28 August 2013 - Mount Blue State Park Maine
We have made our way a little further west and are currently camped in Mount Blue State Park. Not sure how long we will be here but it may be awhile what with Labor Day Weekend coming up. The campgrounds are going to be crowded and this may be our best bet. I'll let you know. In the meantime I will put this post together so I can push it to the blog when we get back to Internet access

Our original plan was to return to Roque Bluffs State Park the day after I wrote the last post and we did in fact make it back that day BUT we also went back the day after that also. That was such a beautiful spot with lots of pretty stuff to see and do. There is no camping at Roque Bluffs SP so we spent two nights at Rocky Lake. Trox paddled it but it was too choppy for my taste. He also made a ride and did some birding but mostly we used that spot as a start for our excursions to Roque Bluffs.

Black & White Warbler spotted
on Ride from Rocky Lake

The third morning we headed to Roque Bluffs we broke camp and went to the state park then came back to Machias where we spent the night by the boat dock on Gardner Lake. We got up early the next morning and I paddled while Trox birded along the rivers that dump out of the lake. The following pictures are from Gardner Lake area.

Loons spotted while paddling the lake

Yellow Warbler

American Redstart Warbler

Mr. Vermin
As we fondly refer to this creature

Northern Watertrush
A member of the Warbler family

Most likely another Warbler

hmmmm? A juvenile?
A fly catcher?
A Warbler?

Roque Bluffs is very unusual in that it has very easy access to both fresh water and salt water. There is a narrow parking lot with a nice fresh water pond - Simpson Pond - on one side and a gorgeous sandy beach on salt water on the other side. We both paddled the fresh water pond and Trox got lots of great birding in around and about the park.

Simpson Pond
Turtle

Simpson Pond
Gulls and Terns congregating and preening
in the freshwater

What a beautiful salt water beach!

A gull we can identify!
A Ringed Bill Gull

Heron flying along the beach

Calf Pint at Roque Bluffs SP
Cedar Wax Wing
The power line spanned a field of wild
blueberries and the birds were feasting!

Greater Yellow Legs
In the movie you can see them bobbing up and down
We found out later they do that because they are alarmed.
Trox was TOO close!

Near the park is the mouth of the Englishman River and it proved to be a wonderful place to spot lots of birds.

Heron

Least Sandpiper

Greater Yellow Legs Sandpiper

Black Bellied Plover

Guinea Hens spotted along road
Domestic but still cool

The morning we paddled Gardner Lake we left the area and headed westish. Our destination was a little campground west of Bangor on another Pleasant Lake right outside of Stetson Maine. This Pleasant Lake lived up to its name much more than the last Pleasant Lake we stayed on. It was not only pleasant, it was the most consistently flat water we have paddled so far and the water was very clear. We rented a kayak so Trox and I could paddle together and the whole 3 hour paddle the water was a mirror!

Cool Caterpillar with a Mohawk spotted while berry picking along road
during lunch stop. We believe him to be the caterpillar of a
White-Marked Tussock Moth
We will submit our pictures for confirmation

Loon

Loon Family

The water was like glass the
whole time we were there!

American Goldfinch
Male and Female

And that brings the blog up-to-date with pictures. This morning we broke camp and headed from Pleasant Lake further west to this state park. On the way we stopped in Stetson for breakfast at a place called Bratty's. It is a general store, gas station, diner, and just about anything else you want. Someone had recommended we have breakfast there. It was WONDERFUL! Trox order corned-beef hash and she made it from scratch! Didn't even open a can! With that he had a cheese omelet & toast and I had 2 eggs, bacon, and an English Muffin. All for less than 10 bucks! We then stopped at a bakery known as the Bankery because it is located in an old bank in downtown Skowhegan. We had seen an ad for it and it sounded good. It was WAY beyond good! I had a scone and it was the best one I've had in this country! Well, worth the stop!