April of 2026 here on the Down East Coast of Maine started off by chilling us with below-average temperatures, which we didn’t need. It ended by showering us with above-average precipitation, which we did need. In between, there was the slow, sometimes dreary, sometimes beautiful, always interesting overture to spring.
As usual, we begin these Postcards with the four iconic scenes that we monitor for local records — the view from Brooklin of Mount Desert Island; the view of the summer house on Harbor Island in Brooklin; the long view of Conary Cove in Blue Hill, and two views of the near-mountain called Blue Hill:
April’s only snow was a sprinkle during its first week that powdered the fields and disappeared after the sun came riding onto the scene. The April woods, although a bit dry at times, remained easy to roam all month.
The ice disappeared from the ponds in April and river otters came to play in them, while the first painted turtles rose from their muddy sleeping quarters on the pond bottoms to bask when the sun shone:
During the month, vernal (spring) pools appeared in the bogs where skunk cabbage spathes rose like painted dolphins and unseen amphibians covorted at night:
Our streams managed to keep good waterflows most of April, but the month is in the middle of glass eel (baby American eel) season. The mouths of the streams often were draped with Fyke nets trying to catch the little migrating eels:
With a few exceptions, the April flora wrere mostly in the formative stages, including pussy willow catkins and sproutings of all kinds.
There were the usual early showoffs, including forsythia, daffodills; andromeda; bluets; Japanese coltsfoot, and Siberian squill:
When it comes to flora, April is not just about the outdoors. It’s a time when tropical house plants also bud and bloom in Maine, including this magnificent hibiscus:
But, of course, for many of us, Down East Maine in April is mostly about the outdoors, especially the sea coast. Here you see Great Cove before the summer’s sailboats arrive. All was calm during the month, except for the occasional fishing vessel that took a fast shortcut through the Cove.
The tops of rockweed bouquets start to appear in Great Coveat about mid-tide. At low tide, this algae becomes a jungle that hides sea life (which can become sea food for some). Common whelk sea snails are sometimes among the tidal pool fauna; their shells are valued by human beachcombers and their bodies are valued by sea gulls.
There are much bigger fauna in the trees overlooking Great Cove. I monitor an osprey nest there every year and its feathered owners always have returned in April. Below, you’ll see the male (Ozzie) bringing a fish to the female (Harriet) in the middle of a significant rain storm. Below that image, you’ll see Harriet reigning supreme in her big nest on a sunny day.
A great blue heron, another returning migrant, regularly waded in Great Cove at low tide and hunted in the nearby marshes during April. He’s a creature of many guises:
We also have a pair of nesting mallard ducks that arrived in the Cove during April; we hope to see ducklings there in May,
There are too many other spring birds in our coastal area to show here. But I must show one more: This American Robin was singing his little heart out most of the month, hoping for a spring romance.
Before we say fairwell to the fauna, I should report that our white-tailed deer were still in their fully-insulated winter coats during April and even took naps during April showers.
WoodenBoat School’s pier on Great Cove doesn’t get its docking float attached until May or June. But the mooring gear for the renowned school’s fleet of small boats seems to be eager to get back into the Cove.
Just north of Great Cove, the Brooklin Boat Yard’s pier in Center Harbor had its docking floats installed in early April. The renowned Yard is busy all year, but in April it starts taking large and small boats out of winter storage there and returning them to where they belong.
Inside its shops, however, is where the BBY earns its world-wide reputation for expert and imaginative navel archetecture and craftsmanship. Things were busy there in April:
Just south of Great Cove, a few local fishing boats were undergoing rest and repair this A[pril after a tough scalloping season; they have to get ready for summer lobstering. Who said all lobster boats look alike?
Up the peninsular a few miles, there’s a reversing falls with raging white water that attracts courageous mariners in special kayaks and attire. They test themselves in the numbingly cold April waters even during rain showers. And, sometimes the kayaker wins; sometimes the water does. But there never has been a fatality there.
Let’s end with our eyes to the sky. Although it might not be appropriate to create a Postcard from Maine about the Artemis II trip around the moon this April, I can’t help myself. It was such a wonderful, prideful event, that I edited one of the Orian crew’s official images of Earth to show (approximately) where I was while the multi-day trip was happening:
National Aeronautical Space Agency image that was rotated and annotated for this illustration.
Nonetheless, we did see the April moon in several phases by looking up from Maine. The full moon was cloudy here this year. It’s called the Flower Full Moon because it rises when pink flox appears in many places (but not here yet).
Well, folks, we’re having a wonderful time and wish you were here!
(All images in this post were taken during April of 2026; all were taken from Down East Maine except for the indicated NASA image.)