Any single martin away from a known colony is worth studying, especially “funny looking” ones, as vagrant martins have occurred in the Northeast. I spotted one such martin over Scarborough Marsh from the Eastern Road Trail while guiding on Thursday. Luckily, I shouted down the road to Bill Thompson and he was able to photograph the bird as it flew by. Together, we identified it as a 1st summer, likely female, Purple Martin. It sure looked strange as it was flying towards me.

A week of fairly-local birding at the height of nestling season – and the ramping up of southbound shorebird season – produced the following observations of note:

• 2 Red Crossbills, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, 7/6.

• 4 Orchard Orioles (pair with 2 fledglings), Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 7/7 (with clients from Maine).

• 3 Lesser Yellowlegs (first of “fall”) and 3-4 Least Sandpipers (first of fall), Walsh Preserve, Yarmouth, 7/8 (with clients from Maine).

• Totals of 95+ Short-billed Dowitchers, 70+ Least Sandpipers, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, Scarborough Marsh, Scarborough, 7/10 (with clients from Maine and New Hampshire).
• 1 PURPLE MARTIN, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 7/10 (with clients from Maine and New Hampshire). Photos from Bill Thompson above.
• 1 continuing drake American Wigeon, Eastern Road Trail, 7/10 (with clients from Maine and New Hampshire).

UPCOMING TOURS

Join me and Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay for a special edition of their daily Puffin and Whales Cruise on Saturday July 19^th. While this is not a dedicated pelagic, I’ll be a guest naturalist to help spot and call out birds at Eastern Egg Rock and offshore. With the irregular occurrence of the Tufted Puffin and now a Bridled Tern at EEG, you won’t want to miss the chance for a more birding-focused few hours on the water!  And the more birders we have aboard, the better!