Mid-Coast Audubon owns and manages four refuges open to the public for quiet recreation on the trails. These refuges are natural areas and we allow nature to take its course except for the trail system. Birders are encouraged to use the refuges and the trail system in all seasons.
Davis Bog Preserve is a 40-acre white cedar wetland in the Town of Morrill, and is managed in partnership with the Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition (BBWC). Access is by a 10-foot right of way over lands of Rudy Hamm on the Higgins Ridge Road, about one mile from Route 3, east of the state’s Ruffingham Meadow Preserve. BBWC has created an aerial photo and detailed directions.
The 30-acre Guy Van Duyn Preserve is on Route 220, 1.6 miles south of Waldoboro. Park on the west berm and look for the trailhead near the northern boundary. Several trails bisect diverse habitats and vegetation, from upland oak, spruce forest, field, riparian hardwoods, to tidal salt marsh on the Medomak River. Waterfowl, shorebirds, and more than 80 species of songbirds may be seen, depending upon the season.
The Nelson Nature Preserve is 95 acres on Route 97, about 1 mile north of Friendship Village. Watch for the sign and parking lot on the west side of the road. There are several trails through diverse habitats, from upland mixed forest to unique red maple swamp fronting the Goose River. Proximity to the coast makes this an excellent spring birding location for warblers and year-round for dense forest-dwellers such as thrushes and woodpeckers. The western half of the property is marshy and best hiked in winter.
The 3-acre Weskeag River Wildlife Preserve is a narrow strip of land 0.1 mile from Route 73, on Waterman’s Beach Road just past Snowdeal Road. The parcel fronts 300 feet on the Weskeag River and has spruce, balsam fir and red maple. Shorebirds on the river and birds inhabiting dense conifer forest may be seen.
Please, no wheeled vehicles or fires. Pack it in, pack it out.
