Nine of us met for a GMC bird walk on a cold but beautiful Easter morning. A report of bald eagles at Basin Harbor led us to abandon our original destination, turning a well-planned walk into an outing full of exploration and adventure.
Every trail and every walkway at Basin Harbor was glacial: huge curved slabs of clear ice, long slopes of ice-covered snow, flat skating rinks of thin ice covered with water. There was butt-sliding. There was crawling on all fours. There were some brave upright descents that built up surprising speed and ended with full-body tree hugging. AND there were eagles! At one point, we were watching six adult bald eagles lined up on the ice like beads on a necklace. In all, we estimated that we saw at least eight adults and one immature eagle. Maeve Kim, trip leader.
Other birds sighted:
- Robins, with their breasts incredibly bright
- Tufted Titmice, singing their loud “PEEEur” over and over
- Black-Capped Chickadees
- White-Breasted Nuthatch
- American Crows
- Ring-Billed Gulls
- Possible (very distant) Greater Black-Backed Gull
- Mallards
- Common Mergansers
- Common Goldeneyes
- Buffleheads
- Red-Tailed Hawk
- Mourning Doves
- Pigeons