A Walk Along The Forgotten Tracks

On Saturday, I decided to explore an undeveloped portion of the Airline Rail Trail. The trail was a former railroad line that ran from Boston to New York City. You can read about its fascinating history here.

It was a cool, overcast morning with much moisture in the air. I started my walk at Depot Hill Road in Portland. There was a parking area near a gate. Apparrently, this area is owned by a utility company. Right from the start, there was a flurry of avian activity-Northern Cardinals,Blue Jays,Tufted Titmice,Red-bellied Woodpeckers, American Goldfinches,White-breasted Nuthatches,Common Yellowthroats greeted me with a disorganized symphony of sounds.

There was something odd about the Yellowthroat that I saw. It had little dark marks on its cheeks. I later realized upon checking a field guide, that it was a first winter male.

After passing through this initial area, I continued to see a variety of birds. I was hearing chip notes coming from inside the tangled bushes along the way. I became a bit frustrated after a while as they turned out to be little brown sneaky birds that didn't want to come out in play. I doubt that they were Song Sparrows, as I have no problem phishing those birds out in to the open. I did see Carolina Wrens and House Wrens along the way.There were also a few Palm Warblers around. The have a habit of flicking their tale like an Eastern Phoebe does. I had a nice view of an Indigo Bunting which has a "wet" sounding chip note.

I passed through some areas that was just bursting with berries. The smell of wild grapes was delicious! As the fragrance wafted through the damp air, I could actually taste the grapes in the back of my throat. I walked through an area where the ledge had been blasted. It left a long rock corridor. Water trinkled down from the sides, even though we haven't had any real rain for weeks. It made the air seem thick, so that taking a deep breath required effort.

At one point, I heard a group-(It's actually called a murder of crows but it seems odd to say that )- of American Crows harassing a Common Raven.-(a group of Ravens has historically been called an unkindness of Ravens, but I only saw one Raven anyway. The Crows were being unkind to it though).

I passed under route 66 through a tunnel. Looking at the map, I had never seen this tunnel from the road, as it was completely hidden. I found that to be interesting. Even more interesting, was that there was a Northern Waterthrush piddling round in some puddles at the very end of the tunnel.I enjoyed watching it for a while as I slowly came closer to it. Northern Waterthrushes prefer slow running or still water where as the Louisianna Waterthrush prefers running water. During migration this rule does not hold as true. This particular bird clearly had a yellowish-tinged breast, which made identification easier.

The last portion of the walk was a real surprise for me.The path cut right down the middle of a swampy area, but my feet stayed nice and dry-perfect viewing area. I enjoyed nice looks at 4 species of Woodpecker, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Phoebe, unknown Warbler, and a myriad of other birdies. I stopped my walk at a road called Alden's Crossing.You could see a portion of the track tarred over.There was a nice little wooden bridge that stood above a stream.This made for a nice viewing area also. I had a terrific look at Wood Thrush, in all of its spotted glory.On my way back, I noticed the two bikes that had been abandoned in the tunnel. It was kind of sad to see the two bikes rusting away inside this old train tunnel. There was probably a time when these two bikes were cherished by the kids who owned them. Do they still come back to visit these trails? I can just imagine the number of people who must have traveled along this route, and the memories that traveled with them. These trails that have been left behind are a wonderful gift.

On my way back, I could detect the smell of a charcoal grill. Not a bad smell,-just enough to snap my mind back to the present. I'll be looking forward to walking the rest of this historic trail in the days ahead.