Tag Archives: Marbled Godwit

This Week’s Highlights, 11/9 – 11/15/2024

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It might be Rarity Season, but never forget to take your time to enjoy and appreciate our common resident birds! This Red-breasted Nuthatch was on our feeders in Durham on the 15th. There are a lot more in the area this fall than last winter, perhaps due to the lack of Eastern White Pine cones, especially to our north.

Rarity Season continues to be hot. Some dedicated rarity-searching plus some casual birding, yielded the following observations of note over the past 7 days. Swinging for the fences, however, I felt like Aaron Judge in the MLB post-season: lots of strikeouts and no home runs, but at least I went down swinging.

  • 1 continuing MARBLED GODWIT, 8 Black-bellied Plovers, etc, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 11/9 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1 Gray Catbird, Topsham Riverwalk, 11/9 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 1-2 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, 1 Gray Catbird, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, etc, Peak’s Island, 11/10.
  • 1 Fox Sparrow (first of season), our Durham property, 11/12-13.
  • 1 RED-THROATED LOON, 137 Ruddy Ducks, 22 Green-winged Teak, 17 Lesser Scaup, 3 Greater Scaup, etc, Sabattus Pond, Sabattus, 11/14.
  • 20 Horned Larks, Rte 136, Durham, 11/15.
  • 1 Evening Grosbeak, Cedar Pond Road, Durham, 11/15.
  • Not surprisingly given the mild weather to date, there are a lot of half-hardies around, such as Hermit Thrushes and Swamp Sparrows which I encountered in a number of places this week. Scattered Red-winged Blackbirds and small flocks of Common Grackles continue as well as is now usual in mid-November.

This Week’s Highlights, 8/19-25,2023

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This juvenile Marbled Godwit continues at Hill’s Beach in Biddeford, making a nice addition to my “Shorebird Big Day” effort on Tuesday.

After being thwarted by weather on a couple of days recently, I conducted a “Shorebird Big Day” on Tuesday the 22nd. I birded between Sanford and Brunswick, seeking shorebirds from near-dawn to dusk. My goal was “at least 20” species of shorebirds, so I was happy to finish my day with 22 species.  Needless to say, that day dedicated to shorebirding produced the majority of my high counts this week:

  • AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER: 6 adults, Ocean Avenue, Biddeford Pool, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • Black-bellied Plover: 126, Wharton Point, Brunswick, 8/22.
  • Killdeer: 17, Winding Brook Turf Farm, Alfred, 8/22.
  • Semipalmated Plover: 220, Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/20.
  • Piping Plover: 3, Hill’s Beach, Biddeford, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • Whimbrel: 3, Hill’s Beach/The Pool, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 6, Ocean Avenue, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz). One at Sanford Lagoons on 8/22 was quite out of place inland.
  • RED KNOT: 1 juv, Hill’s Beach, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • STILT SANDPIPER: 4 (2 ad, 2 juv), Sanford Lagoons, Sanford, 8/22.
  • Sanderling: 22, Hill’s Beach, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • BAIRD’S SANDPIPER: 1-2, Hill’s Beach, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • Least Sandpiper: 36, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/20.
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 8, Biddeford Pool Beach, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • Pectoral Sandpiper: 3, Sanford Lagoons, 8/22.
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 600, Biddeford Pool Beach, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 51, Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/20.
  • Spotted Sandpiper: 4, Ocean Avenue, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • Solitary Sandpiper: 8, Sanford Lagoons, 8/22.
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 83, Walsh Preserve, Yarmouth, 8/22.
  • “Eastern” Willet: 19, Pine Point, 8/20.
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 24, Walsh Preserve, 8/22.

A nice list of non-shorebird highlights this week also included:

  • At least 12 species of warblers have been in our yard daily this week, with a high count of 15 on the 24th. A Tennessee Warbler that I spotted while conducting our Bird Safe Open House birdwalk on the 19th was our 141st yard species.
  • Common Nighthawks have been on the move all week, with nightly sightings. My high counts included 16 over the Bates Mill in Lewiston on the 19th (with Dan and Renee Klem) and 244 in an hour over Wharton Point in Brunswick on the 23rd.
  • 1 continuing proposed TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X SMALL WHITE EGRET SP(P) HYBRID, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough marsh, 8/20.
  • 3 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, Green Point WMA, Dresden, 8/21 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 ad. Lesser Black-backed Gull, Hill’s Beach, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz)
  • Continuing mid-summer scoter Hat Trick off Biddeford Pool Beach, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz): 2 White-winged Scoter, 2+ Surf Scoters, 75-100 Black Scoters.
  • 2 continuing adult RED-NECKED GREBES, Ocean Avenue, Biddeford Pool, 8/22 (with Luke Seitz).
  • 2 adult SANDHILL CRANES, Mayall Road, Gray/New Gloucester, 8/22.
  • 3 Great Egrets, southbound over the store on 8/24 during our Paul Doiron & Ron Joseph Maine Authors event. Yard Bird #134!