I finally went back this week, this time with Jeannette, to revisit the Spotted Towhee that I found at Kittery’s Fort Foster on 11/19. We were treated to two sessions of it feeding, both of which provided longer and better views than on the first day.
Early December is often a time with another pulse of rarities being detected as birds concentrate at fewer seasonally abundant food sources, like feeding stations, and concentrate along the coast and other migrant traps. At the very least, it’s a time for unusual “late,” “lingering,” or “pioneering” birds that brighten up a cold, gray winter’s day. This was often the case for me in my relatively limited birding over the past two weeks, with the following observations of note:
1 Gray Catbird and 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Capisic Pond Park, Portland, 11/30.
Sabattus Pond, Sabattus, 12/1 (with Dan Nickerson): 380 distant scaup, 272 Common Mergansers, 238 Ruddy Ducks, 209 Mallards, 8 American Black Ducks, 8 Common Goldeneyes, 7 Buffleheads, 4 GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 3 Common Loons, 1 Belted Kingfisher, and 1 RUSTY BLACKBIRD.
1 Chipping Sparrow, King Road, Lisbon, 12/1 (with Dan Nickerson).
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets and 2 Field Sparrows, Saco Riverwalk, Saco, 12/3.
1 Hermit Thrush and 1 Swamp Sparrow, Elphis Pond, Biddeford Pool, 12/3.
Southern York County Coast with Jeannette on 12/5:
1 continuing SPOTTED TOWHEE (photo above), 2 MARSH WRENS, and 1 Swamp Sparrow, Fort Foster, Kittery.
2 American Pipits and 1 Horned Lark, Seapoint Beach, Kittery.
1,000+ Black Scoters, The Nubble.
60 Sanderlings, Ogunquit Beach.
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Auburn Riverwalk, 12/7.
1 drake BARROW’S GOLDENEYE (first of season), 74 Lesser Scaup, and 2 Greater Scaup, Lake Auburn, Auburn, 12/7.
1 Red Crossbill, over our property in Durham, 12/8.
Meanwhile, at our feeders in Durham, a nice uptick in sparrow activity including up to 14 Dark-eyed Juncos, 4 continuing White-throated and 1-2 continuing Song Sparrows, with our first American Tree Sparrow arriving on 11/22 before the store, and 15 Dark-eyed Juncos, only 1 White-throated Sparrow, and a return on 12/6 of an American Tree Sparrow after the storm. 40-50 American Goldfinches and 1-2 Purple Finches continue daily, but this week, we only had Pine Siskins in the woods and not at the feeders.
Since we’ve had a mix of “the birds are back!” and “there are still no birds at my feeders” at the store recently, a wrote a new blog talking about the season and the inconsistencies we are seeing with overall feeder activity, which is posted here.
The amazing birding and migration site – especially for fall “morning flights” – in the Mid-Coast is once again under direct threat. Birders need to help convince the state to find an alternative location for a massive new port and its infrastructure. Our most significant places of concentration for migratory birds need to be protected. Here isour Statement in Opposition to a New Port on Sears Island in Searsport.
The huge waves of Pine Siskins that moved through in October have been replaced by smaller, more widely dispersed groups. Very few are making their way to feeders, however, as they have been finding an abundance of favored natural food sources, such as Northern White Cedar.
Late in September, I posted a blog summarizing the various factors that were resulting in numerous, often panicked, reports of “no birds” at feeders, or otherwise significantly reduced activity. While I added a few updates to it over the past couple of months, now that it’s early December and some folks are still reporting reduced or little feeder activity, I thought it would be worth checking back in on the situation.
As for the current conditions here in Maine, it’s finally gotten colder (mostly), and much of the state has some snow on the ground (at least for now). In fact, overall November was below average, so a “mild” fall as a limiting factor for how many calories birds need via supplemental food is not much of an issue anymore.
It’s not surprising then that over the past few weeks, we have had numerous reports of “the birds are back!” and other noticeable increases in activity. Overall, our weekly seed sales are now nearly double what they were just one month ago, for one example.
But what has not changed is the overall plethora of natural food sources (especially the massive mast of Eastern White Pine) and, for the most part, the overall lack of irruptives from points north so far (at least at feeding stations). Let’s break it down again.
New arrivals.
Facultative migrants and short-distance migrants, such as White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos are now mostly in their winter territories, although numbers will ebb and flow with snow depths. Same for American Tree Sparrows, which are only now arriving in yards. Their delay in showing up at feeders was due to natural food sources (“weed” and grass seeds from our excellent growing season) and the overall lack of snow cover until recently, making food resources easily accessible late into the season. Their numbers should be closer to “normal” for your yard and surrounding habitat now.
American Tree Sparrows are only now arriving at feeding stations, with snow finally beginning to accumulate.
Irruptives (or lack there of)
While there are plenty of Red Crossbills around the state, these spend very little time at feeders. We were lucky enough to have a pair at our feeding station in Durham one morning (11/26), which was a real treat.
Meanwhile, the Winter Finch Forecast accurately predicted a big flight of Pine Siskins, and this was certainly the case this fall. However, as of early December, it appears the biggest waves have moved south of us. However, scattered siskins are being reported in small numbers around the state, including at feeders. So, we at least have some of these added to the mix over overall feeder bird abundance.
Purple Finches remain few and far between, however, and I am not hearing reports of Common Redpolls just yet. My guess is that we’ll see an uptick in both of these species as the winter goes on, but I don’t expect huge numbers this winter.
Again, irruptions are based on the abundances (or lack thereof) of cyclical natural food sources, and so this is completely normal and natural; nothing to worry about here! On the other hand, wow, are there a lot of American Goldfinches around right now (40-50 daily at our feeders in Durham, for example)!
The Mixed Species Foraging flocks.
Now here’s where things get a little tougher to figure out, but I think here in lies one of the issues with the overall reduced feeder bird activity for many folks who are good stewards of their feeding stations and are using quality products (more on that later)
Many of our resident birds spend the winters in a mixed-species flock that includes species that eat a wide variety of things, from seed-obligate nuthatches to insect-only Golden-crowned Kinglets and Brown Creepers. They roam around their winter territories exploiting food sources together, perhaps for safety in numbers and/or for sharing local knowledge about resources and predators. My observations at feeders and in the woods, suggest these mixed-species foraging flocks -which include some of our most common and widespread feeder birds – are smaller than average this winter.
With close to zero Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches departing the Boreal this year, and no sign of a fall movement of White-breasted Nuthatches out of the northern limits of their range (again, all due to the abundance of various natural food sources), our local flocks are not supplemented by birds joining them from afar.
Therefore, each flock is made up entirely of “local” birds. If you don’t have a resident pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches, for example, you probably don’t have Red-breasted Nuthatches right now. And if they’re around, there’s probably stuffing their larders with white pine seeds anyway.
While I can’t see any suggestion of more or less Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers around, there may have been another increase in Red-bellied Woodpeckers as we have had quite a few reports of yards seeing this southern colonizer for the first time.
So that leaves Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmice. These core members of the mixed-species flock are exploiting the same abundance of natural food as everyone else and are spending less time at feeders now than normal. But these two birds have different winter flocking strategies: titmice remain as a family group through the winter, but chickadees’ fledglings leave the parents and join other flocks. Very anecdotally, from observing mixed-species foraging flocks while out birding and watching feeders, it seems that the number of Tufted Titmice in each flock (2-6) is usually pretty normal.
But, without any real data to cite, my impression has been the flock has less chickadees than average. For one, there are no additional birds from points north to join the group, but I also have been wondering if they had reduced productivity this year. Chickadees often use shallow cavities that they excavate in rotting wood, and with such a cool and incredibly wet June, I can’t help but wonder if they had higher nestling mortality than other cavity-nesters. Just a thought, but something I have been mulling. We’ll see if Christmas Bird Count data sheds light on this one way or another.
Eastern Bluebirds
No shortage here! Their numbers and winter range in Maine continue to grow, and this year is no different. We’ve never sold so many 11-pound (yes, 11 lbs) bags of dried mealworms as we have this year. So. Many. Bluebirds. All’s well with this.
But what about me – _I_ still don’t have birds!
Between comments at the store and the number of searches online for “why there are no birds at my feeders,” it’s very clear that some folks are not seeing many birds – much less than just the reduced numbers from factors described above. This is much trickier to analyze, especially since it’s all anecdotal. But I’ve had enough conversations of late to narrow it down to two distinct issues – quality of supplemental food and quality of local habit.
As we talked about in the earlier blog – and constantly through other means at and through the store – it was a wet then hot and humid summer, and it was a warm and fairly wet fall. This is not good for seed. Remember, up until about a month ago, any seed you bought – was harvested in 2022. How that’s handled (from the farm to the distributor to the retail store to you, the consumer) dictates how fresh and nutritious it is. Stale seed is often rejected by birds, and seed went stale quickly this summer and fall – or worse, turned rancid and/or spoiled – unless it was properly handled throughout each step.
While our seed distributor uses climate-controlled silos to store the seed and bags it upon order, we know virtually no one else in the region that does that. A pallet of bags on the floor of some warehouse somewhere since being purchased last winter is just not very valuable to birds by the time winter set in. And if it’s stored in your garage all summer, it’s gone by, too.
With birds eating less food this summer and fall due to the abundances of natural food resources, seed sat around even longer, and if it’s been with you since the spring, it’s worthless by now. Any seed stored at home for several months needs to be replaced; no other way around it. Seed is food, and fresh food goes bad – just like in our own pantries.
Start with high-quality, fresh seed in a newly cleaned feeder and birds will be back soon. But the longer you go without a valuable food resource, the longer you’ll go without birds as they’ll take more time to get back in the routine of visiting your feeding station.
And the same factors that spoiled seed out in the garage or in the corner of a hardware store does the same in your feeders. Yesterday, Jeannette and I went birding and saw three feeders on one pole full of cheap seed and the bottom half was full of mold, algae, and packed so hard that a bird couldn’t get a seed out even if it wanted to.
If you haven’t done so, it’s imperative to clean your feeders to keep your birds safe and healthy – and keep the food accessible! It’s easy to get complacent about cleaning and refreshing seed when there’s less activity at the feeding station, but this is even more important when it’s slow.
Snowfall usually pushed ground feeders, such as Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows to feeding stations. Be sure to have plenty of white millet on hand.
Yeah, but still…
So, you just picked up some fresh seed from us a couple of weeks ago, you thoroughly cleaned your feeders, and you still don’t have “any birds.” While we have talked about why there are reduced numbers of birds around (lots of natural food, no supplement of species or individuals from the north), there may be other macro factors at play.
I’m beginning to wonder if the reduced birds at feeders this season is also an indictment of how low-quality so much of our suburban and urban habitat has become. Invasive plants, chemically-treated monocultures of short grass, liberal use of neonicotinoid pesticides, development, and so on all impact our yards – even if we haven’t sprayed a thing or cut down a single bush. Since “our” birds are shared with all of the properties around us (and some, like Pileated Woodpeckers, perhaps multiple square miles), what others do directly impact how healthy our yards’ bird populations are.
Here on our large, rural property in Durham we’ve had the same factors that have affected everyone else. But we never “lost” our birds – our feeders have been consistently active all season, even if overall feeding has been reduced. A friend in Freeport, who has spent decades improving his bird habitat and is surrounded by larger yards and fairly healthy woodlands, also has not felt a significant drop-off in activity.
At our store, on the other hand, minus the urban birds (House Sparrows, European Starlings, and especially Rock Pigeons) that we don’t have at home, activity has been very sparse from native birds, and our mixed-species foraging flock is small and visits infrequent. There, we’re surrounded by highways, parking lots, a woodland with nearly 100% of its understory composed of invasive plants, and a neighborhood that sees a heavy use of chemicals. Our surrounding habitat at work just doesn’t hold the volume of birds as the habitat that surrounds our home, or our friend’s, no matter how much we do in our garden.
Jeannette and I spent our Tuesday birding the southern York County Coast. Fort Foster was absolutely chock full of birds – not just the Spotted Towhee! – and the mixed-species foraging flocks were active, conspicuous, and diverse. Later, we birded the neighborhood around The Nubble in York, which I have done for years. Minus a couple of large flocks of House Sparrows, it was shockingly devoid of birds. There are more houses, more glass, more cats, fewer feeders with any sort of quality food, and the few remaining thickets are almost completely taken over by invasive plants. We found exactly one mixed-species foraging flock of chickadees and titmice, etc, and they were busy feeding on birches and Pitch Pine, ignoring the one nearby feeder that had mostly milo (a filler seeds our birds almost never eat at all) and visible mold. The homeowner undoubtably would report “no birds at my feeders.”
Fewer birds around due to larger-scale problems with habitats and local populations, and what birds around would mean fewer birds at feeders no matter what. Add that to the abundance of food sources right now, and those fewer birds would spend less time visiting feeders for supplemental food. Likewise, if your surrounding habitat was fantastic and absolutely full of natural food sources, then birds that are around may also be ignoring feeders.
This chickadee might just be waiting for you to clean your feeders!
In conclusion.
You should have birds by now! If you don’t, I would check your feeders, get new seed, and think about factors in your surrounding habitat.
But for the vast majority of us, it’s time to settle in with our cup of bird-friendly coffee (speaking of ways to guarantee we have enough birds to go around!) and enjoy the renewed – even if somewhat reduced- feeder bird activity that comes with the season. And rest assured, for the most part, our “yard birds” are doing just fine in Maine, and a season like this only helps to prove that they are not in any way dependent on our feeders! But quality supplemental food sure helps, and as winter settles in, food resources are consumed or buried, more birds will undoubtedly bless us with their beauty and providing countless hours of entertainment!
And sometimes, there are temporary reasons to not see a lot of birds at your feeders!
In last week’s report, I complained about the dearth of vagrants in Maine this November, but that changed dramatically this week. Several rarities around the state included Maine’s first confirmed Spotted Towhee that I found at Fort Foster in Kittery on 11/19. A Prairie Warbler, 1-2 “Western” Palm Warblers, 1 Gray Catbird, 1 Hermit Thrush, Type 12 Red Crossbills, and 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet were also present that day.
Photos from myself and Luke Seitz, as well as observation notes and some information are all here:
Meanwhile, at our feeders in Durham, a nice uptick in sparrow activity including up to 14 Dark-eyed Juncos, 4 continuing White-throated and 1-2 continuing Song Sparrows, with our first American Tree Sparrow arriving on 11/22. 30+ American Goldfinches and 1-2 Purple Finches continue daily, but this week, we only had Pine Siskins in the woods and not at the feeders.
ISSUES and ADVOCACY:
The amazing birding and migration site – especially for fall “morning flights” – in the Mid-Coast is once again under direct threat. Birders need to help convince the state to find an alternative location for a massive new port and its infrastructure. Our most significant places of concentration for migratory birds need to be protected. Here is our Statement in Opposition to a New Port on Sears Island in Searsport.
On Sunday, November 19th, 2023, I found Maine’s first confirmed Spotted Towhee at Fort Foster Park in Kittery. Fort Foster is one of my favorite birding locations, especially in fall “rarity season.” I’ve been lamenting the complete dearth of vagrants found in Maine during the month of November so far, and so I set out for the southern York County coast that morning in hopes of changing that.
It didn’t take long.
A little more than an hour after I arrived at the park, slowly birding the warm, sunny edges of a chilly morning, I encountered a pocket of activity as I was turning off the main coastal trail and up the slight hill towards the Small Pier Pavilion. A tardy “WESTERN” PALM WARBLER that I encountered earlier had flown this way with a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and these two birds were at the edge along with several resident species including Black-capped Chickadees and Northern Cardinals as well as migrants including Golden-crowned Kinglets and White-throated Sparrows.
As I approached the top of the rise, I noticed a towhee sitting in the sun at the edge of one of two fairly large Eastern Red Cedars. Since I had my camera at the ready since it’s rarity season afterall, I immediately grabbed it. Although I was assuming it was just a late Eastern Towhee (not unreasonably rare in a mild fall even at this date), it was a nice photo – towhees don’t sit still in the sun often enough! The bird was facing directly at me, so all I could see was its black hood, rufous sides, and white belly.
As I focused through my viewfinder, the bird shifted slightly, showing just enough of its side to reveal large white spots on it’s wing! A vagrant Spotted Towhee! Incredible!
And to think I almost blew this…if I didn’t go for my camera for “just” a nice shot of an Eastern Towhee, perhaps I wouldn’t have looked at it long enough to see its diagnostic wings and back. That was a close one! (That one twig right across the face though!)
Knowing that hybrids between the two towhees (formerly known collectively as “Rufous-sided Towhee”) have occurred out of range, I knew I needed some better views and more photos. Over about 10 minutes, I observed and photographed the bird in the cedars, having it drop down once into the brush only to return to the cedar, perhaps as a result of some gentle pishing.
During this second photo session, a Cooper’s Hawk flew overhead, and all of the activity in this pocket dove for cover and remained silent (9:28am). As birds slowly returned to the edge, the towhee did not. A late Hermit Thrush that was also in the cedars reappeared, but the towhee did not.
As I waited, I sent out some text messages and checked my photos. Within about 45 minutes, Maili Waters and Luke Seitz arrived, and we began a thorough search, slowly increasing our search radius. It took until about 12:15 before Maili and Luke finally relocated the towhee on the other side of the very large and dense thicket. Luke’s excellent photos showed a more complete view of the wing and back, crucial field marks for confirming the bird’s identity.
I was on the other side of the park, searching for the towhee and whatever else might have been present, turning up a very late PRAIRIE WARBLER, a Gray Catbird, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet – all good birds for the date. It took me a while to get to where Luke and Maili were, and we were soon joined by Doug Hitchcox and Matthew Gilbert.
We waited for about 30 minutes before the need for water and lunch finally got the best of me, and I headed out. I was halfway to Kittery Center when Noah Gibb spotted the bird once again at the original location. It was here, in the two cedars, that numerous observers were able to see the bird early in the morning the next day as well.
Returning home and in discussion with Luke, Maili, and Evan Obercian, we confidently ruled out any suggestion of a hybrid. The amount of white in the primaries had us a little wary, for example, but the National Geographic Guide to the Birds of North America nicely shows the regional variation with Spotted Towhees, including the more extensive white “slash” on the primaries of the Great Plains subspecies – the expected source of vagrants to the East.
Big white spots on each scapular, two complete wingbars (one bold on the greater coverts and one more subtle bar on the median coverts), the spotted-streaked back mantle, and the extensively white undertail are all consistent with a phenotypically pure Spotted Towhee – Maine’s first, and a long-overdue addition to our state’s list. In fact, this was #4 on my “Next Birds for Maine” predictions list. But as always, it’s always better find than to chase!
I tried birding less (Doctor’s orders!) recently, but it’s such a tough time to do that. Luckily, this time of year is so fruitful that even reduced birding resulted in a number of sightings of note. Between rest days and a shelter-in-place order, I minimized birding to aid in my recovery. Slowly, however, I was getting out more and for more time.
1 Red Crossbill, Otter Brook Preserve, Harpswell, 10/29 (with Harpswell Heritage Land Trust tour group).
2 Field Sparrows and 5 Horned Larks, Pott’s Point, Harpswell, 10/29 (with Harpswell Heritage Land Trust tour group).
Sabattus Pond, Sabattus, 11/2 (with Dan Nickerson): 591 Ruddy Ducks, 289 Mallards, 107 American Black Ducks, about 80 mixed Lesser and Greater Scaup, 68 Buffleheads, 19 Canada Geese, 15 Northern Pintails, 13 Hooded Mergansers, 8 Common Mergansers, 7 American Wigeon, 7 Green-winged Teal, 6 Common Goldneyes, 2 Horned Grebes, 1 female Long-tailed Duck, 1 female Red-breasted Merganser, etc. etc.
Meanwhile, here in the yard, the season was rapidly changing. Starting this period with lots of Savannah and Swamp Sparrows around, they had mostly petered out by week’s end. Song Sparrows remain strong, albeit in somewhat reduced numbers, but White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos have finally begun to increase.
We’re down to just a couple Yellow-rumped Warblers in the yard now, but a few late-ish migrants have included a Red-eyed Vireo and Common Yellowthroat on the 25th, and the occasional small group of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles are still trickling through.
Pine Siskins and Purple Finches have been near-daily fly-overs, with the occasional Purple Finch visiting the feeders, building to 8 by 10/26 and a few Pine Siskins finally visiting the feeder on 11/1. Our American Goldfinch flock remains strong, however, with 20-25 continuing, splitting time between the feeders and the weedy margins of the property (especially Evening Primrose). Siskins and Purple Finches continued to pour into the area in the last days of October. Multiple large flocks of siskins and at least 20+ Purple Finches were in the Otter Brook Preserve in Harpswell, on the 29th, for example, and more are being reported at feeders in the area now.
Now that we are in November, the attention turns towards the water…and migrant traps for rarities!
TOURS and EVENTS:
All of our tours for 2023 are now complete, not including Saturday Morning Birdwalks of course. Keep an eye on the Tours page of our website, as we’ll soon begin adding more 2024 outings.
This Purple Gallinule graced tiny Rogers Pond Park in Kennebunk on the 20th, and I could not resist the chase!
The last few have been tough for me. It’s October in Maine – my favorite month of birding, as I have opined about before. The weather went from unusually warm and benign to pleasantly normal and unsettled. But in between, there were those glorious fall days of crisp mornings, colorful leaves, and migrants everywhere.
Over the winter as I slowly recovered from shoulder surgery, I used my one good arm to enjoy morning vigils at the active feeding station, which I chronicled here and here. I kept track of daily ebbs and flows, and paid even greater attention to behavior, such as the winter’s-long Sharp-shinned Hawk drama at the feeding station.
While it’s been a long year of near-constant pain and discomfort, it has also been a very busy year and we had one of the most successful tour seasons in our company’s history, despite the near-constant rain. I battled through some tours but did my best to remain positive and productive.
Pain was building in my “good” arm all summer, constantly doing all the work the left, surgically repaired but then frozen shoulder was still unable to accomplish. My September trip to Monhegan for Down East Adventures was the most challenging yet.
For the first time in my career (around 30 years of guiding in some shape or form), I had to hire a replacement for a tour. Thankfully, my good friend and amazing birder Evan Obercian was able to cover our 18th annual Monhegan Fall Migration Weekend for me. I could barely get in and out of my recliner – I was not going to be able to walk around all day and show people birds!
The duration of this intense pain lasted far longer than I had expected, despite various combinations of medicines and therapies, but I mostly remained on “Injured Reserve’ (I feel like I am injured often enough to be an Offensive Lineman for the Patriots!) Meanwhile, October birding was at its finest, and birds were streaming through. Our Durham yard was absolutely bursting with birds on most mornings through, but my birding was limited to a short walk up and down the driveway.
Our September diversity of warblers slowly petered out into waves of Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers in early October, with Ruby-crowned Kinglets bitterly scolding from all edges. Our fields and meadows were chock full of sparrows, with a productive breeding season for Song Sparrows soon augmented by flights of Swamp, the return of White-throated, more Song, and a surprising amount of Lincoln’s Sparrows.
Some other highlights during the peak of my limitations included a Philadelphia Vireo viewed from my recliner on 10/1 and a truant Scarlet Tanager spotted from the same position on the 5th. Happily, by the morning of the 7th, I was actually able to take a little walk with bins and that yielded a nice array of migrants including 2 Blue-headed Vireos, a presumed-continuing Scarlet Tanager, a new wave of Yellow-rumped Warblers and especially Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and an increase in Swamp, Savannah, and Song Sparrows in our field.
Meanwhile, my usual morning texts with Evan and Dan Nickerson as we monitored the ebbs and flows of migration helped to keep me abreast of what was happening beyond the yard. Our feeders in Durham were busier than what most people were experiencing this fall, but this is always a time of plenty. For me, unfortunately, my limitation was holding my head upright and using binoculars, so daily counts and monitoring were out of the question – no chance to attempt another Sandy Point Morning Flight, despite some great conditions on several mornings.
I was kept busy with a writing project, correspondence and planning for the store, and on the morning of the 8th, Jeannette and I boarded a plane for a trade show in Missouri. After a 5-year hiatus, we really needed to get back to reinvigorate our offerings and see if there were any revolutionary developments.
Flying into Kansas City, Jeannette and I enjoyed a couple of days off before the trade show, and then a day upon our return. We visited with a friend, checked out some breweries and indulged in the best of Kansas City BBQ, and of course, did a little birding. Finally feeling well enough to carry binoculars for a bit, we spent the morning of the 9th birding in Kansas (Spotted Towhees and Franklin’s Gulls!) and at least a couple of hours of each morning of our trip. A big overnight flight resulted in a very productive morning at the Lowe Conservation Area in Mexico, for example, with large number of Yellow-rumped Warblers and impressive numbers of Lincoln’s Sparrows among many others.
When we returned late on the 13th, much had changed here in Maine – a week is a long time in fall migration! I was finally back to work, leading the Saturday Morning Birdwalk once again on the 14th. If only to prevent me from snapping my head up in response to an unfamiliar flight call, I was still sporting a neck brace and quite a bit of discomfort. However, the birding helped ease the pain. In fact, it was an exceptional outing full of sparrows, a massive arrival of Pine Siskins, a late Nashville Warbler, and a Great Blue Heron hunting voles.
I birded our Durham property on the morning of the 15th, noting the changes since we departed. While truant House Wren and Indigo Bunting continue, gone are the last of our Gray Catbirds. There were still a lot of Song Sparrows, but fewer Swamp and more Savannah in our field. A Dark-eyed Junco and a few fly-over Pine Siskins have arrived, and a flock of about 100 Common Grackles briefly visited a patch of wet woods. Warblers, however, were now limited to a healthy smattering of Yellow-rumped only. A Rusty Blackbird and our first two immature White-crowned Sparrows arrived on the 17th, and the morning of the 20th was particularly birdy – Pine Siskins are here now.
Our annual Fall Boothbay Mini-Pelagic on the 16th went off without a hitch, with great weather and sea conditions. However, few seabirds were to be found, despite a lot of ground covered. The passerine list – including sparrows 28 miles offshore – was fascinating, however. But it felt more like being at Sandy Point than at sea!
It was a short trip, but I actually went birding on my own for a few hours on the 18th, visiting Sabattus Pond. Waterfowl numbers are increasing, with decent tallies including 140 Ruddy Ducks, 113 Lesser Scaup, 75 Greater Scaup, 3-5 Green-winged Teal, 2 Buffleheads (first of fall), and 1 each of Ring-necked Duck and Surf Scoter.
And finally, today was our last boat trip of the year – our Birds of Casco Bay with Seacoast Tours right here in Freeport. A casual 2.5-hour cruise produced an abundance of newly arrived Surf Scoters, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers, a surprising 15 truant Laughing Gulls, and a rather tardy Osprey.
And with my birdfinding so limited, I jumped at the chance to do a little bird-chasing. After my tour, I raced down to Kennebunk where a vagrant Purple Gallinule was found this morning. Interestingly, this is the second in Maine at the moment, with one continuing in the even more surprising location in a small pond in the North Maine Woods not far from Moosehead Lake!
It was in the open when I arrived, and I enjoyed some prolonged quality time with it by myself and with just a few others at we watched it feed on crabgrass and at least one large earthworm. Oddly, it remained loyal to a small patch of grass under a powerline, away from the water.
As I continue to slowly feel better, I’ll be trying to get out more. Unfortunately, there will not be any more visits to Sandy Point for the morning flight for me this year, but there are plenty of birds to see everywhere else. Sabattus Pond season is upon us, and Rarity Season is about to ramp up. It’s an amazing time to be in the field, and I will do my best to get out there and report back. Stay tuned for trip reports, birding summaries, and I am sure, a few “highlights” too!
Yup, I’m leading off a pelagic trip report with a photo of a Song Sparrow. It’s a sign of things to come…but it was 28 miles offshore!
The thing about pelagic birding, especially on the Eastern Seaboard, is that it can be very hit or miss. This year was our 4th Fall Mini-Pelagic with our partners Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay Harbor. Last year’s trip was pretty good, 2021 was outstanding, and 2020, had well, Leach’s Storm-Petrels, so that counts as great!
This year, well, this one is going to have to be counted as a miss.
Granted, I love the thrill and challenge of seeing and identifying passerines at sea. It’s like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: you never know what you’re gonna get. And they’re always a fun addition to a pelagic birding tour. But let’s be honest, that’s not what we packed the boat for. More species of sparrows than seabirds is not why we go on pelagic birding tours!
There’s no other way around it – it was dead out there. Kelsey, the boat’s Naturalist, reported it has been very quiet for both birds and marine mammals recently, and she was not kidding.
But hey, we were offshore on a boat! It sure beats most other things we could have been doing instead. Plus, the waves were not very bad (2-3 feet is pretty generous), the winds were much lighter than forecast, and other than a few sprinkles, we didn’t hit any rain until we returned to the outer harbor. The light winds, the gray sky, and the minimally choppy waters were all perfect for pelagic bird finding. But alas.
We can’t be accused of not trying though! Captain Steve covered nearly 70 miles, and we hit a total of 5 hotspots, including perennial favorites like Murray Hole and Mistaken Ground. The only real action we had were gulls and Northern Gannets, which we spent some time with at Bantam Ledge on the way to and from the deeper waters. Diving gannets are always a good show. And with several visitors from well beyond New England, we saved a few minutes to enjoy the nearshore birds around Cuckhold’s Ledge Light on the way back, with 3 Great Cormorants and all three scoters scattered among 750-1000 Common Eider.
More Northern Flickers than jaegers, more species of warblers than alcids, but we tried! And days like this only make those great days feel even better! We’ll get ‘em next year.
Here’s the trip list:
12 Canada Geese
3 Mallards
1006 Common Eider
46 Surf Scoters
8 White-winged Scoters
9 Black Scoters
3 Long-tailed Ducks
40 Rock Pigeons
1 POMARINE JAEGER
7 Black Guillemots
1 Black-legged Kittiwake (independently photo’d by two people)
2 Bonaparte’s Gulls
2 Laughing Gulls
2 Ring-billed Gulls
137 Herring Gulls
81 Great Black-backed Gulls
11 Red-throated Loons
30 Common Loons
58 Northern Gannets
3 Great Cormorants
165 Double-crested Cormorants
4 Great Blue Herons
1 Northern Harrier (crossing outer harbor)
1 Cooper’s Hawk (at dock)
2 Northern Flickers
2 Merlin (outer harbor)
4 American Crows (harbor)
4 American Pipits
6 Pine Siskins
2 White-throated Sparrows
3 Savannah Sparrows
1 Song Sparrow
1 Palm Warbler
5 Yellow-rumped Warblers
23 unidentified passerines (including a flock of 14 that were probably Pine Siskins).
*All of the passerines were offshore, including several sparrows 28 miles offshore!
Marine Mammals:
1 distant breaching Minke Whale seen by only a handful
Although around in excellent numbers, goldfinches are not inundating feeders despite a bumper crop of juveniles thanks to the abundance of natural food resources from our exceptional growing season.
If you think it’s slow at your feeders right now, you are not alone. We are being swamped with reports and concerns here at Freeport Wild Bird Supply of “no birds,” “slow,” “they all disappeared” etc. In fact, they are so frequent – and causing so much consternation – I decided to write this blog to help further explain the observations (or lack there of).
So the first thing to know is: don’t worry. This is normal, this is natural, and it happens on a fairly regular basis. There is a lot of concern, even panic, going on right now, fueled by misinformation, inadequate answers, and downright fear-mongering on the internet (I know, shocking!).
I think the success of the 3 Billion Birds campaign, which analyzed and publicized the finding that North America has lost one in four birds since 1970, has greatly heightened awareness about the plight of the continent’s birds. Media coverage of disease in birds has increased in recent years, which is both good and bad (good in the awareness about the issues, bad in the misleading, misguided, and often irrational coverage). So we are hyper-aware.
But yes, your feeders have been slow. Our feeders have been slow. And feeders throughout the state have been slow. But let me assure you that this is OK. In fact, it’s very OK. It is not a sign of the sky falling, the Rapture, or another disease outbreak. While the overall decline of songbirds is dramatic and palpable, many resident feeder bird species are actually increasing over the long term. While I don’t want to talk you out of being concerned about the general welfare of all birds, I want to assure you that what your feeders are experiencing right now is nothing to be worried about. It’s impacting our enjoyment, yes, but it’s not a bad thing for the birds!
The most important thing to remember is that birds always prefer natural food sources (our feeders are only a helpful supplement) so if they can find what they need in their natural habitats, they do not need to visit our feeders nearly as often. If there’s ever proof-positive to finally kill this silly myth about birds being dependent on feeders, seasons like this are it! (If they were dependent, there would be the same amount of birds at feeders all the time).
So let’s talk about what’s really happening. And as usual in nature, it’s not completely simple. It’s a myriad of issues and events that have once again collided in a “perfect storm” of low feeder activity scenarios. And every yard is different, so there are exceptions to each and every rule.
Yes, it has happened before!
In fact, it happened as recently as 2017 and 2019. In 2017, the lack of feeder birds was so widespread that it was making the TV news, and it was even registering in the region-wide wholesale market. It was not just in Maine. That fall, I took to my blog to explain it and ease concerns. Interestingly, this was my most popular (by views and shares) blog entry of all time, meaning people found it valuable. I hope this blog helps in the same way, and since many of the circumstances are the same, you’ll see more similarities than differences in the explanation.
Likewise, in the winter of 2019, I put together a little Christmas Bird Count case study to explain the perceived lack of birds at that time – to put a small amount of data into the equation.
2.Abundance of Natural Food Sources. For the most part, it is the abundance – or paucity – of natural food that determines how much activity you will have in your yard. This is particularly significant for our seed-eaters, like finches and sparrows, and fruit-eaters, like waxwings. Many trees go through “masting” cycles. This is a survival strategy in which a tree will produce a huge amount of fruit or seed one fall, followed by one or more years of very little production. Therefore, in the high production years, there is so much seed/fruit that predators cannot possibly consume it all, and the tree is all but guaranteed that a large number of its seeds will survive to germinate.
This fall has been a high production year for several common tree species. Acorns, beechnut, and other foods are in good supply, keeping Blue Jays busy. Balsam fir and Red Spruce are in good to great supply, keeping Red-breasted Nuthatches and Black-capped Chickadees happy. In fact, the mast of balsam fir is one of the components that has led to minimal southbound movements of Red-breasted Nuthatches and chickadees that would augment our local populations in winters where they move south out of the boreal, according to the Winter Finch Forecast (more on that later
Elsewhere..my goodness are Eastern White Pines laden! I mean like fall-over-from-the-weight-laden. There are so many cones that it looks like the crowns of healthy White Pine are dying.
And the soft cones and abundant seeds of White Pine are just as important to Maine’s birds as the trees are to our cultural heritage, and when there’s a mast, there’s a lot of nutritious food for our resident and migratory seed-eaters alike. There’s so much of it that Red Crossbills all the way from the Rockies are spreading east to take advantage of it (and other conifer crops), and keeping a lot of our “Northeastern” (aka Type 12) Red Crossbills around, hopefully to breed this fall and winter. Unfortunately, few if any will visit feeders as usual, at least in most of the state.
In addition to these important tree food resources, you may have noticed a wee bit of rain this summer. All summer. Record amounts. And after a slow start to the breeding and growing season (why you were feeding so much more seed than normal back in June and into July), the productive growing season has produced a whole lot of soft seeds: grasses, “weeds,” wildflowers – the natural food that our resident and migratory sparrows depend on. And goldfinches…there are A LOT of goldfinches around right now, but they are more frequent on native wildflowers such as Evening Primose that are abundant right now.
For example, in Durham, our yard is hosting 30-40 American Goldfinches daily. They’re spending most of their time in the weedy edges, meadows, and birches around our property. But since there are so many, they are constantly coming and going from our feeding station. Hulled Sunflower and Nyjer – both seeds that need to be constantly refreshed if not consumed rapidly – are by far our most popular feeders, and the two tubes dedicated to hulled sunflower have to replenished daily here. I’ve been enjoying them feasting on Evening Primrose, peeling the seed pods like a banana, then hopping over to the feeders, and after a few minutes, plopping right back into the patch of primrose (the opposite of what dependency would look like!).
2) Mild and Benign Weather. After an often miserable summer, we have earned a lovely fall, and the last few weeks have been delightful! But the mild weather also means birds eat less supplemental food as they don’t need to burn as many calories to make it through the night. There’s also a lot of insects still available – no killing frosts yet, and none on the horizon at least here in Southern Maine.
3) Facultative and Long-Distance Migrants While most of our long-distance migrants (like warblers and orioles) are departing rapidly, many of our later-season migrants (like blackbirds and most of our native sparrows, as well as most of our waterfowl) are facultative (or “flexible”) in their timing. They can adjust their respective arrival and departures based on abundance and/or access to food. Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, and the last wave of blackbirds are still not here in Southern Maine, lingering as far north as they can for as long as they can. These birds will move a short distance south as soon as they have to, and if the winter is a short one, they will begin to work their way north earlier – or even “overwinter” further north than normal. Not even a freak snowstorm will affect them – they are built for it, and will make range adjustments as needed. With so many hayfields unmowed, corn still being harvested, and lack of urgency, the usual fall complaint about being overwhelmed by flocks of voracious blackbirds have not been heard. Enjoy it while you can!
As for long (and medium-distance obligate migrants), it just so happens many of them clear out in late September. While there are still scattered Ruby-throated Hummingbirds around the state, a large portion of the population cleared out in the last two weeks. Adding to the perception that “all the birds have disappeared” was the reality that many of our migrants took advantage of favorable conditions to be on their way.
Another example of this is that here at our feeders in Durham, at least three Gray Catbirds have remained loyal and persistent. Thanks to the abundance of Arrowwood Viburnum on our property, they are still around, and between bouts of berry-harvesting, they continue to visit our suet and nut feeders. They will depart any night now, and when they do, the feeding station will be much quieter. Woodpeckers are taking advantage of all of the natural food and insects out there, so they are – as usual in the fall – making less frequent visits to the suet feeders. Our suet will be depleted much less quickly when the voracious trio of fat-deposting catbirds departs!
Also here in Durham, the first few White-throated Sparrows have finally arrived, and the first wave of Dark-eyed Juncos will be here soon. However, our extensive grassland restoration project and weedy edges have produced a bumper crop of Song Sparrows, which will mostly leave our yard before the winter. If your Song Sparrows have left already and you don’t have White-throats or juncos yet, then your white millet is not being used as quickly. Here, our millet platform is one of our feeders that we have to still fill daily (plus more on the ground) as we continue to improve our already sparrow-rific yard.
4) Irruptives, or Lack There Of.
The venerable Winter Finch Forecast (WFF) lights our way here. As predicted, Purple Finches have been slow to arrive outside of the Boreal and Boreal transition belts. “In the east, many Purple Finches are expected to overwinter in southern Canada and the northeastern United States… Don’t be surprised if, as winter progresses, a late movement in January and February occurs into the Carolinas as eastern crops are depleted.” Here at our feeders in Durham, a male Purple Finch arrived this weekend – our first in a couple of weeks here.
The WFF however, is predicting a flight of Pine Siskins, possibly in large numbers. We’re starting to see a few here and there in Southern Maine, and a massive flock of 200+ showed up on Monhegan mid-week before dispersing. However, with the aforementioned abundances of natural food sources for them (hemlock, birch, alder, weeds, etc), few have been reported at feeders which will likely be the case for a while.
There may be other birds arriving in the coming months, according to the WFF, but those will be a topic for another time.
5) Predators.
Many people have said that the birds “disappeared all at once.” And while for the most part, it is just a combination of the various topics discussed above, there are instances when feeder activity does in fact grind to a sudden halt.
There are two reasons birds stop coming to a feeder all of the sudden: the food has spoiled or is no longer accessible (the feeder clogged up) or there’s a new predator on the scene. Hopefully there’s not a new outdoor cat in the neighborhood, but it’s also the peak of raptor migration. A transient or winter resident Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned Hawk setting up camp near your feeders will indeed reduce activity suddenly. Hey, if you want to feed the small ones, you’re going to feed the big ones, so this is an important part of the cycle and should be celebrated (but yes, we all have our rooting interests). Especially young, inexperienced juvenile birds don’t always make good decisions about where to perch and give up their presence too easily. However, as soon as the local birds figure this out, they’ll stop coming and the raptor will move along and look for another concentration. And your songbirds will be back soon thereafter. That cat is a bigger problem, however.
6) Memory Bias. Humans inherently think of the recent past first (“recency bias), and so we find ourselves often comparing this fall to last fall, which saw exceptionally high feeder visitation thanks to the prolonged drought we had experienced throughout the summer, greatly reducing perennial seed crops (exactly as we had seen in the summer of 2017). Some of the masting trees were at cyclical lows, and cyclical lows of many cone and seed crops. And irruptions of Red-breasted Nuthatches, and to a lesser extent Purple Finches, were already underway by now. Especially if you have only been feeding birds – or paying more attention to your feeder birds – in the past two years, this fall would seem like a striking anomaly.
6) The Filthy Feeders and Stale Seed Catch-22. When activity is low at feeders, we can become a bit blasé about maintenance. Not keeping feeders clean and filled with fresh seed will only make it less likely that birds will want to frequent your yard. And, with ridiculously prolonged wet weather of the summer, seed went bad out there – even if it was fresh when you bought it. And unusually high humidity for much of the summer meant the “cool, dry” place you tried to store seed in was anything but. Seed spoils. It gets stale. And it did that more quickly this summer than most. Unless you have it stored in a climate controlled silo and bagged a couple of days before its ship like our exceptional seed distributor does, the seed that you have had since the spring is now worthless. And the birds know this.
No one likes to waste seed, but if it has been sitting in a feeder untouched for a month or so, it is time to toss it and start over. This is especially true for Nyjer, hulled sunflower, and shelled peanuts, which are most susceptible to the elements. (If you dump it in the woods, rest assured that something will eat it, or at the very least nothing will be harmed by it. If mold is visible, however, it is best to bury it). Clean your feeders, and disinfect them with a mixture of one part white vinegar to four parts water if mold was present. Fill your feeders halfway until activity builds up again if you are concerned about waste. When birds return and they find stale or spoiled seed in your feeders, they’ll continue right on by. Toss that saved seed. Start fresh. The birds will start coming back, but the longer you wait to restock, the longer it will take for your feeder activity to return.
7) The Big Picture We certainly do not want to downplay the significance of population declines in many of our bird species due to a whole host of large-scale issues (a topic for a different article), but rest assured that “your” birds are probably doing just fine from one year to the next over the short term. In fact, most of our resident “feeder birds” have steady, if not in some cases, increasing populations. Climate Change is affecting bird populations. Habitat loss is affecting bird populations. Cats are killing up to 4 BILLION birds a year. Windows are killing up to 1 BILLION birds a year. We could go on.
However, this has not changed in the past few weeks. Those long-term declines are often subtle and hard to detect without coordinated scientific investigation. All it takes is a walk in the woods and fields to see that the birds are out there. In fact, there are a lot of them out there, and they are doing just fine. They just don’t need our feeders as much right now.
And because of that, consider working on adding more native plants and natural food sources to your yard. That will keep more birds around more of the time, and – like our goldfinches and sparrows at our home in Durham – augment feeder activity in what is otherwise a slow season.
8) It WILL Change! Natural food supplies will slowly get used up, nights will get colder and longer, and our facultative migrants will come. A frost will come, ending the growing and insect seasons. Eventually, we’ll see some snow and ice that will make it harder to find the remaining natural food, and when all of those things happen, our feeders will be ready for them!
White-throated Sparrows have just returned to our feeders in Durham.
In a few weeks, the comment about Blue Jays “eating me out of house and home” will begin as they ramp up their winter caching. They’ll focus mostly on acorns as usual, augment it with pine nuts, but also supplement that with nuts and seeds from our feeders. Blackbirds flocks will begin to depart the farmlands and stop by feeding stations for some refueling. Weed seeds will begin to be used up, pushing more arriving sparrows and goldfinches back to feeders more of the time.
9) In sum.
This is normal, explainable, and predictable. It happens every now and then. It will change. Refresh your seed, adjust your offerings, and clean your feeders. Quality seed matters, especially when there are other options around for birds to choose instead. Make a planting plan for next year to improve the quality of your surrounding habitat. Keep cats indoors, windows treated to prevent strikes, and support bird conservation efforts. We want more birds around us, for our pleasure and for the ecological benefits. And as this fall demonstrates, feeders are only a small part of the equation.
We hope this helps clear up some of the misinformation out there. And please do share this widely – we want to get the word out. And finally, if you have any additional questions, feel free to drop by the store.
And never stop looking! You never known what might show up out there, even on the slow days, like this young female Dickcissel that graced the feeders at the store for a week earlier this month.
10/7 Update:
A lot of people have asked about Hurricane Lee and its effect on birds, so just wanted to comment about that here. Simply put: Lee had NOTHING to do with it; it was irrelevant. However, in the days before and after the storm’s passage, there was excellent conditions for migration (the first in a while), so many migratory birds did clear out at that time. And yes, the amount of rain likely clogged some feeders and spoiled some seed, too, but no more than any other storm would. So basically, I believe the passage of Lee was merely coincidental at best.
On the other hand…here come the Pine Siskins! Reports of huge numbers pouring out of the boreal are being received, and birds are arriving in northern and eastern Maine. Be sure you have fresh Nyjer ready to go!
11/15 Update:
With the onset of colder weather, feeder activity is picking up dramatically. More and more folks are reporting “the birds are back” at their feeding stations. At our home in Durham, we never “lost” feeder activity, but it has certainly picked up over the past two weeks. We’ve had 50+ American Goldfinches scarfing Nyjer and hulled sunflower the last few days, up from the 20-30 that have been frequent for most of the fall.
Dark-eyed Juncos and Eastern Bluebirds are returning to feeders, but sparrow numbers overall remain low…I think most of the White-throated Sparrows have gone over and through, but American Tree Sparrows have not yet arrived.
Here at the store, the feeder activity remains below normal, however, but Eastern Bluebirds have just returned here as well. But our surrounding habitat doesn’t hold nearly as many birds as our yard in Durham, so this is a big part of the equation.
So to sum it up: it’s getting better, more active, and more diverse at the feeders. And I think fresh seed is a big part of the equation, so if you’re waiting for birds to return with only old, stale (or worse) seed to offer, I think you’ll be waiting even longer (more on this soon, as I am playing around with another blog on the topic).
A highlight of a slow weekend on Monhegan were the conspicuous Cape May Warblers, including these two that were regulars in a single tree that often featured every plumage aspect of this delightful warbler.
Following three days on Monhegan, I mostly birded the yard before heading back to the island for another tour.
Monhegan Island, 9/23-25 (with Down East Adventures Monhegan Migration Workshop group):
About as slow as I have ever experienced the island, even considering a nice little influx of birds on our last morning. Cape May Warblers were the most common warbler for the first two days, however, but overall numbers and diversity were extremely low. Highlights were few, but a brief trip report is posted here:
There were more birds in our yard than on Monhegan this week! A particularly active morning on 9/27 included tardy Ovenbird, Scarlet Tanager, 8 species of warblers including Tennessee and Cape May, a nice influx of sparrows including 4+ Lincoln’s, and my first 4 southern Maine Pine Siskins of the season.
A NOTE ABOUT YOUR “SLOW” BIRD FEEDERS:
Many folks have been reporting extremely slow feeders throughout much of the state recently. This happens on a regular basis, so the end is not near! In fact, a very similiar dearth of birds happened in the falls of 2017 and 2019. I’m currently working on a blog that is more specific to this year, but this blog written in 2017 nicely tells a good part of the story.
This presumed first-fall female Cape May Warbler was a good study in comparison with the other, brighter plumages of this species on display in that single tree on Monhegan.
This delightful Black-and-white Warbler hung out with me for a spell in “my office” at Sandy Point during the huge flight on the morning of the 21st.
While Hurricane Lee was a birding dud here in Maine, I did miss two great flights at Sandy Point and three overall fantastic days of migration while we were out of town. But some good migration over the past four days since our return helped make up for it. Meanwhile, I also posted a blog recounting a little about what I (did not) miss during the passage of Lee.
While there has not been a hoped-for morning flight of consequence over or through our Durham property, it continues to be much better for fall migration than we even imagined. Limited effort produced 12 species of warblers on both 9/19 and 9/22 – which included tardy Northern Waterthrush and Canada Warbler.
Sandy Point Morning Flight, 9/20.
With winds mostly westerly overnight, and very light westerly winds in the morning, the flight was lighter than I expected. It was also high and distant to the south, so I likely missed a lot of birds, and certainly identified less than I would have liked – both typical on such conditions.
6:23-9:15am
55F, mostly clear, W 2.8mph-4.1
Decreasing to WSW 0.6 to 1.9
Unidentified
164
Eastern Phoebe
2
Northern Parula
84
Eastern Bluebird
2
Blackpoll Warbler
56
DICKCISSEL
2
Cedar Waxwing
22
Bay-breasted/Blackpoll
2
Yellow Warbler
19
Osprey
1
American Redstart
12
Black-throated Blue Warbler
1
American Goldfinch
9
Red-breasted Nuthatch
1
Common Loon
5
Wilson’s Warbler
1
Red-eyed Vireo
5
Baltimore Oriole
1
Cape May Warbler
4
American Robin
1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3
Common Yellowthroat
x
Black-and-white Warbler
3
Nashville Warbler
3
TOTAL
405
Black-throated Green Warbler
3
Horned Lark
2
Sandy Point Morning Flight, 9/21.
Wow! Although there was an absolutely huge flight overnight on the radar, the calm winds by dawn lulled me into a false sense of security. But as soon as the sun broke the horizon, birds started flowing. At first they were very high and in very large, dense aggregations, rendering identification impossible for me. Later, as the northwesterly wind picked up, many birds were considerably lower and landing in trees. Based on the date, there’s no way American Redstarts were the second most numerous warbler (they’re just easy to identify), and I would be a large proportion of those early, high migrants were strong-flying Blackpolls. But parulas definitely dominated, and at times, a dozen would be in the trees around me. Even as of 10:00am, a trickle of birds continued overhead.
6:26am to 10:26am.
51F, mostly clear, calm.
Increasing to NW 5.5-7.8mph
Unidentifed
1878
Bay-breasted Warbler
2
Northern Parula
947
Palm Warbler
2
Red-eyed Vireo
97* new record
American Goldfinch
2
American Redstart
88
Blue Jay
2
Blackpoll Warbler
74
Prairie Warbler
2
Yellow-rumped Warbler
59
Savannah Sparrow
1
Black-throated Green Warbler
53
DICKCISSEL
1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
47
CONNECTICUT WARBLER!
1 (plus one probable)
Yellow Warbler
43
Bobolink
1
Black-and-white Warbler
41
Brown Creeper
1
Cape May Warbler
16
Chestnut-sided Warbler
1
American Robin
12
American Pipit
1
Northern Flicker
11
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
1
Scarlet Tanager
10
Unidentified Empid
1
Magnolia Warbler
9
Mourning Dove
1
Black-throated Blue Warbler
8
Probable Blue-winged Warbler
1
Blue-headed Vireo
7
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1
Swainson’s Thrush
6* including two high overhead almost an hour after sunrise!
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK
1 Juv. My 196th all-time Patch Bird!
Horned Lark
6
Sharp-shinned Hawk
1
Red-breasted Nuthatch
5
Baltimore Oriole
1
Nashville Warbler
5
House Wren
1
Common Loon
4
Common Yellowthroat
x
Eastern Phoebe
4
Philadelphia Vireo
3
American Kestrel
3
TOTAL
3,467
Rusty Blackbird
2
Golden-crowned Kinglet
2
This cooperative Prairie Warbler was one of 18 species of warblers that passed over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth, on the morning of the 21st.
Hawkwatching over the store, 9/21! The big migration day continued, with Jeannette tallying 752 Broad-winged Hawks, 4 Bald Eagles, 3 Turkey Vultures, 2 American Kestrels, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, and 1 Cooper’s Hawk in just over 2 hours of observation right out our front door!
Maine Birding Field Notes 