Somerset County (Maine) Big Day 2025

[Adopted from a post I sent to the Maine Birds listserv]

Every year a group of us tries to spend an intensive day of birding in a county outside our Cumberland County homes. This year we set our sights on Somerset County. Yesterday, Monday May 19, a group of us including Doug Hitchcox, Ed Jenkins, Brendan McKay, Michael Tucker and Franklin County guest star Tim Flight worked to find as many species as we could within Somerset County lines.

Somerset is an interesting county. It's the longest north-south county in the state--stretching from Fairfield all the way up above Baxter SP to meet Aroostook County--but offers very little east-west movement. That orientation makes a day's birding pretty straightforward: start in either the north or the south and head in the opposite direction. Our accommodations were at Sugarloaf (in Franklin Co.), so we started in the forests around Flagstaff Lake and worked our way to the extreme south of the county. 

Starting out just east of Stratton, ME

Being a bunch of dudes with jobs and families meant that we didn't have the luxury of choosing the "best" day to bird, and the weather was a constant annoyance. We didn't see a ray of sun all day, and were constantly plagued by drizzle, rain, and at times gusting winds. But things never got nearly bad enough to quit, or anything, and while the weather certainly contributed to some misses, there are so many damn birds in northern Maine right now that we couldn't miss. We had 10 species of warbler in the drizzle at our first stop of the morning on just over the Somerset line near Stratton, and songbirds were abundant at every stop as we made our way along Big Eddie Rd. up and over Flagstaff Lake towards Long Falls Dam. Despite dedicated effort, though, we were unable to connect to any of the boreal specialties -- Boreal Chickadee, Black-blacked Woodpecker, Canada Jay, or Spruce Grouse -- that we hoped to find up there. More scouting would have helped, but those birds are tough to find. Rising winds and the drizzle kept things pretty quiet around the lake, though we did have some nice surprises, including a flock of 22 White-winged Scoters migrating north, a pair of American Bitterns, and an American Herring Gull on the lake. We headed south, out of boreal habitat.

Great Moose Lake

We were invigorated by our next stop, an out-of-the-way boat launch at the north end of Great Moose Lake, near Hartland. That place was great, and featured about a dozen birds that we didn't see anywhere else in the county, including Black Terns, a majestic Sandhill Crane flyby, Northern Harrier, Pied-billed Grebe, and more. Any future Somerset County listers need to make sure this site is on their radar.

We kept moving south. A coffee break at a convenience store in Athens yielded a silent Black-billed Cuckoo in a tree across the street, reinforcing the truism that there are no bad birding spots in mid-May. We hit our first eBird hotspot of the day (and just one of three total) at 3:13pm, getting skunked in the rain at Lake George State Park. A steady diet of passerines and sharp-eyed pick-ups got us to the KVCC Alfond campus just north of Fairfield at 95 species, where we picked up Savannah Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore Oriole, Wood Thrush, and our century-mark clinching Willow Flycatcher.

Celebrating 100 species at Kennebec Valley Community College

We got ice cream and celebrated with one last stop on Libbey Island in Fairfield. It was really birdy, though, and we ended up adding birds like Tufted Titmouse, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tennessee Warbler, and Blackpoll Warbler. (Those last two brought our day's total to 22 warblers, missing only Prairie, Mourning, and Louisiana Waterthrush for Maine breeders.) We ended the day with 109 species in Somerset County.

We left a LOT of birds on the table -- Indigo Bunting, House Sparrow, House Finch, Great Blue Heron, etc. -- so another attempt with better weather and more efficient routing would certainly result in more birds. But we had a hell of a lot of fun, and saw a lot of beautiful places we'd never seen before. Until next year!

eBird Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/373865

Our checklists overlaid on a map of Somerset County. Courtesy Doug Hitchcox

Birding Arenal Observatory Lodge

Is Arenal Observatory Lodge the White Lotus for birders? 

Is that reference to a 2025 tv show going to stand the test of time? Who knows, but Arenal Observatory Lodge is a wonderful type of birding that I've never experienced before. It was great.

For me, a dirtbag, "birding hotel" means the first hotel by the highway interchange, the kind of place with a key on a brown plastic diamond and stains on the carpets. That's not what Arenal Observatory Lodge is.

my typical birding hotel key

The Arenal Observatory Lodge is high in the Caribbean foothills of Costa Rica, with a point-blank view of the famous Arenal Volcano. It's an all-inclusive property: 870 acres of primary and secondary rainforest, gardens and lodging, and pasture. The vast majority of that land is open for exploration, meaning birders and guides can wander around the look for birds and other wildlife to their heart's content, and still make it back to the restaurant for meals.

For a first-time Costa Rican birder like me, Arenal Observatory Lodge was paradise. It's completely self-contained, meaning I didn't have to worry about any of the things I may have to worry about if I were birding just out in the wide world: parking; language barriers; finding bathrooms; finding food; any of that stuff. Plus, it was also easy for my non-birding-but-wildlife-interested wife and son, who could safely wander the grounds at their own pace, hang out at the fruit feeders to see incredible, colorful birds up close, or take advantage of the other amenities.

Those other amenities are what made the place feel a bit like Birder White Lotus. There was a spa! There was a gorgeous pool and hot tub! There was a museum! This wasn't just a birding lodge, it's got something for everyone.

And, of course, the birding was incredible. I don't really know what to say. I hired a guide the first morning, Néstor Villalobos Rojas, and he was great. We didn't leave the central area for two and a half hours but got 66 species, most of them lifers. I regret not hiring him for the rest of the day, actually, because I would have gotten more birds but also learned a little bit more about where to focus on the other trails around the property. Alas.

On subsequent days and afternoons I explored almost all the other trails. Traveling out and around the pasture was lovely, and helped me get some species that aren't found near the main lodge like Chestnut-headed Oropendola, but to be honest I don't think birders need to leave the area of trails right below the restaurant and around the canopy tower. That's likely the best place to see some coveted mixed flocks and other goodies. The Waterfall Trail also goes through some great forest, though the water noise overwhelms birdsong once you get too close.

Alright so for the rest of this I am going to post some pictures with some other info or tips about birding at Arenal Observatory Lodge.

This is a Red-legged Honeycreeper at the famous fruit feeders. These contraptions are right off the big main deck by the restaurant -- accessible to all -- and feature some incredible and beautiful birds, including Bay-headed, Golden-hooded, and Emerald Tanagers, and many more.

This is also from the feeder deck - a Grau-headed Chachalaca with the peak of Arenal Volcano in the background.

SIGN UP FOR THE NIGHT TOUR. Do it. It's so cool, and you get to see a lot of creatures -- mostly amphibians and reptiles but also sleeping birds and monkeys -- that you don't see during the day. This is a world-famous Red-eyed Tree Frog and a crazy Eyelash Pitviper! Do the night tour!

There are hummingbirds all over the gardens, viewable from most of of the rooms. It's great. This is a White-necked Jacobin.

One of my best birds of the whole trip was this Sunbittern, the only member of its family and one of the most beautiful birds on earth. I really wanted to see one of these birds because I was planning a trip with friends to Costa Rica a few years ago but had to back out at the last second. They all still went and saw tons of birds - but missed Sunbittern. I lucked into this stunning bird at the river crossing just below the main gate to Arenal Observatory Lodge. It appears to be a reliable spot, though crossing paths with a bird during its route up and down the river isn't guaranteed, so multiple stops may be necessary.

The eye-blowingly bright Scarlet-rumped Tanager is one of the most common birds in the main area of the Lodge.

I spotted this Yellow-throated Toucan peeking its head out of its nest hole just below the Frog Pond. Just another of the amazing wildlife sightings available at Arenal Observatory Lodge!

General tips for traveling in Costa Rica:

• Get cash at the airport. Like many places, tipping culture is important here (especially for bird guides), but ATMs are really tough to come by. Make sure you stock up on small bills before you leave the airport.
• The roads are fine. With the caveat that I was there in April, at the end of the dry season, I'll say that the roads and the drivers were both easier to deal with than elsewhere I've traveled in the Caribbean / South America.