It was a week of catching up, so birding time was limited. Nonetheless, I enjoyed a few observations of note over the past six days, highlighted by a successful twitch of the LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE at the Kennebunk Plains on the 25th (with Jess Costa; photo above).
Otherwise, there was a single Red Crossbill over our property in Durham on 6/26 (with Jeannette), and today at Scarborough Marsh, 3 Lesser Yellowlegs (one at Eastern Road, two at Pelreco) – the first of fall! Yes, southbound shorebird migration is now underway!
TOUR REPORTS:
Still catching up on tour reports, a brief rundown of my Rangeley Birding Workshop for Down East Adventures from early June.
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 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).
This Common Murre was a lucky find in the middle of nowhere as we traveled offshore during our ½ day Zeiss Pelagic out of Boothbay Harbor last Friday.
With 6 of the 7 days this week spent guiding in some shape or form, mostly in the Rangeley area, the weather presented a real challenge! As a cut-off low spun offshore, activity was certainly reduced on many of my trips, and my birding time in between was rather limited. Therefore, my observations of note over the past seven days were limited to the following – in addition to all of our great local breeding specialty birds, of course!
2 Willow Flycatchers (FOY) and 2 Glossy Ibis – my 152nd Patch Bird here! – Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 6/3 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
2+ Red Crossbills and 1 migrant Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Hedgehog Mountain Park, Freeport, 6/6.
2 adult CANADA JAYS, 20 Red Crossbills, etc, Hunter Cove Wildlife Sanctuary, 6/7 (with Down East Adventures Rangeley Birding Workshop tour group).
2 adult and 2 juvenile CANADA JAYS, 11+ Red Crossbills, 1 Palm Warbler, etc., Boy Scout Road, Rangeley, 6/8 (with Down East Adventures Rangeley Birding Workshop tour group).
1 BOREAL CHICKADEE, 20 Red Crossbills, etc, Quill Hill, Dallas Plantation, 6/9.
1 adult Great Black-backed Gull, Lakeside Park from porch of Lakeside & Main, Rangeley, 6/9 (with Birds on Tap! Event for Rangeley Birding Festival group.
Meanwhile, as I slowly catch up on trip reports, here’s my travelogue from Memorial Day Weekend on Monhegan, including daily trip lists and lots of Jeannette’s photographs. For those waiting for the daily birdlists, I apologize for the delay.
This first summer male Blue Grosbeak was present on Monhegan for at least a week, and unexpectedly, was flycatching for seaweed flies in shoreline rocks for most of the time, including the two days we looked at it with my Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend tour group.
With 5 days on Monhegan and one (half) day offshore, I enjoyed a lot of great birds this week. My observations of note over the past seven days included:
Monhegan Island with our Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Tour group (full trip report and photos to come).
Daily:
Impressive numbers of Red Crossbills swirling around the island and tough to quantify, including many juveniles. High counts of largest flock(s) in the mid-20’s. Three WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were present each day at least through the end of the weekend. Rare for the island, a pair of HOUSE FINCHES appeared on the 27th and continued through the end of our stay. Here are my group’s other daily highlights.
5/26:
11 Bay-breasted Warblers (FOY)
1 Cape May Warbler (FOY)
1 female Evening Grosbeak
1 Black-billed Cuckoo
1 continuing ORCHARD ORIOLE
1 Philadelphia Vireo (FOY)
5/27:
1 continuing male DICKCISSEL
1 continuing female/imm male SUMMER TANAGER
1 female ORCHARD ORIOLE
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher (FOY)
5/28:
9 GLOSSY IBIS – circled the island early in the morning but did not land. My 225th Island Bird!
1 probable immature male PURPLE MARTIN
1 continuing 1st-year male BLUE GROSBEAK
1 immature BROAD-WINGED HAWK
1 continuing male DICKCISSEL
5/29:
1 pair ORCHARD ORIOLES
1 continuing SNOWY EGRET – Jeannette and I finally caught up with it for my 226th Island Bird!
1 continuing 1st year male BLUE GROSBEAK
5/30 (With Jeannette):
1 continuing male ORCHARD ORIOLE
1 Field Sparrow
Did not try to catch up with continuing rarities, although two quick checks did not turn up the Dickcissel or the Blue Grosbeak.
The Zeiss Pelagic with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay Harbor, 6/2. This special mini-pelagic, sponsored by Zeiss Optics visited Eastern Egg Rock before heading 20 miles offshore. Trip report to come, but for now, the highlights:
1 Razorbill at Eastern Egg Rock
1 COMMON MURRE (between Eastern Egg Rock and Murray Hole)
350-400 total Wilson’s Storm-Petrels (FOY)
12 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES
TOURS AND EVENTS:
I’ll see you next week at the Rangely Birding Festival! Most (but not all) tours are sold out, but everyone can join me for the free and open to the public Birds on Tap! Event at Parkside and Main (beverages not included)!
This reported Little Blue Heron x Snowy Egret Hybrid in Spurwink Marsh of Cape Elizabeth may add to the mix of ultra-rare hybrid herons that have been occurring annually since 2012 in the Greater Scarborough Marsh area. Or does it? See below.
The last cadre of migrants are arriving, and the late spring “rarity season” is now upon us. With new arrivals, breeding birds on territory, and the expectation of the unexpected, it was a great week of birding for me as I head out to Monhegan Island with our annual tour group.
My observations of note over the past seven days included:
1 continuing reported LITTLE BLUE HERON X SNOWY EGRET HYBRID, Spurwink Marsh, Cape Elizabeth, 5/22 (with Jeannette, et al). Present since 5/16, this would be the first record of this hybrid combination in Maine, and one of the few ever. Or, is this just a funky 1st or second summer Little Blue Heron that is showing oddly dark legs? Plus if it is truly a hybrid with a small white heron, I am not sure how we would rule out Little Egret (or a hybrid that includes Little Egret) as the other half of the mix, especially with the long-ish-looking dual wiry plumes. Furthermore, some folks have raised doubts about even the potential of mixed parentage here. While clearly different from the TRICOLORED HERON X SMALL WHITE EGRET SPP hybrids that have been in Scarborough Marsh since 2012, I hypothesized about the possibility of Little Blue joining the mix(es) in my 2021 article in North American Birds. I saw the bird again on the 23rd with clients, and obtained better photos than the evening before. Unless of course, my fascination with the hybrid herons of Maine is clouding my judgement here? (Edited for clarity and for minimizing definitives*)
The bicolored bill and blue-gray lores looks fine for Little Blue Heron, but the bill seems a little longer and thinner. The two wiry plumes on the back of the head also look longer and wispier than a Little Blue – could it suggest that the small white egret that’s 50% of its blood (we think) is actually a Little Egret…or the Little Egret x Snowy Egret hybrid…or…
The extra bushy plumes suggestive of Snowy is evident here, and are the soles of the feet a little yellowish? Other photos show the blakcish legs better than this, and 1st summer Little Blue Heron should have uniformly yellow-green legs, especially if still this white.
Also very Snowy/Little-like are the bushy plumes on the foreneck. When it shook, I also observed some whispy white plumes on the back…neither of these should be so fluffy and obvious in a pure Little Blue Heron, especially in its first summer.
***5/26 am edits: The more I think about and study this bird, the less sure I am. It bothers me that the lores and bill are spot on for a Little Blue. But would color develop further when in high breeding, which it won’t reach until next year? Could this just be a super-shaggy-looking Little Blue? Howver, the legs are black or blackish, which is not a characteristic of Little Blue Heron at any age. There seem to be too many anomolous features here to dismiss it as just another splotchy 1st-summer Little Blue. Perhaps, as the summer goes on, and more adult-like characteristics develop, a true pattern and its presumptive ID will become apparent. Hope it sticks around in the same area!**
1 BLACK-NECKED STILT, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 5/23 (with clients from Maine and Idaho). First spotted by one of my clients as we were split up and scanning both sides of the marsh for sharp-tailed sparrow activity. Awesome find, Ralph! Here’s a lousy, one-armed phone-scoped photo of the bird in the distance.
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Garcelon Bog Preserve, Lewiston, 5/25.
With the advancement of the season, my personal “FOY’s” this week were limited, as expected in late May, but many of our latest-arriving breeders are showing up on territory now.
1 Alder Flycatcher, Long Reach Preserve, Harpswell, 5/21 (with Harpswell Heritage Land Trust tour group).
1 MOURNING WARBLER, Long Reach Preserve, 5/21 (with Harpswell Heritage Land Trust tour group).
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee, our property in Durham, 5/22.
1 Common Nighthawk, over Bayside neighborhood of Portland, 5/22 (with Jeannette).
3+ Saltmarsh Sparrows, Scarborough Marsh, 5/23 (with clients from Maine and Idaho).
2+ Nelson’s Sparrows, Scarborough Marsh, 5/23 (with clients from Maine and Idaho).
7 RED KNOTS, Pine Point, Scarborough, 5/23 (with clients from Maine and Idaho).
3 Short-billed Dowitchers, Pine Point, 5/23 (with clients from Maine and Idaho).
TOURS AND EVENTS:
Our June 2ndZeiss Pelagic is sold out, but we are starting a waiting list in case there are any late cancellations. Please email the store at info@freeportwildbirdsupply.com to get on it.
I haven’t been carrying my camera much, and with only one working arm still, my photography has not been very successful. But this Gray Catbird posed nicely for me at Hinckley Park on the 19th.
I had a very busy week of programming, with two tours and some private guiding. With limited free time in between, I made the most of it with some excellent morning outings. Highlights included lots of migrants and more new arrivals, as well as uncommon local breeding birds.
My observations of note over the past seven days included:
16 species of warblers led by 15+ American Redstarts and 10+ Black-and-white Warblers, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/14 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop tour group).
Unknown number in a small group of calling Red Crossbills, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/14 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop tour group).
1 pair SANDHILL CRANES, 3 YELLOW-THROATED VIREOS, 1 LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, and 1 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/15 (with Jeannette. That was a great morning!)
30-40 Long-tailed Ducks, Stover’s Cove Preserve, Harpswell, 5/18 (with Harpswell Heritage Land Trust tour group).
19 species of warblers, led by 14 American Redstarts and 9 Black-and-white Warblers, but also including 5+ Tennessee Warblers, etc, Hinckley Park, South Portland, 5/19. My best warbler morning of the season so far.
4 Red Crossbills, Hinckley Park, 5/19.
My personal FOY’s this week once again included a mix of “they’ve been around for a while but I haven’t been in the habitat,” regular and on-time arrivals, a few species that have been slow to arrive given our abnormal spring weather pattern, and even an oddly early arrival or two.
4 Magnolia Warblers, Florida Lake Park, 5/13 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
1 YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, Florida Lake Park, 5/13 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group. Exceptionally early; likely my earliest record by at least several days if not over a week).
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow, Florida Lake Park, 5/13 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
1 Blackburnian Warbler, Florida Lake Park, 5/13 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
3 Red-eyed Vireos, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/14 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop tour group).
2 Tennessee Warblers, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/14 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop tour group).
1 Cape May Warbler, Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch, 5/14.
1 House Wren, Hidden Pond Preserve, Freeport, 5/16 (with clients from Maine).
1 male Indigo Bunting, our feeders in Durham, 5/17.
10+ Bobolinks, Old Brunswick Road, Durham, 5/18.
8 Blackpoll Warblers, Hinckley Park, 5/19.
3 Swainson’s Thrushes, Hinckley Park, 5/19.
1 Black-billed Cuckoo, Hinckley Park, 5/19.
TOURS AND EVENTS:
We now have one spot open for all four days of our upcoming Monhegan Spring Migration tour, May 26-29th.
With my guiding season now in full swing, I have no choice but to be out in the field a lot, regardless of my shoulder situation. And with much finer weather and some good nights of especially Saturday and Thursday nights, the arrivals of migrants caught up to the date quite rapidly. Many new arrivals – as well as a lot of personal first-of-years since I had not been getting out much – resulted in a nice long list of highlights for me -and my clients – over the past 7 days.
My observations of note over the past seven days included:
10 Greater Yellowlegs, our property in Durham (thanks to a flood in our field), 5/5 diminishing to 3 by 5/7.
250-300++ White-throated Sparrow in impressive fallout, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
1 female Red Crossbill, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
10 species of warblers, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain). This tied my latest date for reaching 10 species at one place in one morning for the first time of the season.
1 WHITE-WINGED SCOTER (looking very out of place) and a pair of RUDDY DUCKS, Sanford Lagoons, Sanford, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 drake Northern Shoveler, Dunstan Landing, Scarborough Marsh, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 pair LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, Morgan Meadow WMA, Gray/Raymond, 5/11 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/11 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
The long list of my personal FOY’s this week also included:
1 Ovenbird, Florida Lake Park, 5/6 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
1 Nashville Warbler, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
3 Chimney Swifts, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
2 Yellow Warblers, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
1 American Redstart, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
1 Green Heron, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
1 Black-crowned Night-Heron, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
1 Prairie Warbler, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
20+ Field Sparrows, Kennebunk Plains, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
3 Vesper Sparrows, Kennebunk Plains, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 Eastern Meadowlark, Kennebunk Plains, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
2 Solitary Sandpipers, Sanford Lagoons, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 Spotted Sandpiper, Sanford Lagoons, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 Least Tern, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
30+ Common Terns, Pine Point, Scarborough, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
4-6 ROSEATE TERNS, Pine Point, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 Eastern Kingbird, Dunstan Landing, Scarborough Marsh, 5/8 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 Northern Waterthrush, Florida Lake Park, 5/9.
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler, Florida Lake Park, 5/9.
1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow (finally, extremely late for my first of the year, and this one was not due to lack of visitation of its habitats), Florida Lake Park, 5/9.
1 Veery, Florida Lake Park, 5/9.
1 Cliff Swallow, Florida Lake Park, 5/9.
1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, our yard in Durham, 5/9.
1 White-crowned Sparrows, feeders here at the store, 5/10.
14 Least Flycatchers, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/11 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
2 Great Crested Flycatcher, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/11 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
3-4 YELLOW-THROATED VIREOS, Morgan Meadow WMA. 5/11 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 Scarlet Tanager, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/11 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 Warbling Vireo, Durham River Park, Durham, 5/11 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
1 Bank Swallow, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/11 (with clients from Spain and Maine).
We enjoyed a great turnout of hawkwatchers and hawks for my hawkwatch workshop at Bradbury Mountain on the 29th as part of the 13th Annual Feathers over Freeport weekend of events.
In case you were wondering, the meteorological term for this week is “yuck.” However, despite the weather, some birds were pushing through. The storm also pushed a wreck of Red and Red-necked Phalaropes to the coast, and with reports of some very early arrivals and vagrant southern birds, there seems to be a rather widespread displacement/overshoot event caused by this massive and stubborn upper-level low rotating over the great lakes. I didn’t get out very much to help prove or disprove this, but I did have some decent birding this week. While migrants overall made very slow gains, I did have my best morning of spring so far this year…right in our yard!
My observations of note over the past seven days included:
1 Evening Grosbeak, Bowie Hill Road, Durham, 5/1 (with Jeannette).
3 Lesser Scaup, Sabattus Pond, 5/1.
6 species of warblers led by 50+ Yellow-rumped and 5-10 Palm, but also including 3 Pine, 2 Black-and-white (FOY), 1 Black-throated Green (FOY), and 1 Northern Parula (FOY), our property in Durham, 5/2. After corresponding with other local birders, I believe this was a localized, light fall-out caused by an isolated, dense fog bank that was centered around Lewiston-Auburn. Florida Lake Park, only about 9 miles away to the southeast, was nearly devoid of migrants for example (fide N. Gibb).
1 Red Crossbill, Littlefield Woods Preserve, Chebeague Island, 5/4 (with Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust tour group).
7 Evening Grosbeaks, our feeders in Durham, 5/5.
My other personal FOY’s this week also included:
1 Greater Yellowlegs, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 4/30.
1 Black-bellied Plover, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 4/30.
1 RUSTY BLACKBIRD, our property in Durham, 5/2 through present.
6 Lesser Yellowlegs, Rte 136, Durham, 5/2
1 Least Sandpiper, Rte 136, Durham, 5/2
1 Baltimore Oriole, our feeders in Durham, 5/2 through present.
2 Gray Catbirds, feeders here at the store, 5/3 through present.
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Chebeague Island, 5/4 (with Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust tour group).
5 Laughing Gulls, Indian Point Preserve, 5/4 (with Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust tour group).
3 Eastern Towhees, Indian Point Preserve, 5/4 (with Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust tour group).
1 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, Indian Point Preserve, 5/4 (with Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust tour group).
1 Great Egret, Cousin’s River Marsh, Yarmouth/Freeport, 5/4 (yeah, it’s been a while since I have been to Scarborough Marsh!)
As is often the case with prolonged cool, wet spells in early spring, Yellow-rumped (and Pine) Warblers descended on feeders. By week’s end, at least 14 were devouring suet, nuts, mealworms, and jelly in our yard in Durham.
Migration ground nearly to a halt for most of the week with a persistent onshore flow and lots of precipitation. Wednesday and Thursday nights, however, saw some good flights of passerines, with hawks moving once again on Thursday and Friday. My observations of note over the past seven days included:
1 female Evening Grosbeak, our feeders in Durham, 4/22.
This weekend (April 29-30) is the 13th Annual Feathers Over Freeport that we sponsor with public and private partners at Bradbury Mountain and Wolfes Neck Woods State Parks. We have a full slate of events all day, each day once again. The entire schedule and more information can be found here. All events are free with park admission.
For the third week of April, this is not a very impressive report – especially in terms of new arrivals! However, we were in Boston for three days cheering on Jeannette in the Boston Marathon (she did great…Go Jeannette!) and well, now I have frozen shoulder. So, field time remains woefully limited. Nonetheless, I had some observations of note (in Maine) over the past seven days:
~40 Yellow-rumped Warblers (FOY), 40+ Palm Warblers, 8 Pine Warblers, etc, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 4/15 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
3 EVENING GROSBEAKS, our feeders in Durham, 4/19-20.
My other personal FOY’s this week also included:
2 Swamp Sparrows (FOS), Florida Lake Park, 4/15 (with Saturday Morning birdwalk group).
1 Pied-billed Grebe, Morgan Meadow WMA, 4/21
1 LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, Morgan Meadow WMA, 4/21.
1 Broad-winged Hawk, over I-295, Yarmouth, 4/21 (with Jeannette. Finally! I have really been missing spending time at the Brad!)
TOURS AND EVENTS:
Next weekend (April 29-30) is the 13th Annual Feathers Over Freeport that we sponsor with public and private partners at Bradbury Mountain and Wolfes Neck Woods State Parks. We have a full slate of events all day, each day once again, plus a Thursday night (4/27) kick-off presentation at Patagonia in Freeport!
Maine Birding Field Notes 