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A Puffin, a Whale, and a Moose walk into a bar. In Maine

A Puffin, a Whale, and a Moose walk into a bar. In Maine

Old Feb 19th, 2017, 02:07 PM
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A Puffin, a Whale, and a Moose walk into a bar. In Maine

hello friends! My husband, son, and I are hoping to plan a trip to Maine some point this spring/summer/fall. Our planning has just begun and we are flexible in when we will go but my husband really wants to go on a whale watching tour AND see some puffin birds. And I would love to go for hike and perhaps see a moose or too. So my question is: What is the best time of year to visit Maine/Acadia National Park in which all of our wildlife viewing needs can come true?

thank you all in advance for your feedback!
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Old Feb 19th, 2017, 02:08 PM
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Specifically, which months should we go...
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Old Feb 19th, 2017, 02:20 PM
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This will be challenging.

I went to Newfoundland last July for basically the same thing. Puffins are only on land in summer, with July being the middle of their season. Saw puffins, but the whales were late last year, so didn't see many, and no humpbacks, which are the entertaining species. Saw no moose, but have not managed to see a moose in more than a dozen trips to Maine, either.

Maine is wonderful even if you don't see them all!
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Old Feb 19th, 2017, 02:24 PM
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I should mention that I love Acadia--it's where I spend 95% of my time in Maine, but wildlife spotting is not great there, in my experience.
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Old Feb 19th, 2017, 07:16 PM
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2nd or 3rd wk of June would be my suggestion. Weather should be getting better, everything opening up for the season, yet you hit it before the tourist crowds invade.

mainewhales.com
barharborwhales.com

For the Moose excursion, consider Canal Side Cabins at Grand Lake Stream, about 2 hrs drive from Acadia and a spot you won't soon forget.
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Old Feb 19th, 2017, 11:18 PM
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Here's an informative website
http://hardyboat.com/puffin-watch/

There's the Puffin Research Center in Rockland which is a reasonable drive from the Hardy Boat Cruise dock in New Harbor.

Caveat, I haven't been to either Puffin place but love the Rockland and Pemaquid Point areas. These are a long drive from Bar Harbor but something I would recommend if you consider splitting your time between two areas of Maine.

Good luck on seeing a moose. We have never seen a moose in Maine although we have visited at different times June thru Sept. We live in NH and I've seen a moose twice, once in our own yard. I would take the advice to go to Grand Lake Stream unless you want to detour over to the NH area that offers moose tours in the late evening.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 12:17 AM
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I've seen moose in NH on several occasions (Pinkham Notch and US 2 west of Berlin) and bears in western Maine. Didn't look for puffins, but the Rockland area is great for all kinds of things, so I would follow dfrostNH and start there, at least for asking purposes.

The basics of timing are finding out when the critters of choice mate and nest. Go where they are looking for each other. June sounds good to me. Just remember that a horny moose isn't anyone you necessarily want to be close to, ditto female moose with calves. These are huge creatures, yet they appear from nowhere and disappear just as quickly.

May and June are the only times I have seen whales in Nantucket from the shore, so this fits with seeing them later further north and further off shore. The only big whale I have ever seen (Right?) was at the mouth of Boston Harbor near Boston Light, and I saw him from an airliner just after takeoff.

My point? It's all kinda random.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 02:30 AM
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Pull up a map of Stelwagen Bank online. That is a shallower area off the NE coast where the whales go to feed on their favorite sand eels. You will see that this large area is easiest/fastest to get to from Boston and ports slightly to the north like Gloucester and Newburyport or slightly to the south like Plymouth and Provincetown. Best sightings, in my considerable whale watching experience, are from one of those ports, in most recent years toward P'town from whichever of those ports you actually depart from.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 02:55 AM
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Take him to the zoo...
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 10:48 AM
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Good advice from SambaChula.
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 07:16 PM
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thank you for the advice everyone! it is greatly appreciated.
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