Tag Archives: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

This Week’s Highlights, 5/13– 5/19, 2023

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:

This Week’s Highlights, 5/6 – 5/12, 2023

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 Common Yellowthroat, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with client from Spain).
  • 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).
  • 1 Wood Thrush, our property in Durham, 5/12.
  • 1 Canada Warbler, Florida Lake Park, 5/12.
  • 1 Wilson’s Warbler, Florida Lake Park, 5/12.

TOURS AND EVENTS:

This Week’s Highlights, 4/29-5/5, 2023

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!)

TOURS AND EVENTS:

Our next tour with space available (next weekend’s Songbird Workshop with Down East Adventures is sold out) is pair of ½ day tours with the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust.

This Week’s Highlights, April 23-29, 2022.

Palm Warblers were on the move this week, although concentrations remain low.

Persistent winds from unfavorable directions precluded a big push of migrants this week, but the season is slowly progressing. There were a couple of decent nights of migration this week, on Sunday and Monday nights. My observations of note over the past seven days included:

  • 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (FOY), our yard in Pownal, 4/23.
  • 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Cape Elizabeth Greenbelt Trail, 4/25 (with Jeannette).
  • 40 Purple Sandpipers, Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, 4/25 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, private property in Durham, 4/27.
  • 2 pairs of Gadwall, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 4/29.

And my list of personal “first of years” this week also included the following:

  • 1 Laughing Gull, Winslow Park, Freeport, 4/23 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 House Wren, here at the store, 4/23.
  • 1 early CLIFF SWALLOW, Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch, 4/23.
  • 1 Blue-headed Vireo, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 4/24.
  • 1 RUSTY BLACKBIRD, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 4/29.
  • 1 Willet, Dunstan Landing, Scarborough Marsh, 4/29.
  • 1 LITTLE BLUE HERON, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 4/29.

And don’t forget, this weekend is Feathers Over Freeport! With the weather of the past three days in particular, it should be a great weekend for migrants!

Carolina Wren from the Saco Riverwalk on Sunday.

Derek’s Birding This 7/17-23, 2021.

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 Week, 4/24-30/2021

I always say that Yellow-rumped Warblers would be everyone’s favorite warbler if they weren’t so common. Big personalities and easy to identify, and the spring males are just gorgeous. Even when photographed through drizzle and mist, as was this one at Legion Pond in Kittery on 4/30.

My highlights over the past seven days included the following:

  • 1 Great Cormorant, over the store with a flock of Double-crested Cormorants, 4/24 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk Group. Store Yard Bird #131).
  • 1 Savannah Sparrow, our yard in Pownal, 4/24 (Home Yard Bird # 130).
  • 19 Red Crossbills, Waterboro Barrens Preserve, 4/27.
  • 9 Fish Crows (low, tight, southbound flock) and 1-2 EVENING GROSBEAKS, Bradbury-Pinelands Corridor Trail, Pownal, 4/29.
  • 1 drake NORTHERN SHOVELER, 109 Yellow-rumped Warblers, numerous first of years, etc, Fort Foster, Kittery, 4/30.
  • 17 Harlequin Ducks, The Nubble, Cape Neddick, 4/30.

And my personal first-of-years and new spring arrivals included:

  • 3 LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSHES (FOY), Morgan Meadow WMA, 4/25 (first time I have had more than 2 singing males here).
  • 1 Brown Thrasher, feeders here at the store, 4/25.
  • 1 Field Sparrow, Waterboro Barrens Preserve, 4/27.
  • 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, our yard in Pownal, 4/29.
  • 3 Black-and-white Warblers, Fort Foster, Kittery, 4/30.
  • 3 House Wrens, Fort Foster, 4/30.
  • 1 Gray Catbird (FOS), Fort Foster, 4/30.
  • 3 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS, Fort Foster, 4/30.
  • 5 Greater Yellowlegs, Fort Foster, 4/30.
  • 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, The Nubble, Cape Neddick, 4/30.
  • 1 Cliff Swallow, The Nubble, 4/30.