Hard-core birding is an action-packed adventure. I realize non-birders think birding is a passive activity, requiring less effort than, say, knitting.
Non-birders have never charged off in search of a rarity that just appeared on the other end of the state. They’ve never driven forested back roads, paddled secret marshes or clung to the rail of a puffin boat.
Hard-core birders risk frostbite while searching for winter birds. They risk black flies and ticks in spring while out before dawn to greet returning migrants.
I’ve paddled around alligators and sharks. I’ve worn leather gaiters in rattlesnake-infested prairies. I was once followed by a grizzly bear in Montana, which was still less dangerous than the time I went out by myself in polar bear country, alongside Hudson Bay in Manitoba.
In hindsight, I think hard-core birders need to run less and sit more. That’s what I did on Monday, and I loved it. If I can sit in the right place at the right time, the birds come to me.
One of those places is Tidal Falls Preserve in Sullivan. On Monday, I loaded camera gear and a lawn chair into the back of my Subaru. An hour later, I was sitting beside the channel where the Atlantic Ocean fills Taunton Bay.
It’s a reversing falls, rushing in or out depending on the tide.
Sea ducks tend to collect here by the hundreds, especially common eiders. I counted more than 400 in one stop last winter. On Monday, I decided to sit in one place, and let them put on a show.
Frankly, I mistimed it.
From my Monday morning reconnaissance, it appeared that the birds collect below the whitewater, in whichever direction it’s flowing. I arrived on an incoming tide and found most of the eiders to be distant, nearer the Sullivan Bridge a half mile away.
Even at that distance, the continual sound of a hundred eiders clucking was impressive.
On an outgoing tide, they switch locations. Hundreds of birds gather below the falls, adjacent to the preserve parking lot.
The best show — the show I had hoped to watch — happens when the birds relocate with the changing tide. Catch it right, and the birds stream past your camera.
Even with my bad timing, there was plenty of entertainment. Red-breasted mergansers are abundant in this channel. I don’t know of another place in Maine where they are more numerous.
Common loons were almost their equal in numbers. Common goldeneyes floated next to me like I wasn’t even there.
Bald eagles enjoy the occasional duck meal. On the opposite side of the channel, there is a particular pine branch that eagles favor. I was expecting them.
They were a little tardy — maybe enjoying a late brunch at Governor’s Restaurant. But sure enough, they flew in an hour after I arrived, and settled in to survey their realm for the rest of my stay.
Whenever and wherever there’s a channel with fast-moving water, this flocking effect occurs.
Food gets churned up, making it easy pickings for seabirds. It’s a banquet table, and the birds know it. I’ll return to Tidal Falls Preserve soon, this time on a falling tide.
I’ll also bring a chair to other places. In southern Maine, common eiders, long-tailed ducks, buffleheads, loons and mergansers slosh back and forth through the channel into Wells Harbor on every tide. The same thing happens at Pine Point in Scarborough.
The Harraseeket River channel in South Freeport gets interesting on a changing tide. I would sit by the South Freeport town wharf.
There is a tidal pool at the entrance to Reid State Park in Georgetown. The surge of incoming tide under the bridge often pulls waterfowl into my lap.
I’ll bring a chair to Blue Hill Falls soon. I know there’s a big gathering of eiders and long-tailed ducks there. I just haven’t figured out where to sit.
The channel between Lubec and Campobello can be interesting. In summer, a surprising number of seals forage in the tidal surge. It should be good for birds in winter.
I spend most of my time doing something. I need to spend more time doing nothing. I’ll call it sit-birding. Bring a chair, and let the birds do all the work.
I guess I’ve already started. I brought a chair to the hawk-watch on Cadillac Mountain in September. I brought a chair to the Sea Watch at Schoodic Point in October.
Truth is, there are a lot of places in Maine to just sit and watch birds.
Places without polar bears and rattlesnakes.
