Our annual “weekend” downeast followed by a three-day tour to Monhegan headlined my birding this week, along with visits to shorebirds and Sandy Point to bookend the period.  Here are my copious observations of note over the past 10 days.

• I wasn’t home much during this period, but a few recent highlights from our Durham property this period included  a Prairie Warbler on the 15^th and a Brown Thrasher on the 16^th.

Sandy Point Morning Flight, 9/7.

A very good flight passed over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth Island this morning. A high flight, periods of activity at all levels – including below me, and early morning clouds combined to yield a lot of unidentified as I struggled just to keep count at times

• Thanks to Bill Thompson for some instant reply additions to the tallies.
• 6:10-9:35am.
• 52F, partly cloudy, NW 4.8-6.0, increasing, then diminishing to 3.9-5.3

• 541 Unidentified
• 448 Northern Parulas
• 169 American Redstarts
• 119 Blackpoll Warblers
• 51 Cedar Waxwings
• 46 Black-throated Green Warblers
• 14 Yellow Warblers
• 14 American Goldfinches
• 13 Red-eyed Vireos
• 11 Magnolia Warblers
• 10 Red-breasted Nuthatches
• 9 Cape May Warblers
• 6 Black-and-white Warblers
• 6 Bay-breasted Warblers
• 6 Nashville Warblers
• 5 Chipping Sparrows
• 5 Northern Flickers
• 5 Northern Waterthrushes
• 4 House Finch
• 4 Yellow-rumped Warblers
• 3 Black-and-white Warblers
• 3 Common Loons
• 3 Blue-headed Vireos
• 3 Tennessee Warblers
• 2 Savannah Sparrows
• 2 Prairie Warblers
• 2 Eastern Kingbirds
• 2 Black-capped Chickadees
• 1 Scarlet Tanager
• 1 Least Flycatcher
• 1 Common Nighthawk
• 1 Purple Finch
• 1 Cooper’s Hawk
• 1 Wilson’s Warbler
• 1 Philadelphia Vireo
• 1 Eastern Phoebe
• 1 Eastern Wood-Pewee
• 1 Downy Woodpecker
• 1 Blackburnian Warbler
• 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
• 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
• 1 Red-winged Blackbird
• 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• 1 Tree Swallow
• 1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
• 1 White-throated Sparrow
• 1 Indigo Bunting
• X Common Yellowthroat

• T= 1,519
• 1 Monarch

• 2 juvenile Snowy Egrets, Downeast Sunrise Trail marsh and Middle Rover Park, Machias, 9/6-10 (with Jeannette).
• 4 American Pipits (FOF), Carrying Place Cove, Lubec, 9/8 (with Jeannette).
• Charter with Eastport Windjammers through Head Harbor Passage, New Brunswick (with Chris Bartlett, Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Renee Patterson, Cynthia Phinney, Jeannette, et al), 9/9: 1 molting adult or 2^nd winter LITTLE GULL among a mere 800-1000 total Bonaparte’s Gulls, 3 juvenile Atlantic Puffins, 1 Arctic Tern, 3 Razorbills, etc.

• 1 1^st summer THICK-BILLED MURRE, 11 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 16 Great Cormorants, etc, afternoon whale watch with Eastport Windjammers through Head Harbor Passage (with Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Cynthia Phinney, Jeannette, et al), 9/9.

Caption: Assuming we finally had our first Common Murre of the day (they’re regular in small numbers here in the late summer), “instant reply” overturned the call on the field and provided us with a most-unexpected Thick-billed Murre!

• 2 adult and 1 2^nd-cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull and 13 Laughing Gulls, Roque Bluffs State Park, 9/10 (with Jeannette).

• Some of the observations of note from my three days on Monhegan (9/10-12) with my Monhegan Island Birding Workshop with DownEast Magazine’s DownEast Adventures tour group included: 1 make BLUE-WINGED WARBLER (9/12), 1 continuing hen KIND EIDER (9/12), 1 CLAY-COLORED SPARROW (9/13); 1 DICKCISSEL (9/12), 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (9/12), 1 juvenile Cooper’s Hawk (9/11), up to 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls daily, a respectable-for-Monhegan 8 species of shorebirds over the three days, and 30+ Wilson’s Storm-Petrels on the ferry both coming and going (getting a little late). Not bad for a “slow” weekend out there!

Sandy Point Morning Flight, 9/15.

• 6:20-10:05.
• 46F, clear, NNW 5.4-6.2 to N 1.5-2.6

A great flight passed over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth Island this morning.  Jayden Mowry and Bill Thompson were on the bridge with me for most of the count. Pulses of birds early and high resulted in lots of unidentified. Northerly winds resulted in lots of swirling and non-crossings, making counting migrants even more challenging! The hunting Merlin also didn’t help. A family group of 4 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS on a sandbar (first spotted today by Matthew Gilbert) was my 199^th species at Sandy Point!

• 297 Northern Parula
• 287 Unidentified
• 85 Blackpoll Warblers
• 45 American Redstarts
• 38 Black-throated Green Warblers
• 30 Cedar Waxwings
• 20 Red-eyed Vireos
• 19 Yellow-rumped Warblers
• 16 Yellow Warblers
• 15 Magnolia Warblers
• 9 Swainson’s Thrushes
• 7 Black-and-white Warblers
• 7 Northern Flickers
• 6 Ospreys
• 6 American Goldfinches
• 6 Nashville Warblers
• 5 Red-breasted Nuthatches
• 4 Northern Waterthrushes
• 4 Bay-breasted Warblers
• 3 Palm Warblers
• 3 Chestnut-sided Warblers
• 3 Chipping Sparrows
• 3 American Pipits
• 3 Common Loons
• 3 Black-throated Blue Warblers
• 3 Tennessee Warblers
• 3 Philadelphia Vireo
• 3 Blue Jays
• 2 Cape May Warblers
• 2 Purple Finches
• 2 DICKCISSELS
• 2 Blue-headed Vireos
• 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
• 2 Eastern Phoebes
• 2 Least Flycatchers
• 1 Wilson’s Warbler
• 1 Lincoln’s Sparrow
• 1 Merlin (plus 1 hunting)
• 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• 1 YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER (getting late; pending review of Bill’s photo)
• 1 Canada Warbler
• 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
• 1 Blackburnian Warbler
• 1 Downy Woodpecker (at least 4 “false starts”)
• 1 unidentified vireo
• 1 Warbling Vireo
• 1 Scarlet Tanager
• X Common Yellowthroat
• T= 956
• 6 Monarchs

And here are my shorebird high counts over the past 10 days, which did not include any birding south of Yarmouth, hence the reduced diversity and lower numbers for many species:

• AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER: 4, Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth, 9/15 (with Matthew Gilbert, Lewis Holmes, Jayden Mowery, and Bill Thompson). My 199^th Patch Bird here! Apparently, they have been present recently fide L. Homes and B. Thompson).
• Black-bellied Plover: 85, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 9/16.  
• AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER: 1 adult (FOY), Middle River Park, Machias, 9/10 (with Jeannette) and 1 juvenile, Wharton Point, 9/16.
• Killdeer: 17, Crystal Spring Farm, Brunswick, 9/15.
• Semipalmated Plover: 100+, Middle River Preserve, Machias, 9/10 (with Jeannette).
• Hudsonian Whimbrel: 2, Carrying Place Cove then the Lubec Flats, Lubec, 9/8 (with Jeannette).
• Sanderling: 24, Lubec Flats, Lubec, 9/8 (with Jeannette).
• Dunlin: 1 juvenile (FOF), Wharton Point Brunswick, 9/16.
• Least Sandpiper: 100+, Sandborn Cove, Machiasport, 9/6 (with Jeannette).
• White-rumped Sandpiper: 1, several locations.
• Pectoral Sandpiper: 1, Lubec Bar, 9/8 and Middle River Park, Machias, 9/9 (with Jeannette).
• Semipalmated Sandpiper: ~3,000, Sanborn Cove, Machiasport, 9/6 (with Jeannette)
• Short-billed Dowitcher: 2, Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 9/14.
• Spotted Sandpiper: 4, Downeast Sunrise Trail Marsh, 9/6 and 9/10 (with Jeannette) and 4 Monhegan Island, 9/12 (with DownEast Adventures tour group).
• Solitary Sandpiper: 1, several locations this week.
• Lesser Yellowlegs: 143 (great number for the date), Walsh Preserve, 9/14.
• Greater Yellowlegs: only 2, several locations this week.
• RED-NECKED PHALAROPE: 3, between New Harbor and Monhegan Island via the Hardy Boat ferry, 9/10 (with DownEast Adventures tour group).

Upcoming Tours With Space Available:

Boothbay Harbor ½ Day Pelagic, October 4th!

I’ll just leave last year’s trip report right here.

2025 Fall Half-Day Pelagic with Freeport Wild Bird Supply and Cap’n Fish’s Cruises.

Birds of Casco Bay.  October 6, 2026: 9:00am – 12:00pm

Join the crew of Seacoast Tours and Derek Lovitch from Freeport Wild Bird Supply on a special tour of the islands and waters of Casco Bay. We’ll explore the inner islands of Freeport, Brunswick and Harpswell as we search for eagles, migrant waterfowl, and an occasional seal basking in the sun on the ledges of hidden coves. We’ll focus on the common resident and migratory water and shoreline birds of the region while keeping an eye out for recently arrived wintering seaducks.

Forts and Feathers: House Island.  October 18, 2026; 9:00am – 2:00pm​

During our previous outings in which we became the first birding groups ever on the island, we found oodles of Yellow-rumped Warblers, other migrants, and learned about the island’s ecology. But we were also captivated by Captain Pete, who guided us through the historic fort, sharing a wealth of historical knowledge and fascinating stories. Once again, we’ve been granted special permission to come ashore and scour the island here in the peak of fall migration. We’ll follow well-maintained trails through the island’s mosaic of open habitats, scrub, and young woods. These are great habitats to search for a variety of migrants, and perhaps even a rarity!