Tag Archives: Blue-headed Vireo

This Week’s Highlights: October 15 -21, 2022

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I spent a lot of time looking at sparrows this week, as I love to do in October. This snappy immature White-crowned Sparrow was at Wolfe’s Neck Center on the 16th.

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

  • 1 continuing HUDSONIAN GODWIT, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 10/15 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group; the 247th all-time Saturday Morning Birdwalk species!). Observed at closer range later from the Maquoit Bay Conservation Land.
  • 1 Indigo Bunting, Wolfe’s Neck Center, Freeport, 10/16.
  • Incredibly morning at Bailey Island, Harpswell with Jeannette on 10/17: 1 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, 1 CAPE MAY WARBLER, 1 Blue-headed Vireo, 1 Red-eyed Vireo.  6 total species of warblers; 7 species of sparrows. 400+ Dark-eyed Juncos, 200+ Yellow-rumped Warblers, 150+ White-throated Sparrows, 150+ Song Sparrows, etc, etc.
  • 1 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, our yard in Durham, 10/17.
  • 1 Red Crossbill, our yard in Durham, 10/19.
  • 353 Ruddy Ducks, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, 61 Lesser Scaup, 18 Greater Scaup, etc, Sabattus Pond, Sabattus, 10/20.
  • 2 EVENING GROSBEAKS, 1 Common Yellowthroat, 50+ Swamp Sparrows, etc, Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 10/21.
I whiffed on phone-binning an Orange-crowned Warbler at Bailey Island on the 17th as I apparently followed the wrong bird. Turned out the other bird was this tardy Blue-headed Vireo, however.

This Week’s Highlights, 10/23-29

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Thanks to our annual note in our newsletter to keep hummingbird feeders up through early November – and to give us a call if one shows up after the first week of October – we received another call about a late October hummingbird this year. I raced over as soon as it returned to study it and get documentation photos. Unlike last year, however, this was “just” a Ruby-throated. I should have known it wasn’t another “mega” rarity as it was way too easy to photograph closely, and I only waited 5 minutes for its arrival!

Before and after the storm, it was a rather great week of birding for me. Rarity Season is now underway!  Here are my observations of note over the past seven days:

  • 1 Field Sparrow, 2 Common Yellowthroats, 7 Semipalmated Plovers, etc., Wolf’s Neck Center, Freeport, 10/24 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 “INTERIOR” (ssp alterus/nelson) NELSON’S SPARROW, Private Property in Cape Elizabeth, 10/24.
  • “First of seasons” from seawatching at Dyer Point, Cape Elizabeth, 10/28:

25 Long-tailed Ducks (mostly northbound)

2 drake Harlequin Ducks

2 Snow Buntings

1 1st winter Iceland Gull

1 Horned Grebe

  • 1-2 BLUE-HEADED VIREOS, Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, 10/28.
  • 1 juv RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, private property in Freeport, 10/28. First seen on 10/26, but not on the 27th. See photo and caption above.
  • 1 DICKCISSEL (photo below; Abner Point Road), 1 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL (first of fall locally), 2 male BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLERS, and 2 American Tree Sparrows (first of fall), Bailey Island, Harpswell, 10/29.

Derek’s Birding This Week, 10/31-11/6, 2020/

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Pine Siskins have really thinned out this week, but still remain common and widespread. This was one in a small group at Kettle Cove in Cape Elizabeth on 11/1, feasting on Speckled Alder.

This weekly report has been posted on the Maine-Birds Google Group and our store’s Facebook Page for several years. I’m playing around with a new repository for these weekly reports. How does it look here? The archives are searchable at least, and it’s an easy way to encourage me to add more photos (at least one a week is my goal!).

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

– a few  Evening Grosbeaks in and around our yard in Pownal all week.

– 1 very early BOHEMIAN WAXWING, 1 NORTHERN SHRIKE, 1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 4 Common Redpolls, 2 American Tree Sparrows (FOF), and 3 Common Goldeneyes (FOF), Wolfe’s Neck Center, Freeport, 10/31 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).

– 1 BLUE-HEADED VIREO, 1 Gray Catbird, and 1 Blackpoll Warbler, Saco Riverwalk, 11/1.

– 1 female Wood Duck, Grondin Pond, Scarborough, 11/1.

– 10 Snow Buntings (FOF), Sebago Lake State Park, 11/2 (with Jeannette).

– 1 Fox Sparrow, our yard in Pownal, 11/2.

– 300+ Horned Larks, 60+ American Pipits, 8 Snow Buntings, and 2 Lapland Longspurs (FOF), Mayall Road, Gray/New Gloucester, 11/4.

– Sabattus Pond, Sabattus, 11/6:

  • 674 Mallards
  • 644 Ruddy Ducks
  • 277 Common Mergansers
  • 89 Canada Geese
  • 75 Green-winged Teal
  • 68 Greater Scaup
  • 20 American Black Ducks
  • 55 Hooded Mergansers
  • 28 Bufflehead
  • 8 Lesser Scaup
  • 5 American Wigeon
  • 4 GADWALL
  • 2 Northern Pintails
  • 2 Common Loons
  • 1 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 1 Double-crested Cormorant
  • 1 continuing female LONG-TAILED DUCK
  • 1 RED-NECKED GREBE
  • 1 EVENING GROSBEAK
  • 1 Rusty Blackbird

-Pine Siskin High Count This Week: 18+, feeders here at the store most of the week.-Scattered small numbers of Common Redpolls all week and increasing by week’s end.