Tag Archives: "Interior" Nelson's Sparrow

 This Week’s Highlights 9/25– 10/1/2026.

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This juvenile American Golden-Plover was one of three that Jayden Mowry and I saw in Scarborough Marsh during the rain on 9/27. It shared a similar look to all of us birders who were being drenched by the rain
while not finding any mega-rarities!

For the first time in 20 years, I cancelled my Monhegan Fall Migration Weekend Tour due to ferry cancellations and forecasted weather. While the precip and the strongest winds held out through most of Saturday, it was the right call. Instead, I took full advantage of the “extra” weekend here on the mainland, including three near-full days of storm-related birding. While the storm overall was a bit of a dud, ornithologically-speaking, it did result in some decent birding and several observations of note over the past seven days, including the following:

  • Notables in our Durham property this week included 7 species of warblers including 2 Tennessee on 9/26; a Bay-breasted Warbler on 10/1; and daily Lincoln’s Sparrows continue.
  • 1 Marsh Wren, Florida Lake Park, 9/26.
  • 1 Cory’s Shearwater and 35 Northern Gannets in 1.5 hours of seawatching at Dyer Point, Cape Elizabeth, between 3:10 and 4:40 on 9/26 as the storm got crankin’
  • 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, 9/26.
  • 1 pair Gadwall and 1 continuing early drake Ruddy Duck, Sabattus Pond, Sabattus, 9/27.
  • 4 Sandhill Cranes (3 ad and 1 juv), Mayall Road, Gray/New Gloucester, 9/27.
  • Jayden Mowry and I then met up for a couple of hours in the afternoon on the Eastern Road Trail in Scarborough Marsh, yielding our best birding of the day: 1 “INTERIOR” NELSON’S SPARROW with 3 Saltmarsh Sparrows, 1 “Atlantic” Nelson’s Sparrow, and 6+ unidentified “sharp-tailed” sparrows; 3 juvenile AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS, 1 Whimbrel, 3 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1+ White-rumped Sandpiper, 15 Dunlin, etc, etc. It was delightfully productive as we once again got soaked.
  • 1 3rd cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull, Pemaquid Point; 1 Common Tern, Pemaquid Beach Park; and 94 Laughing Gulls at Fort Pemaquid, 9/28 while not relocating the Franklin’s Gull seen earlier in the day (with Jeannette).
  • Highlight from a delightful day of storm birding with Jeannette on 9/29 included a northbound flock of 500-600 Tree Swallows swirling through Dyer Point, Cape Elizabeth in the early morning; 1 slighty-truant Yellow Warbler at Crescent Beach State Park; a goodly 48 Pectoral Sandpipers, 4 Saltmarsh Sparrows, 1 “Atlantic” Nelson’s Sparrow, and 8 Unidentified “sharp-tailed sparrows” along Eastern Road; and more, but still no storm-driven rarities.

Sandy Point Morning Flight, 9/30:

With cloudy skies and virtually no wind, only a light flight passed over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth this morning.

  • 6:37-9:00am
  • 59 F, cloudy, calm to a hint of North.
  • 67 Unidentified
  • 65 Blackpoll Warblers
  • 54 Yellow-rumped Warblers
  • 20 Northern Parulas
  • 15 Blue Jays
  • 10 White-throated Sparrows
  • 7 Palm Warblers
  • 7 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
  • 7 Chipping Sparrows
  • 6 Black-throated Green Warblers
  • 4 American Robins
  • 4 Golden-crowned Kinglets
  • 4 Black-throated Blue Warblers
  • 3 American Pipits
  • 3 Tufted Titmice (all crossed after only 3 false starts)
  • 3 Black-and-white Warblers
  • 2 Swamp Sparrows
  • 2 Red-eyed Vireos
  • 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • 1 Rusty Blackbird
  • 1 Tennessee Warbler
  • 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • 1 Merlin
  • 1 Swainson’s Thrush
  • 1 Northern Flicker
  • 1 Baltimore Oriole
  • 1 Nashville Warbler
  • 1 Osprey
  • 1 White-breasted Nuthatch
  • 1 DICKCISSEL
  • 1 Blue-headed Vireo
  • X Common Yellowthroats

Total= 296

*Family group of 4 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS continue.

  • 2 molting juvenile STILT SANDPIPERS, Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 9/30.

Upcoming Tours With Space Available:

I’ll just leave last year’s trip report right here. Don’t miss out this time!

2025 Fall Half-Day Pelagic with Freeport Wild Bird Supply and Cap’n Fish’s Cruises.

Join the crew of Seacoast Tours and Derek Lovitch from Freeport Wild Bird Supply on a special tour of the islands and waters of Casco Bay. We’ll explore the inner islands of Freeport, Brunswick and Harpswell as we search for eagles, migrant waterfowl, and an occasional seal basking in the sun on the ledges of hidden coves. We’ll focus on the common resident and migratory water and shoreline birds of the region while keeping an eye out for recently arrived wintering seaducks.

During our previous outings in which we became the first birding groups ever on the island, we found oodles of Yellow-rumped Warblers, other migrants, and learned about the island’s ecology. But we were also captivated by Captain Pete, who guided us through the historic fort, sharing a wealth of historical knowledge and fascinating stories. 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!  

Recent Highlights, 10/17- 10/24/24

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A big thank you to the homeowners for alerting us to the presence of this very late hummingbird that arrived in a Durham yard on the 20th. We always put an alert in our store’s newsletters about late hummingbirds, and we try to get photographs to confirm their identity as many late season hummingbirds turn out not to be Ruby-throats. This one, however, was indeed a very late Ruby-throated, confirmed with the shape of the outer primaries on the folded wing.

Despite weather often feeling more like summer, it was a great week of autumn birding. Perhaps my last morning flight visit of the season to Sandy Point, a trip to a private island in Casco Bay, a late hummingbird to chase, a day off to do some birdfinding, and time on our property all combined for a very productive eight days of birding. Here are my observations of note.

  • Sandy Point Morning Flight, 10/17: 351 individuals of 25 species, led by 114 Yellow-rumped Warblers but including a goodly October 17th total of 7 species of warblers. Full list here:
Sandy Point Morning Flights: September – October, 2024.
  • 1 Pine Siskin (first of fall), here at the store, 10/18.
  • 1 Field Sparrow and 1 Horned Lark, House Island (private; restricted access), Portland, 10/20 (With Birds on Tap – The Boat Trip! tour group). Trip report here.
Birds on Tap Roadtrips are Back in 2024! (And Tour Reports Thereof)
  • 3 Common Yellowthroats, 2 imm White-crowned Sparrows (FOF, finally), 1 Field Sparrow, etc, Private property in Cape Elizabeth, 10/22.
  • 1 “INTERIOR” NELSON’S SPARROW (FOY), Crescent Beach State Park, Cape Elizabeth, 10/22.
  • 1 Orange-crowned Warbler, Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, 10/22.
  • 1 subvirgatus Nelson’s Sparrow, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 10/22.
  • 1 RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, private home in Durham, 10/21 (with Jeannette). After receiving an email about a hummingbird coming to a feeder on 10/20, we made arrangements to visit to get confirmation photographs. Surprisingly, given the date, it was indeed a Ruby-throat. See photos above.
  • Highlights on our Durham property included at one or more Lincoln’s Sparrows continuing through at least 10/18, two EVENING GROSBEAKS (FOF) and a Field Sparrow on 10/21, and a late PRAIRIE WARBLER on the 24th.

This Week’s Highlights, 10/23-29

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

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

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

25 Long-tailed Ducks (mostly northbound)

2 drake Harlequin Ducks

2 Snow Buntings

1 1st winter Iceland Gull

1 Horned Grebe

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