Yellow-rumped Warblers have been inundating our feeding station in Durham this week, feasting on nut blocks, insect suet, mealworms, jelly, and just about everything else.
Feeder-watching continues to be great, with lots of Pine Siskins, new arrivals, migrant White-throated Sparrows, and, at our home in Durham, up to a dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers daily – especially during the cool and often wet days we had this week. Meanwhile, Red Crossbills continue to be widespread in the area. There were no huge flights of migrants this week, but new arrivals were trickling in.
My other observations of note over the past seven days also included:
1 LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/1.
6 total LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSHES, via “The Louie Loop” (Site AN4 in Birdwatching in Maine: The Complete Site Guide), Androscoggin County, 5/3 (with Noah Gibb).
One of the six individuals, a singing and mate-guarding male, paused just long enough for a snapshot in Mechanic Falls on the 3rd.
As is typical of the season, new arrivals were the headliners of most days of birding. Additional personal first-of-years this week also included:
1 Bank Swallow, Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch, 4/29.
1 pair Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, our property in Durham, 4/30.
4 Black-and-white Warblers, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 4/30
1 Great-crested Flycatcher, our property in Durham, 4/30.
1 Northern Waterthrush, our property in Durham, 5/1.
1 Common Yellowthroat, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/1.
1 Wood Thrush, our property in Durham, 5/2.
1 Gray Catbird (first of spring), our property in Durham, 5/2.
The huge waves of Pine Siskins that moved through in October have been replaced by smaller, more widely dispersed groups.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!
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).
Pine Grosbeaks have already started to arrive in Southern Maine, such as this female at the Yarmouth Library on the 25th.
I didn’t get very far afield much this week, but feeder-watching, local patches, and a visit to Sabattus Pond at week’s end made up for it. My observations of note over the past seven days included the following:
1 continuing LINCOLN’S SPARROW, feeders here at the store through 11/21.
8 American Pipits, Highland Road, Brunswick, 11/21.
1 Fox Sparrow, feeders here at the store, 11/21.
1 Turkey Vulture, over the store, 11/24.
100+ Horned Larks and about 40 Snow Buntings, Mayall Road, Gray/New Gloucester, 11/25.
1 Common Grackle, feeders here at the store, 11/25 -present.
Sabattus Pond, Sabattus, 11/27:
It was a great morning as the fog lifted and the water was dead calm. Unfortunately, a high-speed fishing boat, several duck hunting parties, and two hunting Bald Eagles made it difficult to make an accurate count as birds were flushing in different directions.
476 Mallards
301 Canada Geese
231 Ruddy Ducks
174 Common Mergansers
144 American Black Ducks
44 Greater Scaup
26 Hooded Mergansers
18 Lesser Scaup
8 Buffleheads
5 GADWALL
4 Green-winged Teal
4 Common Goldeneyes
3 Northern Pintails
2 Common Loons
1 drake American Wigeon
1 probable hen American Wigeon (very brown-headed individual found last week by P. Moynahan and N. Houlihan. Spotted off South Beach but flushed by fishing boat. Refound on west shore and distantly phone-scoped, but flushed by eagle before I could get closer. Appeared to have white bar on upperwing greater coverts to rule out Eurasian, but not conclusively viewed…other details suggestive or ambiguous. Good luck ruling out a hybrid on a hen wigeon, however!)
1 CACKLING GOOSE (FOY) – in distance from South Beach with large group of Canadas. Flushed by fishing boat before I could get to Riley Road to attempt phone-scoping. Very tiny bird with short neck and very short, stubby bill. Barely larger than the Mallards. Flew north, but not relocated, including searching of farm fields along eastern shore.
1 Belted Kingfisher
The Finch-Tastic Fall festivities continue:
EVENING GROSBEAK: 9 continue daily at our feeders at home in Pownal; 1 (Highland Rd, 11/21); 2 (Martin’s Point Park, Sabattus, 11/27.
Red Crossbills: 3 (Highland Road, 11/21).
PINE GROSBEAK: 4 (Highland Road, 11/21); 3 (Yarmouth Library, 11/25).
Purple Finch: 0
Common Redpoll: scattered very few.
Pine Siskin High Count This Week: 6 (our feeders in Pownal, 11/22).
March and early April birding in Maine is such a tease. The first new arrivals – Turkey Vultures, Common Grackles, and Red-winged Blackbirds – begin arriving in late February, and waterfowl are on the move shortly thereafter. In a mild spring such as this, the diving ducks that have graced our open waters all winter rapidly begin to disperse – no more big flocks of goldeneyes to sort through for a Barrow’s anymore, for example. And while dabbling duck migration is in full swing, the near-total lack of ice already has limited concentrations and kept the birds on the move. So we are left anxiously awaiting the arrival of new migrants – raptors first, and then the “new arrivals” under the feeders in the backyard.
But when it feels like floodgates are about to open any day now, we get a snowstorm or a requisite cold snap. Or just a few days with a persistent north wind to impede progress. And then we realize it is still March, and the floodgates won’t open for several more weeks or even a month. Even when we turn the page to April, it takes a while to really get going – especially if we have a large area of low pressure stock spinning offshore as we do at the moment.
And then we get a pandemic.
After weeks of limiting our travel, social/physical distancing, park closures, and other methods, we have failed to stem the exponential growth of the illness, those who it is affecting, and very sadly, those who are dying from it. This is no joke, and impacts on our birding are really the least of our concerns. But we’re birders, and we simply have to look at birds for our well-being. Birding walks, backyard bird feeding, and outings to look for a recent rarity are all part of our mental health, and necessary physical activity. And numerous studies have shown the mental and physical health benefits of birding, or many other forms of being immersed in nature. And mental and physical health – including our immune systems – are intrinsically connected.
Especially as I take still-fairly-quiet walks in the local woods with the dog or an afternoon stroll down my road, waiting for the next wave of migrants to show up, I have been thinking a lot about what that the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic means for birds and birding. And not the obvious, such as some birders we know could get sick or that physical distancing means no birding groups and tours, but more subtle differences. Really, this is nothing more than a thought exercise; something to think about and discuss to pass the time. And nothing here should suggest I am downplaying the threat of this disease, but instead, just occupying some of the brain time in between. Besides, we’re birders. We find a bright side to everything from massive devastating hurricanes (vagrant seabirds) to climate change (new expanded breeding ranges)…it’s what we do; our optimism is what keeps us going.
• BIRDING HOTSPOTS and NEW PATCHES.
Many birding hotspots are now closed or too crowded to be safely enjoyed by smart people. Stay-at-home orders are now state-wide in Maine, and many more of us are just trying to be as safe as possible. In other words, the birders’ wings have been clipped.
I squeezed in a visit to Scarborough Marsh on Tuesday morning, with the 2020 Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch Official Counter, hours before the stay at home order was announced rather unexpectedly. I’m glad Luke got a chance to see this wonderful place, and we had a pretty good few hours of birding. A total of 26 Gadwall between three different locations was probably an all-time state high count for me, and we enjoyed our first of year Great Egrets (4) and Greater Yellowlegs (1) as well. Northern Pintails, Green-winged Teal, and other dabbling ducks were in relative short supply as they are already moving inland and to points north, but we enjoyed good diversity.
But now Scarborough Marsh is too far from my home for me to comfortably visit. On Wednesday morning, I hit Wharton Point on the early morning outgoing tide and was thrilled to find a Eurasian Green-winged Teal x American Green-winged Teal hybrid, as well as my first 3 Northern Shovelers of the year. And there were a lot of ducks at Simpson’s Point to.
But, for me, I cannot justify heading out to stand still (no exercise, although if it’s as raw and cold as this morning, I would be burning plenty of calories!). Perhaps a seed delivery run (more on that below) will take me past at the right time in the tide for a quick check.
In other words, like you, I am losing my hotspots. So what’s next? Will birders just bird less? There’s a reason that these are hotspots – they have proven over the years that they are some of the best places to go birding. Or, will we – like I tend to find myself doing anyway! – simply shift to under-visited areas? While I usually prefer to bird off the beaten path, now there is no other choice. Personally, I had been allowing myself one or two mornings a week to go slightly further afield, but for the most part, I have been sticking within a 15 minute radius of my home: dog walks, feeder-watching, local patches, and especially the Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch. With the new state-wide order in effect, my birding radius – like yours – will be reduced much, much further. Luckily, us birders – whether limited to a small yard, an outdoor deck, or access to miles of trails, can still indulge in our beloved pastime, at least in some way. But rarities and the unexpected are a large part of what drives many of us.
So what is a birder to do? Do you keep a “Patch List” – a list of all the species seen or heard from your local park, woodlot, neighborhood, etc. Now might be the perfect time to start one (as I wrote about in my first book, How to Be a Better Birder). If you can walk to it, even better! Keep in mind that the less we move about, the less likely we are to spread the virus, or use services – such as emergency services should we have an accident, for a brutal – but ever so real – example – that are already strained right now. And save money on gas and vehicle wear-and-tear – and emit less carbon.
Will that new land trust property down the road turn out to be a new birding hotspot? If it does, will you tell anyone? And I don’t mean this facetiously, especially as many (but certainly not all) birders are always looking to be socially distant when they’re out birding. My Birdwatching in Maine: A Site Guide includes locations throughout the state, and not just conventional hotspots. Perhaps its time to check out a new site in the book? Or, grab a map and figure out some interesting bird-concentrating geography to explore. Or, pull out Google Maps, put on the satellite mode, and identify a wetland nearby that might end up having something you don’t see every day.
The benefit of a Patch List is that every bird – no matter how common overall – counts. Depending on the habitat, even overall abundant migrants might become patch mega-rarities! Like when a puddle becomes large enough to host a migrant yellowlegs, or when a harrier is spotted as it passes over a forested area. The thrill of discovery is just around the corner, and is likely all yours!
• RARITIES.
Early April isn’t a great time for rare birds in Maine, usually with the exception of waterfowl. But if people aren’t getting out to traditional hotspots will rarities be found? And what will happen if a “Mega” is discovered? Will we forget the rules and race out for it, standing in large, anxious groups discussing and reveling? Or – especially if the bird is in an area that can’t handle crowds – will it be shared at all? Should it be?
As April rolls on, and migration continues in earnest, we usually get a wave of rarities near the end of the month. Especially after a warm spell of southwesterly winds, southern “overshoots” sometimes occur in good numbers. These species flew just a little bit too far north, as their airspeed was aided by strong tailwinds. This deposits species like Summer Tanagers, Hooded Warblers, and Blue Grosbeaks much further north than usual. With food supplies still limited in these parts, some of these – especially Summer Tanagers – show up at feeding stations.
If rarities and listing are a primary driver, there’s no way around it, the next month (at least) is going to be a real challenge. While we have to make many of our own decisions, we simply have to put more and more of our desires aside for the greater good. While I like a good “twitch” now and again, I’m even happier watching for new yard birds or working on a local patch list while walking the dog. And, of course, there is Bonxie’s Life List to work on!
• FEEDERS.
Speaking of rarities at feeding stations, the backyard is really the place to be. And a lot of us are enjoying watching the feeders right now, safe at home and getting fresh air in the backyard. Our store remains open – with free local delivery and curbside pickup greatly encouraged – and we’ve made it easier than ever to order a much wider range of products online. If our store is one sample, then people are turning to backyard birdwatching as an import source of entertainment and the mental health benefits of watching birds and being in nature are very well established. This is definitely how I am doing much of my birding right now – although I have been making lots of stops at ponds, wet fields, etc, as I go about our seed delivery runs!
But what’s going to happen if a Painted Bunting shows up at a feeder? What if it’s not visible from the road? What if we’re worried about the crowds that might show up? Will it be shared? I definitely don’t think people should be opening their house to birders right now for views out the window, that’s for sure! With more people looking at their feeders – home for work and birding from the window – all day, I bet more unusual birds will be noted (as long as we get the weather patterns that produce rarities), but will the community as a whole find out? Should “yard birds” be posted and publicized right now? This is likely an individual decision, but one in which the desire to share is greatly overshadowed by the need to stay safe. But at least document the rarity and we’ll figure out all the records later. I’d just be very careful right now about posting specific locations that people can find in eBird or on Facebook, especially without the background knowledge of how to behave at that site (e.g stay in the car and view from the road only) being very evident.
Especially with our wonderful new garden at the store, we have been anxiously expecting its first vagrant. Of course, it will happen when the store is basically closed and the only reasonable way to view our feeders without flushing the birds is from inside; figures!
We had 22 species at the feeders here at the store this week, and while our feeders are not quite as diverse at home at the moment, we still have plenty of Dark-eyed Juncos and tons of American Goldfinches. Many more individuals of our common woodland species are augmented by a regular Pileated Woodpecker pair and increasing numbers of Purple Finches right now. We’ll soon have a wave of White-throated Sparrows and the first Chipping Sparrows munching away on the White Proso Millet, and Pine Warblers are starting to show up at feeding stations – the most common (by far) warbler to show up at feeders and the only “yellow warbler” to appear before the end of the month when Palm Warblers start to arrive (which almost never visit feeders).
• APPRECIATE THE COMMON!
On our currently-suspended Saturday Morning Birdwalks, we have “The Cardinal Rule:” If there is a male cardinal singing in the sun, we all have to stop to look at it through the scope. It’s a reminder to appreciate the most common birds around us, which in many cases are some of the most beautiful. There are few places in the world where the most stunning birds – think cardinals, Blue Jays, Red-winged Blackbirds, etc – are common feeder visitors; no distant travel or long searches required!
Seriously, when was the last time you REALLY looked at a Blue Jay? Watch how the light plays with a pallet of colors as a Common Grackle moves – this is not just a black bird! Check for newly arrived migrant sparrows under your feeders, and step into the backyard to hear the growing chorus of spring birdsong. There is so much beauty around us, right outside our windows. We firmly believe in the mental health benefits of maintaining our connection with the nature world, especially birds, in this time of stress and uncertainty. There is nothing better to do right now for your health and safety than enjoying watching the beauty of birds at our feeders and in our yards.
Personally, on some of my walks recently, I can’t help but smile every time I hear a Brown Creeper sing, and the ethereal and brilliant song of Winter Wrens – which are just now arriving – can bring joy to any day. Pileated Woodpeckers are vocal and conspicuous, and if you live in the boreal zone, now’s a great time to look for Spruce Grouse and Canada Jays! And I was very excited to finally see my first Fox Sparrow of the year under our feeders at home this morning – a Fox Sparrow can brighten any day, even one like today!
• ROADKILL.
On a completely different note, yes, I was thinking about roadkill when walking the dog the other day. And no, it was not because Bonxie tried to eat some, it was only because a small group of Turkey Vultures were passing overhead. So it got me thinking about how the greatly reduced amount of traffic on the roads will reduce the number of small animals and migrant birds hit by cars. Squirrels battling over territories, porcupines being porcupines, and flocks of migrant sparrows flushing in panic from the roadsides will all likely see reduced mortality. But what does this mean for scavengers? How will Turkey Vultures, still marching northward with a warming climate, find food if the interstates are clear? Will crows spend less time scavenging and more time looking for nests to raid? It seems odd, I know, to think about roadkill as a good thing, but it does now fill a niche, so it’s part of the equation.
I will say, for certainty, however, that if the amphibian migration “big night” occurs while we’re still under stay-at-home advisements or orders, then a whole more frogs and salamanders will make it to their vernal pools to breed. Thursday (4/2) might just end up being a “Big Night,”when a mass migration of amphibians (especially Spotted Salamanders, Wood Frogs, and Spring Peepers) takes place – at least in the southern third of the state. Regardless, on any wet night for the next few weeks, skip the take-out run and leave the car in the driveway. Instead, take a walk with a good flashlight and patrol your local roads for crossing frogs and salamanders as they move from the uplands they spend the winter in to the vernal pools and small ponds they breed in. As long as you don’t have insect repellent or any other products on your hands (or just wear gloves), you can pick them up and carry them to the other side. Just be sure you know which way they were heading before you got to close, so you don’t make them start this deadly part of the trip over.
• BACKYARD HABITAT. As a tie-in to the discussion about bird feeding, this spring is a perfect time to improve the habitat for birds in our backyard. If only to be self-serving by having more birds to enjoy around us, we can improve our habitat with many small steps or larger overhaul projects. Lawns suck, and native plants are always better. Maybe place an order with FedCo or call your local nursey or garcen center for some wildflower seeds for birds and pollinators and convert a few square yards at a time to something more productive than a chemically-laden monoculture? Starting seeds indoors is a great way to be productive right now. Or perhaps get to work on removing invasive species and planting more native plants that offer food and shelter to our native birds and insects. Perhaps our garden projects will yield more birds for us to enjoy the next time we’re stuck in the house for a prolonged period of time? Or better yet, if enough of us convert our yards to wildlife sanctuaries, perhaps we can even stem the decline of some bird populations!
These are a few of my recent thoughts and ideas. What do you think? Any potential costs or benefits to birds and birding come to mind for you? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
On another damp and dreary morning at Florida Lake Park in Freeport on Thursday, I encountered 25-30 Yellow-rumped Warblers and 15 or so Palm Warblers. That was my best total of the season there so far, but in the last week of April through first week of May, I often see tallies of each into the triple digits.
On Friday it was drier, but still cool and raw at Morgan Meadow WMA. I finally hit 5 species of warblers on a morning with my first-of-year (finally) Black-and-white Warbler. About 20-25 Yellow-rumped and about 15 Palm Warblers were present. For perspective, on 5/3 last year, I hit 10 species of warblers at Florida Lake.
These are two of my favorite mid-spring migration patches, and in most years, I am at Florida Lake Park nearly every day. But this “spring”, it has been lackluster at best; worthless at worst. There just aren’t many birds around.
But it is definitely the spring for warblers at feeders! After our Facebook post on Wednesday garnered lots of attention and feedback, I thought I would expand a little, as clearly this is a very unusual – perhaps even unprecedented – event.
While Pine Warblers are regular at feeders, especially in early spring – and quite a few of us see some Yellow-rumped Warblers at feeders every year – we cannot recall a spring in which so many people are reporting so many of each at feeders throughout southern Maine. In fact, many folks are reporting Yellow-rumped Warblers at their feeders for the “first time ever.” Even more unusual, we’ve had reports of Palm Warblers at feeders, too – something that is almost never seen. Pine Warbler is our only regular, wide-spread “feeder warbler” in most seasons
At home in Pownal, we’re up to 20 Yellow-rumped (and our usual pair of Pines), with as many as 8 Yellow-rumps frequenting the feeders at the store this week. We see them annually on our feeders at home, especially on damp and cold mornings, but this year the flock has been slowly but steadily building and has been consistently present for almost 3 weeks. In both locales, a diversity of food is being consumed by this normally-insectivorous (at least in spring and summer) species. In rough order of popularity, they are eating: live mealworms, dried mealworms, insect suet, Nutsie and Mr. Bird nut blocks (especially the Bugs, Nuts,&Fruit block), peanut splits, Birdberry jelly, and even some seed. While a little hulled sunflower isn’t surprising, at home, we even have them gobbling up white proso millet from our tray feeder!
In fact, until Thursday, I’ve had more Yellow-rumps at our feeders than on any morning at Florida Lake Park! And this is instructive.
Midges are not yet emerging from the pond there, and even through some Red Maples are finally blooming, insect activity has been minimal or even non-existent at this important early-flowering tree. The phenology (to put it simply, the timing of things in nature over the course of the year) is off –way off – this spring. Food resources are not keeping up with the calendar.
The jet stream is stuck to our south, resulting in unseasonable cool and very unsettled weather, with a steady progression of storm systems and disturbances crossing our area. This pattern is impeding the progress of our spring, and of migrants arriving from the south (I have yet to even see a Black-and-white Warbler this year, for example!). But the cool and wet weather is resulting in natural food sources being well behind schedule, so the birds that are here – on time in many cases – are searching for alternative food sources. And therefore: warblers at feeders.
This diagram of the jet stream from 4/30 shows the tight gradient and zonal flow that has been dominating our weather pattern and is preventing the arrival of warm temperatures and “spring.”
Or, as better explained by the National Weather Service office in Gray:
Meanwhile, cherries, apples, crabapples, Serviceberry, and other important early-season flowering trees aren’t even close to blooming. Nectar, pollen, and even the petals and new buds are consumed, but more importantly for most of our migrants, those flowers attract insects that are then eaten by birds. The forecast is for some better conditions for migration in the coming days, and that will start to deliver us newly returning migrants, but those birds will also have fewer food sources than normal.
In seasons like this, the supplemental food from well-stocked feeding stations becomes more important than usual. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are already being reported; what would those birds do without a nectar feeder (no red dye!!!!) right now? And of course, who knows what kind of condition all of these hungry Yellow-rumped Warblers would be in right now without feeders.
Soon, other migrants such as orioles, tanagers, catbirds, and a wide array of warblers (or Neotropical migrants) will be arriving, and they need food after their long journeys. Especially until spring catches up (those long-distance migrants have no idea how delayed our season is up here), feeders will continue to be important for migrants – and unexpectedly productive birding hotspots.
There are a lot of hungry birds out there right now, and without a doubt, many of us will get to enjoy species we don’t usually get to see, or at least no so closely. So put your jacket on, come by the store for some high-quality foodstuffs (our insect suet is flying off the shelves right now!) and keep that feeding station well-stocked. Our migrants thank you.
I know it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but I sure hope you have taken that to mean that I have not been out birding! Quite the contrary in fact.
Yeah, it’s been bitter cold – we’ve yet to rise above freezing in February! And if you hadn’t noticed, we’ve had quite a bit of snow recently. Of course, strong winds with dangerous windchills (like yesterday) and heavy snow precluded birding on some days -well, except for feeder-watching, which has been truly excellent.
In fact, the feeder-watching has been so good of late, that Saturday’s birdwalk outing was mostly spent watching feeders. 50+ Common Redpolls, Pine Siskins, Purple Finches, a Carolina Wren, and more were enjoyed from a sheltered yard, or from the inside of our house. Yup, we went indoors for the birdwalk this week, defrosting for about a half hour – our feeders are only visible from inside the house, afterall.
And with several snow days and work-from-home writing days of late, I have been enjoying our feeder activity: a large number of American Goldfinches have been joined by varying small numbers of Pine Siskin, Purple Finch, and Common Redpolls. Still waiting for a big flock, however. And the second-ever, and first long-staying, Carolina Wren in the yard has been a treat – we’re pumping him full of mealworms to keep him around, and healthy.
The feeders at the store have been active, as well, although non-goldfinch finch numbers have not been as good or as consistent at home. But, for mid-winter with this much snow on the ground, the diversity has been surprisingly good. (Weekly totals are posted to our store’s website).
Snowy Owls are around, and on 1/31 we finally added one to our all-time Saturday Morning Birdwalk list with a visit to Brunswick Landing: species #236. Meanwhile, our birdwalk to Winslow Park on 2/7 had Barred Owl, the continuing (despite all the ice) over-wintering Dunlin (12), and the 4 Barrow’s Goldeneyes (3 drakes and 1 hen) that had been present.
But the impressive ice cover in Casco Bay has greatly reduced the amount of waterfowl in the immediate vicinity over the last couple of weeks. The end of Winslow remains clear (barely) and the duck concentrations there are quite good, but as of today, however, the much-reduced area of open water now held only two drake Barrow’s Goldeneyes. Meanwhile, the small hole of open water at the base of the Lower Falls in Yarmouth is still somehow still hosting the merganser “hat-trick” (with varying numbers of all three species) as it does every winter – they’re running out of room though!
Not all ducks are quite as concentrated as these hungry Mallards (with a few American Black Ducks) at Riverbank Park in Westbrook.
While the field trip portion of my Gull Identification Workshop has been postponed for the last two Sundays, gull-watching is pretty good right now, especially in and around Portland Harbor. Hatch Hill Landfill in Augusta on the 12th, however, had only about 100 Herring Gulls – gull numbers are drastically reduced here when there is little open water on the Kennebec River in downtown. The Bath Landfill is hosting a few Iceland and a couple of Glaucous Gulls, however.
Frugivores have been common, with large flocks of American Robins and goodly numbers of Cedar Waxwings stripping all available, palatable fruit. Bohemian Waxwings have been scattered about – although I have yet to catch up with any – but so far Pine Grosbeaks have mostly remained to our north. The rapidly diminishing fruit crop locally will likely concentrate these birds further, or push them southward.
My two best days of birding this month, however, were on Feb 1 and just this past Friday. On the 1st, a snowshoe at the Waterboro Barrens Preserve was awesome. I went there to refind the Red Crossbills that a friend and I had there in December, as my recordings from that visit were inconclusive as to “type.”
Not only did I find 14 crossbills, but many were in full song, and one male was apparently carrying nesting material! A light wind, and my huffing-and-puffing from snowshoeing in waist-deep snow drifts off trail, impeded the clarity of my recordings, unfortunately. However, one of the call types (as analyzed by Matt Young over at Cornell) was suggestive of the Type 8 Red Crossbill from Newfoundland, which has yet to be definitively recorded outside of that province. Intriguing -yup, I need to find time to go back and improve the recording.
The icing on the cake that day was a Hoary Redpoll teased out from a flock of about 40 Commons as they alighted in fed in the Pitch Pines with the crossbills. This was my first Hoary in Maine away from a feeder.
With all of these storms, and two “nice” days of northeasterly winds, I had alcids on my mind as Lois Gerke and I spent the morning in Cape Elizabeth on Friday (2/13). Apparently, my hunch was correct – we scored 4 species of alcids! This is not an easy feet in winter in Maine, although I have hit the total several times (not yet hit 5, however). Black Guillemots were scattered about, as usual, but the fun started with a fly-by Dovekie at Dyer Point.
A continuing (and apparently not very healthy) Thick-billed Murre was at nearby Kettle Cove.
Our presence likely saved its life for now, as a 4th-cycle Bald Eagle had its eye on it – but also, us, apparently. The eagle even landed on the rocks a few inches from the murre, which, instead of diving to escape as a healthy alcid would, was apparently resigned to simply tucking itself into a corner of the rock.
After checking for frugivores at Village Crossings (just a few American Robins on what was left of the crabapple, but we did enjoy a flock of 22 Common Redpolls), we decided to try for a Razorbill for our fourth alcid of the day. Lois’s time was limited, so instead of heading back down to Dyer Point (where the wind was also brutal), we rolled the dice and tried Portland Head Light. And sure enough, a Razorbill was offshore, feeding at the mouth of Casco Bay on the changing tide!
After lunch, I decided to procrastinate a little longer and slowly bird my way to the store, checking for open water on the Falmouth Foreside coastline. Although I was looking for duck concentrations, once again, alcids stole the show: a Thick-billed Murre flew into the cove on the south side of the Mackworth Island causeway. Perfectly strong and healthy, this bird was likely following some small fish into the bay on the incoming tide.
Even more surprising was another Thick-billed Murre in Falmouth, even further up the bay off of the Town Landing. This bird also looked fine, swimming steadily upstream with the tide, “snorkeling” to look for food.
These Buffleheads looked just as surprised as I was.
So yeah, a 4-alcid day, with three different Thick-billed Murres in quite a day, and probably one of my best birding days of the winter. It just goes to show you what winter birding can bring in Maine, even during an impressive deep-freeze. So yeah, I’ll be out birding as much as I can, and signs of spring are certainly in the air: woodpeckers are drumming actively, Tufted Titmice and White-breasted Nuthatches are singing frequently now, and Great Horned Owls are already nesting. Bald Eagles are probably starting some house-keeping, Common Ravens are reaffirming territories, and in only a month, the Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch gets underway!
Maine Birding Field Notes 