Category Archives: Week Reports

Derek’s Birding This Week: 9/4-10, 2021

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I enjoyed three spiffy juvenile Baird’s Sandpipers this week, including this one that landed in front of my scope at Popham Beach State Park on the 10th.

In addition to the Sandy Point Morning Flight tallies posted to our store’s Facebook page – and elsewhere, my observations of note over the past seven – exceptionally productive and birdy –  days also included the following:

  • 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Lubec Bar and Flats, 9/6 (with Allison Anholt, Cameron Cox, and Jeannette).
  • Pelagic from Eastport through Head Harbor Passage, New Brunswick, 9/7 (with Allison Anholt, Chris Bartlett, Cameron Cox, Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Andy Patterson, Erin Walter, and Jeannette): 1 Pomarine Jaeger, 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 30-35 Common Murres, 210 Razorbills, 1 Great Shearwater, 3000 Bonaparte’s Gulls, etc.
Bonaparte’s Gull
  • Whale Watch from Eastport through Head Harbor Passage, New Brunswick, 8/7 (with Allison Anholt, Cameron Cox, Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Erin Walter, and Jeannette): 1 Pomarine Jaeger, 1 ARCTIC TERN, 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, similar number of alcids but perhaps even more Common Murres, etc.
  • 1 Great Egret, Machias Causeway, 9/8.
  • 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, Roque Bluffs State Park, 9/8 (with Jeannette).
  • 2 adult SANDHILL CRANES and 1 DICKCISSEL, Mayall Road, Gray/New Gloucester, 9/10.
A pair of Sandhill Cranes have become annual visitors in the fall to the fields along Mayall Road in Gray/New Gloucester, and I saw them for the first time on the 10th. No colt this year, unfortunately.
  • 2 female Lesser Scaup (FOF), Sabattus Pond, Sabattus, 9/10.
  • 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, Popham Beach State Park, Phippsburg, 9/10.

And although shorebird season is winding down, a trip downeast bumped up a few of my shorebird high counts this week:

  • Black-bellied Plover: 55, Lubec Bar and Flats, 9/6 (with Allison Anholt, Cameron Cox, and Jeannette).
  • Semipalmated Plover: 53, Popham Beach State Park, Phippsburg, 9/10.
  • Piping Plover: 2 late juveniles, Popham Beach State Park,  9/10.
  • Sanderling: 45, Popham Beach State Park, 9/10.
  • BAIRD’S SANDPIPER: 3 total!  1 juv, Sanford Cove, Machiasport, 9/5 (with Jeannette); 1 juv, Mowry Beach, Lubec, 9/6 (with Allison Anholt, Cameron Cox, and Jeannette); 1 juv, Popham Beach State Park, 9/10.
  • Least Sandpiper: 26, Lubec Bar and Flats, 9/6 (with Allison Anholt, Cameron Cox, and Jeannette).
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 1, several locations.
  • Pectoral Sandpiper: 2, Popham Beach State Park, 9/10.
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 900-1000+, Sanborn Cove, Machiasport, 9/8 (with Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Erin Walter, and Jeannette).
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 10, Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 9/4 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Solitary Sandpiper: 2, Walsh Preserve, 9/4 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group) and 2, Highland Road, Brunswick, 9/10.
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 60+, Walsh Preserve, 9/4 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 6, Walsh Preserve, 9/4 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group)

Derek’s Birding This Week: 8/28-9/3, 2021

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In addition to the Sandy Point Morning Flight tallies posted to our store’s Facebook page – and elsewhere, my observations of note over the past seven days also included the following:

  • 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/29.
  • 1 Mourning Warbler, Essex Marsh, Bangor, 8/30 (with Jeannette).
  • 8 SPRUCE GROUSE, 1 Evening Grosbeak, etc, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument Loop Road, 8/30 (with Jeannette). Photo above.
  • 1 Mourning Warbler, Barnard Mountain Trail, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, 8/31 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 proposed TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X SNOWY EGRET HYBRID, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 9/3.

Although I didn’t hit many shorebird sites this week (since we were in the north woods on our days off), I had a few excellent counts of several species:

  • American Oystercatcher: 4 continuing (2 ad with 2 juv), Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/29.
  • Black-bellied Plover: 87, Pine Point, 8/29.
  • Killdeer: 53, Mayall Road, Gray/New Gloucester, 9/2.
  • Semipalmated Plover: 204, Pine Point, 8/29.
  • Sanderling: 2, Pine Point, 8/29.
  • Least Sandpiper: 34, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 9/3.
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 2, Pine Point, 8/29.
  • BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER: 1 juv, Pine Point, 8/29.
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 425, Pine Point, 8/29.
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 14, Pine Point, 8/29.
  • Solitary Sandpiper: 1, single solitaries at several sites.
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 132, Yarmouth Town Landing, 9/2 – highest count I have had anywhere locally in several years.
  • “Eastern” Willet: 8, Pine Point, 8/29.
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 11, Eastern Road Trail, 9/3.

Derek’s Birding This Week: 8/21-27, 2021

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My observations of note over the past seven days also included the following:

  • 1 BLACK-HEADED GULL, Maxwell’s Farm field, Two Lights Road, Cape Elizabeth, 8/22 (photo above).
  • 103 Common Nighthawks while driving between Pownal and Lewiston, 8/25 (with Jeannette).
  • 50+ Common Nighthawks, over The Pub at Baxter, Lewiston, 8/25 (with Andy, Renee, and Anna Patterson and Jeannette).

Although I didn’t hit many prime spots for large numbers of shorebirds this week, a good variety – and lots of shorebirds at unusual places due to the rains of Tropical Storm Henri – produced the following high counts:

  • American Oystercatcher: 4 continuing (2 ad with 2 juv), Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/26.
  • Black-bellied Plover: 82, Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/26.
  • Killdeer: 68, Winding Brook Turf Farm, Lyman, 8/23 (with Nancy Houlihan, Pat Moynahan, and Jeannette).
  • Semipalmated Plover: 178, Pine Point, 8/26.
  • Sanderling: 3, Pine Point, 8/26.
  • BAIRD’S SANDPIPER (FOY): 1 juv, Sanford Lagoons, 8/23 (with Jeannette).
  • Least Sandpiper: 50+, Sanford Lagoons, Sanford, 8/23 (with Jeannette).
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 18, Ferry/Western Beaches, Scarborough, 8/22 (with John Lorenc).
  • Pectoral Sandpiper: 5, Sanford Lagoons, 8/23 (with Jeannette).
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 325+, Pine Point, 8/26.
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 8, Pine Point, 8/26.
  • LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER (FOY): 1 fairly early juvenile out of place at Wainright Field Rec Area, South Portland, 8/23. Video here: https://fb.watch/7CgydYWz1P/
  • Wilson’s Snipe: 1, Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 8/21 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group) and Sanford Lagoons, 8/23 (with Jeannette).
  • Spotted Sandpiper: 6, Sanford Lagoons, 8/23 (with Jeannette).
  • Solitary Sandpiper: 7, Sanford Lagoons, 8/23 (with Jeannette).
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 58, Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 8/21 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • “Eastern” Willet: 5, Pine Point, 8/26.
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 12, Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 8/21 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • WILSON’S PHALAROPE: 1 continuing juv/1st winter, Sanford Lagoons, 8/23 (with Jeannette).

Derek’s Birding This Week: 8/14-20, 2021

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Semipalmated Plovers and Semipalmated Sandpipers waiting out the high tide
off of Biddeford Pool Beach on 8/20.

My observations of note over the past seven very productive days included the following:

  • Migrants on Monhegan Island, 8/15 (with Evan Obercian) included: 6+ Cape May Warblers, 1 Bay-breasted Warbler, 2 Least Flycatchers, etc.
  • 1 immature Great Cormorant, Outer Duck Islands, Monhegan, 8/15.
  • 1 Surf Scoter, Simpson’s Point, Brunswick, 8/16 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Middle Bay Road, Brunswick, 8/16 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 of 2 continuing TRICOLORED HERON, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 8/16 (with Jeannette) and 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • 2 BOREAL CHICKADEES, Albany Mountain Trail, White Mountain N.F., 8/17 (with Jeannette). Very surprising in mixed woods at 1624ft. Even more surprising since the 1900+ ft summit is not very boreal. Molt migrant and/or post-breeding dispersal? 
  • 1 of the 2-3 continuing Red-necked Grebes, Ocean Avenue, Biddeford Pool, 8/20.

And, with many of the species now peaking (and some of the adults already past peak), my shorebird high counts for a goodly 19 species this week were as follows:

  • American Oystercatcher: 4 (2 ad with 2 juv), Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/16 (with Jeannette) and 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group). Plus 1, Ocean Avenue, Biddeford Pool, 8/20.
  • Black-bellied Plover: 93, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 8/16 (with Jeannette).
  • Killdeer: 24, Colonial Acres sod farm, Gorham, 8/20.
  • Semipalmated Plover: 261+, Pine Point, 8/16 (with Jeannette).
  • Whimbrel: 1 each at Pine Point, 8/16 (with Jeannette) and 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group); The Pool, Biddeford Pool, 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • HUDSONIAN GODWIT: 43!!!, The Pool, 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).  Horrific video and details here: https://fb.watch/7vL0DY756z/
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 18, Outer Duck Islands, Monhegan, 8/15.
  • Sanderling: 23, Biddeford Pool Beach, 8/20.
  • Least Sandpiper: 100+, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 10+, Pine Point, 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group). 
  • BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER (FOY): 1, Colonial Acres sod farm, Gorham, 8/20 (with Phil McCormack).
  • Pectoral Sandpiper: 1, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 500+, Pine Point, 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group). 
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 25, The Pool, 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • Spotted Sandpiper: 9, Biddeford Pool area shoreline, 8/20.
  • Solitary Sandpiper: 9, Monhegan Island, 8/15 (with Evan Obercian).
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 39, between Spear Farm Estuary Preserve and Yarmouth Town Landing, 8/14 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • “Eastern” Willet: 10, The Pool, 8/19 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 12, Spear Farm Estuary Preserve, Yarmouth, 8/14 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
Common Eiders, Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpipers, and Sanderlings
at Biddeford Pool Beach on 8/20.

Derek’s Birding This Week: 8/8-13, 2021

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No Rufous Hummingbird in our backyard this week, but the Ruby-throated Hummingbird
show remains strong!

My observations of note over the past six days included the following:

  • 1 continuing TRICOLORED HERON, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 8/10 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • 2 continuing adult Red-necked Grebes, Ocean Avenue, Biddeford Pool, 8/10 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).

And, with southbound shorebird migration now in full swing, my high counts this week were as follows (no upper marsh at high tide visits this week):

  • American Oystercatcher: 4 (2 ad with 2 juv), Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/13.
  • Black-bellied Plover: 77, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 8/11.
  • Killdeer: 8, Highland Road, Brunswick, 8/11.
  • Semipalmated Plover: 300+, Pine Point, 8/10 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • Piping Plover: 4, Western Beach, Scarborough, 8/13.
  • Whimbrel: 3, Pine Point, 8/10 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 2, Western Beach, 8/13.
  • Sanderling: 1, Biddeford Pool Beach, 8/10 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • Least Sandpiper: 100+, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/10 8/10 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 14, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 8/13.
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 600+, Pine Point, 8/10 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 9, Wharton Point, 8/11.
  • Spotted Sandpiper: 1, multiple locations.
  • Solitary Sandpiper 4, Sturtivant Stream, Umbagog NWR, 8/8 (with Levi Burton, Katrina Fenton, and Jeannette).
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 9, Eastern Road Trail, 8/10 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).
  • “Eastern” Willet: 10, Pine Point, 8/3.
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 10, Pine Point, 8/10 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop tour group).

Derek’s Birding This 7/17-23, 2021.

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My observations of note over the past seven days included just the following, but it is mid-July:

  • 4 continuing Black Scoters, Simpson’s Point, Brunswick, 7/17 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, private property in North Yarmouth, 7/19 (with Jeannette).
  • 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and 1 Yellow-throated Vireo, River Road, Fryeburg Harbor, 7/20 (with Jeannette).
  • 2+ Red Crossbills, flying over our yard in Pownal, 7/21.

Derek’s Birding This 7/3-7/16, 2021.

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My observations of note over the past fourteen days included the following:

  • Rare mid-summer SCOTER hat-trick with 4 Black, 2 White-winged, and 1 Surf, Simpson’s Point, Brunswick, 7/3.
  • 4 Greater and 3 Lesser Yellowlegs, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 7/3.
  • Seawatching from Eastern Point, Gloucester, MA on 7/8 during Tropical Storm Elsa (with family): In about 2 hours where fog lifted enough to see, Great Shearwaters were passing at an average of 199 per 5-minute segment and Sooty Shearwaters were passing at an average of 314 per 5-minute segment. Plus 2 MANX SHEARWATERS, 1 unidentified JAEGER, and 1 Cory’s Shearwater.
  • 1 proposed TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X LITTLE EGRET hybrid, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 7/13.
  • 14 Semipalmated Sandpipers (FOF), Pine Point, Scarborough, 7/13.
  • 7 Sanderlings (FOF; a little on the early side), Crescent Beach State Park, Cape Elizabeth, 7/15.

Derek’s Birding This 6/26-7-2

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My observations of note over the past seven days included the following:

  • 5 White-winged Scoters, Scott’s Landing Preserve, Deer Isle, 6/27 (with Marion Sprague).
  • “Fall” shorebird migration is underway!  7 Lesser Yellowlegs, 3 Greater Yellowlegs, and 2 Least Sandpipers (FOF) were off Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 7/1 (with clients from AZ).
  • 4 Gadwall, Eastern Road Trail, 7/1 (with clients from AZ).
  • 1-2 TRICOLORED HERONS, Scarborough Marsh, 7/1 (first at Eastern Road and then possibly same bird later at Pelreco Marsh; with clients from AZ).
  • The proposed continuing TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X LITTLE EGRET HYBRID, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 7/1 (with clients from AZ). Later spotted passing over Pine Point.

Derek’s Birding This Week: 6/19-25, 2021

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This distantly phone-scoped image doesn’t do this bird justice, but here is a Snowy Owl…observed in June…in Maine…while wearing a t-shirt. This was a treat for both me and my clients visiting from Arizona on 6/25 (see below).

My observations of note over the past eight days included the following:

  • 1 immature male/ female pair of ORCHARD ORIOLES, Green Point WMA, 6/21 (with Jeannette). Clearly paired up but no breeding behaviors noted.
  • 1 immature male ORCHARD ORIOLE, 1 Yellow-throated Vireo (probably my first here), and 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Fort Foster, Kittery, 6/22.
  • 141 immature Bonaparte’s Gulls, Fort Foster, 6/22. The largest number of Bonies in the summer that I have seen in the south coast in a number of years.
  • 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Seapoint Beach, Kittery, 6/22.
  • 1 continuing SNOWY OWL, 6/25: Observed (with clients from AZ) from the Colony Beach parking lot in Kennebunkport, looking across the river to a house behind Gooch’s Beach, Kennebunk (new location; photos above).
  • 1 out of place male American Kestrel, atop a cell phone tower in downtown Biddeford from Palace Diner, 6/25 (with clients from AZ).
  • 1 continuing proposed TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X LITTLE EGRET HYBRID, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 6/25 (with clients from AZ).
  • 1 Greater Yellowlegs, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 6/25 (with clients from AZ).

One of the highlights for me this week, however, was non-bird: 20+ Gray Seals feeding very close to Fort Popham in Phippsburg on 6/20 (with client from CT). While Harbor Seals are frequent here in the summer, I don’t recall seeing so many Grays inshore in this or other nearby areas.

Derek’s Birding This This Week: 6/11-18, 2021

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The Kennebago River from the Boy Scout Road with Rangeley Birding Festival tour group, 6/12.

My observations of note – in addition to many of the area’s breeding specialties – over the past eight days included the following:

  • 1 heard only CANADA JAY, 6/12, but two well-seen on 6/13, Boy Scout Road, Rangeley, (with Evan Obercian and Rangeley Birding Festival tour group)
  • 2 Red Crossbills, Wheeler Rd, Rangeley, 6/12 (with Evan Obercian).
  • 1 Cape May Warbler, Rangeley, 6/12 (with Evan Obercian. Could not relocate on 6/13).
  • 16++ occupied PURPLE MARTIN nests, Depot Road colony, Belgrade, 6/13 (with Evan Obercian).
  • 1 Louisiana Waterthrush, Morgan Meadow WMA, 6/15 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 proposed TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X LITTLE EGRET hybrid, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 6/16 (with clients from Colorado and Maine) and 6/17 (with clients from Minnesota).
  • 1 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, Pine Point, Scarborough, 6/16 (with clients from Colorado and Maine).
  • 1 Lesser Yellowlegs and 4 Greater Yellowlegs, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 6/17 (with clients from Minnesota).
  • 3 Sooty Shearwaters (FOY), 1 Greater Shearwater, 40+ Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, etc, Cap’n Fish’s Whale Watch, Boothbay Harbor, 6/17 (with clients from Minnesota).