I have to start out this post with a description of trials and tribulations. My mom (who had just flown in from MN) and I wanted to head to Acadia National Park one last time before making the drive from Maine to MN. To sweeten the deal we decided to leave early for some black-bellied whistling ducks that had been hanging around the MDI highschool. We left early, and on the way experienced car trouble. The clutch dropped out of my truck! Ever pulled up to a toll plaza and had no ability to downshift? It happended to me… once. So, we had to call in a flat bed and got towed into Augusta. There we dropped the vehicle off and picked up a loaners. All within 60 minutes. GREAT! We arrived in Bar Harbor in time for our scheduled Whale Watch tour and were standing in line when the cancellation announcement came through. It was shocking, seeing as the sky was clear and there was no wind, but I guess the offshore fog was just too bad! After the cancellation of the whale watch we decided to head for the BBWD’s and were rewearded! They are shown below.

We also were rewarded with new life throughout the pond. There were goslings and ducklings in both of the ponds. In both cases it’s plain to see Mom and Dad watching out!

From a little birding it was time to command and conquer! We had a Cadillac Mountain Summit in our future and on our brains.  We took the West Face trail up the mountain which starts at Bubble Pond. If you have had the opportunity to climb this mountain and this trail, good on you! It’s straight up the mountain and is a bit grueling at times, but you can’t miss the summit! Here you can see a panoramic shot of the mountain.

We headed back down the mountain and went straight for the Wild Gardens nature area. There we met up with my coworker, Tim Divoll, to do some bat trapping. One of the main pieces of the work at Biodiversity Research Institute is its bat monitoring and research efforts. As you may know bats have been hard hit by white-nose syndrome which has killed an estimated 5.5 million bats. This disease, along with deforestation and other habitat loss have been some bad species in a critical state. The objective of the bat trapping in Acadia was in collaboration with state, federal and university individuals to help understand the immunology, mercury and population dynamics of small-footed bat in Acadia. These bats are very small – one that was captured this night weighed in at a mere 3.2 grams! The picture below shows a small-footed bat with its characteristic black mast. The wing pictured is Tim Divoll checking this bat for scarring, which is an effect of white-nose syndrome.

The next morning at Acadia was indeed a rare, and beautiful one! We drove to the summit of Cadillac Mountain where we watched the sunrise. From this vantage point we are one of the first to see it in the US! I did a time-lapse capture of the sunrise, which can be viewed:

HERE <<- CLICK!

After taking in that rolling fog (did you see it?), passing planes (did you see it?), lobster boats (did you see them?) and of course, the sunlight and changing landscape we headed down to Jordan Pond for a walk. The highlights of the trip were many, but included few people, expansive views and incredible weather! I’m told pop-overs at Jordan house are a necessity, unfortunately we missed those.

Here is the view from the south end of  Jordan pond (see the sun to the East?). There was blooms coming from the cottonwood trees and lazily floating on the surface.

Wildlife was abundant through our 4.5 mile hike around the pond! here you can see black-throated green warbler gleaning insects, a red squirrel digging for some insects behind the birch bark, a black-and-white warbler, a peregrine falcon flying a long the ridge-line and a common yellow-throat warbler. Of course my camera can only capture so many things! It didn’t capture the sounds of blackpolls, redstarts and black-throated blues. Nor did it capture the small minnows in the water.

Once we hit the north end of Jordan Pond the views were still there (they never left). The rocks in the picture below are only a few inches in diameter. Don’t be fooled by perspective!

From the north end of the pond I found the highlight of the trip. This may fly had just hatched. Most likely he spent the year growing and growing, this is his moment to shine! He posed in the sun, soaking it in before taking off in front of my camera. Thank you for your Time and Beauty!

So, that’s my trip to Acadia National Park. I hope you enjoy!

Ian