Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge

Petite Manan NWR is about an hour up the coast from us.

We were ready to do a little hiking so we headed out early.

Trailhead

Our progress was very slow due to the many blueberry fields we walked through.

This area was loaded with blueberries. We could have quickly picked a bucket full.

The trail we walked was about 4 miles. 

Most of the trail was very easy walking.

We saw one very curious deer but no other wildlife.

Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge is 2,150 acres on 49 islands, stretching the entire coastline of Maine. The islands vary in size from 0.5 – 1,321 acres.

We came across several of these nice interpretive signs.

These are bunchberries.  I don’t believe they are edible.  They have very dainty white flowers in the spring.

At the end of the trail someone has thoughtfully put a couple of Adirondack chairs. 

This might be the end of the trail but it’s still 2 miles back to the car.  The views are worth the walk.

It is lobster season and there were plenty of lobster buoys out.

We also saw some groups of shorebirds. They winter up in the Arctic and are headed back south.

Lesser Yellowlegs

The shorebirds are already losing their bright breeding plumage, but you can see the remains of the "black belly" that give the Black-bellied Plover its name. 

Black-bellied Plovers with Dowitchers. 

We spent a while walking around and taking pictures before heading back.

Beautiful, clear water.

We seem to find mushrooms everywhere we go.

This is a beautiful, easy hike.