What to look for in nature in Maine this April

When does the ice go out on Maine’s lakes, and when do the loons come back?

• Moosehead Lake

  Anywhere from mid-April to early May in the last several years · Greenville and the southern end of Moosehead, in the Highlands

  A lake this size goes out in stages: open water shows along the shores and at stream mouths while the middle holds on. Ice can carry weight in one place and none in another, so never judge a lake by its edge.

• Common loons return

  Right after ice-out, followed by about a month of courtship · Lakes and large ponds statewide, especially quiet coves and islands

  Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW), the state agency, says in its loon calendar that that common loons return to Maine’s lakes right after ice-out and spend about a month establishing territories and bonding with their mates. Nesting follows in May and June, on the shore or on small islands. A loon in breeding dress has a black head, a necklace of white stripes and a checkered back, while wintering birds along the coast are dull gray and white.

• Open water for anglers

  Open-water seasons start April 1 in the 2026 lawbook; check the 2027 edition · Lakes, ponds, rivers and streams statewide

  IFW’s 2026 fishing lawbook, the newest edition we could read, opens lakes and ponds in the north zone to open-water fishing from April 1 to September 30, and rivers, streams and brooks in both zones from April 1 to August 15. In the south zone, lakes and ponds are open to ice and open-water fishing all year. A license is required, and the 2027 free fishing weekends, February 13 and 14 and June 5 and 6, miss April. IFW’s loon brochure notes that lead sinkers and jigs are the leading cause of death for adult loons in Maine, so choose lead-free tackle.

Which birds return to Maine in April, and when do the warblers arrive?

• Yellow-rumped and palm warblers, ruby-crowned kinglets

  Early April, on the first warm night with a southerly breeze · Backyards, hedgerows, shorelines and woodland edges, with southern and coastal Maine first

  Duchesne counts yellow-rumped warblers, palm warblers and ruby-crowned kinglets among the first arrivals of April. The yellow-rump has a bright patch above its tail and a yellow cap, and often flits out from a branch after the first flying insects. The palm warbler pumps its tail as it forages. Many yellow-rumps winter on the mid-Atlantic coast, and palm and pine warblers pass the winter only a little south of Maine, which is how they beat the rest of the migration home.

• Pine warblers

  Typically mid to late April; a 2016 Bangor Daily News birding column put the return around the third weekend of April · Stands of white and red pine, especially in the south

  A pine warbler flies straight to the pines where it nests. Listen for a musical trill high in the crowns on a mild morning, and look for a yellow-breasted bird with white wing bars.

• Hermit thrushes and winter wrens

  Typically mid-April, though they may stay quiet until the weather warms · Moist woods, brushy edges and stream corridors

  Duchesne writes that hermit thrushes and winter wrens typically come back in mid-April but do not sing much until things warm up. A russet-tailed bird bobbing its tail on the forest floor is probably a hermit thrush, and the tiny, stub-tailed wren often pops up from a brush pile.

• Ospreys at the nest

  Late March into April, per the Maine wildlife agency; eggs come later in spring · Coastal bays, rivers and lakes, on poles, platforms and tall dead trees

  IFW calls the osprey an abundant, widely distributed raptor in Maine that has never been listed as threatened or endangered. According to the Audubon field guide, ospreys lay one to four eggs, incubate them for 36 to 42 days and often reuse a nest for years.

What is happening on Maine’s beaches and rivers in April?

• Piping plovers

  Arrive from March; the first nests often come in the second half of April · Southern and midcoast sand beaches such as Wells, Ogunquit, Scarborough, Kennebunk and Old Orchard Beach

  Maine Audubon’s Coastal Birds Project reported the first plover of 2025 at Higgins Beach in Scarborough on March 11, and the first nest on April 18 at Wells Beach, which tied the earliest nest on record, set on April 18, 2012. By late April 2025 the crew had logged 122 pairs and 24 nest attempts, 16 pairs of them at Wells. A cold, snowy spring can hold nesting back to the end of April, as in 2016. IFW’s shorebird blog says plovers and least terns nest on southern Maine beaches, and that plovers fell to just 6 pairs in 1983. Incubation takes about 25 days. Stay out of fenced and posted areas and keep dogs leashed or at home, because a parent chased off her nest leaves the eggs exposed.

• Alewives and blueback herring

  April to late May, peaking around the week of Mother’s Day · Streams and rivers with a lake upstream, from Cape Elizabeth to the Kennebec and Penobscot

  The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) writes that alewives return from April to late May, with the peak of the run the week of Mother’s Day, which falls on May 9 in 2027. April is the leading edge. DMR says the fish favor sunny days and rivers swollen by spring rain, and enter most coastal streams that have a lake in the watershed. DMR’s release names the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, the Brunswick dam, Payson Park in Warren and several ponds on the Blue Hill peninsula as viewing spots. Access and hours vary by year, so call the town first.

Which frogs, toads and turtles are out in Maine in April?

• Spring peepers

  Evenings wherever the pools are open and the nights are mild · Shrubby wetlands, pond edges and swamps

  The spring peeper is Maine’s smallest frog, 0.8 to 1.5 inches long, grayish or orangish brown with a dark X on its back. IFW says it lives in forests near ponds, marshes and swamps, climbs trees and shrubs, and gives a high peep.

• American toads

  Breeding runs mid-April through mid-May · Shallow, open water in ponds, lakes, ditches and flooded fields statewide

  IFW describes American toads as explosive breeders, with most populations done within 15 days of starting. The male’s call is a high-pitched trill that lasts more than 20 seconds. Toad skin gives off a toxic secretion that protects it from predators, so look but do not handle.

• Wood turtles

  As streams and ponds warm in spring · Slow, sandy or silty streams, vegetated floodplains and nearby forest

  IFW lists the wood turtle as a State Special Concern species that hibernates in small ponds or beneath undercut banks of slow streams and rivers. A quiet stream bank on a sunny afternoon is the place to look. Do not move one, and if you find a turtle of any kind, send the date and place to the atlas.

Which wildflowers and fiddleheads come up in Maine in April?

• Coltsfoot, hepatica and round-leaved violet

  Starting about mid-April in the midcoast; later inland and uphill · Roadsides, mountain trails and rocky woods

  The Coastal Mountains Land Trust lists coltsfoot, a dandelion lookalike of poor roadside soil; round-lobed hepatica, often the first flower on mountain trails, changing from purple to white; and the small yellow round-leaved violet, which likes dry soil near rocks. The trust names the last quarter mile of the Maiden Cliff Trail near Camden as a reliable hepatica spot, and says trailing arbutus blooms through the month.

• Trout lily and red trillium

  Late April into May, depending on snowmelt · Moist hardwood woods, woodlands and river banks

  The Maine Coast Heritage Trust describes the trout lily by its mottled green and brown leaves that look like a brook trout, with a single yellow bloom on a slender stalk, and the red trillium by its threes: three leaves, three sepals and three maroon petals. The leaves come up first, so look down for mottled blades in the leaf litter. Leave the flowers where they grow.

• Fiddleheads

  Late April through early June · Stream and river banks and floodplains, on private land only with permission

  University of Maine Cooperative Extension says the fiddleheads to eat are the young fronds of the ostrich fern, which have a brown, papery covering and a deep U-shaped groove on the inside of the stem. Harvest them when they stand 1 to 2 inches above the ground, and always ask the landowner first. Extension’s rule is firm: never eat them raw or undercooked. Boil them for 15 minutes or steam them for 10 to 12 minutes, because a 1994 outbreak of illness was linked to raw or undercooked fiddleheads, with symptoms that include nausea, vomiting and cramps. Use them within a week of refrigerating.

What are Maine’s bears, deer, moose and seals doing in April?

• Black bears out of their dens

  Early April, earlier in a warm spring · Lowlands and wetlands first, then forest edges statewide

  IFW says female bears give birth to one to four cubs in the winter den in January, and that bears leaving their dens look for early spring vegetation, typically found in lowlands and wetlands, because natural food is scarce at first. IFW’s advice for bird feeders is blunt: take them down and store them inside between April 1 and November 1. Secure garbage, clean grills, store pet food indoors and latch dumpsters.

• White-tailed deer leaving their yards

  Through April, as new growth appears · Southern farmland and northern deeryards

  IFW writes that deer begin leaving their winter yards in April as new vegetation emerges. Fawns come later, with a peak in mid-June, and IFW asks that any found alone be left alone.

• Moose and winter ticks

  Ticks drop off in spring; calves are born in May · The Highlands, western mountains and northern Maine

  Winter ticks, which cling to moose for months, drop off in spring so that females can lay eggs in the leaf litter. IFW describes loads of 40,000 to 60,000 ticks on a moose and says a calf can lose 20 to 30 percent of its body weight between January and March or April. In parts of the core moose range, more than half of calves under a year have died. Slow down on northern roads at night.

• Harbor seal pups

  Spring; the season is getting going · Rocky ledges, beaches and islands along the coast

  DMR says that spring is harbor seal pupping season in northern New England. A pup alone on a beach is not necessarily abandoned, since mothers may leave pups for up to 24 hours while they feed. It is illegal to handle a seal without authorization under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. For a seal that seems truly stranded, hurt or stuck on a busy beach, the number to call is the state’s marine animal hotline, 1-800-532-9551. Keep your distance.

What is April weather like in Maine, and what hazards should you watch for?

How fast do the days lengthen in Maine in April?

When is the last spring freeze in Maine?

What can you see in Maine’s night sky in April 2027?

• The Pink Moon

  Full on Tuesday, April 20, at 6:27 p.m. EDT · Rising in the east after sunset

  Sea and Sky traces the name to moss pink, an early-blooming creeping phlox, rather than to any tint in the Moon. The full moment comes before the Moon clears the Maine horizon. In Boston it rises at about 7:41 p.m. that evening, and Maine’s times run a few minutes to a quarter hour earlier, with the Moon rising soonest in the far east, so look low in the east soon after sunset on April 20.

• The Lyrid meteors, a poor year

  Active about April 14 to 30; predicted maximum around 9:41 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 22 · Radiating from Lyra, low in the northeast in early evening

  The International Meteor Organization gives the maximum as 01:41 UT on April 23, or 9:41 p.m. EDT the evening before (our own check puts it about 14 minutes later), while Sea and Sky warns that a nearly full Moon will drown out the fainter streaks. Moonrise comes around 10 p.m. in Boston on the 22nd, so only the first few hours after dusk are truly dark, and a Moon that nearly full washes out the rest of the night. Expect a few meteors per hour at most, with an occasional bright one.

• Jupiter, Mars and the Moon in the evening

  Evenings of April 14 and 15 · High in the south and southwest after dark

  Jupiter, the brightest evening planet this spring, stays up until the small hours and sets roughly nine hours after the Sun at the start of April. Look on April 14 and 15 for the Moon, roughly two-thirds lit, which comes within 1 degree of Jupiter on the 15th and sits about 3 degrees from Mars that night.

• Venus before sunrise

  Through April, rising about an hour or more before the Sun · Low in the east-southeast before dawn

  Venus is the brilliant morning star but sinking toward the Sun. Its lead over the Sun shrinks week by week, from about 75 minutes at the start of April at 40 degrees north, and a bit more or less in Maine. A thin waning crescent hangs close to it before dawn on April 3 and 4.

What can Maine families do outdoors in April 2027?

Safety notes for April in Maine