Jeannette and I raced down to the Kennebunk Plains on Monday the 14th for this Fork-tailed Flycatcher. A notorious “one-day-wonder,” it conveniently was discovered on a day off for a change. Even more surprisingly, unlike most Fork-tailed Flycatchers that occur in the Northeast, this one stuck around, continuing through the 16th. There are between 10 and 16 previous occurrences of this vagrant from South America in Maine – incredible considering the distance it has to fly “incorrectly” to get here!
Only in the middle of July is a trip to Monhegan not the birding adventure of the week. But betweenthe chase of a “megs,” an opportunity to visit a banding project on a mountaintop in Vermont, and a couple of boat trips, it was a great week (plus) of birding for me nonetheless. Here are my observation of note over the past nine days.
1 RAZORBILL (just off of Smuttynose outside of Monhegan harbor) and 1 Atlantic Puffin, Hardy Boat from Monhegan to New Harbor, 7/12. Only tubenoses encountered on a very foggy day both to and from were Wilson’s Storm-Petrels.
1 FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER, Kennebunk Plains, Kennbunk, 7/14 (with Jeannette and m.obs). Found earlier in the day by Sam Darmstadt. Photo above.
7/19: I co-lead the morning Whale and Puffin Combo Cruise tour with our partners Cap’n Fish’s Cruises: 1 MANX SHEARWATER (unexpected close fly-by between our boat and Eastern Egg Rock); 2 American Oystercatchers, Eastern Egg Rock; 3 Cory’s Shearwaters and 100-125 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels offshore. I stayed aboard for the afternoon trip and only had 1 Cory’s Shearwater and 75-100 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels offshore.
A highlight of our Bicknell’s Thrushes of New Hampshire Weekend was this Black-backed Woodpecker nest that I found on a private tour two weeks ago. By last weekend, the nestling(s?) were getting close to fledging. Thanks to Bill Thompson for the use of his photo as my camera had little interest in performing well in the low light!
After being out of town for a few days (birding highlights in New Jersey included “southern” specialties, a huge Black Skimmer colony, and the growing, awesome White Ibis rookery), I returned to Maine and jumped right back into this record-busy guiding season. From coastal saltmarshes to mountaintops in New Hampshire, a few of my less expected observations in Maine over the past two weeks included just the following:
1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo (FOY!), our property in Durham, 6/23.
1 White-winged Scoter, Fort Popham, Phippsburg, 6/24 (with clients from Vermont).
1 Vesper Sparrow, Auburn Municipal Airport, 6/25.
And finally, for fun, here’s a selection of our favorite photos from our visit to the White Ibis rookery in Wildwood, NJ last week.
BICKNELL’S THRUSH WEEKEND TOUR REPORT
The trip report from our recent tour can be seen here.
One of the stars of the show this weekend was this incredibly cooperative Mourning Warbler.
I’ll admit to having a love-hate relationship with this tour. I love taking people into the realm of the Bicknell’s Thrush, but I hate how much I have to stress about getting people to see one! Of course, weather is one of the primary impediments to enjoying a fulfilling mountaintop experience, and well, if I could only control that, too! And then there’s the bird – one of North America’s most reclusive breeding species, and with a behavior that tends to lead to sleep deprivation as well.
But we could not have asked for a better start to the weekend, with the first Saturday without rain in almost three months! In fact, it was absolutely gorgeous as we assembled in Errol, New Hampshire: sunny, a light breeze, and pleasantly warming temperatures. The relaxing morning was spent exploring the lowlands, focusing on boreal transition forest and spruce/tamarack bogs. We heard a couple of Palm Warblers – and glimpsed one in flight, listened to Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, and enjoyed common warblers such as Magnolia.
We enjoyed some botanizing as well, and stopped to look at all walks of life, such as butterflies and dragonflies.
Atlantis FritillaryRacket-tailed Emerald
After a quick but delicious lunch, we did a little more casual birding (Blackburnian Warblers!) and even a little sightseeing!
A welcome afternoon break was followed by an early dinner in town, before our first trip up the mountain. With a mostly clear evening, we had some time until dusk, so we used it to make a bee-line to what I assumed would be one of the highlights of the weekend.
On a private tour two weeks ago, I found a Black-backed Woodpecker nest. At the time, the adults were feeding young that I could not yet hear or see. I hoped they would still be in the cavity by now, and it didn’t take long for us to know they were – we heard the begging nestlings from a good 100 feet away. I found a path of least resistance to the nest hole, and we took turns rotating in small groups to watch the adults make repeated feeding visits. Everyone was so respectful of the birds – especially the adult male – who didn’t seem too pleased with our presence. After one feeding visit per group, we backed off, gave the birds a break to feed, and then visited with the next group. While the sun was now setting fast and the photography was challenging, it was truly a special experience with such a charismatic and sought-after species.
Now, it was time to get to work. And tonight, our primary target really did make me work for it! Swainson’s Thrushes continue to increase here, and they were very active and vocal this evening. Too vocal.
While we did have some great looks at them, their presence and activity likely kept the Bicknell’s quiet and in the shadows. In fact, it was getting dark by the time the Swainson’s stopped singing and we finally heard a couple of Bicknell’s calling.
By 8:45, I was starting to get a little worried, so I walked most of the group up a trail where I had activity a couple of weeks ago. One bird was calling there, but it would not come out. I began the retreat to the road when the bird flew right over my head – one person even it heard it whiz by me. We turned back up the path and settled in and eventually at least one thrush began to sing, a couple of others were calling, and surrounded by Bicknell’s Thrushes, we ended up seeing one flying back and forth across the small clearing and at least half the group saw one in silhouette on top a small tree, calling aggressively.
The aural performance was top notch, especially down at the road, and everyone was quite satisfied with at least the sum of all views had of the bird in flight or paused in a tree at the edge of the small clearing. It wasn’t the “crippling views” from last year’s weekend, but everyone agreed it was more than “good enough” and the overall experience was worthy of the effort.
I pushed it a little longer and later than usual as it was such a nice evening (too nice?), and I had my worries about even getting up the mountain the next day. We returned to our hotel at 10:15, and we departed again at 6:00 – I let the group “sleep in” due to the forecast morning rain and our late return.
And it was indeed raining in the morning when we awoke, but the forecast chance of thunderstorms had not materialized. Therefore, it was safe to head up to the mountaintop, so without any further ado, up we went once more.
Unfortunately, up top it was still raining, albeit lightly, but the wind was already howling. What a difference 9 hours makes! Light rain came and went, fog would roll in and out, and we had one 10-minute rain delay in our vehicles with a downpour. Luckily, we had just finished breakfast!
Birding tailgating!
But the morning was by no means the washout we feared, and when the rain stopped, the birding was pretty good. We decided not to bother the Black-backed Woodpeckers (the light was even worse anyway in the fog) given the conditions, but we were happy to hear the begging youngsters from afar. A few Red Crossbills flew over, Blackpoll Warblers were singing, and we heard the mountain’s Fox Sparrow in the distance.
But we did not hear a single Bicknell’s Thrush. I was about ready to give up when one finally called nearby at 8:45. And he kept calling, repeatedly, so close to us, but we never even glimpsed him. He must have been just within the dense edge – so close, yet so far!
Now this tour promises two chances to look for the thrush, not two guaranteed observations, so we took what the birds gave us last night, and with the wind howling, we began our decent.
Stopping as soon as we had some more shelter, we hopped out and soon saw a Bay-breasted Warbler and heard a pair of Boreal Chickadees. A little further down the road, we heard what was almost surely a Cape May Warbler, but could not confirm it. There wasn’t much question about this Mourning Warbler however!
See headline photo…Now that’s the kind of view we were looking for!
We dipped on Lincoln’s Sparrow, and then spent some time looking for Philadelphia Vireos. While we heard what was likely one singing from within perfect habitat, all of the vireos we saw today – and you simply must see them to identify them – were Red-eyed Vireo. Their march up the mountain and resultant displacement of Philadelphias continue.
It was instructive, however, and analogous to the issues with Swainson’s Thrushes moving uphill and pushing out Bicknell’s – these high elevation specialists have nowhere else to go as our mountains are not getting any taller, and I made sure to weave these conservation and natural history messages throughout the tour.
We looked at plants, too, such as Round-leafed Sundew.
We celebrated our success – especially with Black-backed Woodpecker and Mourning Warbler! – with a wonderful and leisurely lunch, and then half of the group joined me for a casual stroll in the lowlands of Colebrook, where we encountered numerous Veeries – just to add to our thrush tally for the weekend. Of course, our photographers had left, so birds here – especially the Veeries – were exceedingly conspicuous, with repeated views of them out in the open and with bills full of food. American Redstarts, Yellow Warblers, and a couple of singing Bobolinks were icing on the weekend cake.
Have views of our primary target, the Bicknell’s Thrush, been better on this tour? Yes. But they have also been much less fulfilling, and rarely, not even seen at all. So, we’ll take it…plus it was a great experience that fostered appreciation for the challenges of seeing this bird. Oh yeah, and a nest of Black-backed Woodpeckers!
One of up to 6 Canada Jays encountered outside of Rangeley while leading tours for the Rangeley Birding Festival included this confiding adult, part of a family group of at least 4 on 6/6. In fact, I enjoyed Canada Jays in three states in less than a week’s time this week/weekend!
This time of year, most of my birding, both personally and especially professionally, is dedicated to finding, seeing, and enjoying the wide array of breeding species this state has to off. From Saltmarsh Sparrows and Roseate Terns here along the southern coast to Bicknell’s Thrushes and “boreal specialities” in the western Maine mountains (and northern New Hampshire), it has been another extremely busy guiding season for me. Meanwhile, while home, I have been conducting two local breeding bird surveys. While my “highlights” these days are seeing the “expected” species we all seek, I did encounter some unexpected observations and noteworthy counts over the past two weeks, but mostly, I thought I would share some of my photo highlights.
1 Dunlin, 4 Semipalmated Plovers, and 1 Least Sandpiper, Sanford Lagoons, 6/2 (with Jeannette).
Rangeley Birding Festival, 6/6-6/8: Two mornings of birding Redington Road (scouting 6/6, with tour group 6/7) yielded high counts of 2 territorial CAPE MAY WARBLERS (6/6+6/7), 6 CANADA JAYS (6/7), 1 pair of BOREAL CHICKADEES (6/6), 3 Red Crossbills (6/6), 2 Olive-sided Flycatchers (6/6), 1 American Bittern (6/7), 1 Black-billed Cuckoo (6/7), etc.
I was excited to find two Cape May Warbler territories outside of Rangeley on the 6th, and then find both males in the same place the next day with my Rangeley Birding Festival tour group.
While leading a walk for the Rangeley Birding Festival at Hunter Cove Sanctuary, I found this low-level Blue-headed Vireo nest that was fascinating to observe.
2.5 day private tour in Vermont and Northern New Hampshire (I know, this is a non-Maine-birding-field-note!) yielded: Bicknell’s Thrush, Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Canada Jay, Fox Sparrow, and 22 species of warbler including Cape May, Bay-breasted, and Mourning.
As usual, I took few photos while guiding, but this Bay-breasted Warbler outside Errol, NH on the 10th (with clients) was too cooperative not to fire off a few shots!
Back home for a couple of days, it was off to my local bird surveys. This fledgling Barred Owl was in Freeport on the 12th, confirming breeding once again at one of my local patches.
Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Trip Report.
The 2025 Monhegan Migration Spring Weekend was a shocking success. We went from having a weather forecast that made me worry if there would be any migrants to see at all, to an exceptional weekend that was by far the best Memorial Day weekend of birding out here in quite a few years. A total of 106 species were tallied in 5 days, including 91 together as a tour group, with a total of 22 species of warblers. Here’s the full trip report.
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).
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.
Don’t panic – this wasn’t in Maine! But it was my bird photo highlight over the past two weeks. This Boreal Owl was spotted a short distance north of Duluth along the famous North Shore Road on the first day of a visit there with friends on March 1st. I don’t usually chase birds out of state, but this winter has been incredible for Boreal (and Great Gray) Owls and we just couldn’t resist any longer! Photos from this, and other recent trips, are currently being posted regularly to the store’s Facebook page.
After a quick last-minute trip to Duluth, Minnesota for a birding weekend with friends (Boreal and Great Gray Owls!), Jeannette and I did our usual pre-hawkwatch long weekend and used it to visit friends in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (Green Jay fix and other Lower Rio Grande specialties!). In between and thereafter, it’s been mostly catching up at the store and life, but in some free moments, I had a few observations of note, including the vanguard of spring migration.
Our overwintering Fox Sparrow here at the store continued through week’s end, although it has become much more sporadic at the feeders.
Our Fox Sparrow at home in Durham continues as well, often singing in the morning.
1 Red-winged Blackbird (FOS), our feeders in Durham on 3/5. Increased to 3 on the 6th. 20-25 by the 12th, etc.
1 Common Grackle (FOY), our feeders in Durham, 3/12.
3 Brown-headed Cowbirds (FOY), our feeders in Durham, 3/12.
There was a nice little arrival of Song Sparrows to the area on the morning of the 12th.
1 probable CACKLING GOOSE, Rte 136, Durham, 3/12. Among 600+ Canadas, I had to reposition for a better and confirming view and shortly thereafter all geese were flushed by an eagle. Subsequent searches failed to relocate the suspect bird.
4 Fish Crows (FOY), Anniversary Park, Auburn, 3/13.
1 Killdeer (FOY), Thornhurst Farm, North Yarmouth, 3/13.
Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch
The 19th season of the Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch starts tomorrow! Free and open to the public, we welcome Zane Baker back for his 7th season as Official Counter. 9-5 every day, weather permitting.
Cruise ships are big, stable platforms that allow for pelagic birding in comfort and with the use of spotting scopes!
In 2019, Jeannette and I took a cruise through the Gulf of Maine and northwestern Atlantic Ocean in the hopes of finding Great Skuas in particular. It was wildly successful, and if we could repeat this success, perhaps there would be a cruise-ship-based tour to offer. At least it would be more comfortable than last week’s attempt!
Therefore, on the evening of 10/26, Jeannette and I boarded Princess Cruises’s Enchanted Princess out of Brooklyn, New York. Our hope was to replicate the success of our 2019 trip. We were planning on a second scouting trip in the fall of 2020, but then COVID.
After finally feeling ready to consider a cruise again, we found the itinerary had changed, and we would need to spend seven days to get two full days offshore..we even needed to come back home first! But alas, we had pandemic-era credit that was going to expire, so off we went. Is this a reliable way to see Great Skuas in North America? Could I document a Barolo’s Shearwater this time?
We started our birding, however, at Brooklyn’s Greenwood Cemetery, home of this massive Monk Parakeet colony.
We departed New York Harbor with about an hour of usable daylight, picking up a single Cory’s Shearwater and plenty of Northern Gannets.
Screenshot
Arriving off Newport before dawn the next morning, we got the first shuttle to town, where our friends Bill and Jess picked us up for a lovely day of birding (Clay-colored Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler, late Nashville Warbler) before returning to the boat. About 45 minutes of deck time produced 8 Cory’s and a single Great Shearwater.
Newport arrivals. “Western” Palm Warbler at Sachuest NWR.
Unfortunately, this particular boat offered less-than-ideal viewing opportunities compared to our first trip, with the best deck space on Deck 7 (a great height) but way too aft. Even with our scopes on the steady platform, this was going to be a challenge.
Approaching Boston on the morning of 10/28, we checked the decks for passerines (none) before taking our place on Deck 7. There were a lot of Northern Gannets, 4-5 Cory’s Shearwaters close enough to identify as borealis, and a pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins. A Song Sparrow flew aboard just outside the outer harbor islands, but before that, our first real surprise of the trip: an American Woodcock appearing from the north and cruising alongside the length of the boat before disappearing. That’s not a “pelagic” we expected!
We birded Boston’s Greenway a bit, but returned to the boat well after dark. Sailing slowly overnight, we returned to Portland (the original itinerary had us visiting Bar Harbor), where a long, thorough check of the Eastern Promenade yielded two Orange-crowned Warblers and a very late Red-eyed Vireo.
Darkness reached us a tantalizingly-short distance to Cash’s Ledge, so we retired to rest up for the big day at sea tomorrow (finally!).
Waking up in Maine waters about 16.5 nautical miles southeast of Mt Desert Rock, I stepped outside well before first light at 6:05am. I immediately texted Noam, the other birder on board that we rapidly had become friends with, and I hustled Jeannette outside. With some drizzle arriving ahead of approaching light rain, we had ourselves a fallout!
Unexpected considering there were little to no birds on the Maine radars overnight, and with a south wind through most of the night, I was surprised to immediately hear the flight calls of several Yellow-rumped Warblers. Sparrows were scattered about on the open decks. Noam and I had to usher a Rusty Blackbird out of a foyer, while Jeannette had to steer a Dark-eyed Junco down a hallway.
“Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow – that was an unexpected migrant, but makes sense considering we were southwest of Sable Island!
Clearly disoriented by the obnoxiously superfluous lighting of the ship, dozens of birds were around…often being flushed by now-awakening crew and passengers. Luckily, few birds seemed to be in dire straits – only one Yellow-rumped Warbler looked to me to be thoroughly exhausted, thankfully. In fact, most birds were leaving the boat as the sun rose and they were able to reorient themselves. While some birds seemed to arrive in the 15 or so minutes after sunrise, just about all passerines had departed the boat by 7:30 or so.
This photo, taken from off Eastern Point in Gloucester, MA the night before shows just how bright these ships are, and how disorienting they can be to birds.
With birds circling the boat before dawn, calling continuously, and others hiding in corners before being flushed to another corner, it was tough to count, but I estimated and counted a bare minimum of 8 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 8 American Robins (mostly overhead), 7 European Starlings (surprisingly), 6+ Dark-eyed Juncos, 2 Purple Finches, 2 fly-over American Pipits, 2 Savannah Sparrows, and one each of Palm Warbler, Snow Bunting, White-throated Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, and Rusty Blackbird. Additionally, Noam photographed a Pine Warbler.
The three of us were in place on Deck 7 by 7:30, but the passerine show continued. A flock of 12 Red-winged Blackbirds flew by, while a flock of 14 American Robins joined by two more red-wings flew alongside the boat for several miles later in the morning before overtaking us and heading back to Nova Scotia.
Throughout the day, other passerines appeared and disappeared, some of which could easily have been sheltering out of sight somewhere inaccessible on the boat. These included a few more robins, 3+ Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 Dark-eyed Juncos, and one each of Palm Warbler, Song Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, Snow Bunting, American Pipit, and Lapland Longspur.
American PipitHarlequin Duck (L) with Black Scoters
But this was a seabird trip, and so we remained vigilant over the water. While we only had a few minutes in Maine waters once we began our vigil, the rest of the day was productive overall, although the afternoon was quite slow. As we passed the southern tip of Nova Scotia (we even spotted Seal Island Light that we were lucky enough to visit with a group of birders about 20 years ago), we finally called it quits at 5:45 pm when cloud cover accelerated the falling of darkness.
Here’s our route (left pin to right pin) for the day, thanks to the Navionics Boating app by Garmin.
From start to finish, our respectable – albeit not breathtaking – seabird tallies included oodles of Northern Gannets (including a steady southbound trickle almost all morning), and occasional southbound flocks of all three scoters and Common Eiders. Specific counts included:
47 Black-legged Kittiwakes
36 Razorbills
13 Northern Fulmars
10 Great Shearwaters
6 DOVEKIES (one flock landing off to the side of the boat)
3 ATLANTIC PUFFINS
3 American Black Ducks
3 unidentified large shearwaters
2 Harlequin Ducks
1 Greater Scaup
Great Shearwater
So all in all, not a bad day, but the passerines stole the show, and while Dovekie is one of the target birds of this trip, we didn’t see a skua…or even a jaeger, surprisingly.
The next day we awoke well within Halifax Harbor, but a sunrise passerine check yielded two birds: a White-throated Sparrow, and of all things, a rare Dickcissel!
Local friends Eric and Anne once again rescued us for a day of casual birding and good conversation, but the ship departed after dark; just more time to rest for our second full day at sea!
Halifax Public GardenNorthern Flicker
The morning of 11/1 found us between Downeast Maine and the northern corner of Georges Bank. The rest of the day would be in the same waters of our great success on our trip five years ago. After a passerine check which didn’t turn up anything (which meant nothing was disoriented by the ship overnight or desperate for a place to land come dawn, so this is never a bad thing), it was time to get to work in our usual spot.
Unfortunately, strong southwesterly winds and growing seas, with haze and light fog in the distance, made birding challenging. We worked hard though, but it was slow. We did have some excitement from two Dovekies that landed fairly close to the boat, and two Manx Shearwaters that, thanks to the lighting, I was absolutely sure were not Manx Shearwaters until we carefully reviews Noam’s photos later.
With glare and haze becoming problematic, we broke for an early lunch at 11:30, with the previous 4.5 hours of observation producing only the following, plus two Humpback Whales:
12 Northern Gannets
7 Great Shearwaters
6 Red Phalaropes
4 unidentified large shearwaters
2 DOVEKIES
2 Northern Fulmars
2 Manx Shearwater (after review)
2 Black-legged Kittiwakes
2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
2 unidentified large alcids
1 unidentified small black-and-white shearwater.
Unfortunately, with increasing wind (that we were heading straight into) and seas growing up to 7-10 feet (barely noticeable on a ship this big though, thankfully!), the lower deck was closed off for safety. Later, even the upper decks were closed off due to the very high winds, which were now blowing nearly 30mph out of the southwest.
Screenshot
Luckily for Jeannette and I, we had scored a forward-facing room, and although we were high up on Deck 17, we could see forward. Haze and the angled window were problematic, but we could see birds close to the ship, and we could relax, remove layers, and even crack open a beer. This is pelagic birding in style!
From 1pm to 5pm, when we finally called it a day, the afternoon cabin-watch netted:
11 Great Shearwaters
9 Northern Gannets
5 Cory’s/Cory’s-type Shearwaters
3 unidentified phalaropes
2 Manx Shearwaters
Screenshot
And so our two days at seas concluded without a Great Skua, our primary target species for a future cruise..and perhaps a future tour. Alas, we’re only 1 for 2 in seeing skuas from the boat, and we would need a different class of ship (and, a shorter itinerary with more time at sea and less time in multiple ports) if we were to do this again. We’ll be keeping an eye out from other companies and other Princess ships to see if there’s a more skua-tactic itinerary in the future, but until then, our northeast Atlantic cruisin’ days may have come to a close.
Arriving in New York harbor before dawn, our last sunrise deck check yielded a single Dark-eyed Junco, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and White-throated Sparrow, bringing our more-productive passerine birding cruise to a close.
Although not in Maine, this spiffy adult Sabine’s Gull was the icing on the cake of an incredible day in Head Harbor Passage, New Brunswick on 9/4 (with Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Jeannette, and friends). An impressive concentration of gulls was led by 5,000-8,000 Bonaparte’s Gulls, 5,000 Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, and also including 20+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 20-30 Laughing Gulls (also Ring-billeds and Black-legged Kittiwakes). It was the best concentrations of birds we have experienced here in several years.
With our annual early fall weekend with friends to Washington County, a productive eight days of birding included the following observations of note:
Sandy Point Morning Flight, 9/3: 355 total migrants led by 105 Northern Parulas and 88 Cedar Waxwings, and also including a single BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (Only my 4th morning flight record). Complete tally here.
4 Red-breasted Mergansers, Lubec Bar and Flats, 9/5 (with Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Jeannette, and friends).
1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, Roque Bluffs State Park, 9/6 (with Jeannette).
1 juvenile YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, Jones Creek, Pine Point, Scarborough, 9/10 (with Jeannette).
Our Durham property continues to impress during migration. Another week with at least 15 species of warblers detected in the yard, and highlights including Philadelphia Vireo on several days and a Brown Thrasher at our feeders 9/8-9.
Based on the progressing season, and my upcoming schedule, this was the last week I focused on shorebirds. As always, my peak shorebird season culminates with our visit down east. There are plenty of shorebirds left to enjoy (and count), but my final shorebird “high counts” report of the season – including a goodly 20 species this week – is as follows:
AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER: 4 (2 ad with 2 juv), Pine Point, Scarborough, 9/10 (with Jeannette).
Black-bellied Plover: 8, Pine Point, 9/10 (with Jeannette).
Killdeer: 14, Crystal Spring Farm, Brunswick, 9/8.
Semipalmated Plover: 71, Pine Point, 9/10 (with Jeannette).
Whimbrel: 3, Lubec Bar and Flats, 9/5 (with Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Jeannette, and friends).
Tour itineraries are meant to be broken. Or is that “rules.” Well, those too.
We have offered some kind of “Bicknell’s Thrush Wekeend” tour for almost 15 years now. There was a hiatus for COVID, and last year – perhaps due to the uncertainty with travel planning – we pulled the plug on our weekend for the first time as registrations were slow to come in.
Therefore, for 2024, it was time to try something new and head into Northern New Hampshire for a new plan of attack. Two chances at Bicknell’s Thrush over the course of two days, with this one enigmatic bird the sole focus (well, at least until we see it) – that part of it had not changed. Everything else was new this year.
We assembled at 9:00am on Saturday, June 29th in Errol, New Hampshire. The itinerary? Well, never mind.
Several folks arrived to see their guide staring up at the sky and immersed in deep thought (you could smell the wood burning). It wasn’t raining, and it looked like we had a nice window of fair weather. But it was already 9:00am, and by the time we got up the mountain…
…but the forecast for tonight. And tomorrow morning.
…but it can’t be worth it to try for one of, if not the, most elusive of North American breeding songbirds in the middle of the day.
…and it’s getting warm.
…and there’s rain building to our west. The winds are picking up higher up.
…but let’s go for it!
So up the mountain we went. At least we would be trying. And that evening, with the risk of severe thunderstorms, we might not even have a chance to try. And the next morning didn’t look great.
But weather forecasts are fickle, especially up here in the mountains, so it’s hard to make plans. But it’s easy to look up and see what’s about to happen, or not. And when I looked up, my face didn’t get wet, so that’s the only forecast that’s dependable in these parts.
We raced up hill, arriving at about 3,000 feet and the realm of the Bicknell’s Thrush around 10:30, stopping for a Ruffed Grouse in the road escorting five chicks.
Southerly winds were increasing, blowing right up into and through our thrush territories. This was pointless. But hey, the rain was still across the valley. So we birded.
We heard the Fox Sparrow, spotted a couple of Blackpoll Warblers, and enjoyed the usual high-elevation species like Yellow-rumped Warblers and Dark-eyed Juncos.
Then, at the surprisingly late (or extremely early) time of about 11:15am, a Bicknell’s Thrush began to call. Over the next 15-20 minutes, we were treated to two birds counter-singing, and at least 3 or 4 birds calling. One bird silently flew across a clearing, as well seen as a thrush in flight can get. The two dueling birds darted between trees and occasionally paused in view of one or two people before melting back into the trees.
There weren’t photography opportunities, but everyone was more than satisfied with the sum of their views. And it was a tremendous auditory performance. Overall, it was actually a pretty good show, and really demonstrated the behavior of this fascinating bird. And since this is more than just a tick and run” tour, the birds’ behavior was instructional and of keen interest.
And after all being satisfied, the rain arrived.
We enjoyed a leisurely and delicious lunch, and then set out for a little more birding. Making up for the change of plans in the morning, we took a walk and a drive through some boreal habitats, but rain was becoming steadier now. We heard and saw a few common birds, but it was just some good quality time in the afternoon woods, absorbing our phytoncides. When the rain arrived in earnest, we called it quits and went to check in at our hotel.
The original plan was to have an afternoon break, early dinner, and then head up the mountain at dusk to take advantage of the evening activity of the thrush. Instead, we had a relaxing dinner, many of us enjoyed a beer or glass of wine, and we just chatted. Good conversation was enjoyed by all, and the rain kept falling.
At one point, the rain let up and I began to ponder a run up the mountain. Just in case the thought became serious, a downpour arrived. Dessert was ordered.
We were back in our hotel rooms at about the time I had planned to be on the mountaintop, so I didn’t know what to do with myself! I think I was stressed about having nothing to stress about. When a tour is solely dedicated to one species, a trip is a failure without that one species. But we already had our quarry, and if it was raining in the morning, oh well. And if it wasn’t, we would just go enjoy the bird some more. I think I had the longest and best night of sleep I can recall while leading a Bicknell’s Thrush weekend!
Well, it wasn’t that long. A “civilized” 5:30am departure from the hotel (thanks to our success the day before) found us free of the rain that was forecast, and there were even a few breaks of sun. It was rather breezy atop the mountain, and in almost two hours, we only had a couple of calls from Bicknell’s Thrushes. A simple continental breakfast was served from the back of my Subaru.
However, we had a Canada Jay (likely the last youngster in a family group that passed just downhill from us) in plain view, and spent some quality time with the local breeders like Blackpoll Warbler. Then, much to my disbelief, the second-most wanted bird on the tour (according to an unofficial survey), began to call very close to us. Could it be? I had to be mistaken. But not much else sounds like a Black-backed Woodpecker!
Then, with jaws dropping to the ground, it proceeded to fly overhead of us, heading up the mountain where it called a few more times. That was not something I was expecting – not just the species, but such a great look at it in flight (I can only recall one other time that I had seen one overhead) and far removed from the deep and dark bogs most of the local birds prefer.
Between yesterday’s thrush luck and today’s woodpecker fortune, not to mention another mountaintop visit devoid of the forecast rainfall, we were just ecstatic.
And then this happened…
You get a photo, and you get a photo, and you get a photo!
Wow. Just wow.
And it was on a snag that I had just declared, “if this bird comes out, it’s going to perch here.” Most people thought I was joking.
The thrush didn’t. Now, I wish I could always control birds like this, but especially with this species, I have really come to know them and their behavior. To me, it did look perfect for one to sit on. But no, I did not expect it to be sitting on it, singing up a storm, about 30 seconds later. It truly is better to be lucky than good.
And it sat there for long enough to take your camera down, adjust your settings, and return to firing away. It was even there long enough for your dumbfounded guide to remember he had his camera with him for a change. My panicked photos did not do the bird justice, so I will let everyone else’s speak for themselves.
There wasn’t much left to do up here, so we began our trek downhill.
A Mourning Warbler cooperated nicely.
Then, returning to our cars a (the?) family group of Canada Jays returned and came to check us out. Kathy’s granola bar was clutch here as two adults had a snack, with 2-3 dusky juveniles looking on, learning the ways of the Camp Robber.
And then Kathy exclaimed “there’s a Bay-breasted!” and we all looked up to see a stunning male singing from a roadside fir right over our heads.
We heard or saw at least another 5 Mourning Warblers on the way down, glimpsed a busy Lincoln’s Sparrow (a Sharp-shinned Hawk passed overhead precluded a better observation, however), and took some time to enjoy and identify butterflies – even skippers (OK, only Bill actually identified said skippers) – and plants.
White Admiral
Round-leafed Sundew.
But as the winds began to gust, more rain was approaching, and ATVers were becoming overwhelming, we left the mountain and headed to Colebrook for a relaxed, celebratory luncheon as the rain began to fall and before we headed our separate ways.
As for this new Bicknell’s Thrush Weekend itinerary (with and without necessary audibles), well, I think you can assume we’ll see you here again next year!
Jeannette and I enjoyed a summer roadtrip to the Atlantic Provinces of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island from August 15th through 23rd. Shorebirds were our birding focus, because August, but our expectations were far surpassed! Here are a few photo highlights from the journey.
We began our roadtrip in Bangor, where we could not resist some quality time with an unusually-confiding family group of Least Bitterns that has been hanging out in Essex Marsh.We then drove straight to Johnson’s Mills, New Brunswick, near the head of the Bay of Fundy.Here, at and nearby the Shorebird Interpretive Center, nearly half of the world’s population of Semipalmated Sandpipers passes through. After a day count of 100,000 a couple of days before we arrived, we had to settle for a tally of about 60,000. It was awesome (in the literal sense of the word).I wrote about this special place and how everyone needs to visit in a blog back in 2017 that can be read here.Staying in the delightful town of Sackville, we made multiple visits to the downtown Waterfowl Park. Copious amounts of dabbling ducks breed and stage here.. Here are a couple of Gadwall. Good numbers of American Wigeon are also present.But of course you’re really here at this time of year for the shorebirds, so on the next day, we were right back to Johnson’s Mills for the incoming tide.. Here’s a Semipalmated Sandpiper pool party.So. Many. Shorebirds.
It’s hard for still photos to do the scene true justice however, so we posted a few videos to our store’s Facebook Page. They can be viewed here.
As per tradition in this blog, a photo of our meal of the trip! This was our “lifer” Kurdish food from Fener’s Place in Sackville. Since we have not had this cuisine before, it notched out the win from several great meals in Charlottetown and elsewhere throughout the tour. Then it was off to Prince Edward Island, our primary destination of the trip. Our first stop was Brackley Marsh, but rain caught up with us and it was absolutely pouring. Birding was not easy, although we found two good birds: Long-billed Dowitcher and “Western” Willet. However, it took us until the next morning to find what we were looking for…… this Gray Heron! A vagrant from Europe, this is the first we have seen in North America. With this trip cancelled for the last two years due to the closed border, it was serendipitous for it to show up when we could finally make it. A big thanks to our friend Dwaine for rising early and pinning it down for us!We were amazed by the number of Great Blue Herons all over the island, too, such as this group near Savage Harbor.Dwaine showed us around, and after lunch, we birded Borden-Carlton… …where we returned the favor by finding this very rare for the island Black Tern at Borden Beach.Standing next to Bonaparte’s Gulls and Semipalmated Sandpipers, you can see how tiny this marsh tern is.Jeannette was put in charge of documenting it thoroughly!We spent the next day vehicle-free in Charlottetown, starting with morning birding at Victoria Park, where we quickly tallied a dozen species of warblers in scattered mixed-species foraging flocks.After Charlottetown, we relocated to Goose River and the next morning began with sewatching at East Point. There, we found another mid-summer rarity in a first-summer male Harlequin Duck. Unfortunately, it was too distant for photos.Later, however, at Rollo Bay, we had plenty of opportunities for close shorebird photography, including ample numbers of Black-bellied Plovers.And Semipalmated Plovers.Common Tern fledgling following an adult. Six Red Knots were among the highlights here.On our last morning in PEI, we once again began at East Point, where we enjoyed 3 Pomarine Jaegers chasing Northern Gannets, a few more Razorbills, and a Mourning Warbler along the road.Then, as our last stop before crossing the bridge, it was back to Borden-Carlton Beach. We just could not get enough of the shorebirds here, and photographing them against the island’s red sand really makes them – especially these Sanderlings – pop!Sanderlings and White-rumped Sandpiper.We just could not get over, nor stop enjoying, the plethora of White-rumped Sandpipers that stage and pass through the island. We had counts of over 200 in some places, and in some beaches and salt pannes, it was the most abundant shorebird. Here at Borden Beach, we took some more time to marvel at it.Shorebirds tracks and probes.And photograph some more Semipalmated Sandpipers…bringing our trip full-circle before beginning the trek home.
Maine Birding Field Notes 