It has been quite a few years since we had a weekend like this. Lots of birds, “mega” rarities, warm weather, and tons of excitement. It was truly a special weekend. We were honored to have been there for it.
The tour began on Friday, with only one participant joining me on the Hardy Boat. The island greeted us with a Lesser Black-backed Gull, which we scoped from the wharf, and several warblers at the usual spot uphill. But after getting the inside scoop from birders already on the island, we made a bee-line for the Ice Pond where an American Bittern was sitting all morning. Remarkably, however, it was sitting in a bush (see above)!
How’s that for starting a tour off right? We also immediately encountered Dickcissel and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and there were plenty of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers here and there.
After lunch, with our group now complete, the surprisingly good birding continued. Despite such a warm afternoon and few birds on the radar overnight on mostly a southwest wind aloft, we enjoyed an excellent introduction to Monhegan birding in the fall: 2 Clay-colored Sparrows with 2 immature White-crowned Sparrows, a Dickcissel, and several White-throated Sparrows in one field of view; a dozing Common Nighthawk trying to stay camouflaged on a wood pile, and another visit to the still-confiding American Bittern at the Ice Pond for those who arrived later. It was a solid afternoon overall, with bird activity continuing right up until dinnertime.
of any fall weekend on Monhegan
.Unfortunately, our best bird of the day was almost the one that got away. Almost! While viewing an Indigo Bunting in the Community Garden, a second bunting snuck into view, skulking. It briefly popped out, and I yelled “get photos” and then it popped back into the weeds and was not to be seen again.
“Did I see green?” I exclaimed, but it was so fleeting, and the light was so harsh, and the bird was so, so pale, I couldn’t be sure. I looked at photos on the back of cameras in the sun, and we had a good discussion on why this could have been a Painted Bunting. Unfortunately, I have little experience with first fall female (presumably) Painted Buntings and had no idea they could be this unbelievably drab. So I talked myself out of it.
Overnight, I received photos from Bill Thompson, who, an hour or two after we saw the bunting, also briefly saw and photographed it. “Is this a Painted Bunting?” he asked.
Yup, that really does have green on it, and on more than one side – in other words, not a reflection. Darn it. It counts for us – we all saw it – but in hindsight, we should have gotten the word out about a “possible/probable” Painted Bunting and had more eyes looking. Luckily, Bill was in the right place at the right time once again! But I felt like I had blown this one. I was too quick to dismiss it and so I decided I would have to make up for it over the rest of the weekend. Maybe the dry cold front that passed through on Friday evening and shifted the winds would help.
A very strong flight Friday night into Saturday morning on a diminishing northwesterly wind was idea for bringing birds to Monhegan Island come sunrise. And at first light, it was clear it was on!
The Morning Flight featured tons of Yellow-rumped Warblers with the occasional Palm and Blackpoll Warbler. Between the morning flight and our pre-breakfast stroll, we had a lot of birds: a couple of waves of Dark-eyed Juncos, bunches of Red-breasted Nuthatches, more Golden-crowned Kinglets and Purple Finches, insane views of Peregrine Falcons, 2 Dickcissels, 4 Baltimore Orioles, and lots of great views of lots of common species.
After breakfast, it remained fantastic. Just birds everywhere, and not surprisingly, some notable species began to be turned up. Our first “chase” was a Yellow-throated Warbler, our group arriving just in time before it took off.
Luckily, Dan Gardoqui and I stumbled upon it again while foraging for lunch, and I was able to round up several of the group members for improved views and photographs.
The American Bittern was now in the marsh, there were now three Dickcissels, 8 Baltimore Orioles, and a second, but definitively identified Indigo Bunting. No green one, unfortunately.
Not surprisingly on such a nice day, the afternoon was slower, as birds had departed the island early, or had now sought refuge in the shadows, especially with the continuing activity of Peregrines, Merlins, and Sharp-shinned Hawks. So, we checked some nooks and crannies, turning up a Nelson’s Sparrow at Lobster Cove and enjoying gliding Peregrine Falcons passing right in front of us from Burnt Head. We also took the time to enjoy butterflies, plants, and all other walks of life.
It was a delightful afternoon, but we returned to town to find we had missed out on a Western Kingbird. Luckily, a few of us caught up with it at dusk when it was refound near the Mooring Chain.
So, it was a great day, and given the winds and weather, we expected it to be such. Then, with little to no movement overnight (at least visible on the radar), on a light south to southwest wind, we hoped for some birds to stick around from Saturday and perhaps be augmented by a rarity or two. At the very least, I wanted to show the Yellow-throated Warbler and Western Kingbird to the rest of the group, especially with a big turnover in participants for the second half of the weekend.
What we didn’t expect was to run out of superlatives before breakfast. We certainly did not expect it after viewing the Morning Flight, which consisted of exactly one American Pipit (and the big wandering flock of Cedar Waxwings, of course).
Once again, a bird was identified from photo review (what did we do before Instant Replay?!) and Bill Thompson and Jess Bishop had apparently discovered a Mega rare Bell’s Vireo on Saturday with only 4 accepted previous records for Maine. With such a slow morning flight, I decided to mix things up from my usual routine, head clockwise through my usual dawn loop, and give it a try to find the Bell’s. We stopped near where it was seen on Saturday, and chatted about the rarity, the identification, etc. “Holy shit, there it is!” I tried not to exclaim too loudly as the bird popped out right in front of us.
We observed it for about 10-15 minutes as it popped in and out of a brushy edge, focusing on feeding in young cherry trees with fall webworm clusters. Birders began to arrive from all directions, as the vireo kept coming in and out of view before flying right over our heads and disappearing deep into a dense thicket.
from this morning since he was standing next to us.
It was getting too crowded for our tastes, so we moved on and let others have the edge to monitor. We enjoyed Cedar Waxwings, Northern Flickers, and then took a moment to pause at our usual starting spot, at the spruces behind the Yew.
It was slow, and quiet, and so I was making sure we looked at everything, like the one solo warbler flying towards us from across the sky over the Trailing Yew. It then landed a short distance away, and I brought my binoculars up to it, assuming we had a close Yellow-rumped Warbler to talk about.
<expletives deleted>
A Black-throated Gray Warbler, with only 5 previous records from Maine, was there. Right there. We had some great looks and photo ops, called over a friend, and then watched it the herd of birders arrive and head out to follow it. What a lucky find! We were ecstatic. And we still hadn’t had breakfast! (See photos from tomorrow),
Wondering if the day could get any better – and pretty content if it did not – we reconvened after breakfast and headed in the opposite direction from the searching masses, as I am wont to do.
It worked again: we found one Lark Sparrow, and then another. How many Clay-colored Sparrows – 4? 8? More? An Orange-crowned Warbler at the Ice Pond, a fly-over Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Pine Warbler, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on every tree. So much for it being a slow day.
Another warm afternoon sent us into the woods for shade, immersing ourselves in a cacophony of Red-breasted Nuthatches, sprinkled with Golden-crowned Kinglets, and the occasional Red-eyed Vireo or other migrant. We took in the Fringed Gentian, the scenery, and finished strong with the 2 Lark Sparrows and 4 Clay-colored Sparrows together.
Today was a good day.
Monday, the fourth and final day of the tour began with excited anticipation with another strong flight overnight on a diminishing NW to W wind. But today, it was just too nice, and a lot of last night’s birds passed overhead resulting in just a light Morning Flight come sunrise. But there was a turnover of birds, and our morning walk added several things to our list including the Eastern Kingbird we finally caught up with, and another Orange-crowned Warbler. The highlight, however, of our pre-breakfast jaunt was a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk that flew to a spruce, plucked a cone off of an outer branch, and then proceeded to play with it! It would move it from its bill to its talons, and then it dropped it, chasing it down the tree. It then flew back up and grabbed another! What a remarkable insight into how a kid Sharpie gets better at hunting on its own.
After breakfast, the good Merlin show of the day continued, and we took time for a short gull identification workshop. Our first Ring-billed Gull out here was good to practice on, and we conveniently had three Lesser Black-backed Gulls: an adult and 2 first-cycle birds. But mostly, we worked through the difference between each age class of the common Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.
We finally picked up a Northern Waterthrush- our 20th species of warbler on the weekend! But otherwise, it was pretty slow.
It was slow in the afternoon, too, but the Black-throated Gray Warbler had been refound just before we reconvened after lunch, and eventually we were all treated to much, much better views and photo ops than the morning before.
We then twitched a rare Common Buckeye butterfly and Lady’s Tresses orchids.
Our last new species of the trip was one of the last birds we observed together: a Yellow-billed Cuckoo eating American Dagger Moth and/or Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillars. Watching it whack the caterpillar on a twig to beat off its irritating hairs, we had another moment of insight into a bird’s world.
With the tour now complete, Jeannete and I enjoyed a delicious sunset and delightful food with friends and spotted an American Woodcock on our walk back.
As usual, Jeannette and I then spent our Tuesday off together on the island. After a light morning flight, but another turnover of birds, we decided to spend most of the morning in the woods, ostensibly looking for a previously reported Black-backed Woodpecker. But mostly, we wanted to take a hike along the island’s less-visited north end. We added Winter Wren and an Ovenbird to our weekend list, enjoyed the silly amount of Red-breasted Nuthatches, and encountered several pockets of White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. Later, after lunch, we ran into a Black-billed Cuckoo, and a Spotted Sandpiper at the dock turned out to be our 100th and final bird of a truly exceptional weekend on Monhegan. We already cannot wait to return in May!
Species seen without the tour group during the tour:
*Denotes ferry only
| 9/26 | 9/27 | 9/28 | 9/29 | |
| Canada Goose | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Blue-winged Teal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mallard | 15 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| American Black Duck | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Common Eider | x | x | x | x |
| White-winged Scoter | 1* | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ring-necked Pheasant | x | x | x | x |
| Mourning Dove | 12 | 15 | 12 | 6 |
| YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Common Nighthawk | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Semipalmated Plover | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Solitary Sandpiper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greater Yellowlegs | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Black Guillemot | x | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Laughing Gull | 4* | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Herring Gull | x | x | x | x |
| LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | x | x | x | x |
| Great Cormorant | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | x | x | x | x |
| AMERICAN BITTERN | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 8 | 20 | 15 | 20 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Flicker | 6 | 10 | 6 | 8 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Merlin | 4 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 6 | 20 | 3 | 7 |
| WESTERN KINGBIRD | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| Least Flycatcher | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| BELL’S VIREO | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Blue-headed Vireo | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Blue Jay | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 |
| American Crow | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Common Raven | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | x | x | x | x |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 0 | 20 | 10 | 6 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 10 | 60 | 50 | 40 |
| Brown Creeper | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Carolina Wren | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| Gray Catbird | x | x | x | 10 |
| European Starling | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| American Robin | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| American Pipit | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Purple Finch | 0 | 10 | 8 | 6 |
| Pine Siskin | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| American Goldfinch | 8 | 10 | 6 | 6 |
| LARK SPARROW | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 2 | 2 | 10 | 2 |
| CLAY-COLORED SPARROW | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 0 | 30 | 2 | 12 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 12 | 60 | 10 | 20 |
| Nelson’s Sparrow | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | x | x | x | x |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Bobolink | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Baltimore Oriole | 2 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Rusty Blackbird | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Common Grackle | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Black-and-white Warbler | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Nashville Warbler | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 4 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| American Redstart | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Cape May Warbler | 2 | 8 | 2 | 8 |
| Northern Parula | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Magnolia Warbler | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Yellow Warbler | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Chestnut-sided Warbler | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Blackpoll Warbler | 8 | 40 | 4 | 4 |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Palm Warbler | 20 | 60 | 4 | 4 |
| Pine Warbler | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 40 | 600 | 40 | 20 |
| YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Black-throated Green Warbler | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Cardinal | x | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Indigo Bunting | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| PAINTED BUNTING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DICKCISSEL | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Day total | 67 | 80 | 69 | 68 |
Species added on Monday evening and Tuesday, with Jeannette:
Common Loon, Spotted Sandpiper, American Woodcock, Black-billed Cuckoo, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, Ovenbird (warbler #21!),
Tour total = 100 Total Weekend Total = 107
Maine Birding Field Notes 