Driving towards Acadia National Park in the mornings around SeaCat’s Rest, you are very likely to find a flock of turkeys in the road.   This is a new trend here in the Northeast.    This group of birds has been surviving and growing into a real spectacle around here.   We want these birds around for three reasons.

First, they are entertaining and eat things we don’t want around.   Funny birds making funny noises in the woods.   They wander around the neighborhood.   As they go they consume mass quantities of small insects, including the deer tick.   The deer tick is famous for spreading lime disease here in Maine, and anything that reduces it’s population should be encouraged.    Turkeys have keen eyesight and can find the small ticks in the fields and woods.

Second they are a source of wild food for people.   Yes, you can hunt turkeys and eat them.   Maine has two turkey hunts each year, spring and fall.

Third they support other wildlife as food.   For the small mammal predators, turkeys are an excellent source of food in the winter when it can be tough to find enough food to survive.    The turkey is a native bird that was hunted out of the area by people.   This left the many small  mammals without the safety net of a this prey species in the environment.   That in turn led to more predation on our domestic animals like chickens and other birds raised for meat and eggs by our local folks.   When I raised guinea fowl the predators were incredible and included owls, red hawks, foxes, and raccoons.   I’m sure the bobcats and fishers were around too, although I didn’t actually see them.    Guinea hens fill a similar niche in the environment as turkeys do.  I had many fewer ticks to pull off my cats in those years.

Did you know that turkeys roost in trees at night?   Except for when the female turkeys are sitting on their nests, you can find them perched high up in trees.    They will often fly into the trees for safety in the daytime when they feel threatened.

Giving Thanks for Wild Turkeys
Feathered dinosaurs of the American woods

By Robert Winkler
About the Author

While most Americans in late November think about eating turkey, I think about seeing one—not the overweight, pale, domesticated bird that ends up on the Thanksgiving table, but rather its streamlined, bronzy ancestor: the wild turkey.

This ground-dwelling native of North American forests is fairly common now, but only 30 years ago it was nonexistent across much of its historic range, a casualty of overhunting and deforestation.

English naturalist John Josselyn was one of the first to note the turkey’s decline. In 1672, after an extended visit to Maine, he wrote: “The English and the Indians having now destroyed the breed, so that ’tis very rare to meet with a wild Turkie in the woods.”

The estimated 10 million turkeys that roamed North America before European settlement dwindled to a fragmented population of 30,000 by the early 1900s. They had been extirpated from 18 of 39 states they originally inhabited.

I glimpsed my first wild turkeys in the late 1970s at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, but it took another decade for me to find them in my home woods.   By then, reintroduction programs in New England and elsewhere were proving successful.

Members of remnant populations had been captured in rocket-propelled nets and moved to forested regions where no wild turkeys had been seen for a century or more. Sustained by good habitat—extensive, open woods with waterways and adjacent fields—and protected by hunting suspensions, many of the relocated birds thrived.

Wild turkeys now occur in all of the lower 48 states, and their number has risen to more than 5.5 million.

One of the advantages of staying here in Lamoine, and not in an urban area on your vacation is the chance to see wildlife that we cherish around here.    We do have many  predators include great horned owls, bobcats, and foxes, so wariness is in their blood. Unleashed dogs take a heavy toll, and their return has put their worst enemy—human hunters—back on their trail.

So, slow down and let the turkeys wander as they search out their breakfast food.   You’ll be richer three ways.

photographed in our spruce tree, Aug, 2010

Bald eagles, America’s national bird,  have been nesting here around Acadia National Park for a very long time. This bird is an inspiration to see flying overhead.     Here at SeaCat’s Rest we  have our resident pair of eagles which swoop over our house.  Their nest is on the Twinnies–little islands just off the Bridge to Mount Desert Island (see the “A” below).

It’s a perfect place to nest, isolated from people, but close to a rich place for food for the birds.   Just what do eagles eat?   Here along the coast, it’s a combination of fish/seafood, and some small land mammals.    The eagles have a routine flight circuit around the bay.    Usually they hang out around our place in the middle afternoon.   Yesterday it was between 3:30 and 5:00 P.M.    We have a tall spruce tree where they routinely stop at.

The eagles are easy to intercept if you spend a day here.   First you will hear the flock of crows or sea gulls announce the eagles’ arrival.   They fly around and around the eagle, trying to chase it further down the coast.   The eagles respond with a loud call like a squeeky wheel. When I think about it the eagle competes with the crows for carrion or dead fish and animals.   It’s no wonder they try and get the eagles to leave the area.   In the mornings you can often see the big birds hanging around our neighbor’s freshwater pond.    We used to assume they were there for a drink of fresh water, but then we heard about how our neighbor leaves out food for the birds.   

We have the eagles around here most of the year, but each year they go off on vacation when the weather turns really cold and their access to fresh water freezes up.   In the months of January and February, the eagles fly south.   They end up around western New York or the hills of Pennsylvania.  I suppose you could call them snow birds like we call our elderly white haired neighbors that also seek warmer climates when it gets a bit cold downeast.

Benjamin Franklin didn’t want the eagle to be chosen as the national bird.   His nomination was the turkey

Not all people wanted the bald eagle to be chosen as the national bird.  Some felt it was a bad choice.  Benjamin Franklin wrote:

I wish that the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country, he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly, you may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk, and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to its nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from him… Besides he is a rank coward; the little kingbird, not bigger than a sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district.  He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest…of America…. For a truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America…
a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on.

1967: Bald eagles south of the 40th parallel were listed under the Endangered Species Preservation Act, the 1966 statute that preceded today’s U.S. Endangered Species Act. A comparative study of eagle nesting during the 1960s in Alaska, Florida, Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin revealed relatively low numbers and chronically poor reproduction, especially in Maine’s remnant population and the subpopulation along the immediate Great Lakes shorelines.

In 1962, Charlie Brookfield and Frank Ligas (biologists with the National Audubon Society) began annual monitoring of bald eagles in Maine. Early efforts were limited, but their counts could only document 21-33 pairs of nesting eagles and only 4-15 eaglets fledged each year between 1962 and 1970. Average productivity among Maine eagles during the 1960s was only 0.34 eaglets per nesting pair: at least 60% lower than rates considered normal.

If you look carefully, you can spot the Twinnies eagle nest on this 1967 map….so “our” nest has been around for quite a long time.

Tidepools are pockets or pools of ocean water trapped in rocky ledges after the tide has gone out.    Low Tide happens twice a day around Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park .   In order to explore this small world, you have to time your visit just right, as it’s only possible to safely visit this small world about 2 hours  around low  tides.   However one of these will most likely be at night, so really there is only one chance each day.   This next week these are the times you can visit the tide pools.

So if you are visiting this week, you have some great middle of the afternoon time between 2:00  P.M. and 5:00 P.M. to visit a tide pool.   This low tide time will keep cycling about an hour later each day, so check on the best time for you right before you plan on your visit.

Second, you need to be careful, as this environment is often slippery. Wear sturdy shoes with good gripping soles.     If you bring a see-through container with you and fill it with cold ocean water, you can observe some of these creatures from the bottom up.

The facts in this article came from a book called Discovering Acadia A Guide for Young Naturalists By Margaret Scheid   A copy for you to read yourself can be found at SeaCat’s Rest.

The most numerous creatures there are the barnacles.  They are one of the first things you will step on while looking for a tide pool.    If you look at them closely, they resemble tiny volcanoes.   Their shells are grayish white with sharp edges, and they cement themselves permanently to rocks (they are at the bottom of this collection of shells photographed at our shore)  .   If you want to see them in action, look for a tide pool where they will be under water.   If they are not “out” swish the water a bit with your hand for a few seconds and they come out to eat the plankton (microscopic food) that you have stirred up.   Out of water their shells are closed up tight, in the water they use six pairs of feathery legs to sweep food into their mouths.

The next creature most abundant are the Dog Whelks.      Looking like a snail with a pointy end, Whelks are carnivorous animals that love to eat the barnacles.  They have a drill like tongue called a radula (rad-you-la), it lets them bore through the shells of the animals they like to eat.   Their shells come in many colors and patterns.

Mussels will be found often too numerous to count, other times, hardly there.  They have black shells and are also vegetarians, feeding on plankton, but they use siphons to filter their food from the water.   They act like straws, bringing in sea water.   As long as they are under water and not disturbed, you can watch them feeding through the two siphons.   Under crashing waves, they attach to rocks with their strong Byssal (Bis-all) threads to hold them in place.   Adult mussels can be up to 4 inches long.    Mussels also get eaten by those dog whelks you read about just before this paragraph, look for a small hole in a shell and you know what happened.   Mussels are also fed upon by starfish, who may look pretty, but attack shell fish just the same.   This picture is a batch of baby mussels.   For scale, the shiny thing in the picture (to the left) is a quarter.

Have you found any green or brown weeds that seem to be growing on rocks?    Look in the picture with the quarter.   That is  Rockweed.   There are two kinds around here.   The Knotted Wrack, which looks like a rope with hollow bumps or knots called air bladders (on the left in the picture).   And the Bladder Wrack which has air bladders too but flat branches (on the far right).   Like most seaweeds they have no roots.   They absorb the water, carbon dioxide and nutrients they need through their surface.   Through the process of photosynthesis (fo-toe-sin-tha-sis) the rockweeds use the sun’s energy to make their own food.   The bright green item in the little mussel picture is another kind of sea weed called sea lettuce.

Sea Stars would be rare to find in a tide pool, but if you kayak in front of SeaCat’s Rest at low tide (or out by the big rock around Old Point) you will find them hanging out on the sea floor.   Mussels are among their favorite foods.   They have to work hard to get that shell open, they squeeze the shell really hard, and get one of their feet inside and then eat the sides of the shell for dinner.   The big spot on top is called a madreporite (Mad-ra-por-ite).   This opening lets water in and out of a sea stars’ many tube feet so they can move around.   The underside of  each foot has many tubes that help sea stars grab onto things and move about, or stay in one place as they wish.

The green round spike thing you might see is called a sea urchin.   Of course, while they look scary, they are not mean.   They have tube feet like their cousins the sea stars.  While they are under water, their feet often stretch out beyond the spines, holding on to rocks and helping the sea urchin to travel.    After they die the  sharp spines fall off and a beautiful delicate shell, called a test is all that is left.   At sand beach in Acadia National Park, the sand includes many broken green spines, see if you can find a few.   Gulls love to eat the  insides of sea urchins-and so do sushi lovers.   Look for  five, white teeth underneath.   They’re great for eating seaweeds and animal remains.

Periwinkles.   Called ‘Winkles”  you find them  just about everywhere in the tide pools.   They are vegetarians, that eat plants, especially algae (Al-jee) that they scrape from rocks with a radula (file-like tongue)  You can tell winkles apart from  the carnivorous dog whelks by a teardrop shaped opening.   Look carefully.   If you touch a winkle, they will retreat into their shell.   All you’ll see is a door-like operculum(o-pur-cue_lum) which keeps the animal inside moist and protected.   There are three kinds of Periwinkles in Acadia.   Common Periwinkles, Smooth periwinkles and rough periwinkles (above high tide)  The biggest are the common periwinkles.

Limpets are vegetarian snails too.   Because of the shape of their shell they are also called chinaman’s hats.   They have one shell and no protective operculum like the periwinkles.   Instead, their foot acts like a suction cup, holding on tightly to rocks.   This keeps limpets from drying out at low tide, or getting knocked around at high tide.

Last but not least are the crabs.   Look for them under rockweeds and boulders, hiding from hungry sea gulls.   There are four kinds of crabs around here.   Rock crabs, have a smooth-edged shell.   Jonah crabs have a rough edged shell, green crabs, and hermit crabs that live in the empty shells of snails after they die.   As they grow, they look for bigger shells.

Maine is a special place for all visitors, but it can become wonderland for kids seven and younger.   A forest just is so much more wonderful when seen from small eyes.   Every tree, plant and creature becomes magical and special.  Bringing kids seven and younger on vacation can require some advance planning, but with an effort, it can become an unforgettable vacation for your family.

The woods.   Start with what’s around you: a forest of pine and oaks, maple and beech trees.   Maine’s woods present an exciting environment to explore.   We have a very good naturalist book for you to use when you explore the woods around us.   You don’t have to come with prior knowledge, just a willingness to learn and observe.

The shore: Watch the tides come and go, the waves that crash, the animals in the tidal zone.   Explored with a good book.   Searockets ,  sea pickle, sea heather and seaweed, are all interesting to identify and collect.    Eat a few seaweed products for the complete experience.     We have 11 foot tides here, so it is a wonderful thing to watch.   A lot of folks cannot believe it.

The water and the animals that live here:  Andre the Seal, the  movie, is a wonderful introduction to aquatic mammals of the area.   Just the other day when hiking on Great Head we saw two dolphins swimming about in the bay off Sand Beach.    If you know where to look, you will also see seals in our bay.   Of course, the more time you spend on the water, the more chance of seeing something.

The sky:  Study the stars at night.   A Park Ranger program is available.   Study the moon and planets, invest in a telescope, or use ours here at Seacat’s Rest.   It’s really dark around here with a big ocean without artificial lights.   In addition there is a “see like the animals” program at the park where you get to use night vision to walk through the woods.   It’s a very different place in the dark (your eyes see differently).

The birds. All around Acadia birds make a show.   Eagles, crows, gulls and cormorants, ducks and crows, thrushes and song birds.    All of these creatures are easy to find and listen to.   Loons, ducks, sea gulls and other water birds live all around the island.   They dive under the water to find food.    Others fly up overhead like  osprey, hawks and eagles.   Wading and water  birds like egrets, herons and  kingfishers prefer calm fresh or brackish waters.

The flowers and small plants.   Plants native to Maine are easy to find and can reinforce observing skills in your young ones.   Show them what a blueberry plant looks like, then try and find a whole field of blueberry plants.   In different seasons the blueberry fields in Maine have different colors.    In Spring there are the white flowers, later in July and August, the blueberries, and in the fall, the plants turn rosy red as the leaves shimmer in the sunshine.    Other places and plants to find include wintergreen– you can identify it by the smell, and don’t forget aromatic ferns, like the cinnimon fern with it’s stalk or the ostrich fern, where fiddleheads that you find in the supermarket here in Maine come from.    Seasonal flowers like lupine in late june, or wild raspberries or strawberry flowers.    Lilacs and poppies.    For very young folks, focus on just the colors in the plants.   How many red or pink flowers can we find today….how about blue ones,   white ones.

FDR's birch bark canoe

A History Tour, The Mystery Tour.   The carriage trails, history of the Native Americans and others who lived here in past times.      If we didn’t have a car, how would we get around.   Water is easy to move on, but we could also walk, or ride a horse around.   It took a long time to get from one place to another, explore just like you were here 100 or 200 years ago.   How far would you get in one day.    Would it take you two days to get from one side of the island to another?

Tides around here are big.   I mean really big at ten to eleven feet.      We have cold cold water, and it turns out that combination of clarity of water, temperature and movement of tides make a productive sea life zone.    This piece will explore the big reasons to look at tides and a future piece will discuss the plants & animals that live between the tides.

The tides pull large amounts of water in and off the shore.   This cycle helps create great places for small creatures to grow.    It also stirs up the sediments, and oxygen, making a pretty productive food supply for small  animals to feed upon.   We also have lots of marshy, muddy areas along the coast, which is also good for production of plants, animals and babies.   Here at SeaCats’ Rest our shore gets about 250 feet larger at low tide.   Because we have a gradual shoreline, the sea moves quite a bit.   Our clam flats (found in muddy zones) are exposed at low tide.   We have part rocks, part mud on our shore, so it’s not easy to dig clams, but they are there.

In addition to the tide cycle, some tides get lower and higher than normal.    They are called spring tides, and have nothing to do with the season.   They cause the flooding of coastal marshes beyond the normal boundaries: extreme high tide as well as extreme low tide.   Extreme low tide is a great time for observing sea animals you normally don’t see.

Tides are created by the moon, sun and gravity.  The semidiurnal range (twice daily cycle) varies in a two-week cycle.   Around the new and full moon when the Sun, Moon and Earth form a line, the tidal force from the Sun reinforces that of the moon and you get a maximum tide pull.   This is what causes the spring tide (not after the season, but just the word “springs” as in jump, burst forth, rise forward).     About every year and one-half there is a special tide called a Proxigean Spring tide.   It occurs when the moon is both unusually close to the earth and in the New Moon Phase.

The eccentricity of the orbit of the moon in this illustration is greatly exaggerated.

Neap tides are extremely weak tides, where the gravitational forces are at their weakest point.

Geography also plays a role in how large the tides are.     Just 2 hours up the coast they are the largest in the world in the bay of Fundy – 55 feet.   This is caused by the shape of the bay.   Here is an interesting map of larger tidal areas around the world that I found at wikipedia.

I was very surprised to find that the large tides were not unique to Maine or to northern areas.   I had assumed in my experience of going to the tropics where I saw little tides, that the tides just got bigger the further north you went.   While that is true in North America, if you look at Central America you will see an entirely different story.   Tides range and the extremes are sure mysterious and depend a lot on the particular shape of the shore/water interface.

The weather of places is tied with their geography as well as ocean currents and ocean temperature.   Places like England and Ireland, which are more northern than Maine have a different winter climate because of the warmer water that surrounds them.    We here in Maine have a unique climate too because our ocean water is cooler than most areas of the east coast.    That’s why we don’t get hurricanes up here – it’s too cold.   The cold water slows them down and they cannot spin as fast, and they die out.  On the map above purple is coldest, yellow the hottest zones.

In future articles I’ll discuss the animals and plants that live in this intertidal zone.   Stay tuned for more.

The largest gathering of large schooners in the United States, Maine’s windjammer fleet is impressive. You might want to consider including this as part of your vacation in Maine. Most are based in Rockland,  or Camden, Maine.    They gather a few times a year.     Operating a windjammer is a lifestyle job, the boats gather and work together for parades and festivals.   If you feel like you missed out on something being born into the wrong century, here is your chance to experience what it was like to be out at sea.   You won’t get the rough waters or problems with storms and such, as they sail in protected waters during bad weather.

Worried about your first time on a big sailing boat?  You can take one of the introductory adventures.   One  windjammer operates out of Bar Harbor,  the Margaret Todd.   She’s the ship on our banner picture.   The Margaret Todd and Schooner Olad out of Camden Harbor are the only ships going out on 2 hour  adventures.   If you have small kids, you might consider a friendship sailing sloop rental or other small boat for your own custom adventure or the Rachel B. Jackson, all out of Southwest Harbor on MDI’s quiet side.

The other large vessels require you to invest more of your vacation time, but spending a night on a schooner is what it’s all about anyway.   At their page you can spend hours investigating the various accommodations and differences between the ships. Here’s a link to some video’s about the experience

Imagine spending from 2 to 7 days at sea; but this is a gentle sea, with islands and calm harbors for sleeping, and the best food, all cooked for you.   Yes, there is a bit of work involved, if you want it.

You can pick a themed sail.   With various trips focused on topics like: lighthouses, nature or animal photography, visit a music festival, join a race or a parade of windjammers.    Other trips feature: birding, knitting, astronomy & geology or a pirate adventure.  Or maybe it’s your dream to have a family reunion aboard one of the vessels like this group.

Here is the windjammer fleet website

I couldn’t help but be drawn to one of the last gathering of the season in one of the most beautiful places along our coast….The Windjammer Fleet Rendezvous on   September 13-18th, where all the windjammers gather in Eggemoggin reach with photography workshops.   Imagine all those beautiful boats in a beautiful place and in the most beautiful month of the year..oh all the pictures you could take.

While you’re out around Rockland way, make a stop at a new museum.   It’s called the

Sail Power and Steam Museum.

Need to get away from the daily grind.   Would you like to communicate better with your teen?   How about a three day journey with sun, tides, water and wind.   Whether you bring your spouse, your child (over 4’8 inches) or a good friend, I can’t imagine a better adventure for this summer.   This article is about two ideas, taking a 3 day trip with a registered Maine guide or creating your own 3 day trip for those who own their own kayak and envision a personal excursion among the ocean islands of Maine.   There is no better way to get out, way out on those small islands that line Maine’s shore than with a personal small boat.   It’s only a day’s drive from New York and a half day’s drive from Boston.

The kayak is just perfect for traveling, it carries your gear and yourself in an efficient way.    As I have said in previous articles, a kayak is very different from other boats.   You are seated right at the water-line, so your body is much more stable.   You feel more like part of the water instead of on top of it.   It is difficult to tip a kayak in calm waters of Frenchman Bay.    However, with large waves or a lot of reaching, it is possible to turn a kayak over.   On the ocean we favor long skinny kayaks for their ability to go straight and to also handle waves.

You get out on the water for 3 days on a guided kayak tour in Maine, no experience necessary.   If you are taking your teen along with you,  the tandem kayak is one of the keys to the success as you have to work together to get somewhere.   Sharing a small island helps too, a tent, other people around, but not too many.    I’m describing one of the adventures that you can find here in Maine.   If you stay with us, we will be glad to help you store your stuff before or after your stay here at Sea Cat’s rest.

Those of you who are already experienced kayakers can create your own trip, but three days is an ideal start to a lifetime journey featuring water excursions.   We have an incredible resource here called the  Maine Island Trail Association.   This 40 year old organization has been working to create and preserve the many island that line the coast of Maine for everyone to enjoy.   If you love kayaking enough to own a boat, and you are coming to Maine consider joining this association.    By joining you get a map of the many islands that are open to those who wander among the islands of Maine.   Their website:   Maine Island Trail Association

Don’t forget these ideas when you paddle:

• Dress for the water, not the air, temperature.
• Wear a lifejacket at all times.
• Make sure somebody knows where you are and when you’ll return.
• Air Temp + Water Temp  < 110 = stay out of the water.
• Air Temp + Water Temp > 110 but < 140 = Wear a wetsuit!
• Paddle with a buddy.
• Check weather and tide conditions, and plan accordingly.    We have excellent climate here in the summer because of the cold water – but that does present some danger for those that get immersed in the water not expecting it.

For those visitors with little experience, a good place to start is with an experienced guided tour.  Here is a link to the non-profit association of Sea Kayak Guides.   They  offer various organized Kayak trips in and around Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park and other areas of Maine.    Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and instructors.    Most of them offer the three day kayak I explained above as well as half day (4 hour) guided tours.   A few also arrange private excursions.    All of them include the cost of kayak rental in the package.

The economy today makes  folks with a job begin to think of how they might save some money on this year’s vacation.   Those with downsized or part time jobs might want to think of vacations closer to home.   Either situation might make a vacation in Maine just right for you.  People in Maine are very careful with their money.     That means if you know where to look, you too can save much money.

There are lots of things to do here that are free or low cost.

Start with muscle-powered sports.   Hiking and walking have the dual benefit of exercise and enjoyment in and around Bar Harbor and Acadia.   The carriage trails were designed for horses, but that means they are smooth and excellent walking paths.   There are no automobiles, only bicycles, an occasional horse drawn carriage or rider on horseback and other people on the path.       The most popular path is around Eagle lake.   However, one of my favorite walks is closer to Northeast Harbor.   Park at the Upper Hadlock Pond Parking area and cross the road.   Here is a link to the map of the carriage trails.

Take advantage of the free ranger lead talks and walks.   From the visitor center you can get the schedule of talks.   Be sure and arrive a bit early, because there can be quite a crowd that gathers in July and August.   Here are descriptions of one such walk.

Otter Point Walk (2 hours; easy to moderate 2-mile hike) Daily, Tue in French. Discover stories of history and nature along the strikingly scenic Ocean Path. Gorham Mountain parking area – Park Loop Road south of Thunder Hole.or join the night sky program or the Acadia at night program, where you learn to see like the nighttime animals do.   This link to the website has the schedules.    Some programs like the sailing adventures have a cost associated with them, but the majority are free.

This area that we live in has the best of both the sea and the woods for you to enjoy in one package.  You can combine camping out and  staying at a vacation home  here at Sea Cat’s Rest.    Our rental comes with kayaks included!  If your looking for a bargain yet this year, look about 10 miles away from Mount Desert Island.   The rates are lower, and you only spend about 10 minutes more in the car.   The town names to search for are: Lamoine, Trenton, Hancock and Surry.

Bring your own bicycle and you now have doubled the distance you can go with just a twirl of your pedals.   Bicycling is actually the most efficient way to get from point A to point B, plus you can put your bike right on those Island Explorer buses when you don’t want to bike uphill.

Like to read?   Don’t forget our small local libraries.   Read the local paper for free, read Downeast Magazine for free at the library in Ellsworth.   Read a local book, get internet access free at the library in the middle of the day.  Libraries on the island are many, and I will feature them in a future blog.   I especially like the Southwest Harbor Library, right across from the school.    You can cool off on the occasional hot day by spending an hour or two in the comfy reading rooms – and all of our libraries have internet access free – free wifi or on their computers.   Places in Ellsworth that offer free internet include the local coffeeshop The Maine Grind on Main Street, the library and MacDonalds.   In addition our town office here in Lamoine is a free WiFi spot.   Our house of course has free internet for our guests too.

SAVE MORE ON MEALS – cook for yourself.   By staying in a house instead of hotel, you can cook your own great meals, perhaps treating yourself to one or two days of great fresh seafood from cold Maine waters.   We can’t think of anything better than watching the lobster boats out in front of our place, and then enjoying lobsters from your own pot for dinner.   At different times in the year you can  pick the fruit that is in season: blueberries, strawberries and apples.   If you are our guest, we share our garden bounty with our renters.   See our wild food blog for some other tasty treats.

Also for the frugal, coordinate your visit with music and art festivals.  Bar Harbor Brass Week offers free concerts at the park in Bar Harbor, or wander the free art fairs in the summer.     The Belfast Maine Celtic Festival on July 17-18 and the Bangor American Folk Festival August 27,28,29, (free – but donate what you can afford)  and The North Atlantic Blues  Festival July 10th, 11th in Rockland are some of those in our area.

Didn’t bring the right clothes to wear?  It’s cool here, cooler than most places   If you forgot that fact, you can pick up some bargains at the resale shops in the area.   Jalysa’s attic in Ellsworth on Water Street or our new Goodwill Store in Ellsworth both offer fleece jackets at under $10.00 for those colder than they expected.   Need more long pants?  They are there too.  You can also find Maine themed clothing there if you are lucky.   We locals often purchase Maine themed clothing when it is on sale in the fall, and we recycle the clothes when they get too small or we don’t find ourselves needing them any longer.

Go with a larger group.   Find a friend to stay with on the way.   Vacation where you can stay with relatives.    Going with a larger group, you can go in on lodgings and food.   It’s often cheaper to rent a larger house, and vacation with another family or group of friends.   Instead of having to bring along a friend for our daughter, we brought along another family, so that the kids had someone to do stuff with – and we had adults to hang around with.   Have Grandma and Grandpa take the grand kids (along with you) on vacation.   They are bound to help out with treats and special adventures (plus you get to share the childcare and get off by yourself for a while).    Borrow items you need for the trip.   Perhaps you can borrow bicycles, or some camping equipment instead of purchasing new items.

Trade adventures, if you live in a nice place for others to vacation, perhaps you can exchange visits with old friends.   Have friends living in New York while you’re out in the country, perhaps you can each visit each others’ destinations for a bargain vacation for both of you.

The second in a series of articles featuring various hikes.    Let me start by saying that all of these hikes will be able to be completed 2-3 hours.   Acadia Park while large, is not a place where you can walk on one adventure for days and days.   There are plenty of places in New England, specifically the Long Trail in Vermont or the Appalachian Trail which starts in Georgia and ends in Maine.    However, that doesn’t mean that these hikes here in Acadia are not great adventures and worth you time.

These are easy day hikes.  This means you won’t find any strenuous cliff climbs in this article.   Most of these hikes are suitable for families with young children, but some are moderately difficult hikes bringing you to grand mountaintop vistas.

People have been hiking through Acadia’s paths for hundreds of years.

I also want to make sure to mention the zero impact rule right from the beginning.   Going into a wild area is like visiting a famous museum.   You obviously do not want to leave your mark on an art treasure in the museum.    Please pack out all garbage and trash.   Human waste must be disposed of carefully or it becomes a health hazard.   Use restroom facilities at trailheads or along the trail.   Stay on the trail.   Do not cut switchbacks or take short cuts.  Do not feed wild animals, never pick flowers or gather plants or insects.   Keep your impact to a minimum by taking only pictures and leaving only footprints.  Also play it safe   you should be prepared for any weather and trail conditions you may encounter.

Water – hikers generally need 1 or more quarts per person on these day hikes, depending on weather.   Do not count on finding water on any hike.  Sun – to protect yourself, wear protective clothing and especially a sun hat.   Always tell a reliable person your hiking plans, especially if you are hiking in more remote areas.   Check in upon your return.   Leave a plan in your car as a last resort.   dress in layers, do not hike alone.

Bar Harbor, Cadillac and Champlain Mountains area   This hiking area is one for photographers.   I’m sure you will see boats going by, sail and lobster boats around great head.   Bar Harbor has lots of photo opportunities.

Bar Island Trail.   This low tide walk is about 1.5 miles.   From the end of West street, you have about 1.5 hours either side of low tide to cross to Bar Island.   Once on the island you can hike about a miles or so, northeast up the gravel road behind the gate.   Once there the trail levels off at a grassy field.   after aother half mile, bear left at a trail sign, pointing into the woods toward Bar Island summit.   Retrace your steps to get back.

Beachcroft trail Stone steps lead much of the way.   2.4 miles long.   From downtown Bar Harbor, head south on Maine 3 for about 2 miles to the parks Sieur de Monts entrance.   Continue past the entrance for about 0.2 miles to the parking lot just north of the Tarn.   The trailhead is on the left (east) side of the road.

Bear Brook Trail is a 2.2 miles hike to the summit and back, or 5.2 miles to the trail’s end and back.  enter the park at the Sieur de Monts entrance, Turn right (south) on the one-way Park Loop Road.   The trailhead is 0.8 miles from the entrance on the right, (south) after the Bear Brook picnic area.

Jesup Path (Great Meadow Loop) 2 miles.   This woods and field walk takes you by the Great Meadow, Sieur de Monts Spring, the Wild Gardens of Acadia, the nature centre, Abbe Museum and the Tarn.   From the Park Loop Road, turn at the sign for Sand Beach.   Follow the one-way road for 1.7 miles to the trailhead which is on the right (south) soon after a road comes in on the left.

Sand Beach and Great Head Trail 1.4 miles  From the park loop road, turn left at the sign for Sand Beach.   Follow the Park loop road for 5.5 miles to the beach parking area.   The trailhead is down the stairs and on the far eastern end of the beach.   There is water and restroom facilities at the beach parking lot.    After climbing up keep right along the shore.  Because this trail is two interconnected loops, you can choose an easy hike along the east shore, or a more intense rock trail (pictured) up and over the top of the peninsula.

Ocean Path: 4 miles.   From sand beach parking, The trailhead is just before the stairs to the beach on the right.   This path goes by Thunder Hole, past the  Gorham Mountain trailhead, to Otter cliff and Otter point, then back again.

The Bowl Trail. This hike leads to a mountain pond nestled behind the Beehive.   1.6 miles.   the trailhead is across the park loop road from the beach.

Gorham Mountain Trail 3 miles    This hike features views of Great Head, Sand Beach, Otter Cliff, Champlain Mountain and the Beehive.   The start of the trail is on the right (west) side of the one-way park loop road.   No facilities.

Famed ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson was the first to make this claim about Acadia. There are over 40 species of warblers seen on Mount Desert Island.  Birds are big here. I don’t mean we have huge birds, just that we’re a migratory crossroad; lots of species are here that are hard to find elsewhere. This past weekend was the Acadia Birding Festival, but don’t worry, the Maine guide responsible for founding and directing the festival is also in business to give guided tours to everyone. His name is Michael Good and he is owner of   Down East Nature Tours in Town Hill, Mount Desert Island. He is also a biologist with a masters in developmental biology with more than 25  years experience in studying birds.  He was also chosen as Best Birdwatching Guide by Yankee Magazine in 2009. Michael will pick you up at your lodgings in his van for a two hour Wetland Ecology tour ($40 adults, $20 kids);  a four hour Native Bird tour ($75 for adults, $37.50 for kids) or a 4-6 hour Gouldsboro Hills Birding tour ($225 per trip). 207.288.8128

Or try the quest on your own by outfitting with good hiking boots, layers of clothing, a good identification book like A Field Guide to to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America by Roger Tory Peterson. Binoculars are a big help or use a spotting scope like Michael Good. I like to try to familiarize myself with the songs of the birds I’m likely to find too. Try typing in “wood thrush song” into google and you may find yourself  at this page where you can hear what is outside my window in midsummer. This Cornell Ornithology site is a great one to bookmark for birdsongs.  Can’t find the binoculars? I have found my digital 18x zoom camera to be a good substitute. Taking a picture is optional.

Raptors are also a big deal in Acadia. From August 19 to October 14, northerly winds push thousands of raptors south above the island and the best place to see them is atop Cadillac Mountain. This is Acadia’s Hawkwatch and in 2009 rangers, volunteers and visitors counted 2,831 hawks, kestrels, eagles and falcons. The National Park website is a treasure trove of information about this event. You can even download a guide to identifying raptors based on their silhouettes.

Let’s not forget the Puffins. For $56 ($28 for kids) Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co. will take you on a 4 hour combination whale and puffin watching trip on their twin hulled (less motion!) bar-equipped boat. I know we’re talking about birds, but the whale watch is not to be missed!