Tag Archives: Cousins Island

Sandy Point Morning Flights: September – October, 2024.

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For 2024, I decided to post my Sandy Point Morning Flight tallies here in one blog entry (instead of only to Facebook and the Maine Birds Google-group), or perhaps one entry per month. If nothing else, it helps me organize them, and my thoughts! Hopefully, you’ll enjoy reading them, too. A busy tour schedule this fall, a little personal travel, and the continued decline in the number of strong, sweeping cold fronts due to climate change are all conspiring to reduce the number of days I begin at “my office.”

The following lists are birds counted passing over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth as part of the “Morning Flight” or Morning Redetermined Migration. For more information about this site, and my counts here, see Site C14 in Birdwatching in Maine: The Complete Site Guide (2024).

  1. September 3rd.

A light flight passed over and through this morning. It was my first visit of the season, as cold fronts have been few and weak so far this fall, so it was great to be back at my office. I was expecting a stronger flight, however. Perhaps the winds were just too westerly overnight, as the northwesterly component is so critical for pushing birds out over the bay and beyond, forcing them to reorient into the wind and concentrating here at the northwest tip of the island.

  • 6:02-8:20am
  • 48F, clear, light W increasing then decreasing.
  • 105 Northern Parulas
  • 88 Cedar Waxwings
  • 56 American Redstarts
  • 41 unidentified
  • 12 Yellow Warblers
  • 10 American Goldfinches
  • 7 Red-eyed Vireos
  • 5 Cape May Warblers
  • 4 Magnolia Warblers
  • 3 Eastern Wood-Pewees
  • 3 Chestnut-sided Warblers
  • 2 Nashville Warblers
  • 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches
  • 2 unidentified flycatchers
  • 2 Black-capped Chickadees
  • 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
  • 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
  • 1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
  • 1 Black-throated Green Warbler
  • 1 Baltimore Oriole
  • 1 Black-and-white Warbler
  • 1 Wilson’s Warbler
  • 1 House Finch
  • 1 Least Flycatcher
  • 1 Bay-breasted/Blackpoll Warbler
  • 1 unidentified Catharus
  • 1 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (4th Sandy Point Morning Flight Record).
  • Total = 351

2. September 10th Update.

Well, so much for this plan! A week has gone by and there hasn’t been a decent morning to try at Sandy Point. And, with a massive area of high pressure dominating our weather (and most of the Eastern US) for another week, the next possible day looks a long way off! While several nights have featured at least some northerly component, it has been dead calm by dawn. Most other nights have been calm, and while that’s great for migrants to make progress, it’s not so great for a concentration of birds along the coast. For example, a very weak – and mostly dry – cold front that passed on Monday night briefly changed winds, but they were mostly westerly, and were calm by dusk.

Good for the migrants, not great for the migration-watchers! Let’s hope for a change in the forecast; we need the rain, too!

3. September 11.

I probably should have gone this morning, just based on the huge flight that occurred overnight. But, as with most good nights of migration this season, winds were virtually calm. Maybe there was just enough of a puff from the west to make a count worthwhile, but alas, my schedule didn’t allow for a last-minute change. However, there were A LOT of birds in the air last night.

A huge flight overnight on 9/13-14 resulted in a lot of birds offshore, and while I couldn’t be at Sandy Point, I had an exceptional morning flight on Monhegan – dominated by Cape May Warblers – with my tour group that weekend.

4. September 18th Update.

Yup, another clear and calm night, with migrants passing high overhead. Fog at dawn, too. Another week with no morning flight. Goodness, this blog sucks!

5. September 25th Update.

OK, this is getting ridiculous! Another week with lots of nights of great migration, but with either calm conditions or a light north to northeasterly aloft, not one more was conducive to being on the bridge. Friday and especially Saturday look great though…but alas, I’ll be back on Monhegan. No complaints there. But I’ll go ahead and change this blog title to “September-October” and hope for better conditions next month!

6. October 2nd Update.

Two great flights over the weekend conducive to a good if not great flight at Sandy Point occurred, but my tour group on Monhegan once again reaped the benefits. Next favorable winds might not be until Sunday the 6th. Fingers crossed! Maybe I’ll have some real content for this blog then…and I really need my Sandy Point fix!

6. October 5 – Finally!

I was finally at “my office” on the bridge this morning. Unfortunately, with clouds in the eastern sky and a light northerly wind, only a light flight passed over and through the point this morning. Furthermore, the Caribou radar showed rain into the early night, and likely unsettled weather thereafter, reducing or even eliminating the arrival of birds from the north and northeast (the radar after midnight showed virtually nothing over northern Maine). Nonetheless, it was just good to be back!

  • 6:45-8:45am
  • 45F, partly to mostly cloudy, NNW 5.3-7.0 to N 6.7-8.2mph.
  • 60 Yellow-rumped Warblers
  • 15 Blackpoll Warblers
  • 9 American Robins
  • 7 Palm Warblers
  • 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
  • 5 unidentified
  • 4 Golden-crowned Kinglets
  • 4 Red-breasted Nuthatches
  • 4 Chipping Sparrows
  • 3 Northern Flickers
  • 3 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 3 Common Loons
  • 3 Hermit Thrushes
  • 3 White-throated Sparrows
  • 3 unidentified blackbirds
  • 2 Rusty Blackbirds
  • 2 Blue Jays
  • 1 Blue-headed Vireo
  • 1 unidentified kinglet
  • 1 Tufted Titmouse (did not cross after 4+ false starts)
  • 1 Hairy Woodpecker (finally crossed after 7 false starts)
  • Total = 140

7. October 10.

A moderately-strong flight overnight on variable W to NW winds suggested many more birds departed last night than arrived. With a light W wind by dawn, only a light flight passed through the point.

  • 6:49-9:15
  • 41F, mostly clear, W 3.5 to 5.0 to W 4.4 to 7.7mph.
  • 116 Yellow-rumped Warblers
  • 39 Blackpoll Warblers
  • 24 White-throated Sparrows
  • 21 American Robins
  • 14 Palm Warbles
  • 13 unidentified
  • 8 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 8 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
  • 8 Golden-crowned Kinglets
  • 5 Black-capped Chickadees
  • 3 Rusty Blackbirds
  • 3 Hermit Thrushes
  • 2 American Pipits
  • 2 Common Loons
  • 2 Nashville Warblers
  • 2 Chipping Sparrows
  • 2 Blue-headed Vireo
  • 2 Eastern Phoebes
  • 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers
  • 2 Blue Jays
  • 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
  • 1 Northern Flicker
  • 1 Northern Parula
  • 1 Baltimore Oriole
  • Total = 285

8. October 11th.

With only a light to moderate flight overnight in southern Maine and little being picked up on the Caribou radar with continued unsettled weather, it was not surprising that such a light flight passed through Sandy Point. Or so I thought. But then I found this article…yes, the absolutely amazing and awesome Aurora Borealis this night before may have indeed minimized the number of migrants taking flight. An increasing number of diurnal migrants helped make up for it, however.

  • 204 American Robins
  • 54 Yellow-rumped Warblers
  • 28 Blackpoll Warblers
  • 18 Blue Jays
  • 15 Eastern Bluebirds
  • 9 White-throated Sparrows
  • 8 Chipping Sparrows
  • 8 Cedar Waxwings
  • 8 unidentified
  • 5 Palm Warblers
  • 5 Golden-crowned Kinglets
  • 4 Nashville Warblers
  • 3 Northern Parulas
  • 3 Black-capped Chickadees
  • 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
  • 2 Tufted Titmice
  • 2 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 2 Hermit Thrushes
  • 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • 1 HOUSE FINCH (rare migrant high overhead)
  • 1 Black-throated Green Warbler
  • T=  385

9. October 17.

This Hermit Thrush kept me company at the point, alternating between snacking on Pasture Rose hips and contemplating crossing the channel (with Catharus thrushes rarely do after sunrise)

After a very slow start on a chilly morning, the flight picked up a bit in the second hour, but was still far lighter than I would have expected given the massive flight detected by the radar overnight. Even by 4:00am, the radar image was boomin’

  • 6:59-9:15
  • 31F, clear, NW 2.7-4.9 to W 1.2 TO 2.6mph.
  • 114 Yellow-rumped Warblers
  • 56 American Robins
  • 44 Golden-crowned Kinglets
  • 44 Blue Jays
  • 17 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
  • 14 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 9 Hermit Thrushes
  • 8 Palm Warblers
  • 7 Black-capped Chickadees (still did not cross after 14 “false starts”)
  • 7 White-throated Sparrows
  • 5 Unidentified
  • 4 Nashville Warblers
  • 4 Blackpoll Warblers
  • 3 Swamp Sparrows
  • 2 Purple Finches
  • 2 Blue-headed Vireos
  • 2 Tufted Titmice (did not cross after 4 false starts)
  • 1 TENNESSEE WARBLER
  • 1 Northern Parula
  • 1 Eastern Bluebird
  • 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • 1 Northern Flicker
  • 1 Savannah Sparrow
  • 1 Common Loon
  • 1 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER (in parking lot)
  • T=351

10. October 23rd.

With only a moderate flight overnight and very light winds, I didn’t have high hopes today for much of a flight. However, with the forecast for the next few days followed by a trip, this very well may be my last chance of the season, so off I went. Well, I was correct…there wasn’t much.

  • 7:10-8:30
  • 43F, mostly clear, NNW 2.7-3.2 to calm.
  • 10 Dark-eyed Juncos
  • 10 Yellow-rumped Warblers
  • 4 Golden-crowned Kinglets
  • 4 Hermit Thrushes
  • 3 Savannah Sparrows
  • 2 Palm Warblers
  • 1 American Rpbin
  • 1 Purple Finch
  • 1 Black-capped Chickadee
  • 1 Blue-headed Vireo
  • 1 Chipping Sparrow
  • 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • 1 Blackpoll Warbler
  • Total = 42

11. November 6th.

I had every intention of trying one more morning at the bridge after we returned from vacation. Sunday the 3rd may have been the day. But, avoiding the painful early wake-up call of the end of Daylight Savings Time, I decided to twitch the Common Gull in Rockland instead. I feel a little guilty, but ya know, every now and then I like a little chase, and besides, it was kind enough to stick around until we returned, so I felt I owed it.

It wasn’t a great season for me at “my office,” as this was certainly a record low number of visits. And to not catch any big flights is of course disappointing. But it was a good fall for birding – and an especially good fall for birds with little to impede their migration – and I enjoy every chance I can get to be at Sandy Point. And with a lot less pain this year than last year when I was still recovering from complications following shoulder surgery.

So with that, the 2024 Sandy Point Morning Flight season is officially closed. Still plenty of migration left, but it’s mostly diurnal migrants now. There will be a Dark-eyed Junco flight or two, some great flights of American Robins, and likely one last little push of Yellow-rumped Warblers. However, Rarity Season is now in full swing, so it’s time to focus on other birding locations. See you in August! (If there are any real cold fronts).

(And now it’s time to see what Yarmouth’s plans are for the walkway repair and improvement. I’ll need to make sure birding opportunities are improved and vegetation is protecting. Stay tuned…I might need your help)

Recent Highlights, 1/13 – 1/18/2024

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The long-staying hen American Wigeon offered a good, close study as part of the Winter Waterbird Workshop with Down East Adventures tour that I conducted on the 14th.

While I didn’t get as far afield as last week, I enjoyed a productive six days of birding, especially for early January!  Here are my observations of note over the past seven days.

  • Our feeders in Durham have been incredible, led by a growing flock of Dark-eyed Juncos that peaked at 41 on 1/8 and 40+ continuing American Goldfinches. There was a big movement of sparrows after the weekend snow storm, with flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows common and widespread in the area, along with an increase in American Tree Sparrows. During Tuesday’s snowfall, a careful inventory during the snowfall on the 16th yielded 127 individuals of 16 species, led by 41 American Goldfinches and 37 Dark-eyed Juncos.
  • At least one Turkey Vulture still continues in the I-295 corridor between Cumberland and Freeport.
  • 1 DOVEKIE, Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth, 1/13. Patch Bird #198!  Healthy fly-by apparently turning around upon seeing the bridge, then turning northeast and following the Cousin’s Island shoreline. I lost it in the fog, but presumably rounding the island to return to sea. A Black Guillemot to the south of the bridge was one of my few ever from this location.
  • 1 continuing female American Wigeon, York Duck Pond (Abbott’s Pond), York, 1/14 (with Down East Adventures Winter Waterbirds Workshop tour group).
  • Small number of Red Crossbills, Bear Mountain, Hartford, 1/15 (with Jeannette). Mostly single fly-overs and one small heard-only group, so quantification was impossible.
  • 128 mixed Scaup (about 60-70% Lesser), Lake Auburn, Auburn, 1/15 (with Jeannette).
  • 3 drake and 1 hen BARROW’S GOLDENEYES, Winslow Park, Freeport, 1/18.

UPCOMING TOURS.

This Week’s Highlights, 8/26-9/1,2023

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Our Durham yard has been incredibly birdy this week. The most unexpected migrant was this American Bittern that dropped into our new pond for the morning of the 28th.

I didn’t get out to shorebird hotspots as much this week, but still ended up with 17.5 species and some solid high counts. However, much of my best birding this week was from our yard, which apparently is a fantastic fall migration hotspot. And my first visit of the season to Sandy Point on 8/31 produced a new August record!

  • Black-bellied Plover: 142, The Pool, Biddeford Pool, 9/1.
  • Killdeer: 3, United Ag and Turf, Auburn, 8/31 (with Jeannette).
  • Semipalmated Plover: 150+, The Pool, 9/1.
  • Piping Plover: 1, The Pool, 9/1.
  • Whimbrel: 4, The Pool, 9/1.
  • RED KNOT: 16 juv, The Pool, 9/1.
  • Sanderling: 1, The Pool, 9/1.
  • Least Sandpiper: 32, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/31.
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 11, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 8/28 (with Jeannette).
  • Pectoral Sandpiper: 2, Eastern Road Trail, 8/31.
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 450-500, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 8/28 (with Jeannette).
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 14, The Pool. 9/1.
  • Spotted Sandpiper: 1, Walsh Preserve, 8/26 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Solitary Sandpiper: 1, Walsh Preserve, 8/26 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 34, Eastern Road Trail, 8/31.
  • “Eastern” Willet: 6, The Pool, 9/1.
  • “WESTERN” WILLET: 1-2 juv, The Pool, 9/1.
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 28, Walsh Preserve, 8/26 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).

A handful of non-shorebird highlights this week also included:

  • A productive week of birding on our Durham property produced a number of highlights. In fact, most mornings, it was hard to pull myself away from the yard. At least 11 species of warblers have been in our yard daily this week, with a high count of 12 on the 28th. A female MOURNING WARBLER was present 8/27-8/29. A Phildelphia Vireo on the 28th-29th was our 144th yard bird, followed moments later by the arrival of #145: An American Bittern (photo above). A DICKCISSEL (FOF) briefly paused in the yard on the morning of the 1st for our 146th yard bird! 32-38 Common Nighthawks were feeding over the yard late in the day on 9/1 as well.
  • 12 adult SANDHILL CRANES, Mayall Road, Gray/New Gloucester, 8/30 (site high count and noteworthy that no juveniles were present – failed breeding season due to high water and flooding?)
  • Sandy Point Morning Flight, 8/31 (FOY):
    • 6:00-9:15am
    • 57F, mostly clear, NE 4.7-7.6 increasing to 7.3-9.8 and gusty.
Unidentified633Scarlet Tanager2
American Redstart439Ruby-throated Hummingbird2
Northern Parula195Black-throated Blue Warbler2
Yellow Warbler51Rose-breasted Grosbeak1
Magnolia Warbler35Eastern Phoebe1
Cape May Warbler20Chestnut-sided Warbler1
Black-and-white Warbler17Merlin 1
Black-throated Green Warbler16Northern Waterthrush1
Red-eyed Vireo11Swainson’s Thrush1
Bay-breasted Warbler10Unidentified vireo1
Tennessee Warbler5Olive-sided Flycatcher1
Nashville Warbler4Common YellowthroatX
Least Flycatcher4
Blackburnian Warbler3TOTAL1,463*
Canada Warbler3*New August High Count!
American Goldfinch3
Red-winged Blackbird3

This Week’s Highlights, August 24-September 2, 2022

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The amazing run of ultra-rare raptors in Maine continued with the all-too-short visit of a Eurasian (Western) Marsh Harrier last week. First found on North Haven on 8/25, it was then relocated the next day in Weskeag Marsh. I finished a tour that morning and raced eastward to South Thomaston. After waiting only 20 minutes (others had been waiting nearly 5 hours), it appeared and put on a show for about 30-45 minutes.  After a reappearance the next morning, it has disappeared up birders up and down the East Coast are on high alert!

After returning from our summer vacation to New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (see link)…

New Brunswick – PEI Roadtrip Bird Photo Journal, 8/2022.

…my observations of note over the past seven days included:

  • EURASIAN (WESTERN) MARSH HARRIER, Weskeag Marsh, South Thomaston, 8/26 (with Evan Obercian and m.obs). Photo above.
  • 1 Olive-sided Flycatcher, Highland Road, Brunswick, 8/27 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 154 Snowy Egrets, 106 Green-winged Teal, etc, etc, Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/28.
  • 1 continuing proposed TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X SNOWY EGRET hybrid, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/28.
  • 7 continuing WHITE IBIS in non-exhaustive search, Harbor Road, Wells, 8/30 (with Jeannette).
  • 6 SANDHILL CRANES (two pairs with one juvenile each), Mayall Road, Gray/New Gloucester, 9/1.
  • SANDY POINT MORNING FLIGHT (FOY), 9/2: 482 total individuals including 2 DICKCISSELS and 20 species of warblers.  Complete tally here.

And my shorebird high counts over these past ten days included some fine tallies but much reduced diversity, mostly due to recent heavy rains filling the best high-marsh salt pannes:

  • AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER: 2 ad, Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/28.
  • Black-bellied Plover: 118, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 8/27 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Killdeer: 14, Mayall Road, Gray/New Gloucester, 8/25.
  • Semipalmated Plover: 179, Pine Point, 8/28.
  • Sanderling: 2, Sebago Lake State Park (rare inland), 8/25.
  • Least Sandpiper: 66, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/28.
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 8, Pine Point, 8/28.
  • Pectoral Sandpiper: 1, Eastern Road Trail, 8/28 and Walsh Preserve, Yarmouth, 8/30.
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 1,000++, Weskeag Marsh, South Thomaston, 8/26. Honorary mention of 45-500 at Wharton Point on 8/27 – my highest tally here in years (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 24, Pine Point, 8/28.
  • Spotted Sandpiper: 2, Sebago Lake State Park, 8/25.
  • Solitary Sandpiper: 1, several locations this week.
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 48, Walsh Preserve, Yarmouth, 8/30.
  • “Eastern” Willet: 16, Pine Point, 8/28.
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 15, Weskeag Marsh, South Thomaston, 8/26.
Just a very small part of an impressive feeding frenzy of Double-crested Cormorants and
Snowy Egrets that were at Pine Point in Scarborough on the 25th.

Exceptional Morning Flight at Sandy Point, 9/29/2021

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The carnage of this morning’s Morning Flight.

I don’t usually post my Sandy Point Morning Flight totals here, but today was more than worthy of a little something extra.  After 8 nights with little or virtually migration (well, at least not a big flight on ideal winds), clearing skies and a light northwesterly breeze finally opened the floodgates.  Here are the 1:00am reflectivity and velocity images, for example.

I am sure Monhegan – where I just spent 5 glorious days (despite the lack of a huge flight; more on that soon!) – was great, Sandy Point was just outstanding.  In fact, it was my 3rd highest all-time flight!

Early on, clouds made everything into little black shapes as the intense flight proceeded at all levels. Wind, a cacophony of kinglets ringing in my ears, and the two loudest and most vociferous Tufted Titmice who just stayed screaming in the magic birch all conspired to further reduce my ability to identify birds. But mostly, waves of dozens at a time were simply clicked as “unidentified” as I tried to keep pace with quantifying the flight. Furthermore, there were at least 3-4 hunting Merling, a Cooper’s Hawk, and a Peregrine Falcon, which added to the swirling chaos. It was a challenge, that’s for sure. “I do this for fun?” I asked Matthew.

Here’s the scorecard from the Morning Flight of birds that passed over and through Sandy Point, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth this am:

6:34-11:00am

50F, mostly cloudy NW 7.9-10.0 becoming mostly sunny, NW 10.9-12.5mph.

2,012 unidentified – *3rd highest

1,335 Yellow-rumped Warblers– *New Record High

445 Northern Parulas

324 unidentified kinglets

230 Cedar Waxwings

148 Golden-crowned Kinglets

139 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers – *New record

109 Northern Flickers

108 Dark-eyed Juncos

92 Ruby-crowned Kinglets

77 Blackpoll Warblers

75 Black-throated Green Warblers

56 Palm Warblers

39 White-throated Sparrows

33 Black-throated Blue Warblers – *3rd highest.

33 American Robins

28 Rusty Blackbirds – *2nd highest

25 Red-eyed Vireos

22 Eastern Phoebes – *2nd highest

20 Blue-headed Vireos

20 Nashville Warblers  – *2nd highest

17 Chipping Sparrows

16 American Redstarts

13 Magnolia Warblers

12 Blue Jays

8 Black-capped Chickadees

6 Common Loons

5 Black-and-white Warblers

5 Sharp-shinned Hawks

4 unidentified blackbirds

3 Cape May Warblers

3 Swainson’s Thrushes  – including two observed crossing.

3 Tufted Titmice

2 Scarlet Tanagers

2 unidentified vireos

2 Yellow Warblers

2 Red-breasted Nuthatches

2 Tennessee Warblers

2 American Goldfinches

1 Chestnut-sided Warbler

1 Pine Warbler

1 White-crowned Sparrow

1 Broad-winged Hawk

1 White-breasted Nuthatch

1 Hermit Thrush

1 unidentified Catharus

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker

1 Osprey

X Common Yellowthroats

1 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO – my 7th all-time here. Made 4 “false starts” before crossing at 10:04am.

Cuckoos are such shape-shifters in flight that I feel like I could have counted each pass from the one bird as a different species each time it passed!

For a grand total of 5,487 birds, my *3rd highest all-time count.  So yes indeed, birds have very much been backed up.

Meanwhile, adding to the excitement (and chaos) this morning was a massive feeding frenzy of Double-crested Cormorants and gulls. While I am sure a few migrants snuck by overhead, I couldn’t help but take a few moments to enjoy it…and make sure there were no rarities among the gulls!   15-20 Laughing Gulls and 4 Bonaparte’s Gulls joined 75-100 Ring-billed Gulls in snatching the baitfish that the Double-crested Cormorants had pushed right up onto the sandbar as it slowly emerged from the tide.  It was quite a show!

Derek’s Birding This Week: 9/18-23, 2021

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The weekend will likely start off wet, but with several days of an extensive southerly flow originating all of the way from the Gulf Coast and Deep South, vagrants – like Blue Grosbeak, Hooded Warbler, Summer Tanager, and much more will be on our minds.

As I prepare to depart for our Monhegan Fall Migration Weekend tour tomorrow, I am left to wonder where the heck the past week went!?

Similarly to last week, my birding time was woefully limited thanks to excuses including a trade show and a morning meeting. Therefore, my birding this week was mostly limited to our Saturday Morning Birdwalk and one great flight at Sandy Point.

Speaking of Sandy Point, I did not make it out for what was presumably a light flight on Monday morning, and of course a Clay-colored Sparrow – a long-overdue Patch Bird – was found. It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that I had a chance to look for it.  While I didn’t find it, I did get a consolation prize.  With a flock of about 400 Semipalmated Sandpipers in the cove on the north side of the point – the largest peep flock that I have seen here, I grabbed the scope. Among them was a single Sanderling, but also a single molting juvenile Dunlin – my 191st all-time species at Sandy Point!

There was a big movement of White-throated Sparrows this week however, augmenting productive feeder-watching. Granted, my extended period of afternoon feeder-watching on Monday was mostly limited to the entertainment of a constant dog-fight between a Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawk for backyard supremacy

Now, let’s hope the forecast for the weekend is a little drier than currently called for!  That being said, the pattern that we are in looks really good for southern vagrants (see photo above), and especially after 5 days of poor winds for migration, once this mess clears, the migration could be huge!

Derek’s Birding This Week: 9/11-17, 2021

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Philadelphia Vireos have been particularly conspicuous this week at Sandy Point, especially because of their propensity for stopping by the trees right next to “my office” as they contemplate crossing.

I didn’t get out birding much this week, other than at Sandy Point (see tallies here), and when I did, it was mostly just enjoying the local, regular passerine migrants.

In fact, my only observation of note was a good evening at the Walsh Preserve in Freeport on 9/14 with Jeannette, where a great late-season array of shorebirds included:
1 juv. LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, 1 juv Dunlin (FOF), 76 Lesser Yellowlegs, etc,

Meanwhile, limiting most of my outings to local dog-walking patches and our two yards (home and the store), afforded the opportunity to enjoy lots of up-close migrants this week, including a Nashville Warbler that has been frequenting our dripper at home. Unfortunately, the LARK SPARROW that Will and Jeanne had here at the store on Monday, 9/13, has not returned.

Comparing my notes to last year, the first stages of the “super flight” of irruptives over the winter was already prevalent in these parts with many more Red-breasted Nuthatches and Purple Finches than normal, and the first Pine Siskins of the season. This year, Purple Finches have been in short supply so far, Pine Siskins have been virtually non-existent, and migrant Red-breasted Nuthatches have been limited (although it seems we had a good breeding season locally).  Also at this  time last year, a massive early flight of Dark-eyed Juncos and well-above normal numbers of White-throated Sparrows were around, likely signaling a low year of seed productivity.  This year, those species are around in more seasonable numbers so far this season

A Record-Shattering 5 Days at Sandy Point!

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NOPA
Northern Parulas were certainly the “bird of the week” at Sandy Point.

It was a special five-day run at Sandy Point Beach on Cousin’s Island in Yarmouth. It was a record-shattering run in fact, in which I tallied nearly 18,000 migrants engaging in the “Morning Flight,” or “morning re-determined migration” when nocturnally-migrating passerines relocate (to drastically oversimplify things) come sunrise.
SandyPoint_sunrise,9-13-17

(To learn more about Sandy Point, check out the site entry in Birdwatching in Maine: A Site Guide, and for more on nocturnal migration, interpreting the radar, and the “morning flight” phenomena, check out Chapter 5 in my first book, How to Be a Better Birder. Whaddya mean you don’t have these two books!?)

I’ve had a handful of four-day runs, but I cannot think of a time when conditions were favorable – and I was actually present, and not leading tours on Monhegan for example – for five straight days. But I have most certainly never had five days like this!

I recorded 72 species “deemed migrating” through here, not including migrants that were in the bushes, such as the Gray Catbirds and Song Sparrows that are so abundant in the brush here. It does not include species like Osprey, in which some of the many I saw this week were likely southbound, but impossible to separate from the still-locals. And this tally did not include all of the waterbirds, from Common Eiders to herds of dabbling American Black Ducks, and from Bald Eagles to hunting Great Blue Herons, as well as resident species.

I tallied 25 species of warblers, including a single Connecticut Warbler, one of the most sought-after parulids in Maine. A Northern Mockingbird was only my 5th ever noted here, and two passing Dickcissels are always a treat. But certainly the icing on the cake of this great week was the Lark Sparrow found by the group in the parking lot on the relatively quiet morning of 9/13. This was a first record for Sandy Point, and my personal 184th species here.
LASP, Becky

But it was the morning of the 11th that will go down in Sandy Point history!  8,185 migrants was not only a new record, but almost doubled the previous record (4,346 on Sept 21, 2010). It was incredible. More on that epic morning later.

A number of records for high counts for individual species were set, and I am sure even more would have been shattered if I had a higher rate of identification during the onslaught of the 11th.   Other trends, typical of the season, were evident, such as the slow but steady change in the composition of the flight. The early migrants like Magnolia Warblers were giving way to a growing percentage of Yellow-rumped Warbles and Blackpoll Warblers for example. But it sure seems like we’re not yet running our of Yellow Warblers and American Restarts, however!
AMRE
immature male American Redstart

YWAR
Yellow Warbler, adult male

So first, here’s the numbers (bold font indicates a new daily record).

 9/9 9/10 9/11 9/12 9/13
Blue-winged Teal 3 0 0 0 0
Unidentified teal 0 0 4 0 0
Surf Scoter 3 0 0 0 0
Common Loon 4 0 0 3 0
Northern Harrier 0 1 0 0 0
Killdeer 0 1 0 0 0
Lesser Yellowlegs 0 0 0 1 0
Mourning Dove 0 1 0 1 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2 0 0 1 1
Hairy Woodpecker 0 1 0 0 0
Northern Flicker 1 256 68 26 12
Pileated Woodpecker 0 1 0 1 0
American Kestrel 0 0 3 0 1
Merlin 1 1 0 1 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3 4 0 0 0
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1 0 0 0 0
“Traill’s” Flycatcher 2 0 0 0 0
Least Flycatcher 9 11 3 2 0
Unidentified Empidonax 5 0 0 1 0
Eastern Phoebe 1 3 2 2 2
Eastern Kingbird 2 1 0 0 0
Unidentified flycatcher 6 1 1 0 0
Blue-headed Vireo 1 3 1 2 0
Philadelphia Vireo 3 4 2 1 0
Red-eyed Vireo 42 49 30 9 4
Unidentified vireo 1 2 0 0 0
Blue Jay 0 0 0 2 5
Barn Swallow 1 0 0 0 0
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 1 2 1 0
Golden-crowned Kinglet 0 0 0 1 0
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 1 5 4 0
Swainson’s Thrush 10 0 0 2 0
American Robin 4 3 1 2 0
Unidentified thrush 0 1 0 0 0
Northern Mockingbird 0 1 0 0 0
Cedar Waxwing 21 265 377 54 0
Ovenbird 0 0 0 0 1
Northern Waterthrush 0 0 0 1 0
Black-and-white Warbler 33 59 41 32 5
Tennessee Warbler 4 2 2 8 0
Nashville Warbler 8 8 10 4 0
CONNECTICUT WARBLER 1 0 0 0 0
Mourning Warbler 0 1 0 0 0
Common Yellowthroat 2 1 5 5 2
American Redstart 602 550 844 119 16
Cape May Warbler 18 5 8 5 0
Northern Parula 705 630 692 612 205
Magnolia Warbler 66 117 32 23 2
Bay-breasted Warbler 5 3 1 1 0
Blackburnian Warbler 7 6 1 0 0
Yellow Warbler 19 52 38 67 8
Chestnut-sided Warbler 5 2 0 2 0
Blackpoll Warbler 9 3 27 25 35
Black-throated Blue Warbler 8 7 4 4 0
Palm Warbler 0 0 0 1 0
“Western” Palm Warbler 1 0 0 0 0
Pine Warbler 0 0 0 1 0
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3 6 3 19 11
Prairie Warbler 1 2 1 1 0
Black-throated Green Warbler 118 63 73 57 26
Canada Warbler 6 0 1 0 0
Wilson’s Warbler 12 17 7 4 0
Chipping Sparrow 2 0 1 3 1
LARK SPARROW 0 0 0 0 1
White-throated Sparrow 1 0 0 0 0
Savannah Sparrow 2 0 0 0 0
Scarlet Tanager 1 1 4 1 0
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 3 1 0 0 0
Indigo Bunting 0 0 1 1 0
DICKCISSEL 0 0 1 0 1
Bobolink 1 2 0 0 0
Red-winged Blackbird 1 2 0 0 0
Rusty Blackbird 0 1 0 0 0
Baltimore Oriole 2 1 1 1 1
House Finch 0 0 0 1 1
Purple Finch 0 0 0 8 0
American Goldfinch 5 12 3 6 4
Unidentified 1915 1887 5893 737 192
TOTAL 3705 4057 8185 1866 540

 

Now, let’s take a look at the radar. Here are the density and velocity images from 1am (as a sample) on 9/9 and 9/10. That’s a ton of birds on the radar.
1amRadar,9-09-17
1amVelocity,9-09-17

1amRadar,9-10-17
1amVelocity,9-10-17

And even as late as 4:00am on each day, a lot of birds were visible, and a lot of birds were offshore.
4amRadar,9-09-17
4amRadar,9-10-17

The night of 9/8 through 9/9 featured light westerly winds, shifting to northwest by sunrise. And on the next night, light north winds became northwest overnight. Both, as expected, produced great flights over and through Sandy Point some dawn.

Weather patterns, especially at this time of year, rarely produce three great nights for migrants in a row. And when they do, it often results in fewer birds overnight (and therefore at Sandy Point) come sunrise; essentially, the well temporarily runs dry.

And as you can see by the 1:00am radar image from September 11th, the density was nowhere near the previous two nights, despite mostly light westerly winds overnight.
1amRadar,9-11-17
1amVelocity,9-11-17

And by 4:00am, it was rather quiet.
4amRadar,9-11-17

Light northwesterly winds in the evening slowly gave way to light north, before becoming light and variable. After midnight, they became west but didn’t really increase until after 2:00am. Coupled with a lackluster radar return, this was not a recipe for a huge flight.

Nonetheless with a light westerly wind at sunrise, I was heading to Sandy Point anyway. If only because it was a day off, and I won’t have many more chances to visit “my office” this month. A milky sunrise further clouded (sorry) my optimism for a big flight, but there were plenty of birds in the air.
Sunrise_on_big_day_atSP,9-11-17

And then all hell broke loose.

It was incredible. It was frustrating. It was beautiful. It was painful. It was amazing. It was indeed overwhelming, and at times, my only hopes at quantifying the flood was to skip attempting identification and just click my unidentified clicker as fast as I could.

And I really can’t explain it. It “shouldn’t” have been this amazing.

Come nightfall, with high pressure remaining in control, and with light westerly winds and clear skies once again, a moderate to strong flight occurred overnight. Here are the 1:00am and 4:00am radar images from the wee hours of 9/12:
1amRadar,9-12-17
1amVelocity,9-12-17

4amRadar,9-12-17

With light westerly winds come dawn, I was once again stationed at the bridge, and what was – prior to three days ago! – considered a very good flight passed over and through. It was even downright relaxing – and manageable – after the chaos of the previous morning. I had fun.

Not surprisingly, after four consecutive nights, the flight was much lighter overnight on the 12th into the 13th, as evidenced once again by the 1:00am and 4:00am images.
1amRadar,9-13-17
1amVelocity,9-13-17

4amRadar,9-13-17

And despite very light westerly winds in the morning, and clear skies, only a light flight was to pass through the point. Of course, that Lark Sparrow more than made up for it. It was also nice to enjoy a slower flight – and identify many more birds than not!

So almost every morning made sense: radar plus weather conditions correctly predicted the intensity of the flight. Except for one. The Big One. And I can’t explain it. But, I am OK (mostly) with that – it’s one of the fascinating and flabbergasting aspects of documenting the morning redetermined migration!

Winds turned to the south during the day on the 13th, and continued light and southerly overnight, bringing the streak of five great nights of migration to an end. Come morning, I also slept in – relatively speaking – and then went for a massage. As my therapist began to work on my aching neck, she simply uttered, “Wow” and got to work. I felt the same on Monday morning when the greatest flight I have ever recorded passed through Sandy Point.

IMG_6455-edited-edited
Species, such as this Swainson’s Thrush, that can be rather secretive in migration, are sometimes seen really well at Sandy Point!

Morning Flight Fail

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Following yesterday’s cold front, a huge flight was underway come nightfall. It was by far the biggest of the season to date, and one of the stronger (by density) flights as you can see around here.

Here are the midnight radar and velocity images, for example:
12am_radar

12am_velocity

Even as of 4:00am, with the eastern sky likely showing a little light, the flight was still strong:
4am_radar

4am_velocity

So of course I was up early to go to Sandy Point. However, the winds were forecasted to be out of the northeast, becoming easterly in the morning. And, the local weather stations I looked at (and my windometer at home ) were all reading north or northeast when I awoke a little before 5:00 this am. The 6:00am Intellicast “Wind cast” image shows this coastal northeasterly wind very well:
6amWIND_map

After almost any night in the fall with a little migration, there will be a few birds at Sandy Point. And after a migration as strong as last night’s, there were bound to be some birds. However, due to a combination of geography and the instinct to fly into the wind to compensate for overnight drift (to oversimplify things a bit), there are just never a lot of birds at Sandy Point on northeasterly winds.

On the other hand, on both north and northeast winds, I have witnessed good morning flights (aka Morning Re-determined Migration” or “Morning Reorientation”) in the south-facing peninsulas that reach into Casco Bay, including the dual peninsulas of Harpswell.  What I have not figured out yet, however, is which point is best, how, and when. This is mostly because I can’t tear myself away from Sandy Point long enough to find out!

But this morning, as I reached I-295, something made me turn north instead of south. With what was supposed to be an increasing northeasterly wind and a huge flight, this should have been a perfect morning to test my hypotheses at the tip of Harpswell.  So, with no small feeling of impending regret, I drove down to Pott’s Point at the end of Rte 24 for the dawn.

As birds that were over and beyond Casco Bay at sunrise begin to work their way inland and compensate for that drift, island-hopping to the north and northeast deposits birds in the long fingers of the Mid-Coast. Unlike Sandy Point on Cousin’s Island, however, there isn’t a single leading line, perfectly-pointing peninsula, narrow crossing, and raised bridge (for visibility) that combine to offer a perfect morning flight observation location.

So I thought today would have been a perfect morning to see if Pott’s Point was the answer on a northeasterly wind, even if it meant missing a few birds at Sandy Point.

I was wrong.

I arrived at the end of Pott’s Point at 6:27, 20 minutes after sunrise, but found the wind to not be northeast, or even north, but to be north-northwest. Uh-oh, I thought.

But since I have yet to find a way to be in two places at once, I settled in for the next hour at Pott’s Point (it would have taken at least 45 minutes to get from Pott’s Point to Sandy Point), and counted…very, very little:
16 Cedar Waxwings
11 American Goldfinches
5 American Redstarts
5 Unidentified
2 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Pileated Woodpecker

Now, all of those birds were doing the “right” thing, flying from over the bay or from Haskell Island just to the south, then over Pott’s Point and northward up the peninsula.  There were just so few of them!

CousinsIslandPowerPlant
If I only had a boat…

The view of the top of the power plant at the other end of Cousin’s Island was a reminder of what could have been, as Sandy Point is excellent in a NNW wind. Was I missing a huge flight? Or, were the winds northeasterly on the other side of the bay, and only a light flight was passing through there (although it would have undoubtably been better than the “flight” at Pott’s, I will convince myself of the latter!)?

In other words, I was here:
PottsPointMap

But should have been here:
SandyPointMap_edited-1

Besides, it’s a peaceful spot to spend the morning, with the only traffic being a few lobster boats.
panorama

And the narrow peninsula does have a Monhegan-esque feel to it and its birding (sometimes).
IMG_5997

So if the migrants were not at Sandy Point, where was the Morning Flight concentration this morning?  Looking back at the radar images, there was not a ton of offshore drift (due to the lack of a westerly component throughout the night), so maybe there just weren’t a lot of birds offshore come sunrise.  But there still looks like more than enough for a good reorientation flight at sunrise.

Bascially, I am not only left without an answer to my pursuit of a good Mid-Coast morning flight spot, but now I will no doubt spend the rest of the season being over-cautious about missing a flight at Sandy Point and therefore miss the next huge flight through Pott’s Point on a northeasterly wind!

There wasn’t much else left to do but go birding, so I poked my way up the peninsula and into Brunswick, checking a few of the hotspots. Some day I will find a rarity at Stover’s Point, but today wasn’t the day for that either. However, I did have some pretty good birding at Mitchell Field, including a trickle of warblers overhead. A Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and a Lincoln’s Sparrow were highlights, and other migrants present included seven species of warblers. OK, it was small consolation, but at least there were some migrants around Harpswell today!

Unfortunately, the wind and weather forecasts for the coming days hardly look good for Sandy Point, so it might be as much as a week before I am back to spending the sunrise at “my office” where I should be!

P.S. It’s not too late to sign up for my “Morning Flight Phenomenon on Cousin’s Island” workshop for RSU5 Recreation and Community Education next week. More information and registration details are here.

9/5 UPDATE: I received an email this morning from Bill Hancock who was at Sandy Point on Friday and reported it was “dead” and did in fact have a northeasterly wind. Phew!  Meanwhile, I tallied 110 migrants on calm conditions on Saturday morning – a very light flight, as expected this time.

Birding and Conserving Sandy Point and Knight’s Pond-Blueberry Hill

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Warbler migration is in full swing right now, with at least 10 or more species easily found on most mornings at most productive patches. Nonetheless, I really hate to say it, but in less than 3 months, some of these birds will already be returning home to the Neotropics. In fact, in a little more than three months, I’ll be back at “my office” at the base of the bridge at Sandy Point on Yarmouth’s Cousin’s Island to count southbound migrants!

It’s true: the birds we think of as “our” birds that spend the winters in the tropics are actually tropical birds that spend a few months of the year taking advantage of the bounty of insects in the northern forests in the short summer. While it may feel like fall today (after yesterday’s 80-degre temps!), I only bring this up because the Morning Flight at Sandy Point was on my mind this morning, as I met with Central Maine Power and Lucas Tree.

As many of you will remember from the fall of 2011, enhanced maintenance (Federally required) of the high-tension powerline corridor through Sandy Point significantly impacted the most critical migratory bird habitat here. With the help of many of you also calling CMP and sending letters, the clear-cutting was stopped, but much to my chagrin, was resumed in the spring of 2012 without notice. To make a long story short, after several months, an agreement was reached. The agreement and essentially an apology from CMP has been posted on our website ever since.

The trees were planted, and the River Birch is doing well. While the Red Oak didn’t make it through last summer, a cherry has naturally resprouted nearby and is currently outperforming the other trees at the base of the bridge – the most critical trees for reorienting migrants. These trees are outside of the critical clearance area under the lines (one of my biggest arguments in the first place) and will continue to grow (excuse the pun) in importance to birds seeking shelter or rest before making the crossing to the mainland.Sandy Point1,5-8-15

An early spring view from “My Office.”

Knowing that Sandy Point was due for the three-year maintenance schedule, I sent a email to CMP this winter, just to check in. I was assured that someone would be in touch this year when this stretch of corridor was due to be cut. And sure enough, last week, Nicholas Hahn of the Vegetation Management division of CMP got in touch, and I met with him and a crew from Lucas Tree this morning to discuss the current cutting regime.

First, let me say that I am very happy that CMP honored their commitment to notifying me about upcoming maintenance, and I greatly appreciate the opportunity to offer input. We all agree it’s easier to get on the same page before any work is done. I’m not unreasonable, and I don’t need to get upset any more than I have to.

We walked through the site and the trees that needed to be removed or pruned (fast-growing trees that could get too tall before the next scheduled maintenance in three years, aka “capable”) were identified. It all seemed very reasonable to me, and I had no objections. I did make sure the cutting of the Staghorn Sumac patch was kept to a minimum, and Lucas Tree agreed to take out a few bush honeysuckles before they got any bigger and further impacted the valuable Arrowwood Viburnum stands.SandyPoint2,5-8-15

So all in all, it went very well, in my opinion. There wasn’t much that needed to be done, and this small stretch of corridor will continue to be maintained with the lightest hand possible, offering safety and refuge for tired birds, and exceptional opportunities for us birders.

After the meeting, I finally got over to the Knight’s Pond – Blueberry Hill property on the Cumberland/North Yarmouth border that the Royal River Conservation Trust and other organizations have been diligently working to preserve. It’s only my affinities for my local patches at this time of year that has kept me from checking out the preserve sooner.  But I am glad I finally did.

It was already 8:20am by the time I arrived, and therefore the sunny edges were less busy. And since the deeper woods are not yet too active, the overall birding was a little slow today. However, there’s clearly a lot of potential for birding opportunities here.

KnightsPond1,5-8-15

10 species of warblers were present this morning, including my first Chestnut-sided and, in the powerline corridor, my first Prairie of the season. My “FOY” Great Crested Flycatcher sounded off, and I was rather surprised to encounter a Black-crowned Night-Heron, a state Threatened (and proposed for upgrading to Endangered species). The pond is big enough to be worth a check in waterfowl migration, and I bet it can host a lot of swallows in early spring.  And there’s likely a lot more breeding around its edges and deeper in the woods than what I detected this (still) early spring day.

In other words, I will be back, and don’t be surprised to end up here on a future Saturday Morning Birdwalk. This property is a great addition to our local birding patches. Unfortunately, politics has put the purchase at risk. This is one of 30 projects at risk thanks to the Governor’s refusal to release voter-approved bond money for the Lands For Maine’s Future Program.

Voter-approved bonds are not political bargaining chips. These have been approved by voters and are not subject to the Governor’s personal approval – he’s not a king, although sometime he tries to act like it. The protection of Knight’s Pond has no relation at all to increased timber harvesting on state land (don’t get me started on that one…deer yard “thinning” anyone?). Hey, I get politics – things are negotiated and compromised. In theory. But as usual, with this “Governor,” it’s not about compromise – it’s about getting his way.

We all know how kids change the rules of the game when they’re not winning. I probably did, and you probably did too. And every neighborhood had that kid who, upon not getting his way, took his ball and went home. To me, this is akin to what the Governor is attempting to do – except this is not a child’s playground. There’s a reason it’s called the “Land for Maine’s Future” program. And the time is now for the Governor to grow up, act like a Governor and not a spoiled child, and release these bonds so this property and other valuable parcels can be conserved for all Mainers – forever – before it’s too late.