Day 19.160: Moose!

One of our most surprising moments on our trip last Sunday was that after a short drive down the road to fill our water bottles at a natural spring we retraced our route for a short distance and during that time encountered this young male moose:

I think that only makes my third sighting - one of the others being near home and the other within a few miles of this one when we stayed at Saddleback in the summer of 2021. 

Day 19.159: Birds after Saddleback

After our five-hour hike to the top of Saddleback and back, we visited several other locations in the area and on the way home. Here are some of the bird sightings:

Eastern kingbird above Sandy River.

Purple martin

Purple martin - this is a private home with a variety of nesting options for these birds

We had great views as they perched and circled

Barn swallow at the nearby Messalonskee Lake

Black tern

Tree swallow

Red-winged blackbird

Canada geese and goslings

We watched this great blue heron arrive. We had been hoping to spot a sandhill crane, so this bird caused a little excitement when it first appeared in the corner of my vision.

A short time later, we were surprised to see it being chased away by this bold red-winged blackbird

Barn swallow

Red-winged blackbird

Black tern

Day 19.158: Saddleback sights

Here are some non-bird photos from our Saddleback hike:

Bunchberry (aka creeping dogwood)

Bluebead lily

The plants on the summit are quite different from those even a short distance down the trails. Like this Diapensia lapponica.

...and this cottongrass (Eriocaulon aquaticum)

This bog is where the cottongrass is growing

Rhodora

Blue lupine

Columbine

Eastern tiger swallowtail. We saw one looking a little cold on the summit. On the way down, we saw some happier ones like this on the dandelions

American lady

I think this is a St. Lawrence tiger moth caterpillar. It was 

Some threatening weather to the southeast

We went prepared for rain, but only felt a couple of drops until we were basically back at the car.

Day 19.157: Other birds on Saddleback

Some more of our Saddleback Mountain bird sightings:

Yellow-rumpled warbler

American robin - this one seemed to lead us up the trail to the edge of his territory and then returned down once we’d ascend far enough

Dark-eyed junco. This is where they come when the desert the lowlands in the spring

Blackpoll warbler

White-throated sparrow 

Singing his heart out

White-throated sparrow 

Dark-eyed junco

White-throated sparrow

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Magnolia warbler

We had an amazing flying display from these two young common ravens

And a nice close look when they took a break

We suspect these two birds on the summit were the same ones we had seen at the foot of the trail. I suspect they found the journey easier than we did.