It’s always exciting to show a tour a one-of-a-kind bird that is found no where else in the world (that we know of!). And “Patches III” the proposed Tricolored Heron x Snowy Egret x Snowy Egret hybrid (I think…maybe) put on quite a show for us on the third day of the tour.

I just finished up a whirlwind 9-day tour with my good friend Scott Barnes for New Jersey Audubon. I’ll be sorting photos for a while and will post more later, but our unexpected observations of note while traveling around Maine (with about 24 hours in New Hampshire and a few hours in New Brunswick) besides all of our wonderful breeding birds, included the following:

• 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo (FOY, surprisingly), Brownfield Bog, Brownfield, 6/16.
• 1 White-rumped Sandpiper, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 6/18.
• 1 continuing proposed TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X SNOWY EGRET hybrid (aka “Patches III”), Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 6/18 (photo above).
• 1 drake Northern Pintail, Pelreco Marsh, 6/18.
• 1 continuing drake KING EIDER, 3 adult RED-NECKED GREBES (including a pair doing a little light courting), and an impressive 72 Black Scoters, Ocean Avenue, Biddeford Pool, 6/18.
• 1 pair ORCHARD ORIOLES and one late singing Wilson’s Warbler, Capisic Pond Park, 6/19.
• 1 pair Sandhill Cranes, Messalonskee Lake, 6/19.
• 1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, and 1 Indigo Bunting, Machias Seal Island, 6/20.
• 1 MANX SHEARWATER, between Machias Seal Island and Cutler Harbor, 6/20.
• Scattered Red Crossbills around Washington County.
• 80+ Razorbills and 12 Surf Scoters, Quoddy Head State Park, 6/21.
• 1 family group of CANADA JAYS, Wesley Township, 6/22.
• 4 Black-bellied Plovers, Petit Manan NWR – Hollingsworth Trail, 6/22.
• 2 American Oystercatchers, Egg Rock, Frenchman Bay, 6/23 (with Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co).
• 2 American Oystercatchers and 2 Common Murres, Petit Manan Island, 6/23 (with Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company).
• 1 LEACH’S STORM-PETREL, 1 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, 1 Sooty Shearwater (FOY), 25+ Great Shearwaters, etc, off Bar Harbor with Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co).
• 5+ Black Terns, Plymouth Pond, 6/24.