Tag Archives: Down East Adventures

This Week’s Highlights 9/8 – 9/14/2025.

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To “count it” or “not to count it,” that is the question. Regardless, what’s more iconic about birding on Monhegan Island than a Ring-necked Pheasant?

My observations of note over the last seven days included my first two Morning Flights of the season at Sandy Point and 3 days on Monhegan included the following:

  • A light flight over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth on 9/8:

6:12 to 8:00am.

50F, mostly clear, calm.

  • 57 Northern Parulas
  • 31 American Redstarts
  • 17 unidentified
  • 8 Cedar Waxwings
  • 6 Magnolia Warblers
  • 5 Black-throated Green Warblers
  • 4 Red-breasted Nuthatches
  • 3 Yellow Warblers
  • 3 American Goldfinches
  • 2 Swainson’s Thrushes
  • 2 Bobolinks
  • 1 Black-and-white Warbler
  • 1 Purple Finch
  • 1 Cooper’s Hawk
  • 1 Bay-breasted Warbler
  • 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • 1 Northern Flicker
  • 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
  • 1 Osprey
  • 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Total = 147 

  • 1 DICKCISSEL, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 9/9.
  • 2-3 Red Knots, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 9/10.
  • A very good flight over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth on 9/11 featured over 1,000 migrants and 16 species of warblers.

6:13-10:20

46F, mostly clear. NW 1.8-2.8 increasing to 6.1-8.8mph.

  • 312 Northern Parulas
  • 272 American Redstarts
  • 144 unidentified
  • 81 Cedar Waxwings
  • 34 Red-eyed Vireos
  • 25 Red-breasted Nuthatches
  • 25 Black-throated Green Warblers
  • 24 Magnolia Warblers
  • 23 Yellow Warblers
  • 16 Blue Jays
  • 11 American Goldfinches
  • 10 Black-throated Blue Warblers
  • 9 Canada Geese
  • 8 Swainson’s Thrushes
  • 7 Northern Flickers
  • 7 American Kestrels
  • 7 Black-and-white Warblers
  • 5 Yellow-rumped Warblers
  • 4 Eastern Wood-Pewees
  • 4 Purple Finches
  • 4 Ospreys
  • 3 Bay-breasted Warblers
  • 3 Wilson’s Warblers
  • 3 Blackpoll Warblers
  • 3 Mourning Doves
  • 2 Blackburnian Warblers
  • 2 Common Loons
  • 2 Bay-breasted/Blackpoll Warblers
  • 2 Blue-headed Vireos
  • 2 Philadelphia Vireos
  • 1 Palm Warbler
  • 1 Pileated Woodpecker
  • 1 Savannah Sparrow
  • 1 Tennessee Warbler
  • 1 “Traill’s” Flycatcher
  • 1 House Finch
  • 1 Hairy Woodpecker (6 “false starts”)
  • 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
  • 1 Pine Warbler
  • 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • 1 unidentified Empid
  • 1 unidentified flycatcher
  • 1 Turkey Vulture
  • 1 unidentified vireo
  • 1 Merlin
  • 1 Cape May Warbler
  • 1 White-throated Sparrow

Total = 1,069

  • Monarch 1
  • Green Darner 2
  • Monhegan Island 9/12-14 (with Down East Adventures tour group):

Very slow by Monhegan standards, only Merlins and especially Red-breasted Nuthatches and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were above average (significantly so for the hummingbird) for the date. Island notable species for us were limited to 2 DICKCISSELS all three days; 1 ORCHARD ORIOLE, 2 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and 1 Marsh Wren on 9/13; and 1 Mourning Warbler on 9/14. Great insect-watching though.

Upcoming Tours:

  • Birds on Tap℠ – The Boat Trip! Migrant Birds and Island Exploration

September 21, 2025; 9:00am to 2:00pm

These unique, relaxed birding and beer-ing adventures that you have come to love combine great local birding at seasonal hotspots with visits to sample the delicious creations of some of our favorite local breweries. These tours are a perfect introduction to birding and/or craft beer, and a great opportunity to travel with significant others, friends, and family that have interest in one topic, while your interest is primarily in the other (for now!). But this time we’re leaving the van in the garage and hitting the water! That’s right, we’re taking a cruise, and we’re returning to the private House Island in Porland Harbor twice in 2025. 

Building on that success of last year’s tours, we’re visiting the private House Island in Portland Harbor twice in 2025! Once again, we’ve been granted special permission to come ashore and scour the island here in the peak of fall migration. We’ll follow well-maintained trails through the island’s mosaic of open habitats, scrub, and young woods. These are great habitats to search for a variety of migrants, and perhaps even a rarity!  

https://www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/birds-on-tap

Recent Highlights, 9/11– 9/18/24

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They might be abundant, but I do love Cedar Waxwings, especially a tree full of them on Monhegan!

Eight great days of birding, including three days on Monhegan, yielded the following highlights:

  • 9/13-9/15: Monhegan Island with Down East Adventures “Migration Workshop” tour group. Brief trip report here. Some of the most noteworthy observations included:
  • 17 species warblers total.
  • Cape May Warblers dominated the morning on 9/14, including 3 of every 5 birds in Morning Flight and dozens in trees afterwards. Plenty on 9/13 and 9/15, but most of the arriving birds on the 14th seemed to depart for the mainland.
  • The usual “uncommon” migrants like Rusty Blackbird (2 on 9/14), Philadelphia Vireo (high count of 2-3 on 9/14).
  • 1 first cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull, 9/13.
  • 1 LARK SPARROW, 9/14.
  • 1 fly-by Whimbrel, one probable Clay-colored Sparrow (seen too briefly), and 1 immature COOPER’S HAWK (very rare on offshore islands), 9/15.
  • 1-2 American Pipits (first of fall locally) and 1 hen Northern Pintail, etc, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 9/18.
  • Meanwhile, I’ve once again spent most of my mornings when home birding our Durham property, which was productive. An impressive 60-80 American Goldfinches continue, while an impressive array of migrants continue. On several mornings this week, I had plans to go elsewhere but then never left the yard. A few of the highlights included continuing single Indigo Bunting and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, 1 Ovenbird, 1 Blackburnian Warbler on 9/16, 6 Common Nighthawks (getting late) at dusk on 9/16, and a nice mix of migrants on the 18th that included 1-2 Philadelphia Vireos and the arrival of more sparrows.

The highlight though was the female-type LAWRENCE’S WARBLER (2nd generation Golden-winged x Blue-winged Warbler hybrid) that popped up on the 18th. After a short but perfect view, I ran for a camera and could not relocate it despite much searching.

Recent Highlights, 5/11– 5/17/2024

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John Lorenc and I finally caught up with this continuing WHITE-WINGED DOVE at Donna Cundy’s feeders on Monhegan Island in our brief visit on the 17th.  It appeared minutes after we walked away for the” last time,” but we were alerted by friends and raced back. My photos have a twig in front of that beautiful powder blue eyering, so I’m borrowing Kristen’s photo.

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

  • 15 species of warblers, led by only about 20 Black-and-white Warblers and about 15 Northern Parulas, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 1-2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 15 species of warblers, led by 9 Ovenbirds and 7 American Redstarts, our property in Durham, 5/13.
  • 1 Louisiana Waterthrush, Suckfish Brook Conservation Area, Falmouth, 5/13 (with Jeannette).
  • 18 species of warblers (FOY), led by 40+ Yellow-rumped and 13 Common Yellowthroats, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/14 (with Jeannette).
  • 15 species of warblers, led by 10+ each of Ovenbirds and Black-throated Green Warblers, our property in Durham, 5/14.
  • 15 species of warblers, led by 19 Common Yellowthroats and 10 Ovenbirds, Florida Lake Park, 5/15.
  • 5 Red Crossbills, around the store’s yard, 5/15. More impressive was the 23 that Jeannette had fly over early in the day on the 18th.
  • A very productive ferry crossing from Port Clyde to Monhegan on 5/17 included 4-6 ATLANTIC PUFFINS (FOY), a group of 6 (or possibly 9) RED-NECKED PHALAROPES (FOY), 6 Black Scoters, several Long-tailed Ducks, etc. (with John Lorenc, Jess Bishop, Ron Joseph, Kristen Lindquist, Bill Thompson, et al).  On the trip back, John and I had a total of 10 ATLANTIC PUFFINS and more Long-tailed Ducks.
  • 1 continuing WHITE-WINGED DOVE (photo above) and 1 female-type SUMMER TANAGER, Monhegan Island, 5/17 (with John Lorenc).

Additional personal first-of-years this week also included:

  • 1 Blackpoll Warbler, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 1 Red-eyed Vireo, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 1 House Wren, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 2 Bay-breasted Warblers, Florida Lake Park, 5/14 (with Jeannette).
  • 2 Eastern Wood-Pewees, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/16.
  • 4 Laughing Gull, ferry from Port Clyde to Monhegan, 5/17 (with John Lorenc).
  • 4+ Indigo Buntings, Monhegan Island, 5/17 (with John Lorenc).

It was a great week of birding on our Durham property this week, including local breeding birds on territory often put on a show. Jeannette photographed this Yellow Warbler on our property on the 15th, for example.

Tours and Events:

  • There will not be a Saturday Morning Birdwalk on 5/25 as I’ll be on Monhegan with our tour group. 

This Week’s Highlights, 9/23-28, 2023

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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:

2023 Down East Adventures Birding Tours.
  • 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.

Why There are No Birds at Your Feeders Right Now (November 2017 but mostly applies to Fall of 2019!)

TOURS AND EVENTS:

Our last two tours of 2023 are around the corner. The fall editions of Birds of Casco Bay with Seacoast Tours here in Freeport is on 10/6 (just a few spaces remain), and our ever-popular Fall Mini-Pelagic with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay Harbor is coming up on 10/16.

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.