Trip to Maine - Rachel Carson NWR and Parsons Beach

On day 2 of our Maine trip, we headed up Route 1 only 10 miles or so to Wells.  Wells is home to the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, 5,000 acres of salt marsh ecosystem.

It was in the upper 30s, and we were again in parkas, hats, and gloves. Most of the 1-mile loop trail was still snow or ice covered, making footing pretty treacherous in many areas.

It is the Merriland River that you see meandering through this Google Earth image of the refuge.  250 bird species have been sighted in the refuge; we didn't see more than 7 species on Tuesday's cold spring day.

• Tufted Titmouse
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Canada Goose (many)
• American Crow (many)
• Herring Gull
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Mourning Dove

We moved on to Parsons Beach, a favorite summer beach spot for our late friend, Maggie Pak.  We walked the beach a little, then pulled up a spot and took a quick nap in the sun in honor of Maggie.

Before leaving, we checked out the small cove on the north end of the beach, recording these water birds:

• Black-backed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Red-breasted Merganser
• Common Goldeneye
• Horned Grebe
• Common Eider

"for all people, the preservation of wildlife and of wildlife habitat means also preservation of the basic resources of the earth..."
Rachel Carson

More from Maine tomorrow.

Comments

[The Zen Birdfeeder]

I have responded directly to Julia via email.
As a reminder, all images on The Zen Birdfeeder are protected under a Creative Commons license, are not for sale, and are to be used for non-commercial use only.
Also, please respect the property of the Parsons family if you do visit Parsons beach.

[julia]

As you may or may not know, Parsons Beach is a privately owned beach that has been in the same family for over 200 hundred years. Our goal has been to keep the property as undeveloped and as beautiful as possible. We take our role as land stewards extremely seriously. Local residents and some tourists come upon our beach in their travels and on a beautiful day, when there is a parking space, we welcome visitors. But in order to continue to conserve and maintain this property, we do ask that people/organizations do not advertise or promote our privately owned beach. We also do not give permission to individuals to take photos for sale. We are hoping to contact people in a friendly way about this issue so we can continue to keep our property open for people to enjoy without putting restrictions on the use. I see that there are many photos for sale on your website. The pictures of Parsons Beach should be taken down. This is private property - the beach is owned by the Parsons Family- and did not grant permission for the sale of these photos. Please take them off your website. I will notify our attorney so he can follow up with you but I am hoping the photos will be off your site within the next 24 hours. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions and the Parsons Family wishes your business well.
Best Regards

Julia
3rd Great Granddaughter to Charles Parsons

[The Zen Birdfeeder]

Mon@rch - We saw lots of eiders every stop we made! We like Rachel Carson NWR but have had more success on prior outings. Just have to go back, I guess!!

[mon@rch]

Love your review of this great NWR and the Eider would be a bird that really made me happy to see!