Tag Archives: Monhegan Island

2025 Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Trip Report

*It was a great weekend for warblers, with a tour total of 19 species and a 5-day total of 22 species, including quite a lot of Wilson’s Warblers for the end of May. With 10-20 estimated per day,*
*we were regularly treated to exceptional views, such as this adult male.*

The 2025 Monhegan Migration Spring Weekend was a shocking success. We went from having a weather forecast that made me worry if there would be any migrants to see at all, to an exceptional weekend that was by far the best Memorial Day weekend of birding out here in quite a few years.

Technically, our tour was to begin on Friday with a little morning birding in Port Clyde before boarding our ferry. But it was raining. A lot. Wisely, most folks held out until the ferry meeting time. Unfortunately, that meeting time was delayed by 5 hours when the first two boats of the day were cancelled due to the storm. It was a bona fide late season Nor’Easter and it was raging out there.

We were lucky enough to get spaces on the 3:00 boat, but even luckier that the seas were dropping dramatically. OK, it was far from calm, and while I might not have thought it was “too bad,” others disagreed. But we made it! And the rain had stopped. And we went from 10-14 foot seas to a few waves that may have approached 8 feet. Not pleasant, but more than manageable. Of course, I have to admit that the “worst ferry ride” bar is pretty high for me.

By the time our luggage was organized, we didn’t have a lot of time, but we decided to try and catch up with the continuing truant Harlequin Ducks that had been seen in and around the harbor. Up to 8 had been reported, but when we arrived at the recommended spot, we found 12! While common in winter, “Harlies” are usually long gone by now, so this was a treat (it was also an island bird for me!). We also picked up a 2^nd/3^rd cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull for our troubles. There was even a short break of sunshine!

*Noteworthy for the date, 12 lingering Harlequin Ducks diminished to just one by the end of the weekend*.

By dusk, winds were light northwest and it was still cloudy. Overnight there were some scattered showers, with winds shifting to the west and then going calm. The fog and showers made the radar hard to decipher, but the wind map for offshore offered some hope.

Note how birds who were offshore of southern New England would be pushed out to sea, but then find a tailwind that could theoretically take them right to the Mid-coast of Maine? The Boston radar was very busy, and suggested birds were indeed well offshore to our south come dawn. We had hope.

But our pre-breakfast walk was not very productive. Uh-oh. Scattered showers had returned, and there were very, very few migrants around. We did see the 12 Harlequin Ducks again, but passage migrants were limited to a handful of Blackpoll Warblers and a Wilson’s Warbler. Was this going to be a very slow weekend?

We returned for breakfast at our respective lodges, and the showers stopped. We met at 9:00 and began our next outing. I was concerned. But then, it happened. All of it.

First, a Lark Sparrow was found – very rare in spring – and while I was going to meet the group, I relocated it in the lawn of the Trailing Yew. It wasn’t there when we returned as a group, but we elected to repeat the southern loop in the hopes of encountering it. And encounter it we did, several times, actually, as it worked its way around the lawns feeding on fresh dandelion seeds.

Meanwhile, something else was happening. Suddenly, birds were everywhere! Pocket after pocket of warbler activity was encountered, and every apple tree had birds in it! Small batches of birds giving flight calls overhead were suggestive of birds only now, at mid-morning, arriving on the island. As these birds were a very different mix of species from the last “birdy” day four days ago, according to a fellow guide, these were in fact “new birds” only now, and rather unexpectedly, arriving en masse.

As the afternoon went on, it only got better! There were warblers in every cluster of trees, with lots of Magnolia Warblers and American Redstarts, but overall good diversity. Birds must have been arriving throughout the day and therefore remained active into the evening. Birds were often low, easy to observe, and the repetition allowed for reinforcing study and comparisons.

Not only was today not the forecast wash-out (just a few brief periods of drizzle and a couple of very light showers), but it was simply amazing! While warblers stole the show as expected, and the Lark Sparrow was a harbinger of things to come, our afternoon at Lobster Cove was rather exceptional, too, with two continuing “Eastern” Willets, a close pair of Harlequin Ducks, and 3 feeding Atlantic Puffins. What a way to end a spectacular day! It was like the good ol’ days out here.

By Sunday, the Low was dissipating over New Brunswick, and while the radar showed what may have been a light migration overnight, there wasn’t much happening in the “morning flight” once again. But as we began our birding day, it was actually quite good! While a lot of birds were left over from yesterday’s flight, they were augmented by some new arrivals, or at the very least, new detections. Once again, the birding was better than expected, and by late morning we already had some partial sunshine.

Unlike Saturday, activity slowly died down as the morning went on as usual, but it was just a downright delightful morning in the field. Lots of pockets of activity were still dominated by American Redstarts and Magnolia Warblers, but there were a lot more Blackpoll Warblers and fewer Wilson’s Warblers today. 8-10 Harlequin Ducks continued, and spiffy Bay-breasted Warblers were particularly cooperative. And we had three irregularly fantastic views of Lincoln’s Sparrows throughout the day.

Bay-breasted Warblers were really conspicuous this trip, and we enjoyed great looks at both males and females daily.

*Lincoln’s Sparrows were unusually cooperative.*

A longer walk out to Burnt Head and a check of the island’s interior in the afternoon found some of the birds that had melted away from the edges, while an uncharacteristically skulky Great-crested Flycatcher gave us a jolt of excitement until finally revealing itself.

With the storm pulling away, light northwesterly winds and mostly cloudy skies dominated the overnight Sunday into Monday, and therefore there was little or no migration overnight, and therefore almost nothing in the Morning Flight. However, it also meant that most birds didn’t leave. And while slower than the last two days, it was still decent, good views of fun species were to be had, and the sun came out for good.

Magnolia Warblers, American Redstarts, and Blackpoll Warblers continued to dominate, along with the ubiquitous Yellow Warblers. Flycatchers were up, offering ample opportunity for instruction – and for eyes to glaze over. Morning highlights ranged from a particularly good tutelage from a Willow Flycatcher, a raft of 50 Surf Scoters offshore, and a really amazing Common Nighthawk repeatedly flying low over our heads and foraging over the island as noon approached.

It was warm and sunny, and with a sea breeze pushing birds out of the edges and deeper into cover, we decided to enjoy more of the island with a visit to the lighthouse grounds and a stroll deep into the spruce woods. In addition to building our list with island residents like Golden-crowned Kinglet and breeding species such as more Black-throated Green Warblers on territory, we enjoyed the plantlife of the Acadian habitat and a healthy dose of phytoncides. And in between, the occasional pocket of migrant warbler activity to bring us back to birding.

Our tour concluded with an impressive 91 total species, but I admit to being a little frustrated by having to give up with 19 species of warblers…20 sounds so much better! But given the unexpected big arrival on Saturday, and the minimal rain and wind after Friday, the tour was truly an incredibly success, far exceeded expectations, and did live up to what Monhegan birding legends are made of.

*Last birders standing on the last afternoon of the tour.*

*Staring at Eastern Egg Rock, attempting to will THE Tufted Puffin over to us.*

Then, as per usual, Jeannette – who joined us late on Sunday – and I enjoyed a day off together on the island on Tuesday. Unlike the magically-appearing flight on Saturday, this was a more predictable great morning. A moderate to strong flight overnight lit up the radar on light southwesterly to west winds. That put a lot of birds in the Gulf of Maine come dawn, and the morning flight was hoppin!

Consisting mostly of Blackpoll Warblers, American Redstarts, and Magnolia Warblers, it was quite diverse overall. A few “new” species included a Pine Siskin and a Wood Duck, and 3 Red-breasted Mergansers were a fun Morning Flight fly-by.

Before and after breakfast, the birding was excellent. It was the best day by far in volume, but a lot of the birds were “on the move” and departing the island throughout the morning. But there was more of pretty much every migrant species, save for Wilson’s Warblers in particular. Birds weren’t held low by clouds and drizzle, or exhaustion, so it wasn’t as mind-blowing as Saturday, even with more birds around overall.

*There were a lot more flycatchers around today, including quite a few Eastern Wood-Pewees.*

It was also getting warm on a perfectly sunny sky, and birds took to the shadows earlier than in days past; the hotspots got much quieter by late morning with the increasing seabreeze. Nonetheless, pockets of activity continued right up through lunchtime.

*The veggie burger bahn mi from The Bait Bag.*

We rapidly added to our collective weekend list (which do not count for our tour total, of course), including finally reaching 20 species of warblers with an uncommon-out-here Pine Warbler. We then eclipsed it with a stunning male Mourning Warbler, and finally in the afternoon, picked up an Ovenbird for our 22^nd and final species of warbler. Locally-rare Hairy Woodpecker, a truant Long-tailed Duck, at least one continuing Harlequin Duck, and we found my first Nelson’s Sparrow of the year at Lobster Cove. We even got a little hike in to try and burn a few of the extra calories we consumed from all of the islands’ scrumptious meals. And, anytime we stopped at a favorable looking patch of vegetation, migrants would appear, everywhere we went. It’s always tough to leave, but we at least went out with a bang!

So back here in the Real World now, we can reflect on this past weekend as one that we will most surely always remember!

Here is the trip list four the five-day tour. I didn’t bother including the first day though, but it did net us a Lesser Black-backed Gull that we didn’t see any other day.

* = seen from ferry only.

Species	5/24	5/25	5/26	5/27 (with Jeannette) *ferry ride only
Canada Goose	0	2	4	2
Wood Duck	0	0	0	1
Mallard	15	15	x	x
Common Eider	x	x	x	x
HARLEQUIN DUCK	12	10	0	1
White-winged Scoter	0	0	0	2
Surf Scoter	0	0	50	1
Black Scoter	0	0	0	30*
Long-tailed Duck	2	0	0	1
Red-breasted Merganser	0	0	0	3
Ring-necked Pheasant	x	x	x	x
Mourning Dove	6	8	10	8
Common Nighthawk	0	0	1	0
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	3	4	5	4
Virginia Rail	0	1	1	1
WILLET	2	0	0	0
Spotted Sandpiper	0	0	0	2
Black Guillemot	x	x	x	x
ATLANTIC PUFFIN	3	0	0	0
Laughing Gull	5	6	10	6
Herring Gull	x	x	x	x
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL	1 (5/23)	0	0	0
Great Black-backed Gull	x	x	x	x
Common Tern	0	0	0	5*
Common Loon	2	3	3	1
Red-throated Loon	0	0	0	1
Northern Gannet	6	2	1	2*
Double-crested Cormorant	x	x	x	x
Great Cormorant	0	0	0	1*
SNOWY EGRET	0	1	0	1
Great Blue Heron	0	0	1	0
Osprey	0	1	2	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	2	2	3	3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	0	0	1	0
Downy Woodpecker	1	0	0	0
HAIRY WOODPECKER	0	0	0	1
Northern Flicker	1	2	2	1
American Kestrel	0	0	0	1
Merlin	1	1	0	0
GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER	0	1	0	0
Eastern Kingbird	3	1	2	2
Eastern Wood-Pewee	4	2	4	20
Alder Flycatcher	0	2	2	2
“Traill’s” Flycatcher	0	0	1	3
Willow Flycatcher	0	0	2	2
Least Flycatcher	2	2	10	12
Philadelphia Vireo	1	0	0	0
Red-eyed Vireo	6	5	4	30
Blue Jay	4	2	1	1
American Crow	2	2	4	4
Common Raven	2	2	2	2
Black-capped Chickadee	x	x	x	x
Tree Swallow	1	1	2	2
Barn Swallow	1	1	3	6
Golden-crowned Kinglet	0	2	2	1
Cedar Waxwing	80	60	60	150
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1	2	4	6
Carolina Wren	2	4	3	3
House Wren	2	2	1	2
Gray Catbird	x	x	x	x
Brown Thrasher	0	1	1	1
European Starling	x	x	x	x
Eastern Bluebird	0	2	0	1
Swainson’s Thrush	1	3	3	8
American Robin	10	10	x	8
Purple Finch	1	1	0	1
Pine Siskin	0	0	0	1
American Goldfinch	10	10	12	10
LARK SPARROW	1	0	0	0
Chipping Sparrow	2	0	0	0
White-crowned Sparrow	0	1	1	1
White-throated Sparrow	1	2	1	1
NELSON’S SPARROW	0	0	0	1
Savannah Sparrow	4	4	3	2
Song Sparrow	x	X	x	x
Lincoln’s Sparrow	0	3	3	10
Bobolink	3	4	1	3
Baltimore Oriole	2	2	3	2
Red-winged Blackbird	x	x	x	x
Common Grackle	x	x	x	x
Ovenbird	0	0	0	1
Northern Waterthrush	1	1	1	10
Black-and-white Warbler	12	10	8	15
Tennessee Warbler	2	2	6	10
Nashville Warbler	0	1	1	4
MOURNING WARBLER	0	0	0	1
Common Yellowthroat	20	20	x	x
American Redstart	55	45	40	80
Cape May Warbler	3	4	2	6
Northern Parula	15	15	45	40
Magnolia Warbler	50	45	40	70
Bay-breasted Warbler	8	10	3	15
Blackburnian Warbler	4	4	3	4
Yellow Warbler	35	30	25	x
Chestnut-sided Warbler	6	6	10	20
Blackpoll Warbler	15	35	55	100
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	1	2	6
Pine Warbler	0	0	0	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	3	2	0	1
Black-throated Green Warbler	10	15	20	15
Canada Warbler	1	0	0	0
Wilson’s Warbler	20	15	10	10
Scarlet Tanager	1	1	1	1
Northern Cardinal	6	10	8	6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	3	3	3	2

Day Total	72	75	73	92
Warbler Day Total	18	18	17	21

Trip Total	91	Weekend Total inc. Tuesday	106
Warbler Trip Total	19	Warbler total inc, Tuesday	22

The above birds follow the “guide plus one” rule, meaning both me and at least one client need to see the bird for it to go onto the list. This year, the only two birds I saw without the group that we didn’t later encounter was a fly-by Belted Kingfisher and an American Woodcock at dusk, both on the the 24th, for a total of 91 with the group and a 5-day tally of a respectable 106 species.

In other words, it was a great weekend!

Recent Highlights, 5/11– 5/17/2024

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John Lorenc and I finally caught up with this continuing WHITE-WINGED DOVE at Donna Cundy’s feeders on Monhegan Island in our brief visit on the 17^th. It appeared minutes after we walked away for the” last time,” but we were alerted by friends and raced back. My photos have a twig in front of that beautiful powder blue eyering, so I’m borrowing Kristen’s photo.

My observations of note over the past seven days also included:

15 species of warblers, led by only about 20 Black-and-white Warblers and about 15 Northern Parulas, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).

1-2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).

15 species of warblers, led by 9 Ovenbirds and 7 American Redstarts, our property in Durham, 5/13.

1 Louisiana Waterthrush, Suckfish Brook Conservation Area, Falmouth, 5/13 (with Jeannette).

18 species of warblers (FOY), led by 40+ Yellow-rumped and 13 Common Yellowthroats, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/14 (with Jeannette).

15 species of warblers, led by 10+ each of Ovenbirds and Black-throated Green Warblers, our property in Durham, 5/14.

15 species of warblers, led by 19 Common Yellowthroats and 10 Ovenbirds, Florida Lake Park, 5/15.

5 Red Crossbills, around the store’s yard, 5/15. More impressive was the 23 that Jeannette had fly over early in the day on the 18^th.

A very productive ferry crossing from Port Clyde to Monhegan on 5/17 included 4-6 ATLANTIC PUFFINS (FOY), a group of 6 (or possibly 9) RED-NECKED PHALAROPES (FOY), 6 Black Scoters, several Long-tailed Ducks, etc. (with John Lorenc, Jess Bishop, Ron Joseph, Kristen Lindquist, Bill Thompson, et al). On the trip back, John and I had a total of 10 ATLANTIC PUFFINS and more Long-tailed Ducks.

1 continuing WHITE-WINGED DOVE (photo above) and 1 female-type SUMMER TANAGER, Monhegan Island, 5/17 (with John Lorenc).

Additional personal first-of-years this week also included:

1 Blackpoll Warbler, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
1 Red-eyed Vireo, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
1 House Wren, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/12 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
2 Bay-breasted Warblers, Florida Lake Park, 5/14 (with Jeannette).
2 Eastern Wood-Pewees, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/16.
4 Laughing Gull, ferry from Port Clyde to Monhegan, 5/17 (with John Lorenc).
4+ Indigo Buntings, Monhegan Island, 5/17 (with John Lorenc).

It was a great week of birding on our Durham property this week, including local breeding birds on territory often put on a show. Jeannette photographed this Yellow Warbler on our property on the 15^th, for example.

Tours and Events:

There will not be a Saturday Morning Birdwalk on 5/25 as I’ll be on Monhegan with our tour group.

2024 Down East Adventures Birding Tour Reports

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Freeport Wild Bird Supply is very excited to partner with Down East Magazine’s Down East Adventures for the fourth year of offering exclusive birding workshops focused on gaining greater knowledge and field skills in a focused group of seasonally accessible birds. Focused on skill-builder rather than list-building, there will be plenty of “life birds,” but also more knowledge and education about birds, habitats, birding, and much more about the natural world. We’re happy to bring back the complete slate of tours from our 2023 season.

The full list and descriptions, along with registration information, for all of our upcoming tours (and an outline of 2025 options) can be found here. At the conclusion of each tour, I’ll post the trip report here.

Winter Waterbirds Workshop, January 14^t^h.

I mean, really, what’s better than a Harlequin Duck?

For the second year in a row, very strong winds greeted us in the morning. So the game of the day was finding sheltered coves and respites from the wind. Therefore, we adjusted our itinerary accordingly, making a further adjustment based on parking lot closures from storm damage.

While we had high hopes of finding alcids that were blown closer to shore and were seeking refuge after the strong storm of the previous day, we didn’t see a single one – not even a Black Guillemot! However, we did see just about every other regularly occurring winter waterbird, from Red-necked and Horned Grebes to Buffleheads and Long-tailed Ducks Not surprisingly, Harlequin Ducks were the star of the show, with about 10 along Marginal Way in Oqunguit and abut 20 at The Nubble. Large rafts of Black Scoters were seen at several locations, with Surf and White-winged Scoters seen nearby for careful study.

We had a lot of Common Loons today, and we practiced learning their shape and size to separate them from other waterbirds at any range. Great Cormorants at The Nubble were nice to see, and we did a little introduction to gull identification with a mixed flock at Short Sands Beach.

Finally, a stop at the York Duck Pond introduced us to another group of waterbirds: dabbling ducks. There, we had close studies of Mallards, American Black Ducks, and hybrids thereof. Practicing our “feather birding” we used the hybrids of an example of what to look for beyond the general impression of size and shape we were focused on throughout much of the day. The icing on the cake was the hen American Wigeon that has been here all winter – you may never see one as close and as well as that again! Enjoying the fine black detailing on the steely blue bill was a highlight for me.

Spring Migrant Songbird Workshop, May 12^th.

Honestly, I am not sure if we could have dialed up a more productive morning for an instructional workshop designed for learning about migrants – from identification to natural history, habitat to visible migration. “Slow” by mid-May standards, we eventually tallied 15 species of warblers (including a few “heard only”), but we had absolutely remarkable “quality time” with so many of the species we did encounter today.

We were greeted by a Great-crested Flycatcher and finished with Maine’s most confiding Great Egret. In between, a wide range of species included an uncommon Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a family of Wood Ducks. I particularly enjoyed the quality time spent with a pair of Black-capped Chickadees who were busy gathering moss for their nest lining.

But it was the Neotropical migrants who were the stars of the show, as predicted and hoped for. My first Red-eyed Vireo of the spring was uncharacteristically low and cooperative, but the single early-ish Blackpoll Warbler was most definitely not. However, almost every other warbler was just shockingly well seen. In one willow thicket, we watched – often without binoculars and often within 10-15 feet of us and below eye-level – two each of stunning Magnolia Warblers, gorgeous Northern Parulas, charismatic Common Yellowthroats, and distinctive Chestnut-sided Warblers. A short distance down the trail, our patience with Ovenbirds was rewarded with one walking out into the open a short distance ahead.

In between bird sightings, we discussed habitat, NEXRAD radar, and the big picture of what we were and were not seeing today and why. We noted how American Crows mobbed a Red-tailed Hawk but barely bothered to call at the sight of a less-threatening Broad-winged Hawk. OK, fine, those aren’t songbirds, but we learned a lot from them anyway.

More birds of more species can and will be seen under different conditions at Evergreen Cemetery and similar urban green spaces as encountered today, but we would be hard pressed to see so many birds so well, for prolonged periods of time to allow for thorough study. While we encountered one wave of migrants all moving together, which can easily become frustrating when getting started, many of birds came one or two at a time allowing for in-depth observation -exactly want we want in a songbird workshop!

Not a songbird, but this Great Egret that frequents the ponds here also poses in interesting places.

Shorebird Workshop, August 15^th.

Nothing wrong with starting out with the easy ones, like dapper Ruddy Turnstones!

Recent rainfall, approaching thunderstorms, and current observations all combined to make me throw our itinerary out the window this day. Sometimes audibles work…and today, it most definitely did.

While I prefer to start with smaller groups of birds so as not to overwhelm, we took advantage of the lovely morning and high tide to soak in an estimated 2000 shorebirds at our first stop! Biddeford Pool Beach did not disappoint, and we began our lessons with the basics: shorebird vs everything else, plover vs sandpiper, and eventually each species. We compared Semipalmated Sandpipers (~1750 individuals) and Semipalmated Plovers (about 200 individuals), then teased out several White-rumped Sandpipers from the masses. We noticed how white Sanderlings look, and what little bulldozers the distinctive Ruddy Turnstone can be. Spotted Sandpipers nicely demonstrated their shallow short-distance flight wingbeats as well.

Nearby Great Pond allowed us to compare Semipalmated Sandpipers vs Least Sandpipers at nearly arm’s length, while giving us better looks at a couple of Spotted Sandpipers. A single Lesser Yellowlegs was also added to the list.

By using habitat cues and tide charts, we maximize our shorebirding productivity. By studying birds near (like these side-by-side Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers) and far, we can learn to quickly recognize most shorebirds, most of the time, using a range of tools that we worked on together throughout the day.

Next up was Hill’s Beach, on the prime outgoing tide. Unfortunately, thunderstorms were rapidly approaching, and after a short check (more Sanderlings and a growing number of Semipalmated Sandpipers and Plovers), we decided to play it safe, return to the cars, and head into Saco for lunch. Good thing, too, as while we were eating, it was pouring outside!

White-rumped Sandpiper.

Returning to the field, we poked around the edges of Scarborough Marsh as we waited for the tide to begin rolling back in and for the rain to finally come to a stop. After a 10-minute rain delay in the cars while we waited out the last of it, we returned to the field to take in the flats of Pine Point. Good looks at Black-bellied Plovers (75+) allowed us to compare their shape, size, and feeding style to the estimated 300 Semipalmated Plovers that were here. Another 1200 or so Semipalmated Sandpipers contained at least a dozen White-rumped Sandpipers, which we practiced sorting out at a distance using shape and size, especially those long primaries. 14 Willet were new for our list, and the 90’s steroid-era-baseball-players of the greater Tringa family nicely contrasted with 4 slim Lesser Yellowlegs that alighted with some of them. Four not-so-short-billed Short-billed Dowitchers were our 11^th species of shorebird of the day. And finally, as we continued to grow and practice our shorebird identification toolkit, we also took note of some non-shorebirds, such as Common Terns and a variety of gulls which today included 2 very-uncommon Lesser Black-backed Gulls!

Monhegan Birding Workshop, September 13^th – 15^th.

Cedar Waxwings were often with us, alighting on trees, eating native fruits, and avoiding marauding Merlins. Few things bring as much pleasure to the birding day as a “Waxwing Christmas Tree.”

Arriving on a glass-calm sea on Friday the 13^th, luck was most definitely with us today and the entire weekend. We were greeted at the dock by a darting Merlin, a sign of things to come. After checking in and a relaxed lunch, we began our workshopping. While overall songbird activity was slow, we enjoyed plants, butterflies, and the weather as we wandered around and spotted birds here and there: a Northern Waterthrush in an isolated bush in a yard, a female Black-throated Blue Warbler in the woods, and lots of Cedar Waxwings in small flocks, overhead and landing in trees. Merlins continued to perform, and several Peregrine Falcons and Sharp-shinned Hawks joined the show, although it did not help us detect skulking warblers!

A late afternoon walk to Burnt Head to take in the cliffs and sample the habitat of the island’s interior produced a 1^st-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull, but more importantly perhaps, allowed us to enjoy such a beautiful day on the island for mid-September.

On Saturday morning, we stepped off the porch at the Monhegan House, and it was ON. A great Morning Flight (morning redetermined migration) was underway, with dozens upon dozens of warblers zipping overhead as the sun slowly rose. As we did a short stroll to some favored early-morning micro-habitats, we ground-truthed the morning flight, finding that Cape May Warblers were indeed the dominant migrant of the morning. In fact, we often had 3 or 4 (as many as 5 in one tree) in the top of nearly every spruce we checked, and the entire range of plumages was on display. Northern Parulas were also numerous, but we estimated about 3 of every 5 warblers we encountered this morning were Cape May!

It was such a great morning it was hard to come inside to break for breakfast. Or so one thinks until they have had the Monhegan House Breakfast…and this was just the final of three courses!

Although the day’s activity peaked in the morning as many of the birds in Morning Flight continued on back to the mainland with a light northwest wind becoming northeasterly by noon, we continued to find pockets of activity and mixed-species foraging flocks throughout the day. There were a few Eastern Kingbirds and Eastern Wood-Pewees scattered about, often giving very good looks, and we had a nice mixed vireo flock that included 2 Philadelphia Vireos, 1 Blue-headed Vireo, and several Red-eyed Vireos for nice comparison. Northern Harriers put on a performance for us in the late afternoon over the marsh.

While our afternoon walk through the woods to the lighthouse was as much for pleasure and learning about habitats as it was for birds, the result was the discovery of a rare Lark Sparrow! We covered a lot of ground today, and definitely earned our delicious dinner. Before that, however, we had a little workshopping session to recap the day and compare what we saw (morning flight) with what the overnight radar image had suggested.

One of the new migration skills we learned was how to monitor and plan your birding accordingly by looking at NEXRAD weather radar. For comparison, here are the 1am images from Saturday and Sunday morning, respectively, showing the greater density of birds in the air and offshore on Saturday morning – and confirmed by our morning flight observations come sunrise.

Another clear and calm night resulted in a very strong flight of birds, but with fewer birds drifting offshore, the morning flight was slower than Saturday, as we forecast. However, there were plenty of new birds around, and we repeatedly saw birds we had not yet seen and many rather “fun” species. It started with a drift-vagrant Dickcissel in Morning Flight, followed by a Whimbrel flying around. A likely Clay-colored Sparrow disappeared before we could confirm it in poor light, but warblers such as Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, and Wilson’s were more confiding. Unexpected offshore and always a surprise on Monhegan, an immature Cooper’s Hawk flew over us on our way to lunch.

There was a noticeable turnover in species, with more sparrows and many fewer Cape May Warblers. We had some unusually cooperative Lincoln’s Sparrows to study, such as this one that perched in a bush with a Song Sparrow for comparison (and later, the same bush held a Swamp Sparrow next to a Song for further study of the entire genus!).

Since we were focused on learning bird identification and the nuances of migration’s ebbs and flows (and mechanisms thereof), we did not keep a running bird list. We did count our warbler tally and finished the trip with a very respectable 17 species of warblers! We found a couple of “good birds” (and jokingly disparaged the use of the descriptor) for ourselves and ate way too much good food. We learned a bunch about migration, plants, birds, and insects, and a little about the island. So instead of trying to add one more bird to the non-existent list, we brought the tour – and the 2024 Down East Adventures Birding tours season to a close with lunch and a toast at the brewery!

2023 Monhegan Spring Migration Tour Report

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Not surprisingly for the end of May, Blackpoll Warblers were the dominate migrant on Monhegan this weekend. However, we never tired of seeing both males (above) and females (below) so well each and every day.

A point-blank Bay-breasted Warbler. Up close and personal Magnolia Warblers, Northern Parulas, and 9 other species of warblers including more Blackpoll Warblers than we knew what to do with…and we hadn’t even made it up the hill of Dock Road yet!

In other words, our 2023 Spring Monhegan Migration Weekend tour got off to a great start as we really hit the ground running. Then, a calling Evening Grosbeak. A fly-by Black-billed Cuckoo…more. Hmm… it was time to check in, and happily, shed a few layers.

After lunch, the excellent birding continued, with highlights including a flock of 10 Bay-breasted Warblers, a spiffy male Orchard Oriole, and great looks at a Philadelphia Vireo. By day’s end, we had 59 species including 13 species of warblers – not bad for a mid-morning arrival!

Yellow Warblers (above) and Common Yellowthroats (below) were common and conspicuous in and around town and other scrubby environs as expected.

It was cool and clear on Saturday morning, and the overnight radar image was a little ambiguous. Did the light westerly wind overnight push birds offshore as they approached from the south, or was that all just pollen and smoke haze in the atmosphere? However, the radar return did suggest birds offshore in the early morning, so we were excited to find out. Afterall, I did not expect yesterday to be so good, and it was excellent.

While only a few warblers were overhead by the time we assembled around the coffee pot at 6:30, it took a while for us to leave the spruces behind the Trailing Yew, as we had a nice pocket of warblers and good early-morning activity. We teased out a Blackburnian Warbler – the only one of the weekend, and the 3 White-winged Crossbills that have been on the island paid us a visit. Later in the morning, we caught up with the stunning male Dickcissel that has been around for a while, and were among the first to see a pair of recently-arrived House Finches (a surprising rarity on the island!). We also found a flock of 10 tardy White-winged Scoters and a total of 6 Surf Scoters that briefly visited Deadman’s Cove.

After lunch, we had the female/immature Summer Tanager, a female Orchard Oriole, found an Olive-sided Flycatcher, and while the afternoon was overall rather quiet, we had lots of great studies of a variety of birds, especially Blackpoll Warblers.

Although far from one of our best birding days on the island, it was noteworthy how well we saw just about everything. Even with a full group, birds were overwhelmingly cooperative, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the birding…and another beautiful day of weather!

Many of our common warblers were easy to see, photograph, and enjoy throughout the weekend, such as this Northern Parula (above) and Black-and-white Warbler (below).

Saturday night into Sunday morning saw another ambiguous radar image, but the overall small number of new arrivals suggested that most of the return was something other than birds this day.

That being said, we started the day with one of the birds of the trip when I nearly spit out my coffee when I realized that flock of cormorants that looked strange was actually a flock of 9 Glossy Ibis. They circled the town, looked to be pondering the town marsh, and then soared up high and over Lighthouse Hill. Incredibly rare for the island, these were a new “island bird” for me, and we felt very fortunate that we were one of the only birders (I believe only one other birder saw them at all) on the island that got to see them. The “lingering around the coffee pot at the Yew” strikes again!

As expected, it was relatively slow overall, but even after the excitement of the ibis, we continued to enjoy ourselves. We had great looks at a lot of things all morning, including common warblers like American Redstarts and oodles of Blackpolls. We had our best looks yet of feeding Red Crossbills – they were all over the island this spring! – spotted a Peregrine Falcon, and continued to marvel at the growing flock of swirling Blue Jays contemplating a trip back to the mainland.

Ring-necked Pheasants kept us entertained as always, however.

After breakfast, we had another good find when a Purple Martin flew over us, and a bigger flock yet of Red Crossbills entertained us for a while. Jeannette arrived and joined the group to help carry my scope and to take photographs for this trip report, as well as help us find more birds.

Juvenile Red Crossbill.

It was warm and fairly slow, so I needed all the help I could get. Regardless, we added species to our trip list here and there in the afternoon, with quality surpassing quantity. We visited the long-staying 1^st year male Blue Grosbeak that has taken up residence at Lobster Cove, where, unlike most Blue Grosbeaks, it has taken to flycatching for seaweed flies in the wrack. Why it is doing this no one knows, but it was a fascinating behavior to watch. Birds and birding on Monhegan never cease to amaze!

The Blue Grosbeak.

A little later, we found an immature Broad-winged Hawk, or again, it found us, as it passed right over us as we poked around the Underhill Trail to find some birds in the shade and in cover. It was often a struggle to find birds this afternoon, and it was downright hot! But I heard very few complaints compared to the slow days when it’s 45-degrees, windy, and raining!

We spent a lot of quality time observing birds today, getting to know their behavior and natural history, such as these courting Cedar Waxwings.

While also practicing our field ID skills, such as Eastern Wood-Pewee.

And enjoyed whatever warblers we did encounter, including this male Black-throated Green Warbler.

Monday saw even further reduced activity, with a very summer-like feel to the birding. The migrant flock of Blue Jays built up to at least 46, a Pine Siskin must have just arrived, and some of us even spotted the Virginia Rail! While passage migrants were few – almost all Blackpoll Warblers – we still had a great day of birding thanks to continued great views of most of what we were finding. There was a Northern Parula nest that a friend found for us to marvel at, and we had quality time once again with a family group of Red Crossbills. Watching them, especially the juveniles, eating buds and cones of Red Spruce at close enough distance to see if they were “righties” or “lefties” was memorable, and more than worth the visit. We had the male Orchard Oriole again, and paid the Blue Grosbeak another lengthy visit.

We took some time to scan the skies over the marsh while also enjoying “Lefty,” the Red-winged Blackbird with white outer primaries on only his left wing. He’s back for the second year.

One of the few birds we missed as a group all weekend was a long-staying but frustrating Snowy Egret that never seemed to stay in the same place long. It was reported at the Ice Pond while we were having breakfast, and Jeannette and I raced down to see it. The “racing” part after the new and ample breakfast buffet at the Trailing Yew may not have been the best decision, however, we got the bird! It was another island bird for me (#226) and I am glad I made the decision to skip the break to chase it, as it was long gone by the time our group arrived at the Ice Pond. I always like to get those chases out of my system before making a bad leadership decision and marching people across the island for a bird that only I cared about! (Since they are locally common on the mainland, only an island-lister cares about such silliness).

As the afternoon wore on, the group slowly moseyed away from the Blue Grosbeak-evolving-into-a-flycatcher and made our way back to town to catch the last ferries of the weekend, bringing the tour to a close.

A friend found a Northern Parula nest under construction that we took time to marvel at. Here, the female brings some more material in to line the nest, which is nestled in a woven basket inside of large clumps of down-hanging Old Man’s Bear lichen.

However, as usual, Jeannette and I stayed around for another 24 hours to have a day off together and with friends. Leaving the brewery with one friend, I found a male Eastern Bluebird- an odd “new bird” for the date. Where the heck has he been or where did he just come from? Another Monhegan bird mystery…their migration ended a month ago.

Later, as we walked back from dinner with other friends, we heard at least three displaying American Woodcocks. The sunset was quite the stunner, too.

I wasn’t upset to not have a group on Monday, because my goodness, it was slow! I think what was left of the passage migrants cleared out overnight, and little if nothing came in. There were a few Blackpolls here and there, and maybe a few more American Redstarts than usual in the summer, but in and around town, that was about all.

So Jeannette and I decided to take a longer hike and check some oft-productive-but-less-often-birded areas. In doing so, we found a Field Sparrow on Horn Hill, and had a singing Yellow-bellied Flycatcher between Burnt Head and White Head. An adult male Sharp-shinned Hawk was a surprise – was it breeding here? – and a visit into the shaded woods added Winter Wren and Swainson’s Thrush to our weekend list.

We got excited when we saw a gray-backed, white-bellied flycatcher over at Gull Pond, but alas, it had the expected short, not-forked tail that we were hoping for!

Not including the 7 species Jeannette and I saw between 3:00 on Monday and when we departed at 3:15 on Tuesday, the tour list for the 12th annual Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend ended up a goodly 90 total species, despite only 15 species of warblers. The overall count was better than our last two tours, but still below our long-term average. But I cannot recall four (and five) days of simply gorgeous and warm weather on any of our prior tours! While the benign weather of late reduced the volume of migrants yet to pass through, and allowed many recent migrants to pass unimpeded overhead, I was pleasantly surprised by the final tally. It was also a high-quality list, with lots of “good” birds not seen by many in Maine away from the island. Oh, and my two island birds were nice, too!

Blue Jays are not the biggest feeder bird on this island!

Even our most common and familiar birds present speciaal photographic opportunities out here!

Species	5/26	5/27	5/28	5/29
Mallard	x	10	10	8
Mallard x American Black Duck	1	0	0	0
Common Eider	x	x	x	x
White-winged Scoter	0	10	0	0
Surf Scoter	0	6	0	0
Ring-necked Pheasant	x	6	6	5
Mourning Dove	8	10	8	10
Black-billed Cuckoo	1	0	0	0
Chimney Swift	0	0	1	0
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	6	4	3	1
Virginia Rail	h.o	h.o	1	1
Semipalmated Sandpiper	0	0	1	0
Greater Yellowlegs	0	1	0	0
Black Guillemot	20	30	x	20
Laughing Gull	6*	2	1	6
Herring Gull	x	x	x	x
Great Black-backed Gull	x	x	x	x
Common Tern	1 + 5*	0	0	0
Northern Gannet	0	0	0	1
Red-throated Loon	0	1	0	0
Common Loon	3*	1	0	0
Double-crested Cormorant	x	x	x	x
Great Blue Heron	0	0	1	3
SNOWY EGRET	0	0	0	1**
GLOSSY IBIS	0	0	9	0
Bald Eagle	2	1	0	0
Osprey	0	3	2	2
Red-bellied Woodpecker	0	0	1	0
Merlin	2	2	1	0
Peregrin Falcon	0	0	1	0
Eastern Kingbird	0	0	2	2
Olive-sided Flycatcher	0	1	0	0
Eastern Wood-Pewee	2	2	2	2
“Traill’s” Flycatcher	2	0	1	0
Least Flycatcher	2	1	1	0
Eastern Phoebe	1	1	1	1
Philadelphia Vireo	1	1	0	0
Red-eyed Vireo	6	8	4	4
Blue Jay	x	48	47	52
American Crow	x	4	6	x
Common Raven	0	1	1	0
Black-capped Chickadee	x	x	x	x
Tree Swallow	0	2	2	2
PURPLE MARTIN	0	0	1	0
Barn Swallow	1	0	1	1
Golden-crowned Kinglet	0	0	1	0
Cedar Waxwing	30	50	40	30
White-breasted Nuthatch	0	1	1	1
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1	0	0	0
Carolina Wren	3 h.o.	4	4	3
Gray Catbird	x	x	x	x
European Starling	x	x	x	x
American Robin	x	x	x	x
HOUSE FINCH	0	0	2	2
Purple Finch	0	1	2	2
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL	0	3	3	0
RED CROSSBILL	0	2	24	20
Pine Siskin	0	0	0	1
American Goldfinch	12	10	12	12
Chipping Sparrow	0	0	1	1-2
White-throated Sparrow	2	2	2	0
Savannah Sparrow	3	0	1	0
Song Sparrow	10	X	x	x
Lincoln’s Sparrow	0	1	1	0
Bobolink	1	1	0	0
ORCHARD ORIOLE	1	1	0	2
Baltimore Oriole	1	4	3	3
Red-winged Blackbird	x	x	x	x
Common Grackle	x	x	x	x
Northern Waterthrush	0	0	1	0
Black-and-white Warbler	3	4	4	3
Tennessee Warbler	8	4	3	0
Common Yellowthroat	x	8	x	x
American Redstart	5	25	16	8
Cape May Warbler	1	0	0	0
Northern Parula	15	10	12	12
Magnolia Warbler	10	8	6	8
Bay-breasted Warbler	11	3	0	2
Blackburnian Warbler	0	1	0	0
Yellow Warbler	10	20	15	15
Chestnut-sided Warbler	2	1	1	1
Blackpoll Warbler	25	60	25	20
Black-throated Green Warbler	1	1	3	1
Wilson’s Warbler	2	2	2	0
SUMMER TANAGER	0	1	0	0
Scarlet Tanager	0	1	0	0
Northern Cardinal	x	x	x	x
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	3	2	2	0
Indigo Bunting	0	1	1	0
BLUE GROSBEAK	0	0	1	1
DICKCISSEL	0	1	1	0

Day Total	60	66	69	54
Warbler Day Total	13	13	12	10

Trip Total	90
Warbler Trip Total	15

Here is the trip list four the four-day tour. * = seen from ferry only. **=not seen with tour group.

2023 Down East Adventures Birding Tours.

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Freeport Wild Bird Supply is very excited to partner with Down East Magazine’s Down East Adventures for our third year. In 2023, we are expanding our offerings to include two exclusive overnight trips, along with our popular ½- and whole-day targeted workshops. Focused on skill-builder rather than list-building, there will be plenty of “life birds,” but also more knowledge and education about birds, habitats, birding, and much more about the natural world.

The full list of upcoming tours can be found here. At the conclusion of each tour, I’ll post the trip report here.

Winter Waterbirds Workshop, January 15.

This Purple Sandpiper was about as cooperative as it gets for us at Sohier Park in York. Later, it was joined by its friends (photo below). This is really a lovely shorebird when viewed as well and as close as we experienced.

Extremely strong winds and very high seas presented a challenge as we sought out wintering waterbirds along the southern York County Coast. We worked hard to find sheltered water where we could observe birds well, but when we did find that secluded cove, peninsula lee, or rivermouth, we were treated to incredible looks at many of the birds we had hoped for.

We looked down on Red-breasted Mergansers at Perkin’s Cove, and you’ll never be closer to a Common Loon than we were at the Ogunquit Rivermouth. We checked a few more locations than I usually need to on this tour, but our most productive spot was the southern shoreline of Sohier Park at The Nubble. There, we were treated to close views of Black and White-winged Scoters, Harlequin Ducks, and a most-cooperative flock of Purple Sandpipers. We then ended the day at hidden Abbott’s Pond, where we enjoyed a break for the wind, close comparisons to study details between Mallards, American Black Ducks, and hybrids thereof.

Meanwhile, a group of 8 or so Black-legged Kittiwakes were feeding off of Short Sands Beach, and a stunning adult Iceland Gull passed by at The Nubble. Unfortunately, the seas were just a little too rough to find any alcids today, but we knew they were out there!

Spring Migrant Songbirds Workshop, May 14.

This stunning Blackburnian Warbler nicely demonstrated the value of blooming oak trees for seeing warblers in the middle of May.

Four hours later we had not left Evergreen Cemetery in Portland…a very good sign. There was just no need to move along, the birds kept coming to us. In the end we tallied a respectable 16 species of warblers, even though growing a list was not our goal. What made this workshop successful, however, was how well we saw just about all of the warblers and other songbird migrants throughout the morning.

Warblers were a highlight of course, including repeated quality time with favorites such as American Redstart and Black-and-white Warblers, the two most plentiful migrants this morning. We also enjoyed great looks at several Chestnut-sided Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, and Northern Parulas, with fantastic studies of Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and Wilson’s Warbler. We also saw two newly-arrived Tennessee Warblers which aren’t always easy to get looks at. There was a good amount of song this morning, so we had chances to listen and learn many of these species as well.

Shortly after hearing a Red-eyed Vireo and my describing it as “high up and often hard to see,” we found one in the lower branches of a nearby oak, and watched it sing, forage, and do all things vireo for almost 10 minutes! Likewise, after hearing distant Ovenbirds, we had two walking around right in front of us! Beginning with a view of a Veery on the ground in the open, we saw it again as the walk ended, only a few feet in front of us for another great view and chance to observe and study.

During the morning, we chatted about migration, habitat, and the process of building the necessary toolkit to build birding skills. Finishing the walk with a quick overview of some references (we had too many birds to leave much time for anything more), we recapped a very productive and instructive morning of spring birding.

Rangeley Birding Workshop, June 6-8.

Our first overnight tour together, the Rangeley Birding Workshop was based at Bald Mountain Camps in Oquossoc, nestled on the shore of Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Common Loons greeted us, but so did the rain. June of 2023 was one of the rainiest Junes on record in Maine, and we were very thankful for the wood stoves in each cabin!

Our first morning, 6/7, began at Hunter Cove Wildlife Sanctuary, with lots of singing Blackburnian Warblers. A large flock of Red Crossbills flew over, two Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were heard clearly and then glimpsed, and a variety of common warblers were detected. A confiding pair of Canada Jays was the highlight – as they often are – but even the common warblers were tough to see today, so we focused on practicing our birding by ear skills.

Enjoying our delicious boxed lunches at the Rangeley Waterfront Park, with more Common Loons offshore, we delved into an impromptu gull workshop, using each age class of Ring-billed Gull as an introduction to molt, feather topography, and identification. A 3^rd-cycle Herring Gull kindly dropped in for comparison as well. In inclement weather, we take advantage of whatever learning opportunities the birds are willing to provide!

After lunch, we poked around the Mingo Spring Birding Loop, with good looks at the likes of Least Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, and Dark-eyed Juncos among others. But as rain returned, we called it a day and settled in to dry out in front of our stoves instead of an afternoon of lake-watching from the BMC property. And dinner was absolutely delicious!

Day 2 began with a brief walk around the BMC property (American Redstart, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, etc) followed by a foray over to the famous birding destination of Boy Scout Road, looking to build on the identification toolkit we worked on the previous day. We parked half the cars at one end and then walked the length of the road, birding along the way. But it was rather quiet here too – the ongoing story of June 2023. We did have some more Red Crossbills, a fantastic view -finally – of a Blackburnian Warbler, several Alder Flycatchers, and once again more Canada Jays. But this time, it was a family group of a pair with 2 juveniles in tow!

And then it began to rain. Again. A lot. But I give this group credit – they soldiered on! Of course the rain began in earnest when we were as far from either set of cars as possible, so there wasn’t really a choice, but still, spirits remained high and the birding continued. A pair of Hooded Mergansers, a singing Palm Warbler, and a Spotted Sandpiper were among the last birds of the outing, before the water had penetrated our clothing and it was time to call it a day and hope for better conditions next year!

Shorebirds Workshop, August 10.

The best way to learn shorebirds is to see them in their preferred habitats, feeding, moving, and mixing with other species, such as these Short-billed Dowitchers (a sandpiper) and Semipalmated Plovers here at Hill’s Beach in Biddeford.

An absolutely perfect day of summer weather (finally!) greeted us for this annual favorite outing. And the only thing better than the weather this day was the birding! Recent insane rainfalls have led to very high water in many of our favored high-tide, upper-marsh locales, so we focused on tidal habitats including beaches and mudflats, altering our usual routine from the start.

Beginning in Biddeford Pool, we introduced shorebirds with several Spotted Sandpipers along Ocean Avenue before jumping into the mixed species flock on Biddeford Pool Beach on the outgoing tide. There we estimated over 1,250 Semipalmated Sandpipers and 200 Semipalmated Plovers as we learned the basics of shorebird (sandpiper vs. plover) identification and began to work our way up to teasing out a couple of White-rumped Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones from the masses. 2 Killdeer in flight overhead were our only two of the day.

Kicking off our shoes to spend the rest of the morning on the sandflats of Hill’s Beach, we compared a Piping Plover to the many (400+) Semipalmated Plovers and 30 Black-bellied Plovers. A single juvenile Least Sandpiper was out of place on the beach, but offered a perfect opportunity to closely study the differences in shape, size, and overall structure to the 150 or so Semipalmated Sandpipers that were scattered about. 59 Short-billed Dowitchers gave us the chance to really observe shape and feeding styles, practicing identifying these birds both near and far.

Over at The Pool, a distant “Western” Willet joined 7 “Eastern” Willets, as we advanced into subspecific identification just briefly before stopping for lunch as the tide began to roll in.

The afternoon was spent at Scarborough Marsh, where our first two stops offered little (other than a calling Greater Yellowlegs to at least practice our shorebirding by ear) due to the very high water in the salt pannes from the recent rains. Pine Point more than made up for it on the rapidly incoming tide, however, with one heck of a shorebird show: 1500-2000 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 400-500 Semipalmated Plovers, a few more Short-billed Dowitchers and White-rumped Sandpipers, better looks at “Eastern” Willets, and the icing on the cake: a cooperative Whimbrel – our 13^th species of shorebird for the day.

Practicing with our identification tool kit, we tested ourselves on finding the uncommon species among the masses, and took a moment or three to simply sit back and enjoy the show. Now that we know how approachable shorebird identification really is, we can more fully appreciate these most marvelous migrants!

Monhegan Birding Workshop, September 23-25.

Northern Gannets and two Green-winged Teal flying with 6 Surf Scoters from the ferry and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull greeting us upon our arrival seemed like a great sign for what would be a bird- and fun-filled weekend on the Migration Mecca of Monhegan.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the slowest (for both species and diversity) fall weekends I have ever experienced on the island. That being said, a big list wasn’t our goal. It was to learn birds – their ID, their migration ecology, and everything else that makes the island so special for birds and birders. And this is not tour guide spin: a slower day is better for that as we had ample opportunity to view almost everything we encountered, study them, discuss them, and luckily, what the island failed to provide in quantity, it certainly delivered in quality of observations.

On each day, we would find pockets of warblers here and there, but we kept coming back to one particular willow and a nearby thicket that constantly hosted 4-5 Cape May Warblers (photo above), 4 Yellow Warblers, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and a smattering of others. The Cape Mays put on a clinic: all four plumages from pale, 1^st-fall female, to bright and spiffy adult male were on display.

Over the first day and a half, we took what the island offered, besides exceedingly pleasant weather! There was the hen Green-winged Teal feeding within three feet of us, fly-over Rusty Blackbirds in the morning, and Great Cormorants on the cliffs on an afternoon short hike to name a few highlights. The skies were punctuated by the occasional migrant Peregrine Falcon and the constantly-hunting Merlins.

Granted, we were really just looking at birds to fill the time between the incredible meals at the Monhegan House!

On our final morning, a good migration overnight produced a new arrival of birds for the “morning flight;” the concepts and nuances thereof were topics of regular discussion.

The group’s high spirits earned them a great morning, with a taste of what Monhegan birding has to offer. There were American Pipits and Yellow-rumped Warblers in Morning Flight, a flock of 10 truant Bobolinks circling around, an immature male Belted Kingfisher displaying to a very-uninterested female, more Cape May Warblers, and a surprising fly-by Wilson’s Snipe.

At one point we had four juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawks dogfighting, exemplifying the difference in sizes of male vs female raptors. And the workshopping continued with Great and Double-crested Cormorants side-by-side, migrant raptors including several Northern Harriers, and more species before breakfast than we had most of the previous weekend! Speaking of breakfasts, goodness, they were good as well.

We finished up with a gull workshop on the shoreline, opening eyes to just how easy most gulls are most of the time. The advanced course was the fly-by 1^stwinter Lesser Black-backed Gull amongst Herring Gulls on the ferry ride back! And yes, we looked at butterflies, too!

The first of the 2024 Down East Adventures tours are already booking, with more to be announced soon. And since these Down East Tours fill up fast, don’t forget we offer a wide range of other tours, as well as private guiding services.

This Week’s Highlights: September 22- October 7, 2022.

Monhegan Fall Migration Weekend, Sept 2022.

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*This Cape May Warbler was one of many birds that escaped the strong winds by finding large flies eating rotting apples that littered the ground all over the island.*

I arrived on the island on Thursday (9/22). Be happy that the tour didn’t start this day. It rained. A Lot. However, I was greeted by 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on Smuttynose Island upon my arrival: 5 adults and 1 juvenile. It turned out to be one of the highest counts ever on the island. That would also turn out to be my birding highlight of the day, as a short jaunt in the afternoon only yielded one species that I would not end up seeing with the group: a juvenile Ring-billed Gull, which is actually a very uncommon bird out here.

The sunset, however, was worth the trip, and the clearing skies foretold some good birding to come.

Overnight, a moderate migration on clearing skies brought many new birds to the island. The group met at 9:00, and we picked up the rest of the day’s participants as their ferry arrived. It was very windy today, but all day long, whenever we found a pocket of shelter, we found birds. It was mostly Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll Warblers, as expected for the date, but there was a decent smattering of diversity.

Between the winds and the raptors, birds were keeping low though! But speaking of raptors – wow, the falcon show! It was incredible. There is absolutely no way of knowing how many Peregrine Falcons and Merlins we saw today, with birds whipping by overhead. Some were hunting, and likely circling the island to do so, but it’s also possible that there was a steady flow of birds moving south, only pausing to wink at the island. It was impossible to quantify, but it was a whole lot of fun to watch!

*Northern Flickers had to stay low and out of sight to survive the day.*

We enjoyed quality time with Cedar Waxwings, Monarch butterflies, and enjoyed some gorgeous Question Mark butterflies as well. White-crowned Sparrows were rather conspicuous, and we had a good lesson in duck identification with Mallards, an American Black Duck, and a hybrid thereof all side-by-side.

*Black-throated Green Warbler on post-cider-making apple mash.*

Wind was whipping all night long and continued to gust well over 20mph as of sunrise. With a high-pressure system building in, and powerful Hurricane Fiona passing well to our east, the wind would just not let up. Several ferries were cancelled, and if you happened to be in the room that a screen door was slamming up against all night (ahem), then maybe you were not as rested as you would have liked.

The Gray NEXRAD radar was down, but the Caribou station showed a moderate flight of birds overnight with marginally lighter winds over the mainland. A light morning flight – mostly strong-flying Blackpoll Warblers – didn’t portend a lot of birds had arrived, but pockets of White-throated Sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers in places where they weren’t yesterday suggested otherwise. In fact, there were a bunch of birds around, and it was a very productive morning!

We visited with two cooperative Dickcissels that have been around for days, caught up with the lingering Lark Sparrow, and were among the lucky ones who caught up with an early Orange-crowned Warbler. All before lunch.

And while the wind continued to gust, and uncountable falcons continued to wreak havoc, anytime we found a corner of shelter, we found birds – and often lots of them! White-throated Sparrows littered the woods, and because of the wind, many birds were insanely easy to see.

One of the highlights were warblers on the ground – hatches of large flies were feasting on rotting apples below laden trees, and with no flying insects able to survive a foot into the air today, we spent a lot of time looking DOWN at warblers.

*We also made it over to the cliffs to see what may have been in the island’s lee.*

*We saved this Gartner Snake from a cat’s mouth on our way to not seeing a Red-headed Woodpecker that was playing hard to get for us.*

Finally, as dusk fell, the winds subsided. Unfortunately, by early nightfall, the winds were already a little more westerly than we would have liked. Come Sunday morning, a surprisingly light morning flight, dominated by Yellow-rumped Warblers almost exclusively, reflected the lack of the northerly component overnight. Birds seemed to be in lower quantities overall – a lot of Blackpoll Warblers had apparently departed – and with calm conditions (so, so welcome), there were fewer concentrations of birds.

Throughout the day, it was relatively slow by Monhegan standards, but we just kept adding new species to the triplist, and basking in repeated stellar views. The two Dickcissels were in their usual place throughout the day, a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull continued, and later in the morning we found a Marsh Wren – very uncommon out here.

In the afternoon, we had a splendid sparrow session. We had our longest looks yet at the Lark Sparrow, but after a report of one Clay-colored Sparrow at the same spot, we arrived to find three! A Lincoln’s Sparrow even came out into the open to join the Song, Chipping, White-throated, White-crowned, and Savannah Sparrows, making for an impressive total of 7 species of sparrows from one spot! Of course, the comparative experience makes all the difference in learning these species – as most look so very different from each other. Well, most of them did, anyway! A solid 76 species were tallied by day’s end.

*Clay-colored Sparrow with juvenile Chipping Sparrow*

The last day of the tour was Monday the 26^th, and our time was winding down. So were the number of non-Yellow-rumped Warblers. Some light showers overnight may have put a few birds down, but winds were southwesterly thereafter, and the Caribou radar (the Gray station was still down) showed little movement. The morning flight was therefore virtually non-existent.

We found an Indigo Bunting, and later, an Alder Flycatcher confused and disoriented, stuck in the ice cutting display building of the Monhegan Museum. Three Clay-colored Sparrows were still present; we had good looks at two of them at the school and had another session comparing them to the variety of ages of Chipping Sparrows they were cajoling around with. The Lark Sparrow also performed nicely for us again.

*Alder Flycatcher in the museum’s ice-cutting shed. It eventually figured out the lighting and got itself out.*

*Two of the three Clay-colored Sparrows, here, with a Chipping Sparrow in the middle.*

It felt very slow, especially in the afternoon, when we took time to enjoy Fringed Gentian and repeatedly “dip” on a Red-headed Woodpecker that most everyone except us had eventually seen. Yet interestingly, we kept finding new species for our day’s list, and by the time the tour ended in time to catch the 4:30 ferry to Port Clyde, we had accumulated our highest species total of the weekend – a goodly 81.

The apparent abundance of some species – such as White-breasted Nuthatch, which we conservatively estimated included the presence of 4-6 pairs despite apparent omnipresence and Blackpoll Warblers on the ground – continued to impress as well.

With today’s new additions along with Laughing Gulls on our ferry ride back, our total trip listed amounted to 95 species! So despite the strong winds that howled for the first two days of the tour, and unfavorable southerly winds for the last day and a half, our 95 species was exactly average for the 11 years we have run the trip on this same weekend. 16 species of warblers was a mere one species below average. Taking our challenging weather into consideration, I would absolutely call this a win! Plus, we were on Monhegan, so all is well, as an average day/weekend on Monhegan sure beats the same anywhere else – for so many reasons.

* denotes ferry ride only           

23-Sep  24-Sep  25-Sep  26-Sep

Canada Goose 8 18 19 8
Wood Duck 0 1 1 1
American Black Duck 2 2 1 1
Mallard 15 24 24 24
Mallard x American Black Duck Hybrid 1 1 1 1
Green-winged Teal 0 1 2 1
Common Eider x x x x
Ring-necked Pheasant 20 12 12 8
Mourning Dove 20 15 18 18
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2 2 1 0
Semipalmated Plover 0 0 1 0
Killdeer 0 0 1 0
Solitary Sandpiper 1 1 1 0
Black Guillemot 2 6 2 6
Laughing Gull 0 0 0 2*
Herring Gull x x x x
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL 2 0 1 1
Great Black-backed Gull x x x x
Common Loon 0 0 0 1
Northern Gannet 10 10 8 20
Double-crested Cormorant x x x x
Great Cormorant 0 0 0 3
Northern Harrier 0 0 1 0
Osprey 4 4 2 2
Bald Eagle 1 0 1 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 0 2 2
Belted Kingfisher 1 1 0 0
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 12 10 20
Downy Woodpecker 2 2 2 2
Northern Flicker 30 40 20 30
American Kestrel 1 2 3 4
Merlin 8 15 10 10
Peregrine Falcon 10 10 5 5
Eastern Wood-Pewee 0 1 0 1
Alder Flycatcher 1 0 0 1
“Traill’s” Flycatcher 0 0 0 1
Least Flycatcher 1 1 0 0
Eastern Phoebe 6 4 4 6
Red-eyed Vireo 10 10 6 8
Blue Jay 8 6 18 12
American Crow 6 4 4 4
Common Raven 1 2 2 2
Black-capped Chickadee x x x x
Golden-crowned Kinglet 0 0 4 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 2 6 6
Cedar Waxwing 50 2 38 38
Red-breasted Nuthatch 15 10 6 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 4 6 4 4
Brown Creeper 0 0 1 1
House Wren 0 0 1 2
Carolina Wren 3 3 4 4
MARSH WREN 0 0 1 0
Gray Catbird 6 8 6 10
Brown Thrasher 1 0 0 0
European Starling 18 18 18 18
Veery 0 0 1 0
Swainson’s Thrush 1 6 3 4
American Robin 4 4 8 12
American Pipit 1 1 1 0
Purple Finch 14 8 4 4
LARK SPARROW 0 1 1 1
American Goldfinch 8 10 14 14
Chipping Sparrow 0 10 15 15
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW 0 0 3 3
Dark-eyed Junco 2 10 6 10
White-crowned Sparrow 2 4 8 8
White-throated Sparrow 26 150 50 50
Savannah Sparrow 1 4 3 4
Song Sparrow 20 30 20 20
Lincoln’s Sparrow 0 0 2 2
Swamp Sparrow 0 0 1 2
Baltimore Oriole 2 2 6 6
Red-winged Blackbird 0 1 1 1
Bobolink 0 0 1 0
Rusty Blackbird 0 0 6 0
Common Grackle 12 24 24 24
Black-and-white Warbler 1 1 0 0
Tennessee Warbler 0 15 3 3
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER 0 1 0 0
Nashville Warbler 0 4 1 1
American Redstart 0 2 0 2
Common Yellowthroat 8 10 4 10
Cape May Warbler 5 10 6 6
Northern Parula 1 7 4 2
Magnolia Warbler 2 0 0 0
Yellow Warbler 5 3 2 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 0 0 0 1
Blackpoll Warbler 50 75 20 15
Palm Warbler 2 4 10 6
PINE WARBLER 0 2 0 0
Yellow-rumped Warbler 70 50 50 75
Black-throated Green Warbler 5 3 0 1
Scarlet Tanager 0 2 2 2
Northern Cardinal 6 8 8 10
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 0 0 1 3
Indigo Bunting 1 0 0 1
DICKCISSEL 2 2 1 1

Day Total 67 71 80 81
Warbler day total 10 14 9 12

4-Day Tour total= 95
Plus on my own before the tour =2 (Ring-billed Gull and Tree Swallow)
Total warblers = 16

*Blackpoll Warblers were the “migrant of the weekend” with unforgettable views and quality time each day.*

This Week’s Highlights, July 23- July 29, 2022.

This Week’s Highlights, June 4 – June 9, 2022

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*Wilson’s Storm-Petrels were the bird of the week. Incredible numbers, especially for this early in the*
*pelagic season, are now in our offshore waters.*

My observations of note over the past six days, with my tour season in full swing, included the following:

2 NORTHERN FULMARS and 1100+ Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, Cap’n Fish’s Whale Watch, Boothbay Harbor, 6/5.

Boothbay Mini-Pelagic with our partners, Cap’n Fish’s, Dan Nickerson, and Jeannette on 6/6.

7 Razorbills among the puffins and terns at Eastern Egg Rock.

Unbelievable estimate of 2600 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels offshore. Massive early-season numbers continue in the Gulf of Maine from Massachusetts at least to the Mid-coast of Maine.

Complete trip report here.

Upcoming pelagics from both Boothbay Harbor and to Seal Island NWR from Stonington are listed here.

1 continuing CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, 1-2 UPLAND SANDPIPERS, 10+ Grasshopper Sparrows, etc, Kennebunk Plains, 6/7 (with Jeannette).

And finally, here is my full trip report (including daily lists) of my Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend tour on May 27 – May 31.

2022 Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Tour Report.

2022 Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Tour Report.

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With so many great views of Black-billed Cuckoo(s) each day over the weekend, it was hard to argue against this being the bird of the trip. It was unusual how well, and how often, we saw this usually reclusive bird.

How about we just fast-forward to Sunday? Sunday was delightful.

After two quiet days, which I will eventually confess to, we had a bunch of birds. And no fog. And colorful birds in good light. The pre-breakfast loop was actually downright great, with a good variety of warblers. One copse of trees alone featured 3 Blackburnian Warblers, 4+ Blackpoll Warblers, 2 each of Yellow, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, American Redstart, and 1 Magnolia Warbler

It was nice and birdy after breakfast as well, with more Blackburnian fun, a single Cape May Warbler, and a nice birdy walk through the woods (Winter Wren, Carolina Wren, and House Wren singing one after another) to Whitehead where we actually got to see the ocean – and a Great Cormorant for those visiting from afar. Bird activity and birdsong was pleasantly consistent throughout the day, and in most places we visited.

We caught up with a continuing immature male Orchard Oriole for all to see, and while perhaps one could argue it was still fairly slow for Monhegan by Memorial Day Weekend standards, it was a lot better than Friday and Saturday! In fact, the 59 species and 11 species of warblers was more than the first two days combined. A few of us who stayed out late even got to see an American Woodcock as it displayed over Horn Hill at dusk. It was a good day.

Blackpoll Warbler was definitely the migrant of the weekend. Besides being by far the most numerous passage migrant, they constantly offered crippling views throughout the tour. The male is above, and the female is below.

*This American Robin nesting in lobster traps was a delight to watch. The parents had to run a gauntlet of* 5 or 7 *traps to enter and exit the nest. It was a great demonstration of how lobster traps work.*

*Laura shows off her handiwork. Hey, on a slow day, I’ll take all of the birds I can get!*

Friday got off to a rocky start. Really rocky actually, as in few people were even able to keep their breakfast down on the two ferry rides. Dense fog and near-zero visibility resulted in virtually no birds being seen, and well, let’s just not talk about these boat trips anymore…it was one of the worst I have ever experienced on the way to or from. Thankfully, I am not predisposed to feeling how many people felt upon arrival, but it was still a challenge to shake it off, and all of us were moving slowly by day’s end.

*The sheltered waters of Deadman’s Cove were deceiving, but I think you get the idea!*

Of course, it didn’t help that there were so few birds around! The huge wave of birds that arrived the previous weekend had cleared out, and nothing had arrived to take their place over the last few nights. With such strong winds, it was a challenge to find sheltered pockets, and when we did, we didn’t find many with many birds. Only Blackpoll Warblers were to be seen in numbers.

That being said, what we did see – especially the aforementioned Blackpolls and the continuing world’s most cooperative Black-billed Cuckoo(s) – we saw really well. A few of us even saw the Virginia Rail for a second. The dense fog also precluded scanning the water, so our checklist is even more pitiful for the day. Ring-necked Pheasants put on a show though, from confiding snazzy males to adorable little chicks.

*There was no shortage of Cedar Waxwings this weekend, with numbers growing in the final two days of our stay.*

*We definitely took advantage of the lull in birding to do some botanizing, including taking the time*
*to stop and smell the Twinflower (Linnea).*

*What migrants were around, however, were often low, close, and confiding, such as this Red-eyed Vireo.*

I had hopes for Saturday – it really couldn’t be any worse than Friday anyway! – based on the forecast. However, only a light flight was detected on the radar overnight, despite light southerly winds. It was mostly cloudy, but I couldn’t help to wonder if we were just running out of migrants.

Rain that could have resulted in a fallout of what little was airborne overnight didn’t arrive until after sunrise, but it only caused a 20-minute delay to the start of the day. That was it though, and certainly we were lucky that Saturday was not the washout that was predicted as of a few days prior. It was still slow, but once again, we had exceedingly great looks at everything that we did encounter, including more quality cuckoo time, a stunning male Indigo Bunting that was just glowing in the soft light, Blackpoll Warblers, Northern Parulas, American Redstarts, and more colorful splashes to brighten another gray day. And it wasn’t raining.

But it’s hard to sugarcoat just how slow it was – like Mid-June-kinda slow. Luckily, the fog lifted just long enough to see some waterbirds, and we took advantage of that for an impromptu gull workshop.

*A tease. The fog returned shortly thereafter.*

It was news to me that Red-backed Salamanders were on the island. Upon finding that out, our Saturday afternoon walk in the woods featured a lot of log-rolling to sample. Apparently, they are rather widespread, as we found them throughout the spruce forest of the next few days.

*Sunsets on Monhegan are always memorable, but Saturday night’s was even more exciting*
*as it meant an end to two days of solid fog.*

*Tomorrow would be better, this scene promised. And it most certainly was!*

A brief shower at dinnertime ushered in a cold front and skies began to clear at dusk, with the fog finally lifting. That led to the delightful Sunday I was talking about. And Monday wasn’t too shabby either, as we again started the day without fog, a very light wind, and evidence of some bird migration on the radar overnight. And, with the southwesterly flow continuing, we had even higher hopes for finding the “mega” that would make up for the so-far lackluster species list.

Starting the morning with a Black-billed Cuckoo sunning itself in a tree right in front of the Trailing Yew was a solid start, and there were more Eastern Wood-Pewees and a decent number of Blackpoll Warblers around. Again, a rather slow day by Monhegan standards, but we really had more great looks at everything we did see. Today’s magic tree was by the Ice Pond, with a pair of Blackburnian Warblers, a pair of Blackpoll Warblers, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and finally a Bay-breasted Warbler.

We also finally had some rarity excitement. First, a Spizella sparrow flushed in front of us and a very quick glimpse in the scope suggested a Clay-colored Sparrow, which is a great bird in the spring. But just to be sure, we searched for it, but to no avail. Luckily, its identity was confirmed the next morning went it put on a show in the exact same spot it didn’t want to return to today.

Later, a female Purple Martin made an appearance…OK, fine, I could not completely rule out a Gray-breasted Martin. I was trying.

The tour officially concluded in the afternoon, but Jeannette and I remained to enjoy a 24-hour vacation. Don’t worry, you didn’t “just miss” something, as all we had new in the afternoon was a Savannah Sparrow.

*Cedar Waxwings were the most numerous passerine on the island – or at least, the most obvious, with a flock of 60 that grew to at least 150 by Tuesday afternoon.*

Also, don’t worry that you missed the day Monhegan legends are made of on Tuesday. You did not. It was still fairly slow, but we had a little uptick in diversity. The pulse of late-migrating flycatchers that I had expected finally arrived, there was a good Northern Gannet show off Lobster Cove in the morning, and a steady trickle of commuting Atlantic Puffins in a small sample of afternoon Lobster Cove seawatching.

We picked up three Willets well offshore to the south from Lobster Cove in the morning, eventually following them into the harbor where they landed for a spell. As for that “probable” Clay-colored Sparrow that was nagging me all afternoon and night, well, I am thankful that it returned to the exact same spot as where we first glimpsed it. I received a text that it had been observed, photographed, and confirmed by others, and it obligingly remained long enough for us to catch back up with it.

Overall, there were many fewer warblers around on Tuesday, likely as many of the passage migrants had departed overnight. But it would have been nice if this diverse day with several quality birds and good seawatching fell during the official tour!

The 11 species we added after the group tour ended therefore were as follows:

Savannah Sparrow
White-winged Scoter
Surf Scoter
Atlantic Puffin
WILLET
Alder Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Bobolink
Pine Siskin
Hermit Thrush
Red-bellied Woodpecker (where were you hiding these past 4 days?)

*Ring-necked Pheasant. No need to work on primary projection beyond the tertial step to identify this one!*

Furthermore, on the Hardy Boat back to New Harbor, we added 2 Red-necked Phalaropes (personal first-of-year) and a Razorbill. With those 13 species, we had a total of 88 species over the 5 days, with a couple of more “quality” birds and that would have produced a much more respectable tour list! But alas.

So yes, by Monhegan standards, it was a pretty slow weekend. In fact, the 75 species on Friday through Monday was a record low (by two) for this annual tour. 16 species of warblers wasn’t too bad (last year’s soaker only produced 10), and we had some great birds. We also had such good looks at so many things, especially those – like Black-billed Cuckoo – that just don’t give such great looks very often, let alone daily!

Here is the official trip list (not including the 13 additional species from Monday afternoon through Tuesday evening when we got off the boat in New Harbor):

*denotes ferry ride only
	27-May	28-May	30-May	31-May

American Black Duck	1+chicks	1+chicks	1+chicks	1+chicks
Mallard	14+chicks	16+chicks	12+chicks	10+chicks
Common Eider	x	x	x	x
Ring-necked Pheasant	6+chicks	6+chicks	4+chicks	5+chicks
Mourning Dove	8	10	6	16
Black-billed Cuckoo	1	1	2	1
Chimney Swift	0	0	1	0
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	1	1	2	1
Virginia Rail	1	h.o.	h.o.	2
Sora	0	h.o.	h.o.	h.o.
Greater Yellowlegs	0	1	0	1
American Woodcock	0	0	1	0
Black Guillemot	x	8	30	50
Laughing Gull	x*	1	6	4
Herring Gull	x	x	x	x
Great Black-backed Gull	x	x	x	x
Northern Gannet	1*	0	1	0
Double-crested Cormorant	x	x	x	x
Great Cormorant	0	0	1	1
Osprey	0	0	1	3
Belted Kingfisher	0	0	1	1
Merlin	0	0	1	0
Eastern Kingbird	4	4	6	6
Eastern Wood-Pewee	1	1	3	8
Willow Flycatcher	0	1	2	2
Blue-headed Vireo	0	0	h.o.	0
Red-eyed Vireo	2	3	4	10
Blue Jay	4	4	14	8
American Crow	x	x	x	x
Common Raven	0	0	0	1
Black-capped Chickadee	x	x	x	x
PURPLE MARTIN	0	0	0	1
Barn Swallow	0	0	2	2
Golden-crowned Kinglet	0	10	8	1
Cedar Waxwing	60	60	60	80
Red-breasted Nuthatch	0	2	2	1
House Wren	2	2	4	2
Winter Wren	0	0	h.o.	0
Carolina Wren	0	h.o.	2	1
Gray Catbird	x	x	x	x
Brown Thrasher	0	0	2	2
European Starling	x	x	x	x
Eastern Bluebird	0	0	0	1
Swainson’s Thrush	0	h.o.	0	0
American Robin	8	8	8	x
Purple Finch	0	1	2	1
American Goldfinch	6	8	10	15
Chipping Sparrow	0	0	1	0
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW	0	0	0	1
Song Sparrow	x	x	x	x
Red-winged Blackbird	8	15	15	15
Common Grackle	x	x	x	x
ORCHARD ORIOLE	0	0	1	1
Baltimore Oriole	0	0	1	0
Ovenbird	0	0	0	1
Northern Waterthrush	0	h.o.	0	0
Black-and-white Warbler	0	1	3	2
American Redstart	5	6	12	8
Common Yellowthroat	10	15	15	15
Cape May Warbler	0	0	1	0
Northern Parula	4	8	10	8
Magnolia Warbler	1	1	6	3
Bay-breasted Warbler	0	0	0	1
Blackburnian Warbler	0	0	4	3
Yellow Warbler	3	4	8	10
Chestnut-sided Warbler	0	0	2	1
Blackpoll Warbler	10	8	30	20
Black-throated Blue Warbler	0	0	h.o.	0
Black-throated Green Warbler	0	4	1	4
Canada Warbler	0	1	0	0
Northern Cardinal	6	4	4	5
Indigo Bunting	h.o.	1	1	2

Day Total	37	48	62	59
Warbler Day Total	6	10	12	12

4-Day Tour Total=	75
Total Warblers=	16

	TD on This Week’s Highlights 1/17–…
	2026 Workshop Tours… on 2025 Down East Adventures Tour…
	2026 Workshop Tours… on 2023 Down East Adventures Bird…
	2026 Workshop Tours… on 2024 Down East Adventures Bird…
	Ivan D on Derek’s Birding This This Week…

Maine Birding Field Notes

Trip Reports, Essays, Rare Bird Reports, and More from Derek Lovitch's and Freeport Wild Bird Supply's birding in Maine and beyond.

Tag Archives: Monhegan Island

2025 Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Trip Report

Recent Highlights, 5/11– 5/17/2024

2024 Down East Adventures Birding Tour Reports

2023 Monhegan Spring Migration Tour Report

2023 Down East Adventures Birding Tours.

This Week’s Highlights: September 22- October 7, 2022.

Monhegan Fall Migration Weekend, Sept 2022.

This Week’s Highlights, July 23- July 29, 2022.

This Week’s Highlights, June 4 – June 9, 2022

2022 Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Tour Report.