Today we returned to Baxter State Park to bird the southern section. When we created the GABRaT ll itinerary we deliberately chose Baxter SP because of it’s elevation and general proximity to Canada – these factors combined make it a special location for a couple of species which are hard to get in north-east America. Today was our opportunity – or so we thought – to hunt them down. When we arrived at the south gate we discovered that the road was closed well before the high montane habitat which we needed. So instead we spent the day walking the trails (doing the hard yards – literally) and searching the various camp grounds but without success. It was therefore well into the afternoon before we finally found a new bird for our GABRaT ll list and narrowly escaped a ‘dot day’! The bird that saved our bacon was Goldeneye – a reasonably familiar bird to us in Norfolk but a scarce bird on my American list. During the course of the day we did see more warblers – adding Blackpoll to the Maine State list. We also enjoyed some stunning scenery. Tomorrow we begin the long journey back to Boston and our flight home to the UK (fingers crossed) on Sunday.