WILLOW CREEK — The Willow Creek Recreation Commission will launch a series of guided birdwatching weekends this spring, targeting the growing ecotourism market with the town’s location along a key Atlantic Flyway corridor.
The three scheduled weekends — May 12-13, Sept. 15-16 and Oct. 6-7 — will be led by Doris Kim, the town librarian and an experienced birder who has kept a species log of the Mattawamkeag River Valley since 1998.
“Willow Creek sits at a convergence of river valley and mixed hardwood-conifer forest that creates exceptional habitat diversity,” Kim said. “In a single morning along the river trail I’ve logged warblers, thrushes, woodpeckers, and occasionally bald eagles fishing the open water below Thorne’s Bend.”
Kim’s records show 137 species observed within town limits, including 21 warbler species during spring migration and occasional sightings of the uncommon boreal chickadee in the higher elevations of Farr Family Farm’s woodlot.
Each weekend will begin with a Friday evening orientation at the Carnegie Library, followed by guided walks Saturday morning and Sunday at dawn. Participants are asked to bring their own binoculars, though the Recreation Commission has purchased five loaner pairs using a $500 grant from the Maine Audubon Society.
Registration is $15 per person per weekend, with a maximum group size of 12 to minimize disturbance to the birds. Proceeds will fund a small birding blind the commission plans to build at a marsh along the Mattawamkeag River Trail.
Selectwoman Eleanor Vance said the program aligns with the town’s broader tourism strategy.
“We are not going to compete with Bar Harbor or Acadia on scale,” Vance said. “But there is a specific kind of traveler who wants a quiet, authentic birding experience away from the crowds. That traveler is Willow Creek’s audience.”