children aged 10 and under who are with their parent/guardian can come for free. We recommend arriving by 1:30 to park for free in the new Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton. From there you take the shuttle to Bar Harbor with a stop very near the Friendship V dock. The shuttles run every 15 minutes from 7 am to 10 pm. Or you can park in Bar Harbor along designated streets and in lots that can be secured using the ParkMobile app. Set up your ParkMobile app before you arrive to make it easier as parking can be limited - our advice is to get there early!  Rain or shine!  Be at the dock for boarding at 3:00 pm. The Bar Harbor Whale Watching Company is located at 1 West Street, Bar Harbor, Maine.