Bird watchers visiting Moosehead Lake will be delighted to discover they’ve landed at a prime, Maine birding location. Moosehead Lake is known for its spectacular woodland and wetland birding habitat and nearby, 1,600 acre Audubon Sanctuary.
Maine is a bird lovers paradise, with more forest than any other state in the union and a longer coastline than California. This unique combination supports a large variety of both resident and migratory birds. Consequently, bird watching is a year round activity with an ever changing roster of feathered friends to watch for. Thrushes, warblers, orioles, hummingbirds, loons, geese, bald eagles, and more.
Spring and summer are the best times for bird watching at Moosehead Lake, offering the most diverse variety of resident and migratory birds. Come autumn, many birds begin their journey south but the lake remains active with partridge, grouse, hawks, osprey, eagles, and more.
In fact, one can easily bird from the comforts of the inn. Our location provides expansive views overlooking Moosehead Lake and a great number of birds all year long. Birding enthusiasts staying with us in spring may want to consider booking the Loon Room so they can enjoy the calls of the wild loons on the lake from the room’s private deck. The room also includes many books on the region’s birds.
Of course, you’ll see many more birds if you venture from the inn but even then you don’t have to go too far for fantastic Maine birding. Not at Moosehead Lake!
Maine Birding at Moosehead Lake
Lily Bay State Park, just 10 minutes up the road from Lodge at Moosehead Lake is a great place to start. The popular park includes camping, a boat launch with a beach, and excellent birding. Common species include a variety of warblers, vireos, thrushes, and wrens.
Elephant Mountain, though heavily logged, is another popular birding location and the site of a 1963 B-52 bomber crash. Visitors can visit the crash site to pay their respects, then enjoy spotting the area’s many avian residents.
Scammon Ridge, located on the east side of the lake above Greenville, is another popular bird watching spot. The ridge is one of the area’s better mature forests, supporting ovenbirds, winter wrens, and a variety of canopy warblers.
Kokadjo, located 18.5 miles north of Greenville on Lily Bay Road, is a small community known for its swallows. Birders will find barn, tree, and cliff swallows nesting all around the area. Common loons, mallards, and Canadian geese frequent nearby First Roach Pond. You may also see large numbers of American goldfinches, purple finches, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and chipping sparrows.
Learn more about the birds of Moosehead Lake East and West at www.mainebirdingtrail.com.
Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary
The forests within the 1,600 acre Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary have remained uncut for more than a century. Consequently, it is a very special habitat for wildlife and human visitors, alike.
The forested sanctuary is home to a 1981 foot-high peak, ponds, streams, hiking trails, unique vegetation, and a great variety of wildlife. Visitors may see moose, beaver, bullfrogs, newts, marten, lynx, snowshoe hare, and more. The Audubon visitor center is located two-thirds of the way up the mountain trail, adjacent to a pond.
Birders will find a bevy of targets to watch for, including red-breasted nuthatch, boreal chickadee, yellow-bellied sapsucker, woodpeckers, 8 to 10 warblers species, peregrine falcon, and many others.
Best of all, Borestone Mountain Sanctuary is only a little over a half hour’s drive from our Moosehead Lake inn and restaurant. Visit maineaudubon.org for more information.
What things do you hope to do during your Moosehead Lake getaway? Hiking? Fishing? Kayaking? Moose Tours? Simple relaxing? Embracing hygge? Whatever your goal, Lodge at Moosehead Lake is here to help. We love sharing the area with our guests – book your stay today!