I planned to run the Belfast Rail Trail. With a small running pack secured to my back, I would jog the smooth, flat trail along the Passagassawakeag River to the Belfast waterfront and back. But I took a few steps and changed my mind.
I blame the birds. First I spotted a cedar waxwing, with its silky peach and yellow feathers. Then a chestnut-sided warbler swooped past me and snatched up a caterpillar. I watched as the bird smacked the caterpillar against a tree branch, perhaps to stun it before carrying it back to its nest?
I had to collect my camera, plus a big lens for photographing birds, plus a smaller lens for bugs and flowers. And I may as well bring some ice tea and a cookie, I thought. So instead of running, I resolved to creep along the 2.3-mile rail trail and enjoy nature. I wouldn’t regret that decision.
The Belfast Rail Trail, which opened in 2016, is rich in history. Along the trail there are interpretive displays with historic photos and information about the area. I stopped to read each one, imagining what it must have been like when the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad ran trains along the same route. But I have to admit, I was even more delighted, and surprised, by the nature I experienced on the trail.
The morning drizzle had ceased, but I wore a rain jacket, just in case. Fog hung over the river and permeated the forest, but the cloud cover was high and white. I could feel the warmth of sunlight fighting through.
Walking from City Point, the north end of the trail, I soon crossed a scenic trestle bridge, where I watched a double-crested cormorant diving for fish. The large, dark waterbird is common along the Maine coast. With a hooked orange bill and glassy blue eyes, it’s quite an interesting creature to look at up close — or through the lens of a camera.
One thing that stood out to me about the trail was how delightful it smelled. A gentle breeze carried notes of salt and mud from the river, mixed with the sweet aroma of the many wildflower blossoms that lined the trail. Multiflora rose, an invasive bush, may have been the source of the fragrance. Its white blooms lined the trail. I also spied the yellow blossoms of honeysuckle.
Daisies, buttercups, forget-me-nots and lupines grew there in abundance. And here’s a nature tip: If you look closely at the daisies and buttercups, you can often find crab spiders. Appearing somewhat crablike, they rely on camouflage to blend into flower blossoms as they lie in wait for pollinators to capture and eat. They sit inside the flowers, long legs stretched out to the sides.
I found several crab spiders that varied in coloring from bright yellow to white with pink markings.
I passed several other trail users that day. It’s a popular route. An estimated 300 to 400 people walk, bike or jog along it on a typical summer day, according to a counter placed on the trail for a few months in 2021 by the Coastal Mountains Land Trust.
Everyone seemed happy. “A beautiful day,” many remarked. I suppose we were all grateful to escape the rain for a few hours. June has been an especially wet month this year.
I saw people walking their dogs, solo walkers, chatty groups and a little boy riding a bike with a man I assumed to be his grandfather. I even ran into a former co-worker. She was jogging with her partner and stopped for a chat.
“I was going to jog, but then I got excited about the birds,” I explained to her before, coincidentally, whipping my camera up to photograph a black-and-white warbler.
Robins, chickadees and goldfinches all made my bird list for the day. Then, I stumbled upon a creature that was completely unexpected: a white rabbit. Two, in fact, nibbling on plants along the edge of the trail.
I was confused. In Maine, we have snowshoe hares, which turn white in the winter and brown in the summer. Aside from that, we only have a handful of cottontail rabbits living on specific properties in southern Maine, and they’re brown. So I had to have been looking at domestic rabbits, possibly from a house nearby? If someone knows the answer, let me know.
When I reached the south end of the trail, I walked out onto Armistice Bridge to enjoy a view of the boats in Belfast Harbor. Then I moseyed down the Harbor Walk to look at some more boats before turning back the way I came. (I would have walked into town, but I’d left my wallet in the car and it would have been painful to pass by Delvino’s and not grab a bite to eat).
The last wildlife sighting of the day came at the end of my walk. A large snapping turtle was swimming in a pool near the north trailhead. I watched the dinosaur-like creature as it munched on vegetation.
Who knew there’d be so much nature to enjoy just outside downtown Belfast? You can add me to the rail trail’s long list of fans.