Monthly Archives: April 2025

This Week’s Highlights, 4/19-4/25/2025.

Leave a reply

Back for yet another year, Jeannette and I refound the/one of the long-returning LITTLE EGRET X SNOWY EGRET HYBRIDS on the 20th at Tidewater Farm in Falmouth. It was nearly to the date that we relocated it here last year for the first time, and it really favors the tidal creek here at low and mid-tides. The long Little Egret-like neck plumes are highly suggestive of a Little, but they are coupled with some short, wispy neck plumes and yellowish lores indicative of Snowy Egret genes.\

The migratory floodgates opened this week, starting with a big flight Friday night into Saturday morning. Then, during the day, a huge hawk flight occurred. Furthermore, the weather of Friday through Saturday resulted in a small “overshoot” even where birds were facilitated further north than usual for the season, or at all. Locally, this resulted in several rather early dates for returning migrants.  Another great hawk flight on the 21st, and good passerine movements on several other nights made for an exciting and productive week of spring birding. A coastal sparrow-heavy fallout for the morning of the 25th yielded another large arrival of birds, with sheer numbers dominated by White-throated Sparrows. Here are my observations of note over the past seven great days, from a returning hybrid heron to a local first Patch record:

  • 35+ Palm Warblers, 30+ Yellow-rumped Warblers, and 20+ Ruby-crowned Kinglets, etc, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 4/19 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Saturday was an extraordinary day at the Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch. I was fortunate to be able to catch two hours of it, even if it was as the flight was waning. The record-shattering total of 2,712 migrant raptors crushed the old single-day record of 1,814 (5/3/2020). Today’s total was more than 700 birds more than we had for every previous day combined for this season to date. Not only that, but today’s tally eclipsed our two lowest SEASON totals 2,123 (2007) and 2,321 (2011)! 
  • 1 returning LITTLE EGRET X SNOWY EGRET HYBRID, Tidewater Farm, Falmouth, 4/20 (with Jeannette). Photo and details above.
  • 2 SANDHILL CRANES, Morgan Meadow WMA, Gray/Raymond, 4/21 (with Jeannette).
  • ~125 Palm Warblers, ~75 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and 2 Pine Warblers, Florida Lake Park, 4/23.
  • 7 Brant, Wood Island (restricted access), Biddeford, 4/23 (with Bethany Woodworth’s UNE Ornithology class).
  • 1 COMMON GALLINULE (FOY), Florida Lake Park, 4/25 (with Noah Gibb and Stacey Huth). First flushed by Noah and Stacey. Was a real challenge to get a look at, but eventually it came out to an edge for a handful of minutes. My 170th species at Florida Lake!

My personal “first of years” this week also included:

  • 1 Blue-headed Vireo, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 4/19 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 BANK SWALLOW (quite early), Florida Lake Park, 4/19 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 Barn Swallow, Florida Lake Park, 4/19 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, Morgan Meadow WMA, Gray/Raymond, 4/21 (with Jeannette).
  • 3 Black-crowned Night-Herons, Wood Island (restricted access), Biddeford, 4/23 (with Bethany Woodworth and UNE’s Ornithology class).
  • 1 Eastern Towhee Wood Island (restricted access), Biddeford, 4/23 (with Bethany Woodworth and UNE’s Ornithology class).
  • 1 Common Yellowthroat, Florida Lake Park, 4/25.
  • 1 Black-and-white Warbler, Florida Lake Park, 4/25.
Although Black-crowned Night-Herons have likely been around for a few weeks by now, these three at Wood Island in Biddeford on the 23rd were my personal first of the year.

Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch

The Week 5 report can be found here.

Upcoming Tours (with Space Available):

  1. Birds on Tap Roadtrip – Warbler and Wort. Thursday, May 8.

Evergreen Cemetery, Capisic Pond Park, Orange Bike Brewing and TBA with our partners Portland Explorer (formerly Maine Brews Cruise).

This Week’s Highlights, 4/12-4/18/2025.

Leave a reply
This immature Snow Goose was a surprise to find in the marsh off of the Footbridge Beach Parking lot in Ogunquit on the 15th. Later, my client and I found it much closer (although heat shimmer and distance still confounded my phone-scoping attempts) off of the North Beach parking lot across the river.

After another complex and long-duration storm system put the brakes on migration from Friday night through Tuesday, there was a huge flight of birds into the area for Wednesday morning and a great hawk flight on Friday.  Here are my observations of note and new arrivals over the past seven days:

  • Our last Fox Sparrow at our home and here at the store departed the night of 4/15. Not seeing one on the 16th anywhere ended my streak of 120 consecutive days of seeing a Fox Sparrow when in Maine! Of course on appeared/reappeared at home on the 17th.
  • A sparrow fallout was experienced along the immediate southwestern coast of Maine on the morning of 4/15. I caught a small sample of it with 50-75 Savannah Sparrows, 150+ Dark-eyed Juncos, 30+ Song Sparrows, 1 Fox Sparrow, etc, at Beach Plum Farm in Ogunquit (with a client from New York).
  • 7 Harlequin Ducks and 12 Purple Sandpipers, Perkin’s Cove, Ogunquit, 4/15 (with client from New York).
  • 1 immature SNOW GOOSE, Footbridge Beach parking lot, Ogunquit, 4/15 (with client from New York). Relocated later from the North Beach parking lot. Photo above.
  • The large rafts of several hundred (mostly) Greater and (at least a few) Lesser Scaup, along with White-winged Scoters, continues this week at Wharton Point in Brunswick, at least through 4/17.

My personal “first of years” this week also included:

  • 2 Palm Warblers, our property in Durham, 4/13.
  • 10 Broad-winged Hawks, Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch, 4/16.
  • 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler (FOS), Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 4/17.
  • 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Florida Lake Park, 4/17.

Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch

The Week 4 report can be found here.

Upcoming Tours (with Space Available):

  1. Birds on Tap Roadtrip – Warbler and Wort. Thursday, May 8

    Evergreen Cemetery, Capisic Pond Park, Orange Bike Brewing and TBA with our partners Portland Explorer (formerly Maine Brews Cruise).

    2. Field Identification and Natural History of Birds: Spring Migration at Eagle Hill Institute.

    A week-long immersive skill-building seminar for beginning and intermediate birders based in Steuben.

    This Week’s Highlights, 4/5-4/11/2025.

    Leave a reply
    Some Greater Yellowlegs (usually males) can look very dainty, and at this time of year have a virtually all-dark bill, suggesting Lesser Yellowlegs. Luckily, this one called to confirm, which is always helpful at this season when breeding plumage is often not fully developed.

    There were not a lot of days this week that felt like spring, but spring birding was in full swing this week, at least when I was actually out in the field. Rare and once-rare waterfowl led the way once again, with an increased appearance of new arrivals of a wider range of species as well. Here are my observations of note and new arrivals over the past seven days:

    • Three Fox Sparrows continued at our home feeders in Durham through week’s end, while at least 1 continues here at the store as well.  
    • 1 continuing Brown Thrasher, 450+ Greater with a few Lesser Scaup, 350+ White-winged Scoter, 3 Swamp Sparrows, etc, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 4/5 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
    • 1 Eastern Phoebe at the store on 4/6 – feeding on dried mealworms from within the starling-proof bluebird feeder. This was a first for me. They rarely eat mealworms, let alone dried mealworms, and I have never seen them enter a restricted-space feeder.
    • 1drake “EURASIAN” GREEN-WINGED TEAL, Mouth of the Abby, Bowdoinham, 4/7 (with Jeannette. Perhaps the same individual I found here on 3/27 with Bill Thompson.
    • An incredible 44 Gadwall in the salt pannes at the Eastern Road Trail, Scaborough Marsh, on 4/9. This is likely a new state record high count.

    My personal “first of years” this week also included:

    • 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (first of spring), here at the store, 4/5.
    • 3 Piping Plovers, Pine Point Beach, Scarborough, 4/9.
    • 14 Great Egrets, total in Scarborough Marsh, 4/9.
    • 18 Greater Yellowlegs, total in Scarborough Marsh, 4/9 (see photo above).
    • 51 Glossy Ibis, total in Scarborough Marsh, 4/9.
    • 1 “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 4/9.
    • 1 Pine Warbler, Powell Point Preserve, Freeport, 4/10.
    • 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, our property in Durham, 4/11.
    • 2 Chipping Sparrows, our property in Durham, 4/11.

    Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch

    The Week 3 report can be found here.

    Upcoming Tours (with Space Available):

    Evergreen Cemetery, Capisic Pond Park, Orange Bike Brewing and TBA with our partners Portland Explorer (formerly Maine Brews Cruise).

    A week-long immersive skill-building seminar for beginning and intermediate birders based in Steuben.

    Caption: While there have been a few nights with decent songbird migration so far this year, the night of the 10th-11th was the first one with a sizeable enough flight to be clearly detectable on the overnight NEXRAD radar. It’s on!

     This Week’s Highlights, 3/29-4/4/2025.

    Leave a reply
    This Rusty Blackbird singing up a storm at Florida Lake Park on 4/2 has likely been present here since way back when I first saw it on 2/26! I don’t stop at Florida Lake very often this early in the season, but every time I have, he’s been in the same corner, often singing, making me think it’s the same individual.
    Even now, it’s on the early side for Rusties.

    It was an up and down week of weather, to say the least, but slowly but surely spring migration was progressing. Considering fairly limited time in the field this week, I had a decent early season slate of observations of note and  personal “first-of-years” over the past seven days:

    • Fox Sparrows at our feeders in Durham peaked at a goodly 6 on 3/30. 3 continue here at the store through week’s end.
    • 3 RUDDY DUCKS (FOY), 18 Lesser Scaup, 16 Greater Scaup, etc, Sabattus Pond, Sabattus, 3/31 (with Jeannette).
    • 1 1st cycle Iceland Gull, Whiskeag Trail, Bath, 4/1 (with Jeannette).
    • 1 continuing Rusty Blackbird (likely present here since 2/26; note and photo above), 1 Pied-billed Grebe (FOY), 2 Eastern Phoebes (FOY), and 1 Tree Swallow (FOY), Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 4/2.
    One of two Eastern Phoebes at Florida Lake Park on the 2nd, this one seemed to be contemplating its life choices with yet another spring snowstorm on its way.
    • 2 Rusty Blackbirds, our property in Durham, 4/3.
    • 8 Double-crested Cormorants (FOY), Mailley Park, Bowdoinham, 4/3.
    • 1 drake NORTHERN SHOVELER (FOY), Mouth of the Abby, Bowdoinham, 4/3.

    Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch

    The Week 2 report can be found here.

    Upcoming Tours:

    Woodcocks Gone Wild re-scheduled for TOMORROW, Saturday, April 5th has not yet been cancelled. Updates will be posted here around mid-day tomorrow. The tour is sold out.