Perched at the southern tip of Monhegan Island, where tired migrants make landfall, Wyeth House overlooks Lobster Cove. Photo: Derek Lovitch
Late May is a fantastic time to visit Maine’s Monhegan Island. Warblers in their summer finery are pouring through the Northeast, and many will drift over the Gulf of Maine on their nocturnal flights. Come dawn, the birds seek refuge on land, and Monhegan Island is perfectly positioned to catch arrivals. Rapidly changing weather conditions can result in massive “fallouts” of tired migrants, many of which will forage in the rocks on the shoreline. The possibility of overshoots from the south and vagrants from almost any direction adds icing to the cake of the fantastic birding afforded by this quaint little island.
Monhegan’s small village is inhabited year-round by a few hardy lobstermen and women and their families. In the warmer months, a thriving summer colony and art scene feast on the celebrated Maine coast scenery. We’ll be arriving before the throngs of summer tourists, and will probably have the island largely to ourselves, sharing only with other birders, local lobster fishermen, and artists.
The rustic Trailing Yew will be our home for the week, featuring delicious breakfasts and home-cooked dinners. Our comfortable European-style accommodations only enhance the “turn-back-the-clock” mystique of the Mohegan Island experience.
A Google map of our tour route can be found here.
Day 1: The tour begins at 6:00 pm in Portland. Night in Portland.
Day 2: We’ll drive the 60 miles to Boothbay Harbor, the jumping-off point for the mid-morning ferry to Monhegan. The ride takes about an hour and a half; depending on the weather, we may see a few seabirds, with Northern Gannet and perhaps Northern Fulmar the most likely. Night on Monhegan Island.
Days 3-5: Our days on Monhegan will be relaxed and unscripted. We’ll usually take a pre-breakfast walk along the dirt road through town, visiting gardens and weedy patches that seem to have harbored more than their share of birds over the years.
After breakfast we’ll take a longer walk, perhaps past Ice House Pond through Cathedral Woods to the northeast side or to Lobster Cove or Burnthead Cliff. None of these walks is very long, and each is lovely in its own way. If there are lots of migrants around, we may never get out of town.
Our afternoon walks will take us to different destinations. We’ll certainly visit many spots repeatedly during our stay, but there’s always more than enough to do.
Nights on Monhegan.
Day 6: We’ll leave Monhegan this afternoon to return to Boothbay Harbor and Portland. Night in Portland.
Day 7: The tour concludes this morning in Portland.
Prices
- 2010 price about $1,890
- Single Occupancy Supplement $150
Notes
Maximum group size seven with one leader, 14 with two.