Tag Archives: Maine

This Week’s (Plus) Highlights and Shorebird High Counts, 8/19 – 8/28/2025

Leave a reply
For the last 13 summers now, hybrid herons have occurred in Scarborough Marsh, with one individual continuing this summer. Likely also present last summer, this bird is significantly darker on the neck and back than the only bird present from about 2021 to 2023, possibly suggesting yet another backcross (Gen 4?) with Tricolored Heron (especially when observed with its breeding plumes earlier in the summer). It does appear quite similar to my proposed 2nd or 3erd generation Tricolored Heron x Snowy Egret x Little Egret that was present from 2016 to at least 2020, so it could possibly by the same bird (Labeled 3A in my article Hybrid Herons of Maine from my North American Birds article in 2021, Volume 72, Number 3. At this point, I believe the hybrids are best described as “Tricolored Heron x small white Egretta species,” or, “Patches” as I dubbed it and most birders refer to it now. Whatever it is, this year’s individual cooperated for me along the Eastern Road Trail on the 26th.

It was another busy period for me, with most of my mornings spent only birding our property before work. Luckily, the yard has been fantastic as it turns out to be this time of year, with a nice variety of migrants, and lots of local breeders fattening up on our plentiful Black Cherry trees. Some of the migrants detected this week included a Prairie Warbler on 8/19, a Swainson’s Thrush on 8/20, Canada Warbler on 8/21, Cape May Warbler 8/24-25, a single Common Nighthawk at dusk on 8/26, and a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER on 8/27.

Otherwise, it was a weekend trip to Bar Harbor and a shorebird little-big day on the 26th that kept me going, with the following observations of note over the past 10 days.

  • 1 continuing COMMON GALLINULE, Essex Marsh, Bangor, 8/22 (with Bill Thompson).
  • The big adventure this week was the 12-hour pelagic/whale watch out of Bar Harbor with Flukes and Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co to Cashes Ledge in the Gulf of Maine. I’ll leave the complete checklist to others, but my highlights from the trip were the total of 33* Leach’s Storm-Petrels, repeated great view of a total of 15* Pomarine Jaegers, the feeding frenzy of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels (day total of 1,573*) at Ammen Ledge, and the scattered flocks of Red-necked Phalaropes.

Pomarine Jaeger (above) and Great Shearwater (below)

  • 2 Horned Grebes (oversummering or really early?) and 2 Red Crossbills, Hollingsworth Trail, Petit Manan NWR, Steuben, 8/24 (with Bill Thompson).
  • 2 FORSTER’S TERNS, The Pool, Biddeford Pool, 8/26.
  • 2-3 continuing adult RED-NECKED GREBES, Ocean Avenue, Biddeford Pool, 8/26.
  • 1 continuing postulated TRICOLORED HERON X SMALL WHITE EGRETTA SPP, aka “Patches,” Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/26. Photo and notes above.

Fueled by a 19 shorebird species day on the 26th, I tallied 22 species of shorebirds this week, with my high counts over these past 10 days (see last week’s post for explanation) being the following:

  • American Oystercatcher: 7 (4 ad, 3 juv), Hill’s Beach, Biddeford, 8/26 (with Noah Gibb and Stacey Huth).
  • Black-bellied Plover: 156, The Pool, Biddeford Pool, 8/26.
  • Killdeer: 46, Crystal Spring Farm, Brunswick, 8/25.
  • Semipalmated Plover: 150+, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/26.
  • Piping Plover: 15, Hill’s Beach, Biddeford, 8/26 (With Noah Gibb and Stacey Huth).
  • Whimbrel: 2, The Pool, 8/26.
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 12*, Mt Desert Rock via Cashes Ledge boat trip, 8/23.
  • Red Knot: 8, The Pool, 8/26 and 3, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 8/25.
  • Sanderling: 5, Hill’s Beach, 8/26.
  • Dunlin: 1 adult, Wharton Point, 8/25 (early).
  • Least Sandpiper: 98, Eastern Road Trail, 8/26.
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 10+, The Pool, 8/26.
  • Pectoral Sandpiper: 2, Eastern Road Trail, 8/26.
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 512, Wharton Point, 8/25.
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 18, Hill’s Beach, 8/26.
  • Spotted Sandpiper: 2, Ocean Ave, Biddeford Pool, 8/26.
  • Solitary Sandpiper: 1, Rte 136, Durham, 8/26.
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 19, Eastern Road Trail, 8/26.
  • “Eastern” Willet: 8, The Pool, 8/26.
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 41, Wharton Point, 8/25.
  • RED-NECKED PHALAROPE: 218*, Cashes Ledge boat trip, 8/23.
  • RED PHALAROPE: 1* but I had at least 3 more, Cash’s Ledge boat trip, 8/23.

*Official trip tallies kept by others, although my personal numbers would likely have been similar.

This Week’s Highlights and Shorebird High Counts, 8/9 – 8/18/2025

Leave a reply
Suspected of breeding in 2022 and confirmed in 2023, a pair of American Oystercatchers has now nested annual on the tiny Upper Green Islands way up in Casco Bay off Yarmouth. On the 17th, our annual shorebird-focuses Birds of Casco Bay with Seacoast Tours collaboration documented a pair of adults with a juvenile once again. Since we discovered them on this tour in 2022, it’s been exciting to visit them each summer. Who would have thought this tiny island and ledge could support one of only a dozen or so pairs in the entire state?
Full trip report here.

Two birdwalks, two shorebird-centric tours, and two whale-watches made for a very nice, diverse array of observations of note for me over the last 10 days (see note in shorebird high counts):

  • 3 Long-tailed Ducks (2 continuing from previous week), Simpson’s Point, Brunswick, 8/9 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 Bonaparte’s Gull and 6 Great Egrets, Sabattus Pond, 8/11 (with Jeannette).
We checked the underwing patterns of every Cory’s Shearwater we could.
  • 8/12 afternoon Puffin/Whale Combo cruise with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay Harbor: 5 American Oystercatchers at Eastern Egg Rock. Offshore of EER = 104 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels,  6 Cory’s Shearwaters, 3 Great Shearwaters, 2 Northern Gannets, 1 MANX SHEARWATER.
  • 1-2+ Red Crossbills, Popham Beach State Park, Phippsburg, 8/14.
  • 1 molting adult Bay-breasted Warbler (more evidence of a limited molt-migration in Boreal birds to the southern coastal plain), Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 8/16 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).

For my “shorebird high counts,” I prefer to visit at least one of each: high tide hotspot, low tide spot, “grasspiper spot,” and a freshwater location, and it must include a visit to local hotspots Wharton Point and the Walsh Preserve as I attempt to make these comparisons comparable week-to-week and year-to-year, which, for my own notes if nothing else, is why I put these together (but hope you find them of value, too). Just due to life and scheduling, it now often takes me more than a week to hit all of these “requirements,” so I am going to try and do every 10 days instead of weekly. Therefore, here are my high counts over these past 10 days:

  • American Oystercatcher: 5, Eastern Egg Rock, 8/12 (via Cap’n Fish’s Cruises Puffin/Whale combo trip). Plus 3 (2 ad with 1 juv), Upper Green Island, 8/17 (with Birds of Casco Bay with Seacoast Tours tour group). Photo above
  • Black-bellied Plover: 163, The Pool, Biddeford Pool, 8/18 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop group).
  • Killdeer: 13, Crystal Spring Farm, Brunswick, 8/9 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Semipalmated Plover: 300+, The Pool, 8/18 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop group).
  • Piping Plover: 13, Popham Beach State Park, 8/14.
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 3, multiple locations this week.
  • Sanderling: 20, Popham Beach State Park, 8/14.
  • 1, Popham Beach State Park, 8/14 and 1 at Great Pond, Biddeford Pool, 8/18 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop group).
  • Least Sandpiper: 42, Sabattus Pond, 8/11 (with Jeannette).
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 15, Hill’s Beach, Biddeford, 8/18 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop group).
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 1600, The Pool, 8/18 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop group).
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 40, The Pool, 8/18 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop group).
  • Spotted Sandpiper: 4, Sabattus Pond, 8/11 (with Jeannette).
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 66, Royal River, Yarmouth, 8/17 (with Birds of Casco Bay with Seacoast Tours tour group).
  • “Eastern” Willet: 24, Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/18 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop group).
  • “WESTERN” WILLET: 1 (FOY), Pine Point, 8/18 (with Down East Adventures Shorebird Workshop group).
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 22, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 8/9 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
Just including this Wilson’s Storm-Petrel photo here because it is incredible. Nice job, Bill!

This Week’s Highlights, 7/12-7/20/2025

Leave a reply
Jeannette and I raced down to the Kennebunk Plains on Monday the 14th for this Fork-tailed Flycatcher. A notorious “one-day-wonder,” it conveniently was discovered on a day off for a change. Even more surprisingly, unlike most Fork-tailed Flycatchers that occur in the Northeast, this one stuck around, continuing through the 16th. There are between 10 and 16 previous occurrences of this vagrant from South America in Maine – incredible considering the distance it has to fly “incorrectly” to get here!

Only in the middle of July is a trip to Monhegan not the birding adventure of the week. But betweenthe chase of a “megs,” an opportunity to visit a banding project on a mountaintop in Vermont, and a couple of boat trips, it was a great week (plus) of birding for me nonetheless. Here are my observation of note over the past nine days.

  • 1 RAZORBILL (just off of Smuttynose outside of Monhegan harbor) and 1 Atlantic Puffin, Hardy Boat from Monhegan to New Harbor, 7/12. Only tubenoses encountered on a very foggy day both to and from were Wilson’s Storm-Petrels.
  • 1 FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER, Kennebunk Plains, Kennbunk, 7/14 (with Jeannette and m.obs). Found earlier in the day by Sam Darmstadt. Photo above.
  • 7/19: I co-lead the morning Whale and Puffin Combo Cruise tour with our partners Cap’n Fish’s Cruises: 1 MANX SHEARWATER (unexpected close fly-by between our boat and Eastern Egg Rock); 2 American Oystercatchers, Eastern Egg Rock; 3 Cory’s Shearwaters and 100-125 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels offshore. I stayed aboard for the afternoon trip and only had 1 Cory’s Shearwater and 75-100 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels offshore.

UPCOMING TOURS w/ Space Available:

Shorebird workshop with Down East Adventures, August 18th, 8:00am to 4:00pm.

Saturday Morning Birdwalks Return 8/2!

This Week’s Highlights, 7/5-7/11/2025

Leave a reply

Any single martin away from a known colony is worth studying, especially “funny looking” ones, as vagrant martins have occurred in the Northeast. I spotted one such martin over Scarborough Marsh from the Eastern Road Trail while guiding on Thursday. Luckily, I shouted down the road to Bill Thompson and he was able to photograph the bird as it flew by. Together, we identified it as a 1st summer, likely female, Purple Martin. It sure looked strange as it was flying towards me.

A week of fairly-local birding at the height of nestling season – and the ramping up of southbound shorebird season – produced the following observations of note:

  • 2 Red Crossbills, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, 7/6.
  • 4 Orchard Orioles (pair with 2 fledglings), Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 7/7 (with clients from Maine).
  • 3 Lesser Yellowlegs (first of “fall”) and 3-4 Least Sandpipers (first of fall), Walsh Preserve, Yarmouth, 7/8 (with clients from Maine).
  • Totals of 95+ Short-billed Dowitchers, 70+ Least Sandpipers, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, Scarborough Marsh, Scarborough, 7/10 (with clients from Maine and New Hampshire).
  • 1 PURPLE MARTIN, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 7/10 (with clients from Maine and New Hampshire). Photos from Bill Thompson above.
  • 1 continuing drake American Wigeon, Eastern Road Trail, 7/10 (with clients from Maine and New Hampshire).

UPCOMING TOURS

Join me and Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay for a special edition of their daily Puffin and Whales Cruise on Saturday July 19th. While this is not a dedicated pelagic, I’ll be a guest naturalist to help spot and call out birds at Eastern Egg Rock and offshore. With the irregular occurrence of the Tufted Puffin and now a Bridled Tern at EEG, you won’t want to miss the chance for a more birding-focused few hours on the water!  And the more birders we have aboard, the better!

This Week’s Highlights, 6/28-7/4/2025

Leave a reply
This week I even had some time to spend a few mornings on my own enjoying Maine’s birds of summer, like this Roseate Tern on Hill’s Beach in Biddeford on the 29th.

It was back to normal for my schedule this week, and I was actually in the state for the whole week! With a little time off for a change as well, I had a great week of birding resulting in the following observations of note:

  • 1 adult male ORCHARD ORIOLE feeding a very-recently fledged fledglings, Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 6/28 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 4 American Oystercatchers, 10 Short-billed Dowitchers (likely first southbound migrants of fall!), 1 Semipalmated Plover, and 1 Black-bellied Plover, Hill’s Beach, Biddeford, 6/28.
  • 3 Short-billed Dowitchers and 2 Black-bellied Plovers, The Pool, Biddeford, 6/28.
  • 8+ singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS, California Fields Wildlife Area, Hollis, 6/30.
  • 3 Cory’s Shearwaters and 200+ Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, off Boothbay Harbor via Freeport Wild Bird Supply/Cap’n Fish’s Cruises Whale/Puffin Combo Tour, 7/3 (morning; with tour group).
  • 3 American Oystercatchers, 16 Short-billed Dowitchers, 1 Ruddy Turnstone, etc, Eastern Egg Rock and 40+ Wilson’s Storm-Petrels offshore via Cap’n Fish’s Cruises Whale/Puffin Combo Tour, 7/3 (afternoon).
  • Fledglings being fed at our feeders in Durham this week included Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Bluebird, Carolina Wren, etc, etc.

UPCOMING TOURS

Join me and Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay for another special edition of their daily Puffin and Whales Cruise on Saturday July 19th. While this is not a dedicated pelagic, I’ll be a guest naturalist to help spot and call out birds at Eastern Egg Rock and offshore. With the irregular occurrence of the Tufted Puffin and now a Bridled Tern at EEG, you won’t want to miss the chance for a more birding-focused few hours on the water!  And the more birders we have aboard, the better!

This (Two) Week’s Highlights, 6/18-6/27/2025

Leave a reply

A highlight of our Bicknell’s Thrushes of New Hampshire Weekend was this Black-backed Woodpecker nest that I found on a private tour two weeks ago. By last weekend, the nestling(s?) were getting close to fledging. Thanks to Bill Thompson for the use of his photo as my camera had little interest in performing well in the low light!

After being out of town for a few days (birding highlights in New Jersey included “southern” specialties, a huge Black Skimmer colony, and the growing, awesome White Ibis rookery), I returned to Maine and jumped right back into this record-busy guiding season. From coastal saltmarshes to mountaintops in New Hampshire, a few of my less expected observations in Maine over the past two weeks included just the following:

  • 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo (FOY!), our property in Durham, 6/23.
  • 1 White-winged Scoter, Fort Popham, Phippsburg, 6/24 (with clients from Vermont).
  • 1 Vesper Sparrow, Auburn Municipal Airport, 6/25.
  • And finally, for fun, here’s a selection of our favorite photos from our visit to the White Ibis rookery in Wildwood, NJ last week.

BICKNELL’S THRUSH WEEKEND TOUR REPORT

The trip report from our recent tour can be seen here.

2025 Bicknell’s Thrush Weekend Trip Report

UPCOMING TOURS

Join me and Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay for a special edition of their daily Puffin and Whales Cruise on Thursday, July 3rd (and Saturday July 19th). While this is not a dedicated pelagic, I’ll be a guest naturalist to help spot and call out birds at Eastern Egg Rock and offshore. With the irregular occurrence of the Tufted Puffin and now a Bridled Tern at EEG, you won’t want to miss the chance for a more birding-focused few hours on the water!  And the more birders we have aboard, the better!

This Week’s Highlights, 5/23-5/30/2025

Leave a reply
This Lark Sparrow – always a treat in spiffy spring plumage – was among the notable birds form a
stellar weekend on Monhegan.

Five days on Monhegan Friday the 23rd through Tuesday 5/27 yielded a total of 106 species, including 22 species of warblers. It was the best Memorial Day Weekend on the island in several years, and at times, it really felt like “the good ol’ days” with a flock of warblers in every tree. Back in the real world, I was mostly guiding for local breeding specialties, but did have a few observations of note. But mostly, of course, my highlights were from my time on the island.

  • 3 Blue-winged Teal, Weskeag Marsh, 5/23 (with Evan Obercian).

Monhegan Daily Highlights (full report coming soon).

5/23, with Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Tour group:

  • 12 HARLEQUIN DUCKS
  • 1 2nd/3rd Cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull

5/24, with Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Tour group:

  • 12 HARLEQUIN DUCKS continued
  • 1 LARK SPARROW (photo above)
  • 2 continuing “Eastern” Willets
  • 3 Atlantic Puffins
  • 1 Philadelphia Vireo (FOY)
  • 3 Cape May Warblers (FOY)
  • 18 species of warblers led by 55 American Redstarts, 50 Magnolia Warblers, and 25 Yellow Warblers

5/25, with Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Tour group:

  • 1 continuing SNOWY EGRET
  • 8-10 continuing HARLEQUIN DUCKS
  • 2 Alder Flycatchers (FOY)
  • 18 species of warblers led by 45 American Redstarts, 45 Magnolia Warblers, and 35 Blackpoll Warblers, but also including at least 10 Bay-breasted and 4 Cape May Warblers

5/26, with Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Tour group:

  • 2 Willow Flycatchers (FOY)
  • 1 Common Nighthawk
  • 17 species of warblers led by 55 Blackpoll Warblers, 45 Northern Parulas, and 40 each of Magnolia and American Redstart.

5/27, with Jeannette:

  • 1 continuing HARLEQUIN DUCK
  • 1 Mourning Warbler (FOY)
  • 1 Nelson’s Sparrow (FOY)
  • 1 Pine Warbler
  • 1 Long-tailed Duck
  • 1 Ovenbird (my 22nd species of warbler on the weekend)
  • 21 species of warblers led by 100 Blackpoll Warblers, 80 American Redstarts, and 70 Magnolia Warblers, but also including at least 15 Bay-breasted, 10 Tennessee, and 6 Cape May Warblers.
  • 1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (FOY), our property in Durham, 5/28.
  • 1 continuing male Lesser Scaup, Pine Point, Scarborough, 5/29 (with clients from Arkansas).

Upcoming Tours (with space available):

Rangeley Birding Festival, June 5-8.

This Week’s Highlights, 5/17-5/22/2025.

Leave a reply
This immature male Orchard Oriole was singing up a storm – when we wasn’t being chased by a territorial male Baltimore – at tiny, but often-productive – Lake Grove Park in Auburn on the 18th.

A sneaky good flight overnight Saturday into Sunday made for a tremendous day of birding: it took me over three hours to leave my yard! The rest of the week, however, was very slow by mid-May standards, with the exception of a very surprising morning At Fort Foster on Friday. My observations of note over the past six days before I head off to Monhegan with my tour group included the following:

  • 17 species of warblers, led by 38+ American Redstarts and 16 Black-throated Green Warblers, our property in Durham, 5/18.
  • 1 Louisiana Waterthrush, Papermill Trail, Lisbon, 5/18.
  • 1 immature male ORCHARD ORIOLE, Lake Grove Park, Auburn, 5/18.
  • 1 Lesser Scaup, Pine Point, Scarborough, 5/20.
  • 19 species of warblers, led by 27+ American Redstarts and 19 Yellow Warblers, but also including 8+ Bay-breasted Warblers, Fort Foster, Kittery, 5/22.
  • 120 Brant (impressive flock for Maine!) and 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Fort Foster, 5/22.

My personal “first of years” this week also included:

  • 1 Indigo Bunting, our property in Durham, 5/18.
  • 1 Bay-breasted Warbler, our property in Durham, 5/18.
  • 1 Swainson’s Thrush, Papermill Trail, Lisbon, 5/18.
  • 8+ Common Nighthawks, our property in Durham, 5/18.
  • 3 YELLOW-THROATED VIREOS, Morgan Meadow WMA, Gray/Raymond, 5/19 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Tennessee Warbler, our property in Durham. 5/20.
  • # Least Tern, Pine Point, Scarborough, 5/20.
  • 3-4 Saltmarsh Sparrows, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 5/20.
  • 1 Black-billed Cuckoo, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/21.

Upcoming Tours (with space available):

Rangeley Birding Festival, June 5-8

This Week’s Highlights, 5/10-5/16/2025.

2 Replies
The 2025 Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch came to a close on Thursday. It did not exactly end with a bang, but we had a great flight for the this late in the season on Monday, including a good movement of immature Broad-winged Hawks and Merlins, such as this one. It, and everything else that has passed over or by the summit for the last two weeks has only added to our record-breaking season.

After last week’s rarity insanity, this was a tamer, more “normal” week for mid-May. While several great songbird flights occurred this week, concentrations were few, but there were “new” birds arriving most every day. Here are my observations of note over the past seven days.

  • 1 continuing RUFF (REEVE), Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 5/10 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 ORCHARD ORIOLE (FOY), 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, etc, Green Point WMA, Dresden, 5/13 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 immature male ORCHARD ORIOLE, feeders here at the store, 5/14.
  • 1 continuing hen CANVASBACK, Great Pond, Biddeford Pool, Biddeford, 5/15.

My personal “first of years” this week also included:

  • 1 Bobolink, Thornhust Farm, North Yarmouth, 5/10 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 Red-eyed Vireo, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/12 (with Jeannette).
  • 2 Spotted Sandpipers, Florida Lake Park, 5/12 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Canada Warbler, Florida Lake Park, 5/12 (with Jeannette).
  • 2 Green Herons, Green Point WMA, Dresden, 5/13 (with Jeannette).
  • 7 Short-billed Dowitchers, Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 5/13 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Scarlet Tanager, our property in Durham, 5/14.
  • 1 Blackpoll Warbler, Florida Lake Park, 5/14.
  • 4 Laughing Gulls, East Point, Biddeford Pool, Biddeford, 5/15.
  • Numerous Common Terns, Biddeford Pool environs, 5/15.
  • 2 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS, Ocean Avenue, Biddeford Pool, 5/15.
  • 5 Roseate Terns, East Point/Ocean Ave, Biddeford Pool, 5/15.
  • 26 Ruddy Turnstones, The Pool, Biddeford Pool, 5/15.
  • 2+ Semipalmated Plovers, The Pool, 5/15.
  • 82 Black-bellied Plovers, The Pool, 5/15.
  • 150 Semipalmated Sandpipers, The Pool, 5/15.
  • 4 Marsh Wrens, Cobboseecontee Lake Causeway, 5/16.

Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch

The Week 8 report can be found here. The report for the final week, finishing on Thursday, can be found here.

Upcoming Tours (with space available):

Rangeley Birding Festival, June 5-8

This Week’s Highlights, 5/3-5/9/2025.

2 Replies
This female Cerulean Warbler at Evergreen Cemetery on 5/6 was the first in Maine for just about every birder who raced to see it! Thanks to Bill for the photo!

Wow! What a week! Although I was out of town for the huge flight Friday night into Saturday morning, my birding with a tour group on an almost-as-productive Sunday morning made up for it. Then, with an upper level low locked into place, migration ground to a halt throughout most of the rest of the week. However, a trickle of new arrivals appeared, and an impressive array of rarities were found around the state. I did a lot more chasing than usual this week (including a personal “state bird”, but a self-found rarity on Friday was a perfect way to put the icing on the cake of a tremendous week of spring birding! My observations of note over the past seven days included the following:

  • 15 species of warblers (FOY) between Evergreen Cemetery and Capsic Pond Park, with Northern Parula the most numerous at both, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 2-3 Louisiana Waterthrushes, Suckfish Brook Conservation Area, Falmouth, 5/5 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 continuing BLACK-NECKED STILT, Spurwink Marsh, Cape Elizabeth, 5/6 (with Bill Thompson). Well, since we were out chasing together, we figured we might as well visit this elegant rarity found by John Lorence on 5/3.
  • The continuing CERULEAN WARBLER at Evergreen Cemetery on 5/8 with my Birds on Tap – Roadtrip: Warblers and Wort! Tour group. I don’t generally take photos while guiding groups, but I took a few of this bird…and completely wiffed on them!
  • After all this “twitching,” I was due to find my own rarity, and did so on 5/9 with an adult breeding plumage female RUFF (REEVE) at Walsh Preserve in Freeport. There are only about 10 previous records for Maine.

My personal “first of years” this week also included:

  • 2 Yellow Warblers, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 8 Black-throated Blue Warblers, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 2 Wood Thrushes, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 3 Magnolia Warblers, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 4 Chestnut-sided Warblers, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 2 Great-crested Flycatchers, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 2 American Redstarts, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 2 Northern Waterthrushes, Capisic Pond Park, Portland, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 7 Chimney Swifts, Capisic Pond Park, 5/4 (with Down East Adventures Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop group).
  • 1 White-crowned Sparrow, feeders here at the store, 5/4.
  • 2 Lincoln’s Sparrows, Suckfish Brook Conservation Area, Falmouth, 5/5 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Warbling Vireo, our yard in Durham, 5/5.
  • 16 Willets, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 5/6.
  • 18 Least Sandpipers, Eastern Road Trail, 5/6.
  • 1 Eastern Kingbird, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/6 (with Bill Thompson).
  • 1 LITTLE BLUE HERON, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 5/6 (with Bill Thompson).
  • 1 Blackburnian Warbler, Rte 136 powerline cut, Durham, 5/7.
  • 1 Wilson’s Warbler, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/8 (with Birds on Tap Roadtrip! tour group)
  • 2 House Wrens, Capisic Pond Park, 5/8 (with Birds on Tap Roadtrip! tour group).
  • 2 Blue-winged Teal, Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 5/9.

Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch

The Week 7 report – in which we broke the all-time season record – can be found here.

Upcoming Tours (with space available):

Rangeley Birding Festival, June 5-8