The 48-acre Mowry Beach Preserve provides convenient public access to one of the easternmost sandy beaches in the country and is an excellent spot for birders.
Difficulty & Length: The Mowry Beach Trail is 0.8 miles roundtrip and can be reached from either a parking lot at the end of Pleasant Street or off South Street (at the southern end of Lubec Consolidated School). The path meets ADA guidelines for wheelchair access, being smooth and almost level with side rails for wheelchair safety and frequent turnouts for resting.
Town: Lubec
On a warm summer morning, DCC Outreach Director Cathy decided to head over to Mowry Beach for a bit of bird watching. Cathy being a novice bird was excited to see the very recognizable colors of the American Goldfinch soon after she started down the 1,700 foot boardwalk that leads to the beach from the southern end of Lubec Consolidated School. As she continued on her way she stopped to listen to a Song Sparrow singing high up in the coastal-scrub woodlands that borders the path. Then she spotted a tiny brownish bird with a yellow throat and breast hiding low to the ground in dense vegetation. She wasn’t sure what this bird was until she saw a designable male of the Common Yellowthroat nearby and thought maybe this was a female whose brightness of yellow can vary geographically. While watching the male yellowthroat, Cathy heard the call of a similar species going “sweet sweet sweet I’m so sweet” and knew this as the whistled notes of a male Yellow Warbler. This species is a bright yellow overall with chestnut streaks on the breast.
As she continued down to the beach she saw a few gulls and crows flying overhead. She caught a brief glimpse of two waxwings resting in the shadows of a shrubby tree. Cathy then ventured out to the beach passing by beautiful rose bushes in bloom. The tide was low and the fog was beginning to roll in over the water making the beach feel just a bit cooler than the wooden board walk. When she ventured back down the path she spotted a finch sitting high up on a tree and then heard a very sharp pik note coming from a Downy Woodpecker just off the trail.
The boardwalk is a wonderful place to bird. The State of Maine has designated the south Lubec shoreline an “Important Bird Area” due to its high concentration of nesting, migrating, and wintering birds. Waxwings, warblers, finches and many other migratory songbirds are very common here during the nest season. The 1,700 foot wooden boardwalk passes through coastal-scrub woodland and skirts a sphagnum bog and cattail swamp and leads to Mowry Beach. The beach is a perfect spot to spend the day and can also be accessed by a beachside parking lot on Pleasant Street. Beach visitors can relax on the sand or explore rocky areas along the low-tide line.
Directions: Take U.S. Route 1 to Route 189 (in Whiting) and follow 189 into Lubec village, bearing right on Washington Street. Take the third right onto Pleasant Street (just before the International Bridge) and follow it to the end (0.3 mile) to the beachside parking lot and trailhead. Alternately, turn right off Route 189 onto South Street, (after the cemetery) and follow that to Lubec Consolidated School. Park at the south end of the school building and walk around back to where a trailhead sign is visible at the lawn’s edge.