Blackburnian Warbler near and at eye-level were one of the many highlights during my annual Spring Monhegan Migration Tour.
Five days on Monhegan (four with a tour, one with Jeannette) from 5/24-28 had few rare bird highlights, but good overall diversity and generally very good bird watching opportunities. A total of 93 species in those 5 days included 1 BLUE GROSBEAK (5/25); 1 PURPLE MARTIN (5/24 and 5/26); impressive numbers of RED and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS throughout the island; Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (FOY), Olive-sided Flycatcher (FOY), Tennessee Warbler (FOY), several Black-billed Cuckoos (FOY); 1 Razorbill in the harbor on 5/26; and 4 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES on the ferry ride home on 5/28. There were a lot of uncommon to rare-on-Monhegan migrants around, too, from Blue-winged Teal to Cliff Swallow. A complete report of our tour can be found here.
Back in the real world, my observations of note for the rest of the week included:
1 continuing GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport, 5/30.
With my first visit in three weeks to Scarborough Marsh on 5/31, several personal first-of-years included Saltmarsh and Nelson’s Sparrow, Roseate Tern, and 4 White-rumped Sandpipers (Eastern Road Trail). Other migrant shorebirds included ~70 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 1 Dunlin, and 1 Greater Yellowlegs off Eastern Road, and 10 Ruddy Turnstones, 9 Black-bellied Plovers, and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs at Pine Point. Other observations of note included the continuing TRICOLORED HERON off of the Eastern Road Trail, and 2 PURPLE MARTINS at Pine Point.
2 Willow Flycatchers (FOY, finally), Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 6/1 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
Tours and Events:
There will not be a Saturday Morning Birdwalk on 6/8 as I’ll be in Rangeley guiding at the Rangeley Birding Fest. Note that there are still some spaces on a variety of tours still open. They can be found here.
Blackpoll Warblers were pleasantly ubiquitous over the weekend, with endless opportunities to view them without neck strain for a change.
I just can’t walk away from a male Blackburnian Warbler in the sun, especially at eye-level. Just can’t do it. While Blackpolls were the most numerous migrant of the tour, as expected for the end of May, Blackburnian Warblers consistently stole the show.
Our 14th annual Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend was highlighted by three days of insanely gorgeous weather, 18 species of warblers, and loads of crossbills. But what set this year’s tour apart was how consistently amazing the looks were at so many birds, especially both crossbills and some of our favorite warblers.
The tone was set on our Friday crossing from New Harbor, with lovely weather and 2 fly-by Atlantic Puffins. And once again, we hit the ground running after our 10:15 arrival, taking nearly an hour just to walk up Dock Road. One of our favorite corners was just hoppin’, with our first stellar looks at both Red and White-winged Crossbills and Blackpoll Warblers, as well as our only Canada Warbler of the tour.
I ate a lot of hummus toasts for lunch at the Trailing Yew in an attempt to make up for copious breakfasts and decadent feeders.
The afternoon, and the next three days were filled with crippling view after crippling view. Blackpoll Warblers were everywhere, both males and females seen in close proximity repeatedly for good studies. American Redstarts were abundant, as were locally-breeding Common Yellowthroats and Yellow Warblers. But it’s been a long time since we have seen crossbills, especially White-winged, so well and so often everywhere around town and beyond. It’s hard not to name this species the bird of the tour this year.
Male White-winged Crossbills.
In that first afternoon, some of our other highlights were a fleeting glimpse of a Black-billed Cuckoo, and later we found a female Purple Martin. Birds were just unusually low and cooperative, despite the gorgeous weather, so that really set this first day apart.
My days started even earlier than I would have liked as pheasants took to calling from the railing right outside my bedroom window. At 4am. 4am.
Unfortunately, the NEXRAD radar archive was down for the duration of our stay, so I can’t do my usual analysis here, but on Saturday morning, a light morning flight of mostly Blackpoll Warblers and American Redstarts suggested at least some birds had arrived on the light westerly wind overnight. There were also more Magnolia Warblers around, but overall, our two morning walks were slower than yesterday’s birding, but we would repeatedly find pockets of good activity with more great views of most of what we encountered.
This Cape May Warbler showed himself nicely, feeding on little midges/flies buzzing around the buds of this Red Spruce.
A Black-billed Cuckoo was as cooperative as they get, freezing on a bare branch for several minutes. Prolonged scope views of Red and White-winged Crossbills offered the chance to watch their amazing feeding behavior. The afternoon was a little slower, as expected, but still low and close Blackpoll Warblers and crossbills all around. Friends found a Blue Grosbeak that afternoon, which confirmed what I thought “had to be one” that flew across the marsh early in the morning but disappeared into brush before we could confirm its identity.
Of course we took some time to enjoy Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at Donna’s feeders, along with the omnipresent Ring-necked Pheasants.
Despite southerly winds overnight, Sunday morning was quite a bit slower, likely due to rainfall cutting off the flow of migrants from the south. We started the day with a bang though, as we moseyed down to the harbor to enjoy an up-close-and-personal Razorbill that ended up spending much of the day foraging in the harbor.
There was some passerine turnover overnight, however, and new birds this morning included an Alder Flycatcher, a calling Olive-sided Flycatcher, and finally a Tennessee Warbler – perhaps our first uncooperative warbler of the trip! The bird of the morning, however, was Blackburnian Warbler, as we started the day with amazing views just as we started and finished the morning with repeated great looks at males and females. Again, we were just in awe of the repeated great views we were getting of so many species, even if, yes, it was slow by Monhegan standards.
A nice selection of flycatchers over the weekend afforded the opportunity to learn how to break them down via primary projection, such as in this long-winged Eastern Wood-Pewee.
In the afternoon, we took the obligatory walk up to the lighthouse, both for some hawkwatching and snapshots. However, we ended up being enthralled (OK, I was enthralled) by a massive gull feeding frenzy that broke out over the lighthouse hill and beyond. It became clear that the gulls were not just enjoying the weather to soar on thermals but were feeding on some unseen flying insect. While a common event on the mainland, none of the birders present out here has ever seen anything like this over the island. The numerous Herring Gulls attracted a growing number of Laughing Gulls – the most I have ever seen out here (it’s usually just a few pairs around the harbor or fly-bys).
Northern Parula nest under construction.
Monday, the last day of the tour, unfortunately, did not see us go out with a bang. With light easterlies overnight and developing clouds and fog, not only did a new wave of migrants not arrive, but it seemed like just about every single passage migrant had departed! Even Blackpolls were few and far between, and the number of American Redstarts seemed only on par with the number that remain out here to breed.
Pink Lady’s Slipper in the woods.
But once again, White-winged Crossbills stole the show, with the pre-breakfast walk highlighted by incredible views of a feeding family group. And although slow all day, we covered some ground and slowly built up our triplist with everything from a Purple Finch to a calling fly-over Black-bellied Plover. We studied a Great Cormorant (and later, a second), and finally caught up with the long-staying Green Heron in the ice pond. Three tarrying Black Scoters were a surprise in Deadman’s Cove, but not nearly as surprising as the drake Green-winged Teal loafing with Common Eiders on Neigh Duck!
After lunch, an unusual-for-here assortment of swallows over the marsh included two Bank, one Cliff, joining the 2 Tree Swallows and more Barn Swallows that have been out here all weekend. Seawatching at Lobster Cove produced a hen Long-tailed Duck right off the rocks that somehow disappeared in front of our eyes.
Black Guillemots were all around the island, including some close ones off of Lobster Cove that were close enough to see those vivid red feet.
“Lefty” the Red-winged Blackbird has returned for at least his third summer on territory in the marsh.
With the tour coming to an end at about 3:00pm as just about everyone readied to board the Hardy Boat, rain began to fall, bringing our tour to an official close. However, it wasn’t until dinnertime that a few downpours arrived, and so we squeezed out one more comfortable day of birding.
It was just Jeannette and me now, but “FOMO” was unwarranted. While a White-throated Sparrow outside of the Monhegan House after dinner was unexpected for the date, we didn’t add anything new to the trip list that evening, or the next morning. Rain, heavy at times overnight and a strong south wind with fog in the morning precluded any movement of birds, and our pre-breakfast walk was dreadfully slow. Passage migrants were few, just about 9 Blackpoll Warblers, 1 Canada Warbler, and 1 Northern Waterthrush, and it felt downright June-like with birdsong being almost exclusively breeding birds. We did have another look at uncommon Monhegan birds like the Blue-winged Teal, Green Heron, and Bank Swallow, but it wasn’t the hardest day to walk away from.
Juvenile White-winged Crossbill
…. Which was good, as we were forced to depart earlier than planned due to the cancellation of the afternoon Hardy Boat. With a low pressure system moving along the stalled front that likely reduced our flow of migrants over the second half of the weekend was also building the seas. Our 10:15 trip, however, featured following seas that made for a reasonable ride, but the fog remained thick until New Harbor. We did have 4 Red-necked Phalaropes materialize out of the fog, however, with one remaining on the water just long enough for Jeannette to reach for and get her camera ready.
So, while Monday – and our usual day off together on Tuesday – was lackluster overall, it was really hard to beat the weather, birding, and learning opportunities that this year’s tour offered. Hopefully, everyone will now know how to identify Blackpoll Warblers at least! Oh, and my goodness the crossbills…
We tallied a respectable 93 species, including 18 species of warblers, over the four-day tour. Although below our long-term average, this was slightly above recent spring weekends. The following counts are simply guesstimations of the number of each species we encountered each day. Not the number of observations (eg every time we passed the same singing Yellow Warbler) or even a guess as to how many were on the island on a given day, but some crude attempt to quantify how many individuals of each species we think we saw each day. The ebbs and flows and daily changes are more interesting than the undoubtedly inaccurate numbers. For species such as the two crossbills that move around, back and forth, all over each day, it was impossible to really know how many there were. “A lot” should suffice.
Here is the trip list four the four-day tour. * = seen from ferry only. **=not seen with tour group.
Species
5/24
5/25
5/26
5/27
Wood Duck
1
1
1
0
Blue-winged Teal
0
0
1
0
Mallard
15
20
20
15
American Black Duck
1
1
0
1
Green-winged Teal
0
0
0
1
Common Eider
x
x
x
x
Surf Scoter
2*
0
0
1
Black Scoter
0
0
0
3
Long-tailed Duck
1
0
0
1
Ring-necked Pheasant
8
10
10
10
Mourning Dove
8
10
8
8
Black-billed Cuckoo
1
1
0
0
Common Nighthawk
1
0
0
0
Chimney Swift
0
0
2
0
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
1
2
1
2
Virginia Rail
0
1
1
0
Black-bellied Plover
0
0
0
1
RAZORBILL
0
0
1
0
Black Guillemot
x
x
x
x
ATLANTIC PUFFIN
2*
0
0
0
Laughing Gull
6*
20
1
8
Herring Gull
x
x
x
x
Great Black-backed Gull
x
x
x
x
Common Tern
X*
0
0
0
Common Loon
5*
0
1
2
Northern Gannet
3*
0
1
0
Double-crested Cormorant
x
x
x
x
Great Cormorant
0
0
0
2
Great Blue Heron
0
0
1
0
Osprey
0
2
1
0
Sharp-shinned Hawk
0
1
2
0
Bald Eagle
2
2
2
2
Red-bellied Woodpecker
0
1
0
0
Merlin
0
1
1
1
Eastern Kingbird
3
4
5
5
Olive-sided Flycatcher
0
0
1
0
Eastern Wood-Pewee
4
4
4
3
Alder Flycatcher
0
0
1
0
“Traill’s” Flycatcher
0
0
1
0
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
0
1
0
0
Least Flycatcher
0
4
5
1
Blue-headed Vireo
0
1
0
0
Red-eyed Vireo
8
15
10
3
Blue Jay
4
48
4
4
American Crow
x
x
x
x
Common Raven
1
1
1
1
Black-capped Chickadee
x
8
6
6
Bank Swallow
0
0
0
2
Tree Swallow
2
2
1
1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
0
1
0
0
PURPLE MARTIN
1
0
0
0
Barn Swallow
4
1
1
6
CLIFF SWALLOW
0
0
0
1
Golden-crowned Kinglet
1
2
10
2
Cedar Waxwing
40
60
80
30
Carolina Wren
2
7
3
3
House Wren
1
1
2
1
Gray Catbird
x
x
x
x
Brown Thrasher
0
1
1
0
European Starling
x
x
x
x
Swainson’s Thrush
1
1
0
0
American Robin
10
12
8
10
Purple Finch
0
0
0
1
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL
6
12
20
25
RED CROSSBILL
4
15
12
4
American Goldfinch
10
10
10
10
Chipping Sparrow
2
0
0
0
Song Sparrow
x
X
x
x
Bobolink
1
1
1
1
Baltimore Oriole
2
2
1
2
Red-winged Blackbird
x
x
x
x
Common Grackle
x
x
x
x
Northern Waterthrush
0
0
0
1
Black-and-white Warbler
0
1
0
1
Tennessee Warbler
0
2**
2
0
Nashville Warbler
1
0
0
0
Common Yellowthroat
10
15
12
x
American Redstart
30
35
25
10
Cape May Warbler
2
1
1
0
Northern Parula
4
8
8
4
Magnolia Warbler
6
10
4
4
Bay-breasted Warbler
2
0
1
2
Blackburnian Warbler
3
3
5
1
Yellow Warbler
20
20
20
15
Chestnut-sided Warbler
6
8
6
3
Blackpoll Warbler
60
50
35
6
Yellow-rumped Warbler
0
1
0
0
Black-throated Green Warbler
3
8
10
1
Canada Warbler
1
0
0
0
Wilson’s Warbler
2
1
1
0
Northern Cardinal
x
10
8
6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
2
2
0
1
BLUE GROSBEAK
0
1
0
0
Day Total
64
66
65
62
Warbler Day Total
14
14
13
12
Trip Total
93
Warbler Trip Total
18
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. I saw a Northern Mockingbird on three occasions, for example, but somehow never saw it during the tour! Likewise, an American Woodcock over the Island Inn after sunset on the 26th and the White-throated Sparrow that Jeannette and I heard after the tour ended on Monday, along with our Red-necked Phalaropes on our way home on Tuesday did not count for the official tour list.
We didn’t care how common Yellow Warblers are…they’re still always beautiful! As are the sunsets from the Trailing Yew.
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 14th.
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 12th.
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 15th.
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 11th 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 13th – 15th.
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 13th, 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 1st-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!
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.
Maine Birding Field Notes 