Rain and Fog

The morning started out quite foggy at Seawall. Rain was expected by late morning. Late morning came at about 7am. It was still raining an hour later so we decided to stick around for the day and do some local walks along the shore between Seawall and Bass Harbor. We'd originally considered driving up to Cobscook Bay today, but the forecast is for clear with northwest winds tomorrow and Tuesday. This should bring more migrating hawks, so we decided to stay to attend tomorrow's hawk watch on Cadillac Mountain.

After stopping by the picnic area to look out for seabirds (many gulls and a few ducks, eiders we thought), we rode down to Wonder Land. It is about a mile hike out and back to through the woods and out to the water. As was got there the rain let up and we had a pleasant walk out to the coast and back.

As that was successful we moved on to the Ship Cove trail. It is a figure-eight path that runs along Ship Cove, across a rocky coast on the ocean and then back through the woods. As we walked out along the cove we spotted ducks in the cove, a Hermit Thrush in the woods and a pair of Greater Yellowlegs wading in a little cove just at the point the outbound and inbound trails meet.

At this point it started to rain. As we were only a quarter of the way along the trail, we headed back, reaching Speedy just as it really opened up. It looked like this was going to last a while, so we continued on our way to Bass Head lighthouse. When we arrive there, the fog had moved in and we couldn't even see the lighthouse, much less the water.

It was still raining but we were comfortably parked in Speedy, a good time for a latte and to wait out the rain. While I made coffee, Ellen gave her friend Judy a call. She and a friend are coming up to Acadia on Friday to volunteer at the Acadia Night Sky Festival next weekend. We are planning to meet up with them then.

By the time Ellen finished her call and I had finished my coffee, it was nearly lunch time. As it was still raining and very foggy at Bass Head, we drove back to the Seawall picnic area for lunch. Ham and cheese sandwiches were enjoyed by the water (in the warm, dry confines of Speedy) while we watched the gulls on the rocks in front of us standing around while the waves broke around them. Black-backed, Herring, Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls were all jostling for the favored rocks.

As they finally moved onto the beach with the rising tide, we decided to move on to Southwest Harbor to pick up a few groceries. After getting a few essentials (and a few snacks), we noticed a laundromat in the same plaza—a good opportunity to dry out yesterday's damp towels and Ellen's wet jacket The rain had stopped by the time the towels were dry, so we stopped downtown to poke around a bit.

It was still early and it looked like the rain might hold off. We decided to give the Ship Cove trail another try. The tide was in and the weather was still foggy, it was mid-afternoon and the bird life was very quiet, but the quiet woods followed by the waves crashing on the rocks at the turning point of the trail made it worth the return trip.

With bit of the afternoon left, we drove on to Bass Harbor to see what there was in the village...not much beyond the Swan's Island Ferry dock. We did stop there to look out into the harbor where Ellen found a pair of Black Guillemots, a life list bird for her. There was also a Kingfisher, a Loon, the usual flocks of gulls and the ferry arrived.

It was time to head back to camp with a short stop, once again, at the picnic area. The ducks obligingly came out of the water onto a nearby rock and we could identify them as Common Eiders—and the sun came out.

Not bad for a day of rain and fog.