How did we get this lucky? The main of Maine barely bounded on this morning’s pelagic trip out of Bar Harbor, and the 150 or so participants who joined us on board the Friendship Five had both great views of the birds and a pleasant trip on the water: not something to be taken for granted!

Tubenoses behavied beautifully for us. Both Wilson’s and a few Leach’s Storm-Petrels visitd our chum slick, the Wilson’s especially lingering close and long for good studies; the 2 Leach’s I got good looks at were, typically, less patient with us, but still, these were the first birds of that fascinating species I’d seen in almost 22 years! We also enjoyed 2 Northern Fulmars at very close range; as expected in the west Atlantic, both were light-morph birds, all blue and gray and soft fluffy white, with their dark eyes giving them that typically “petrel” aspect: slightly near-sighted but benevolent. Good numbers of Greater Shearwater were joined by quite a few Sooty Shearwaters and half a dozen Manx Shearwaters, a bird I had last been able to watch something like 10 years ago off Scotland.

The ternery and puffinry at Petit Manan was crazy as usual, with birds everywhere. Atlantic Puffins and Black Guillemots were the common alcids, joined today by dozens of Razorbills and at least 15 Common Murres; a lucky few among us saw a bridled murre, but I missed it. Common and Arctic Terns were carrying fish ashore, for courting or for feeding, and we did pick out a couple of Roseate Terns, the species of greatest interest to most participants.

A great day on the water, and one I”ll remember when I’m back in Arizona in a few days!

Ann, Elizabeth, and I decided to explore a new area this morning, Reid and Popham Beach State Parks, both near Bath. It’s beautiful country down there, and while we waited for the gates to open at Reid, we enjoyed boreal specialties including Blue-headed Vireo and Blackburnian and Black-throated Green Warblers just above our heads. Inside the park, we admired singing Willets before heading down the beach to the PIping Plover exclosure: and there they were, a pair of Piping Plovers nervously guarding a tiny, energetic, and inquisitive chick on the pale sand.

Why do I always want to write “Arcadia”? This part of Maine is indeed idyllic, but on a warm, bright Sunday in June, anything but Edenic: I’d forgot how crowded these eastern national parks can get!

Our scouting today was a lot of fun anyway. The Hemlock Road produced good looks at American Redstart, Ovenbird, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and (out in the marsh) Alder Flycatcher and Swamp Sparrow; I’ve really been enjoying being around Alder Fly again, and it’s a blast to have one audible from the hotel parking lot here in Bangor (and the same bird visible from the lot of the Ground Pound across the street!).

The ocean was fairly birdless, with nothing but a few straggling Common Eiders and the occasional Black Guillemot hanging out around the aptly named Thunder Hole.

The ABA Convention starts tomorrow afternoon, and especially if this incredible weather holds, we’re going to see some B I R D S !

Another fine day of scouting, this time with Bill and then with Toby. We visited Acadia mostly for practical details (where are the accessible restrooms, which trails are wide enough, and so on), but we did see some nice birds even if just incidentally, including the first “natural” Peregrine Falcon aerie I’ve ever seen, a cliff-side scrape filled to overflowing with big, noisy, quarrelsome chicks. Hope they don’t fledge before Saturday!

Then, taking advantage of warm air and glass-smooth seas, we went out to look at seabirds. A humpback whale took more of our time than we might have preferred, but we still managed a few minutes at Petit Manan, where Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, and Black Guillemots milled about on the water while Arctic, Common, and a few Roseate Terns streamed back and forth between their nest sites and their fishing grounds (productive ones, judging by the number of little fish who gave their lives to the demands of tern courtship). If the fine weather holds, this trip will be a highlight for many of the Convention goers, and if it doesn’t, it will still produce memories (who can forget that first encounter with seasickness?!).