Tag Archives: Olive-sided Flycatcher

This Week’s Highlights, May 13-20,2022 (Spoiler Alert: It was Exceptional!)

1 Reply

Confidently identifying Gray-cheeked vs Bicknell’s Thrushes on migration is always a challenge, but this bird I found at Biddeford Pool was vocalizing incessantly. It even posed – as far as these reclusive migrants go – for some snapshots. I believe that this is my first confirmed Bicknell’s Thrush
on the coastal plain of Maine during spring migration,

For much of this spring, I’ve been lamenting about a “slow” week of migration, or a “trickle” of migrants, etc.  That was NOT the case this week, as the floodgates finally opened. In fact, it was an incredible week of birding. The northern limits of a huge fallout greeted me on Monday morning. And then there was Friday at Biddeford Pool.  It was epic. Unforgettable.

My observations of note over the past eight days included:

  • 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, 5/15 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 20 species of warblers, including 1 continuing Louisiana Waterthrush and 6 Bay-breasted Warblers (FOY), and led by 25+ Northern Parulas and 20+ Black-and-white Warblers, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/16 (with Jeannette).  Incredible morning; definitely the best morning of spring to date. Interestingly, this appeared to be about the northern limits of what was a significant coastal fallout from at least Eastern Massachusetts into southern Maine.
  • 17 species of warblers, led by 18 Common Yellowthroats and 17 American Redstarts, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/17 (with client from Maine).
  • 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet (getting late), Florida Lake Park, 5/17 (with client from Maine).
  • 1 pair Gadwalls, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 5/17 (with client from Maine).
  • 16 species of warblers, led by 24 Yellow-rumped Warblers and 15 American Redstarts, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/18 (with Jeannette).  This was the first morning this season where there were more female than male passage migrants.
  • 16 species of warblers, led by 24 Common Yellowthroats and 22 Yellow-rumped Warblers, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/19.
  • Biddeford Pool, FALLOUT, 5/20!  This was insane. I was optimistic about conditions based on the overnight wind forecast and morning fog, but there was virtually nothing on the radar overnight. I almost didn’t go. I never expected to find this.  Birds were everywhere. Every tree had warblers. Swainson’s Thrushes and Lincoln’s Sparrows were hopping around manicured lawns. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing it was, but here are some of the highlights as I covered East Point, the neighborhood, and the Elphis Pond trails. All of my numbers are extremely conservative, as I attempted to judge the movement of birds between parallel streets, etc.
    • 20 species of warblers led by 53 Common Yellowthroats, 44+ American Redstarts, 44 Yellow Warblers, and 43 Magnolia Warblers. I know these numbers are particularly low.
    • Thrushes!  43 Swainson’s Thrushes (FOY) and 8+ Veeries, but also…
    • 1 BICKNELL’S THRUSH – shocking migrant vocalizing incessantly on path to East Point.  Was still calling 3 hours later. Voice recordings and poor photo above. Rarely detected in migration away other than Nocturnal Flight Calls, this might have been my first ever confirmation in spring along Maine’s coast. Seems a little early, too. Photo above.
    • 1 GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH (FOY). My settings were off on the camera and the overall tone of this bird is not accurate! When I looked down at the camera to adjust, it dropped out of site. Called once.
  • 1 SUMMER TANAGER, near Elphis Pond. Quick fly-by, and no red seen. Confident there was little or red on the upperparts. Not seen well enough to know if this was the bird that had been continuing in the area for a while or a different, possible female.
    • 1 male ORCHARD ORIOLE, Elphis Pond.  Often singing.
    • Amazing quantities of usually-uncommon migrants, such as: 15 Lincoln’s Sparrows, 15 Bay-breasted Warblers, and 11 Canada Warblers.
    • Other good tallies included 17 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 13 Least Flycatchers, and 4-6 Scarlet Tanagers.
    • Personal First-of-years also included 2 Cape May Warblers, 9 Tennessee Warblers, 3 Philadelphia Vireos, along with 2 Roseate Terns off Ocean Ave.
    • The bird that got away: an intriguing Empid that suggested Acadian in a brief view along Orcutt Ave. Could not relocate.

Meanwhile, my list of personal “first of years” this week before the Biddeford Pool fallout included the following:

  • 4 American Redstarts, Essex Woods and Marsh, Bangor, 5/13.
  • 2 Bobolinks, Essex Woods and Marsh, 5/13.
  • 1 Virginia Rail, Essex Woods and Marsh, 5/13.
  • 5 Wood Thrushes, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, 5/15 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 1 Scarlet Tanager, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/15 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 3 Red-eyed Vireos, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/15 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 1 Black-crowned Night-Heron, Evergreen Cemetery, 5/15 (with Down East Adventures Spring Songbird Workshop group).
  • 1 Canada Warbler, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/16 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER (a little on the early side), Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/16 (with Jeannette).
  • 4 Eastern Wood-Pewees, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/16 (with Jeannette).
  • 2 Blackpoll Warblers, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/16 (with Jeannette).
  • 6 Bay-breasted Warblers, Morgan Meadow WMA, 5/16 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Alder Flycatcher, Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 5/17 (with client from Maine).
  • 1 BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, Hidden Pond Preserve, Freeport, 5/17 (with client from Maine).
  • 40+ Least Terns, Scarborough Marsh, 5/17 (with client from Maine).
  • 4 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 5/17 (with client from Maine).
  • 20+ Semipalmated Sandpipers, Pelreco Marsh, 5/17 (with client from Maine)
This Black-and-white Warbler was among the multitudes of cooperative birds at Biddeford Pool on the 20th. But apparently, I didn’t take photos of any of the colorful ones! I was also having so much fun that
for the most part, I forgot I even had a camera.

Monhegan Spring Migration Weekend, 5/26-30/2017

1 Reply

OCWA_day5
Our group found a singing male Orange-crowned Warbler, one of the best birds of the weekend.

For the 7th year spring a row (fall tours since for over a decade), I spent my Memorial Day Weekend with a tour group visiting the magical and magnificent Monhegan Island. Exactly 100 species (including birds seen offshore during the ferry crossing) later – including 18 species of warblers – I was forced to depart, already counting down the days to my two fall tours (and perhaps making some plans for a summer visit…just because).

But the usually stress-free tour (compared to the logistics of much of the rest of my summer slate) got off to a rocky start (pun intended) with the early boat from New Harbor cancelling their morning trip late in the evening on Thursday. We made plans to head up to Port Clyde instead, and early in the morning, we received confirmation that all was well with the 10:30 am departure and we were reserved on it. Phew!

The whole group rendezvoused in Port Clyde, where based on the ride, well, let’s just say we were glad we were taking a big, heavy boat with a route that is sheltered for the first half. Because once we cleared the islands, well, things got a ‘rollin! But as always, the captain of the Monhegan Boat adeptly chose the route, and we basically tacked our way to Monhegan to avoid taking the swells on broadside. It was breezy enough that we were able to avoid the rain but remain in the fresh air outside on the stern (without diesel fumes), and we even spotted two Atlantic Puffins on the trip! But as for that small gull that was wheeling off in the distance just as we hit a trough and I hit John in my scramble for a view…well, we’ll never know.

Not surprisingly, the trip took longer than usual, but it allowed us to miss the rain! We arrived shortly after noon, with just a little lingering drizzle and mist. With diminishing northeast winds, we were prepared for worse, so we were fine with merely cool, only damp, and rather slow birding. Sure was better than steady rain and wind! And there were a few good birds to track down, led by the three Cattle Egrets that had been frequenting the island – my 206th species on the island, and a state bird for most of the group, at least. They were not hard to find, and were in fact pretty hard to miss for the better part of the next two and a half days. Really, until Jeannette arrived on Sunday, but that’s a story for a different day.
CAEG

Good looks at Philadelphia Vireo, a very vociferous Sora, and a dusk vigil which resulted in very close encounters with Common Nighthawks rounded out a productive first day.
EAKI
Eastern Kingbirds spent most of the weekend foraging low along the shoreline.

5/27: Day 2.
Well, that was a cold night in the rooms! Clearly the buildings of the island didn’t have a whole lot of ambient warmth built up, and extra blankets were at a premium. And with light northeast winds overnight, little to no migration was visible on the radar or in the dawn flight, but it was our first morning on the island, so we had a lot of birding to do.

A few pockets of migrants here and there slowly built up the checklist, with occasionally goodies including the Cattle Egrets, an immature male Orchard Oriole, a good look for most of a singing Mourning Warbler, and a fleeting White-eyed Vireo. We finally caught up with a female Summer Tanager (a bona fide one, not the female Scarlet with some missing feathers near the base of her bill), and we once again finished the day with feeding nighthawks, the incessantly calling Sora, and last but not least, a displaying American Woodcock.
female_SUTA
Female Summer Tanager

BAOR
Immature male Baltimore Oriole.

BLPW
Male Blackpoll Warbler

In between, we feasted on delicious pizza at The Novelty, fueled ourselves with coffee at the Black Duck, and relaxed in the late afternoon with a beer at Monhegan Brewing (including ginger beer and root beer, too). Yeah, a slow day of birding on Monhegan is better than most days most anywhere else!
Yew_Sunset, 5-27-17_edited-1

5/28: Day 3
With some people departing on Saturday, and others joining us for Sunday, we started Day 3 with a great find: A singing Orange-crowned Warbler right outside the Trailing Yew. Well, OK, it found us, and I’ll admit to taking way too long to identify it by sound with my pre-coffee and poor-night’s-sleep foggy state. Eventually, we had great looks at it, and those who were not yet with us were able to catch up with it later in the day or early Monday morning. This is a great bird in Maine in spring. In fact, it may have been my first in Maine in this season.
OCWA

Clearing skies and calm winds overnight allowed for an impressive migration, and the Orange-crowned was just the start of a great day of birding. The first half of the day was very birdy, with lots of new arrivals and new species. It was one of those mornings that were hard to break for breakfasts…but those breakfasts are all so damn good!

We found a second White-eyed Vireo, had unusually good looks at several Swainson’s Thrushes and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, and slowly built up our triplist. It was a very good day, featuring a goodly total of 70 species.
MAWA
Magnolia Warbler
RBGR
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
WIWA
Wilson’s Warbler
YWAR
Yellow Warbler

5/29: Day 4
Light southerly winds at dusk had me optimistic as birds took to the air en masse come sunset. However, overnight, the winds shifted more easterly, shunting the flight inland, and overall, many more birds departed than arrived. With dense fog and a little mist come morning, my hopes for fallout conditions were dashed by the light to moderate easterly.

And accordingly, birding was very slow. I had a private tour for the first 2/3rds of the day, and we clawed our way through scattered small migrant flocks to find the goodies. There were definitely more Yellow-bellied Flycatchers around – including several unusually well out in the open. But the skies cleared up as the fog lifted, and we had a decent morning, a good part of which was simply spent exploring the woodlands of the interior of the island.
YBFL
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Smooth_Green_Snake
A photo session with a Smooth Green Snake was a nice treat, however.

Zippy_GreenSnake,5-28-17_edited-1

In the afternoon, Jeannette and I joined with several friends for some casual birding and conversation. Of course, once “off the clock,” my luck returned. After two of our friends had spent the weekend desperate for a good look at the Mourning Warbler, I walk by Donna’s lawn and calmly proclaim “umm, the Mourning Warbler is in Donna’s lawn.” We received permission to enter her yard, and followed it around the house for a while as it foraged around the foundation. This is not where I usually expect to see a Mourning Warbler, but we’ll take it. Unfortunately, all of Jeannette’s photos of it are of its butt.

Although it remained very slow overall, we had some really great looks at several birds we never did see on the tour, like a male Indigo Bunting, a Northern Waterthrush, and two very cooperative Olive-sided Flycatchers. We also caught up with the immature male Summer Tanager that was hanging out with the female and at least three Scarlet Tanagers – an impressive swatch of color and splendor, let alone offering good studies and comparisons.
INBU

OSFL

RedBelliedSnake2,5-29-17_edited-1
Undersides of a Red-bellied Snake
Male_SCTA
Male Scarlet Tanager
Male_SUTA
Immature male Summer Tanager

And in the afternoon, after everyone else departed, Jeannette and I happened upon a female Bay-breasted Warbler at Fish Beach that needed some help. Several mealworms later (a new species for my fed-mealworms list!) she hopped off into cover to digest. And I am happy to report that by the next morning, she didn’t need any handouts as she was actively foraging on her own.
female_BBWAfemale_BBWA_withMealworms

Jeannette and I enjoyed dinner at the Island Inn as our 24-hour vacation got underway, with Common Nighthawk, Sora, and American Woodcock serenading us on the way home.
IMG_4562-edited-edited
Willets spotted earlier in the day by Jeannette and several others as they briefly alighted on the island.

Day 5: 5/30.
It was just Jeannette and I today, and with no visible migration on the radar and expansive fog, our main plans were to sleep in for a change – and for the last time for me until July! So we did not expect to be woken up by sun shining into our windows.

Not surprisingly, I popped up and outside, and began birding with another great look at the continuing Orange-crowned Warbler. There were not a lot of new birds around, not surprisingly, but with sun shining, birds were out at edges and easy to see. The female Bay-breasted Warbler was busy catching seaweed flies at Fish Beach, joined by a companion male Blackburnian Warbler and later, a young male American Redstart.
BBWA_day5
BLBW-FishBeach
AMRE-FishBeach

We finally saw a Bald Eagle after five days on the island, and 4-7 Great Blue Herons dropped in for a visit. It was extremely quiet after breakfast, but again birds were just pleasantly visible in the sun, especially in blooming apple trees. Things like the Eastern Kingbirds, which spent most of the weekend feeding in and around patches of seaweed on the beaches were up and about, flycatching “normally” from treetops. We also slowly padded the triplist, with a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (incredibly, the first woodpecker of my five days here – how did I miss the resident Downies?) and great look at a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (my first of the year, and later, a very good look at a Black-billed as well). The male Summer Tanager, at least, continued to frequent a feeding station, and a Garter Snake was my third snake of the weekend (Smooth Green on a couple of occasions, and a single Red-bellied on Monday morning).
GBHE

FISP
Field Sparrow

A little wave of presumed migrant swallows increased the number of Barn and Tree Swallows by 2-3 each, but also including 3 Bank and 1 Cliff Swallow, the final two new species of our stay.

The afternoon was quite slow otherwise, but admittedly, we spent a decent portion of the last couple of hours of the afternoon involved in conversation at the brewery, and about everywhere in between.
brewery_bins,5-30-17_edited-1

horn_hill,5-30-17_edited-1

But alas, it was time to go, on the late boat back to Port Clyde. We said our goodbyes, for now, wondering if we’ll be back next spring (depending on if that misguided wind project gets underway), but also how soon we can get back this summer!
departure,5-30-17_edited-1

While we didn’t have any puffins – or any other seabirds – on our smooth ride back, we did have a couple of Roseate Terns as we approached Port Clyde. And then it was time for the drive home, and back into entry into the real world!

Here’s the five day daily checklist:
Mallard 16-16-10-12-10
Common Eider x-x-x-x-x
Ring-necked Pheasant 0-0-1-1-1
Common Loon 0-0-2-1-3
Northern Gannet 10-0-1-3-3
Double-crested Cormorant x-x-x-x-x
Great Cormorant 0-0-2-2-1
CATTLE EGRET 3-3-2-0-0
Great Blue Heron 0-0-0-0-4
Green Heron 0-2-0-0-0
Osprey 0-0-1-0-1
Bald Eagle 0-0-0-0-1
Merlin 0-1-1-1-1
Peregrine Falcon 0-1-0-0-0
Sora 1-1-1-1-1
Greater Yellowlegs 1-0-0-0-0
Spotted Sandpiper 0-1-0-0-0
American Woodcock 0-1-0-0-0
Laughing Gull (8)-0-2-2-11
Herring Gull x-x-x-x-x
Great Black-backed Gull x-x-x-x-x
Common Tern (x)-0-0-0-0
Roseate Tern 0-0-0-0-(2)
Black Guillemot x-x-x-x-x
ATLANTIC PUFFIN (2)-0-0-0-0
Mourning Dove 4-8-6-6-4
Black-billed Cuckoo 0-1-0-0-1
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO 0-0-0-0-1
Common Nighthawk 2-2-0-1-0
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2-3-3-2-3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 0-0-0-0-1
Belted Kingfisher 0-0-1-1-0
Olive-sided Flycatcher 0-0-0-2-0
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2-1-2-2-1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 0-0-3-6-0
Alder Flycatcher 0-0-1-1-0
Willow Flycatcher 0-3-3-2-1
“Traill’s” Flycatcher 1-2-0-0-0
Least Flycatcher 0-3-4-0-2
Eastern Kingbird 5-4-3-2-2
WHITE-EYED VIREO 0-1-1-0-0
Blue-headed Vireo 0-1-0-0-0
Philadelphia Vireo 1-3-4-3-2
Red-eyed Vireo 3-6-15-6-4
Blue Jay 6-8-6-6-6
American Crow 4-x-x-x-x
Common Raven 0-0-0-1-0
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 0-0-1-0-0
Tree Swallow 0-2-2-2-2
Bank Swallow 0-0-0-0-03
Barn Swallow 0-3-3-0-4
Cliff Swallow 0-0-0-0-1
Black-capped Chickadee x-x-x-x-x
Red-breasted Nuthatch 4-4-8-8-4
House Wren 0-1-0-0-0
Winter Wren 0-0-2-2-1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 0-0-6-10-4
Veery 1-0-1-0-0
Swainson’s Thrush 0-0-4-1-1
American Robin 8-10-10-12-15
Gray Catbird 20-x-x-x-x
Brown Thrasher 0-1-0-1-0
European Starling 4-6-6-10-10
Cedar Waxwing 40-40-40-30-50
Tennessee Warbler 0-0-2-0-0
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER 0-0-1-1-1
Northern Parula 3-6-8-8-8
Yellow Warbler 15-20-15-12-20
Chestnut-sided Warbler 0-4-10-8-6
Magnolia Warbler 1-3-20-10-15
Yellow-rumped Warbler 0-0-0-2-0
Black-throated Green Warbler 2-3-8-8-4
Blackburnian Warbler 0-1-6-6-8
Bay-breasted Warbler 0-1-0-1-1
Blackpoll Warbler 4-10-20-10-15
Black-and-white Warbler 0-2-2-2-1
American Redstart 6-15-40-20-10
Northern Waterthrush 0-0-0-1-0
MOURNING WARBLER 0-1-0-1-0
Common Yellowthroat 12-20-x-x-x
Wilson’s Warbler 1-0-4-1-2
Canada Warbler 0-1-2-0-1
SUMMER TANAGER 0-1-0-2-2
Scarlet Tanager 1-4-3-3-3
Chipping Sparrow 0-4-2-4-2
Field Sparrow 0-1-0-1-1
Savannah Sparrow 0-2-2-2-1
Song Sparrow x-x-x-x-x
White-throated Sparrow 0-1-1-0-1
Northern Cardinal x-8-8-8-6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1-3-3-3-4
Indigo Bunting 0-0-1-2-1
Bobolink 0-1-2-1-0
Red-winged Blackbird 15-14-x-x-x
Common Grackle x-x-x-x-x
ORCHARD ORIOLE 0-1-0-0-0
Baltimore Oriole 4-3-5-3-3
Purple Finch 2-3-2-2-1
Pine Siskin 0-0-1-0-0
American Goldfinch 10-12-10-10-8

so_many_birders2,Monhegan,5-17-17_edited-1
Just a typical Memorial Day Weekend full of birders on Monhegan!