Photo gallery: 20 bird species seen during 1-hour walk in Bangor

The sun was shining on May 14 when I stole away from the office to take a mini nature walk around the bog surrounded by Bangor’s Essex Woods trail system. Right beside a busy interstate and the state’s second biggest shopping mall, the bog isn’t what most people would typically think of as a wildlife watching site. Yet it’s full of wildlife, especially birds. It depends on the time of year, the weather and the time of day, but usually I can find a number of species to photograph when I walk the trails around the bog, even if I’m only there for a short while.

On May 14, I was especially lucky to see at least 20 species of birds at the bog. The following is a gallery of some of the most interesting images I was able to capture. Because I’m new to birding, many of these species were “lifers” for me, which means its the first time I’ve ever observed that species in my life. Lots of birders keep lists of birds that they’ve observed or photographed. I’ve yet to do that, but maybe I’ll get start one of these days. I’ll try to identify these birds using guidebooks and online resources such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, but I may ID a few wrong. If you notice that I have a wrong ID, please let me know by email or in the comments! I’d be grateful for the correction. Also, if you want to share information about any of these birds, please leave a comment!

Aislinn Sarnacki

About Aislinn Sarnacki

Aislinn is a Bangor Daily News reporter for the Outdoors pages, focusing on outdoor recreation and Maine wildlife. Visit her main blog at actoutwithaislinn.bangordailynews.com.