York Beach, Maine

Hey there all. I figured I would put up my first blog post in close to a month now that I have my camera issues all worked out hence all of the photos I have. I have been doing well, but with birding slowing down, I have been doing a lot of other things like trail running, hiking and mountain biking, but it felt good to head off to York, Maine for a few days to spend time with family and just chill. There would be the usual bird activity there including the always vocal and brazen Herring Gulls like the one above.
As well as the many Ring-billed Gull shown above who was attempting to cool off when I got there on Thursday as the temps that day were mighty toasty and all of the gulls were segregated around certain parts of the beach trying to stay cool.
There was also one lone crown amongst the gulls that sounded different than any American Crow I had ever seen, but didn't sound exactly like a Fish Crow either so I was stumped and still don't know what it was as it appeared tiny for a crow, but perhaps that was wishful thinking on my part.
I got down to the beach and all of the gulls looked so photogenic I couldn't help myself as my fingers were itching to take pictures of birds once again.
I had forgotten how fun it was to take pictures and hope to not have anymore issues w/ the camera until Christmas when I will be getting another one.

View from the house I stayed at in Maine.

Bumblebees on beach roses(?).

There were not that many rare passerines in Maine, but we did have a resident pair of American Robins always in the yard so it looks as if that is their summer dwelling. Another highlight would be seeing a lone American Kestrel right near Stone Wall Kitchen as I was getting off of the highway to head to see my family. The other highlight would be having two Common Terns that would make a daily visit past the house where they would fly around the water and dive bomb for fish which is always fun to watch.

So besides a little birding here and there, I did a lot of other things including some bicycling and running, both of which are a lot of fun to do with the ocean out of the corner of your eye. Here I am on the deck to the house after a 5 mile bike ride followed by a 3 mile run. I love being active by the ocean side because it's not nearly as hot as it is inland so I can push myself more.
And of course it was also time for family including the 4 legged like like Bella above who was a rescue dog because believe it or not, some bastard abused her in the past but alas she was rescued and is part of our ever growing family. Love the one brown eye and one blue eye. I am done adopting pets for the time being, as I don't want to be tied down anymore, but if I ever settle in somewhere I want a dog just like this one. So cute!
We also had my sisters baby shower there as I am going to be an auntie soon and what better way to celebrate than with food and what better food is there than cupcakes and chocolate.
Cupcakes seem to be all the rage lately so who were we to not follow the trends and gets tons of them for the shower and of course they had to be pink because I am going to have a niece and pink means girl of course.
And then there were presents which is always so fun to oooh and aahh over.
Including these adorable little baby booties. So cute!
And time with family and friends.
And my new little niece!!
A picture of my Vibram's which have seen better days. Funny thing was that I would be running and fellow runners would run along side me for a while asking my opinion of my Vibram's which got demolished by the salt water as I love to run in the water and that took its toll on them. They are in the washing machine as I type this. I am planning on getting out to Maine this fall again and am hoping it won't be too cold to wear these puppies again because I could have run for miles with them on alongside the ocean.
A cute photo of the various flowers in the flower beds as well as a distant chair in the background.
All of the exercise made us famished all the time so we spend a considerable amount of time walking from place to place including good old Hawk Street near Short Sands. I can't wait for hawk watching and with August here, it is only a month away!
And of course Riley the resident dog at the Funorama.
And a cool photo of the Goldenrod neon sign.
And more dogs. I get my love of animals from my mother and she knows every dog withing a 10 blog radius of her house so we had to make stops at every store so she could introduce them to us. :-p.
Our final destination would be Blue Sky for booze and food. Here is my sister's husband on his way up the stairs for some much needed fuel.

The pineapple martinis are to die for and I would have had quite a few of them if I didn't have to get up bright and early today to head back home.
The lobster pizza was pretty nifty too and we inhaled it as soon as it was put down.
But hands down the best thing I had last night was the bread to the left. This work of art has bread, raisins, sea salt and CHOCOLATE in it. OMG!!!! I had 3 slices and took the rest home as chocolate is without a doubt one of my favorite foods of all time and this was the best bread I have ever tasted in my entire life. I told my mother she can be assured I would visit her more up in Maine as I need more already and don't know of any other place that serves it. So good!
As we left the live entertainment was singing a Journey song as we made our way down the stairs with our martini induced buzzes.
And the tourists were eating it up on the side walks.
We would make one last stop to Funorama and I had to take a picture of the South Park pinball machine as I have a deep fondness for South Park, but just don't tell anyone ok ;-)

Take care all.