July 26, 2026: Vinylhaven Island, Maine

Penobscot Bay in Downeast Maine was our home base this past week; our explorations went south to Rockland, north to Belfast and Fort Point just below where the Penobscot River enters the bay under the Penobscot Narrow Bridge, and east to Vinalhaven.  The highlight was the trip out to Vinalhaven Island, about 10 miles off shore.

Entering the channel to Caver's Harbor on Vinylhaven.

I was watching for mammals on the way out and back from Vinylhaven - a seal or maybe a dolphin - but alas, it wasn't to be.  But there were birds.  On the open water of the bay, seagulls were swarming the lobster boats, fighting over fish scraps thrown overboard. 

Plus one lone gull that circled high above all the others for some reason unknown.

A common Herring Gull circling over Penobscot Bay.

There are over 4,600 thousand islands off the coast of Maine, most of which are quite small.  

One of the 4000 islands in the Gulf of Maine.

Many of these islands used to provide critical nesting sites for shore birds because there were no mammals to predate the birds or their eggs.  Today, the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refugee is working to protect these sites to help endangered species such Puffins and Artic Terns which have lost much of their habitat to human activity.  We didn't see either of these birds as we made our way through some of these islands on the approach to Vinallhaven, but we did see a few common species, one of which we see regularly in the Lakes' Region. 

A single Great Blue Heron hanging out with the gulls.

We also saw cormorants, which are seen up and down the coast of Maine. 

Double-crested Cormorants

Cormorants are also present on the larger bodies of water in the Lakes Region, and occasional visitors to Lake Wicwas.  Here are couple of cormorants perched in a pine tree on Wicwas.

In a small inlet to the Lanes Island Wildlife Preserve on Vinalhaven, there were several Common Eiders diving, and one resting on one of the many seaweed-draped ledges. 

Common Eiders, females and/or juveniles.  (Males are black and white.)

Common Eiders are the largest of our ducks, behaving more like seabirds than most of our lake ducks.  They can dive down 60 feet and their primary food source is the Blue Mussel.  They tear mussels off the rocks, swallow them whole, and let their strong gizzards grind up the shells to digest the good stuff inside.  [Cornell Lab of Ornithology]

We also explored a little human history on the bay, including Fort Point, where a fort was built in 1759 to protect the north country from attack by sea.

Today there are only remnants of the block house foundation and some of the berms built around the fort.

Securing the land for the military however, has resulted in protecting 120 acres and one mile of beautiful Maine coast for public access. 

In a 2020 post I mentioned the lime kilns in Rockport (September 27, 2020).  This week, walking along the Goose River in Rockport, we saw this huge bank of what looked like lime.  The immediate assumption proved correct:  this is a giant mound of lime tailings discarded after burning the limestone to create the calcium oxide (quicklime) that was shipped to New York and Boston to make mortar and plaster.  

A mountain of waste produce from turning limestone (calcium carbonate) into quicklime (calcium oxide) by heating it to 2000 degrees F in giant kilns

The rusty scrap metal in the piles are the bands that held lime casks together for shipping. 

Rusty old bands from lime casks

Quicklime needed to be packaged and handled carefully because if it got wet onboard the ship, the resulting chemical reaction would create enough heat to spontaneously catch fire. 

While we away from the lakes, our reliable loon watchers kept a good eye on not-so-little Pip.  

Photos by Debby Crowley

Look - wings!  With tiny primary feathers!

There was a moment of concern when a bald eagle swooped down, but Pip evaded the attack!

I'd be remiss not to mention the excellent blueberry crop this year.  It's still not too late to pick a batch, but I recommend finding shaded bushes, as the fruit in the sunniest spots is getting overripe now.

Still loads of berries yesterday.

I'll end back in Maine, with a postcard-perfect picture from Penobscot Bay,

Memories like this bring us back to the coast of Maine every year.