There's not a whole lot to recommend the commute from Portland to Augusta - it's just two hours in the day that are gone forever. What I can say for the ride is that, especially north of the Androscoggin, one passes through some pretty countryside. And over the course of two years, traveling at literally any time of the day or night, I've been fortunate to see a fair amount of wildlife. Of course when zooming past at 65 it's often hard to draw many conclusions, but the sightings have included countless deer and woodchucks, one porcupine, and a bunch of birds. Many days, I am treated to the sight of a Bald Eagle near the bridge in Topsham - these birds, no longer uncommon, are still a thrill and a testament to the demise of DDT back when I was a kid. (Thank you Rachel Carson). Red-winged blackbirds are often visible in the bogs near Gardner, and there are buzzards and herring gulls, red-tailed hawks, ospreys, a couple of harriers, an occasional cloud of starlings, and doves on wires. Once I even saw a northern shrike, perched at the very top of a tree.
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