A highlight of a slow weekend on Monhegan were the conspicuous Cape May Warblers, including these two that were regulars in a single tree that often featured every plumage aspect of this delightful warbler.
Following three days on Monhegan, I mostly birded the yard before heading back to the island for another tour.
Monhegan Island, 9/23-25 (with Down East Adventures Monhegan Migration Workshop group):
About as slow as I have ever experienced the island, even considering a nice little influx of birds on our last morning. Cape May Warblers were the most common warbler for the first two days, however, but overall numbers and diversity were extremely low. Highlights were few, but a brief trip report is posted here:
There were more birds in our yard than on Monhegan this week! A particularly active morning on 9/27 included tardy Ovenbird, Scarlet Tanager, 8 species of warblers including Tennessee and Cape May, a nice influx of sparrows including 4+ Lincoln’s, and my first 4 southern Maine Pine Siskins of the season.
A NOTE ABOUT YOUR “SLOW” BIRD FEEDERS:
Many folks have been reporting extremely slow feeders throughout much of the state recently. This happens on a regular basis, so the end is not near! In fact, a very similiar dearth of birds happened in the falls of 2017 and 2019. I’m currently working on a blog that is more specific to this year, but this blog written in 2017 nicely tells a good part of the story.
This presumed first-fall female Cape May Warbler was a good study in comparison with the other, brighter plumages of this species on display in that single tree on Monhegan.
This Common Murre was a lucky find in the middle of nowhere as we traveled offshore during our ½ day Zeiss Pelagic out of Boothbay Harbor last Friday.
With 6 of the 7 days this week spent guiding in some shape or form, mostly in the Rangeley area, the weather presented a real challenge! As a cut-off low spun offshore, activity was certainly reduced on many of my trips, and my birding time in between was rather limited. Therefore, my observations of note over the past seven days were limited to the following – in addition to all of our great local breeding specialty birds, of course!
2 Willow Flycatchers (FOY) and 2 Glossy Ibis – my 152nd Patch Bird here! – Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 6/3 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
2+ Red Crossbills and 1 migrant Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Hedgehog Mountain Park, Freeport, 6/6.
2 adult CANADA JAYS, 20 Red Crossbills, etc, Hunter Cove Wildlife Sanctuary, 6/7 (with Down East Adventures Rangeley Birding Workshop tour group).
2 adult and 2 juvenile CANADA JAYS, 11+ Red Crossbills, 1 Palm Warbler, etc., Boy Scout Road, Rangeley, 6/8 (with Down East Adventures Rangeley Birding Workshop tour group).
1 BOREAL CHICKADEE, 20 Red Crossbills, etc, Quill Hill, Dallas Plantation, 6/9.
1 adult Great Black-backed Gull, Lakeside Park from porch of Lakeside & Main, Rangeley, 6/9 (with Birds on Tap! Event for Rangeley Birding Festival group.
Meanwhile, as I slowly catch up on trip reports, here’s my travelogue from Memorial Day Weekend on Monhegan, including daily trip lists and lots of Jeannette’s photographs. For those waiting for the daily birdlists, I apologize for the delay.
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 1st 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.
This first summer male Blue Grosbeak was present on Monhegan for at least a week, and unexpectedly, was flycatching for seaweed flies in shoreline rocks for most of the time, including the two days we looked at it with my Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend tour group.
With 5 days on Monhegan and one (half) day offshore, I enjoyed a lot of great birds this week. My observations of note over the past seven days included:
Monhegan Island with our Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend Tour group (full trip report and photos to come).
Daily:
Impressive numbers of Red Crossbills swirling around the island and tough to quantify, including many juveniles. High counts of largest flock(s) in the mid-20’s. Three WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were present each day at least through the end of the weekend. Rare for the island, a pair of HOUSE FINCHES appeared on the 27th and continued through the end of our stay. Here are my group’s other daily highlights.
5/26:
11 Bay-breasted Warblers (FOY)
1 Cape May Warbler (FOY)
1 female Evening Grosbeak
1 Black-billed Cuckoo
1 continuing ORCHARD ORIOLE
1 Philadelphia Vireo (FOY)
5/27:
1 continuing male DICKCISSEL
1 continuing female/imm male SUMMER TANAGER
1 female ORCHARD ORIOLE
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher (FOY)
5/28:
9 GLOSSY IBIS – circled the island early in the morning but did not land. My 225th Island Bird!
1 probable immature male PURPLE MARTIN
1 continuing 1st-year male BLUE GROSBEAK
1 immature BROAD-WINGED HAWK
1 continuing male DICKCISSEL
5/29:
1 pair ORCHARD ORIOLES
1 continuing SNOWY EGRET – Jeannette and I finally caught up with it for my 226th Island Bird!
1 continuing 1st year male BLUE GROSBEAK
5/30 (With Jeannette):
1 continuing male ORCHARD ORIOLE
1 Field Sparrow
Did not try to catch up with continuing rarities, although two quick checks did not turn up the Dickcissel or the Blue Grosbeak.
The Zeiss Pelagic with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay Harbor, 6/2. This special mini-pelagic, sponsored by Zeiss Optics visited Eastern Egg Rock before heading 20 miles offshore. Trip report to come, but for now, the highlights:
1 Razorbill at Eastern Egg Rock
1 COMMON MURRE (between Eastern Egg Rock and Murray Hole)
350-400 total Wilson’s Storm-Petrels (FOY)
12 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES
TOURS AND EVENTS:
I’ll see you next week at the Rangely Birding Festival! Most (but not all) tours are sold out, but everyone can join me for the free and open to the public Birds on Tap! Event at Parkside and Main (beverages not included)!
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 3rd-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 13th 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, 1st-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 1st winter Lesser Black-backed Gull amongst Herring Gulls on the ferry ride back! And yes, we looked at butterflies, too!
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!
Merlin.Immature Peregrine FalconNorthern 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.
Dickcissels.Lark Sparrow
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.
Blackpoll WarblersCape May Warbler.We also made it over to the cliffs to see what may have been in the island’s lee.Female Green-winged TealScarlet TanagerWe 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.
Marsh Wren
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 SparrowLark SparrowBlackpoll Warbler.
The last day of the tour was Monday the 26th, 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. Clay-colored SparrowTwo 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.
Blackpoll Warbler.
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
This Sandhill Crane was more than a little shocking as it arrived on the island and flew right over several us eating lunch before landing on the shoreline. It was a most unexpected “island-bird” for me, and a real special treat for my client.
If I was going to top last week’s spectacular week of migration, it was going to require a visit to Monhegan. And Monhegan definitely delivered, even if the largest number of birds this week moved over the weekend, before I arrived on the island. Here are my observations of note over the past seven days.
17 species of warblers, led by 16 Common Yellowthroats and 9 American Redstarts, but also including 5 Bay-breasted Warblers, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/21 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (FOY), Florida Lake Park, 5/21 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
15 species of warblers, led by 11 Common Yellowthroats and 8 Yellow-rumped Warblers, Florida Lake Park, 5/22 (with clients from Maine).
10 Common Nighthawks (FOY), our yard in Pownal, 5/22.
~40 Short-billed Dowitchers, flying high over our Pownal yard on 5/22 (with Jeannette). Interestingly, the third record for our yard of high spring migrants.
Three days on Monhegan with a client from India on 5/23 through 5/25 yielded 91 species and 18 species of warblers. Monday was incredible, with lots of diversity, lots of quality, and just incredible looks at everything. Blackpoll Warblers were by far the dominant migrant each day, as expected. Here are our daily highlights:
5/23:
1 SANDHILL CRANE – I almost dropped my hand pie as this came cruising over the Trailing Yew, circled the meadow, and landed on the shoreline at a tidepool where observed by almost everyone on the island – birders and bird-curious alike. Photos above.
1 immature, I believe continuing, BROAD-WINGED HAWK.
1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo (FOY)
At least 4-5 Black-billed Cuckoos, including this incredible observation of such normally shy birds!
1 imm. male ORCHARD ORIOLE
1 EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL (FOY, and a self-found island bird from my bedroom!)
5/24:
1 continuing SANDHILL CRANE. In the meadow in early morning before reportedly being observed later flying toward the mainland.
1 imm. male Orchard Oriole
1 continuing EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL (with client, Kristen Lindquist, Bill Thompson, and Jess Bishop).
1 leucistic (and nearly pure-white but with normal bare parts) Herring Gull.
5/25:
1 female ORCHARD ORIOLE
1 Green Heron (FOY)
1 Wood Thrush
Our first pelagic with our partners Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay Harbor will run on Monday, June 6th. It includes a visit to Eastern Egg Rock and chumming deeper offshore. Info here: https://www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/pelagics
I found a Northern Parula building a nest at Florida Lake Park last week, and was enthralled with watching its progression.
This Blue Grosbeak was among the highlights of an incredible weekend on the island.
“It was like the good ol’ days!” When every other bird you saw was a rare one, and you barely walked 10 steps before finding more birds. But this was not what we were expecting, and the weekend sure didn’t start out that way!
After a very rough boat ride, we were still putting ourselves back together when one birder said “Go back, there are no birds here.” Apparently, it had been a dreadfully slow week of little migration, but at least nice weather. This weekend, the weather wasn’t supposed to be very nice. So without many birds on the island, and quite a bit of rain on the way, were less enthused about arriving than usual…well, that might have had something to do with the boat ride.
And I am not sure if it helped that one of the first birds I looked at was a rare hybrid Herring X Great Black-backed Gull. I am not sure if anyone was ready to take in gull hybrids yet. Even more when we feared that this could be our best bird of the trip if the pattern held.
And sure enough, it was a very slow afternoon. But we did have good luck. We found a Sora that walked out into an open patch of mud, quickly caught up with the adult Lesser Black-backed Gull that has been hanging around, and after lunch immediately found the Least Sandpiper and Spotted Sandpiper at Lobster Cove that have been playing hard to get all week. There was also a good Northern Gannet show, which is always a treat. So at least we were seeing what was around, which sadly, really was not very much. But hey, it still hadn’t rained!
Least and Spotted Sandpipers – shorebirds are few and far between on the island.
A period of rain, heavy at times, fell overnight, but the band was much narrower and less heavy than forecast. It did not rain all night, and it even appeared that a light flight of migrants had developed on the radar after midnight. And sure enough, come dawn, there was a light Morning Flight overhead. It was mostly Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll Warblers, but hey, there were new birds around! And once, again, it was not raining.
A fly-over Dickcissel or two, a calling Gray-cheeked Thrush, and more. Birds! Yay!
Then, after breakfast, I went to spread some seed in my favorite corner to attract some birds for the group to enjoy this morning. Turning the corner near the famous “Chat Bridge” a shockingly bright flash of the most intense yellow you can imagine. And blue wings, and a flash of white in the tail. Prothonotary Warbler I exclaimed to no one around.
I raced back towards the group meeting point and sent them on their way. Kristen Lindquist took off running. I eventually made it back with the rest of the group and we divided to conquer. Kristen and about half the group spotted it repeatedly, while it remained tantalizingly out of view from where I and others were standing.
As other birders converged, a classic “Patagonia Picnic Table Effect” occurred. First, there were two Dickcissels, then I spotted a Yellow-breasted Chat making a short flight over the brush. While searching for that, Ilsa spotted a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that would sit still, preening, for well over and hour. It might have been the most cooperative cuckoo ever on the island! Another group had a brief look at a Clay-colored Sparrow.
Unfortunately, the Prothonotary Warbler was never seen again.
Yellow-billed Cuckoos don’t usually sit this still for this long. This bird was likely exhausted after just arriving on the island.In case you didn’t see it’s yellow bill.
It was already a pretty amazing day for one that we thought would be a wash-out. And it was still not raining. After our lunch break, we convened at the Monhegan House at 1:30, and spent the next hour and a half on its lawn, and going no where else.
One Dickcissel became two, and then four, and when the group finally took off together, we were shocked to confirm a genuine flock of 8 Dickcissels – exceptional, even for Monhegan. And there were not one, but two Clay-colored Sparrows! And other birds just kept arriving, as standing in one spot saw our list quickly grow: American Redstart, Brown Creeper, Warbling Vireo, etc, etc. One “Western” Palm Warbler became 4, a couple of Cape May Warblers paid us a visit, a Savannah Sparrow dropped in…
It was truly incredible! It felt like my first tours here 15 years ago. By now, a light shower was falling, but we didn’t seem to care. We finally pulled ourselves away as the action waned, wanting to see what the next hot corner would offer. After spotting at least 8 Baltimore Orioles along Pumphouse Road, the rain finally arrived in earnest by about 3:30pm. We called it quits, but considering the day we had, no complaints were to be heard. It was a really special day; one that will not soon be forgotten.
While it was more accurately “180-degree misorientation” and other forms of vagrancy and not “reverse migration” that brought us so many good birds, I brought a special beer out just in case we had a day like we did today!
Rain fell overnight again, and come dawn on Sunday (Day 3), dense fog had rolled in. There were a few Yellow-rumped Warblers overhead, especially during a short respite from the fog, but there were not nearly as many birds around as the day before. But, with fog overnight, we expected birds who were on the island to stay, which was good, because yesterday was awesome and there were still a few birds we had not yet encountered.
It might be a while before they are “countable” again, but the Ring-necked Pheasant population seems to be booming in town.
We delayed the start of the after-breakfast walk to let a batch of heavier rain clear through. We were stuck in such an odd fall weather pattern, with virtually no west-east progression of weather systems. But we had been so lucky with the timing of the rainfall so far, that a little delay was of no concern. Regrouping at 10:00, light showers gave way to just some lingering drizzle by 11, and it soon became apparent that there were new birds around. We had two Prairie Warblers, a Scarlet Tanager joining the growing flock of Baltimore Orioles, and a Blue-winged Teal joined a Green-winged Teal in the marsh. Two Cliff Swallows and a Barn Swallow foraged over Manana, and we had our second Yellow-breasted Chat of the trip – this one in the Island Farm garden on Pumphouse Road. And another Clay-colored Sparrow?
There was a really impressive number of Baltimore Orioles on the island over the weekend.
Pockets of Yellow-rumped Warblers here and there often contained another warbler species or two, and we had good looks at stuff all morning, even often-challenging birds to see with a group like Lincoln’s Sparrows.
And after lunch, the sun was out! We had the Lesser Black-backed Gull again, more looks at Clay-colored Sparrows, and finally the immature male Blue Grosbeak showed up for us, and show it did!
It wasn’t as birdy once the sun was out, but a light raptor flight, including at least 6 Peregrine Falcons helped make up for it.
On Monday, our last day of the tour, it appeared that little moved overnight on a light southwesterly flow aloft. But that had our daydreams going for rarities from our west and southwest. And sure enough, while some of us were dallying over breakfast, a Western Kingbird that Kristen Lindquist found earlier flew right over us at the Yew and alighted nearby!
After breakfast, we “cleaned it up” for the group when we relocated it at the cemetery, affording great looks for all. A slower day finally gave us an opportunity to head into the deeper woods. And while we expected fewer birds in the island’s interior, a couple of mixed-species foraging flocks finally put Red-breasted Nuthatch on the list, and we found the first Pine Warbler of the weekend.
“Look at my tail!” Just in case anyone had hopes of stringing it into a rarer western Tyrannus.
Jeannette joined us by lunchtime, and after lunch, we had a frustratingly brief glimpse of the original Yellow-breasted Chat, along with more great looks at Clay-colored Sparrows.
The tour came to a close with the 3:15 departure back to New Harbor, bringing our incredible four days together to the always-bittersweet end.
Jeannette and I birded the rest of the afternoon together, picking up a few things, like my first “Yellow” Palm Warblers of the weekend and a Solitary Sandpiper. Our walk to dinner yielded a second Pine Warbler, and at the harbor: a juvenile Ring-billed Gull (actually fairly rare out here in the early fall) and another view of the lingering Lesser Black-backed Gull.
On Tuesday, Jeannette and I enjoyed our day off on the island, and Kristen Lindquist joined us for most of the day. A diminishing light southwest wind overnight gave way to a little bit of northwesterly winds by dawn, but it didn’t appear that much had arrived on the island overnight.
At least two, if not three, different Prairie Warblers were around the island. Getting late, a few American Redstarts helped bump up our impressive warbler tally.
However, we soon located a Lark Sparrow found yesterday by Bryan Pfeiffer, the immature male Blue Grosbeak paid us a visit, and we heard the Sora briefly. We then found an Orange-crowned Warbler out past the Ice Pond, my 20th warbler species of the weekend! Unfortunately, we were sans cameras with a little light rain falling.
This Scarlet Tanager was often cooperative at the grape arbor. As per tradition with this tour report: at least one gratuitous “food porn” photo. Here’s the colorful and fresh avocado toast from the Trailing Yew. And here’s one of the island’s resident Black-capped Chickadees…just because.
After lunch, we were excited to find two Lark Sparrows sitting next to each other at the cul-de-sac, there were now two Ring-billed Gulls in the harbor, and yes, there were still at least 4 Clay-colored Sparrows and several Dickcissels around!
Just for a change of pace, we decided to walk the diffuse trail along the island’s southwestern end, but were soon distracted by something large in the water in the distance. Retrieving my scope, it was clear that it was indeed a dead whale, and eventually it floated close enough to identify it as a dead (and rather bloated) Minke Whale. A handful of gulls were around it, and briefly, a quick pass by a jaeger that was too far to claim the identity of. It was a fascinating, if not rather sad, end to our visit as by now it was time for Jeannette and I to head to the dock to return to the real world.
A much more pleasant boat ride back, this time to Port Clyde yielded a number of Common Loons and plenty of Northern Gannets, and a surprise of a small pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins. I’m not sure if I have seen this pelagic species from a Monhegan ferry before, or this close to land at all.
And finally, one last “good” bird: a pair of truant American Oystercatchers on Dry Ledges (off of Allen Island)! Interestingly, we had a pair on the same exact ledge on our way back from the island on October 5th of last year.
At least 8 Dickcissels, at least 4 Clay-colored Sparrows, 2 Lark Sparrows, and an Orange-crowned Warbler from the Midwest. A Western Kingbird from the West. A Prothonotary Warbler, 2 Yellow-breasted Chats, and a Blue Grosbeak from the South. 105 total species (102 with the tour) including 20 species of warblers. Yeah, that was a good trip – and the stuff that Monhegan legends are made of, at least sans fallout.
Four of a flock that grew to an impressive 8 Dickcissels, often found in the swale behind the Monhegan House throughout the weekend.
And finally, here is our birdlist from the extraordinary weekend:
9/24 = * denotes ferry ride only 9/27 = * with just Jeannette 9/28 = with Jeannette; *denotes ferry ride only
This Blue Grosbeak was among the stars of the show from an exceptional weekend of great birds on Monhegan Island.
I haven’t yet posted a Monhegan tour blog from last weekend, so I figured I’d at least post some of the highlights from our extremely exciting weekend chock-full of great birds!
9/24 (with Monhegan Fall Migration Weekend tour group):
1 adult GREAT BLACK BACKED X HERRING GULL HYBRID
1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull
1 Sora
9/25 (with tour group):
1 adult PROTHONOTARY WARBLER. Found by me at “Chat Bridge” and refound nearby a short while later by Kristen Lindquist and part of my group. Only bird of the weekend not seen again.
1 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
8 DICKCISSELS (in flock together at one point)
2 CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS (in flock with 8 Dickcissels).
The weekend will likely start off wet, but with several days of an extensive southerly flow originating all of the way from the Gulf Coast and Deep South, vagrants – like Blue Grosbeak, Hooded Warbler, Summer Tanager, and much more will be on our minds.
Similarly to last week, my birding time was woefully limited thanks to excuses including a trade show and a morning meeting. Therefore, my birding this week was mostly limited to our Saturday Morning Birdwalk and one great flight at Sandy Point.
Speaking of Sandy Point, I did not make it out for what was presumably a light flight on Monday morning, and of course a Clay-colored Sparrow – a long-overdue Patch Bird – was found. It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that I had a chance to look for it. While I didn’t find it, I did get a consolation prize. With a flock of about 400 Semipalmated Sandpipers in the cove on the north side of the point – the largest peep flock that I have seen here, I grabbed the scope. Among them was a single Sanderling, but also a single molting juvenile Dunlin – my 191st all-time species at Sandy Point!
There was a big movement of White-throated Sparrows this week however, augmenting productive feeder-watching. Granted, my extended period of afternoon feeder-watching on Monday was mostly limited to the entertainment of a constant dog-fight between a Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawk for backyard supremacy
Now, let’s hope the forecast for the weekend is a little drier than currently called for! That being said, the pattern that we are in looks really good for southern vagrants (see photo above), and especially after 5 days of poor winds for migration, once this mess clears, the migration could be huge!
Maine Birding Field Notes 