One of two Baird’s Sandpipers that were in the salt pannes of the Eastern Road Trail through Scarborough Marsh on the 7th, it was one of an estimated 3500+ shorebirds present that day. Low water conditions are currently ideal, but they are drying out fast, and without some rain in the next week, this hotspot might just become too dry to hold many birds.
With a busy few days of catching up, my birding was limited immediately upon our return from our summer vacation. However, I made up for it this week with a couple of tours and two birding outings with friends. There is a surprising number and quality of summertime rarities around the state right now, but I stayed fairly local and tried to find my own rare shorebird or two! Here are my observations of note over the past 12 days here in Maine.
A vocal Yellow-billed Cuckoo continues daily in our yard all week.
1 Great Egret, flying over downtown Waterville at dusk, 7/28 (with Jeannette).
2 Long-tailed Ducks, Simpson’s Point, Brunswick, 8/1.
1 TRICOLORED HERON (FOY), Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 8/3 (with Birds on Tap – Roadtrip! Tour Group). Photo in trip report here.
3 adult RED-NECKED GREBES, 1 White-winged Scoter, and 1 Black Scoter, Ocean Avenue-Biddeford Pool Beach, Biddeford, 8/5 (with Bill Thompson)
1 female PURPLE MARTIN, Timber Point, Biddeford, 8/5 (with Bill Thompson). Confirmed breeding as it entered a powerline visual marker ball with food and exited with a fecal sac!
PATCHES! Perhaps Patches the IVth? Presumed TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X LITTLE EGRET HYBRID that now may be a fourth-generation bird that’s a backcross again with a TRICOLORED HERON as this year’s bird has significantly more bluish color than previous years, and in all the right places for a Tricolored. In other words, “Tricolored Heron x Small White Egretta SPP”, or, “Patches.” But the hybrid heron was in the salt pannes of the Eastern Road Trail on 8/7 (with Ian Doherty). My phone-scoped photos in the heat shimmer don’t do it justice!
7 Bonaparte’s Gulls, Sabattus Pond, 8/8.
And as expected for the season, shorebird migration is now in full swing and that was the focus of my birding attention, resulting in a solid 21 species. Here were my high counts over these past 12 days:
American Oystercatcher: 7 (4 ad, 3 juv), Hill’s Beach, Biddeford, 8/5 (with Bill Thompson).
Black-bellied Plover: 60+, The Pool, Biddeford Pool, 8/5 (with Bill Thompson).
Killdeer: 11, Sabattus Pond, 8/8.
Semipalmated Plover: 375, Hill’s Beach, 8/5 (with Bill Thompson).
Least Sandpiper: 350+, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 8/7 (with Ian Doherty).
White-rumped Sandpiper: 75+ (wow! Great count!), Eastern Road Trail, 8/7 (with Ian Doherty).
Pectoral Sandpiper: 1, Eastern Road Trail, 8/7 (with Ian Doherty).
Semipalmated Sandpiper: Incredible concentration of 2750-3000+ at Eastern Road Trail, 8/7 (with Ian Doherty), but an honorable mention of 2500+ at Pine Point, Scarborough, 8/3 (with Birds on Tap – Roadtrip! Tour Group).
WESTERN SANDPIPER (FOY): 1 ad, Eastern Road Trail, 8/7 (with Ian Doherty).
Short-billed Dowitcher: 58, Hill’s Beach, 8/5 (with Bill Thompson).
American Woodcock: 2, our property in Durham, 8/1.
Spotted Sandpiper: 2, several locations this week.
Any single martin away from a known colony is worth studying, especially “funny looking” ones, as vagrant martins have occurred in the Northeast. I spotted one such martin over Scarborough Marsh from the Eastern Road Trail while guiding on Thursday. Luckily, I shouted down the road to Bill Thompson and he was able to photograph the bird as it flew by. Together, we identified it as a 1st summer, likely female, Purple Martin. It sure looked strange as it was flying towards me.
A week of fairly-local birding at the height of nestling season – and the ramping up of southbound shorebird season – produced the following observations of note:
2 Red Crossbills, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, 7/6.
4 Orchard Orioles (pair with 2 fledglings), Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 7/7 (with clients from Maine).
3 Lesser Yellowlegs (first of “fall”) and 3-4 Least Sandpipers (first of fall), Walsh Preserve, Yarmouth, 7/8 (with clients from Maine).
Totals of 95+ Short-billed Dowitchers, 70+ Least Sandpipers, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, Scarborough Marsh, Scarborough, 7/10 (with clients from Maine and New Hampshire).
1 PURPLE MARTIN, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 7/10 (with clients from Maine and New Hampshire). Photos from Bill Thompson above.
1 continuing drake American Wigeon, Eastern Road Trail, 7/10 (with clients from Maine and New Hampshire).
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.
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)!
I found this 1st summer Little Gull on Hill’s Beach in Biddeford on 6/19. It was among about 40-50 Bonaparte’s Gulls and hunkered down against the wind. This was my first in southern Maine in quite a few years.
Breeding season is upon us, and Maine’s seabird islands are in full effect – even when they don’t have a Tufted Puffin. I did find a Little Gull, however, and that was fun; I really like Little Gulls! My observations of note over the past seven days included the following:
Biddeford Pool shoreline and neighborhood, 6/19: 1 1st summer Great Cormorant, 3 Black Scoters, 1 pair Surf Scoters, and 1 likely-late migrant Magnolia Warbler.
1 first-summer LITTLE GULL and 1 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, Hill’s Beach, Biddeford, 6/19 (photos above).
3 Semipalmated Sandpipers and 14 Black-bellied Plovers, The Pool, Biddeford Pool, 6/19.
Belgrade PURPLE MARTIN colony, 6/21: Jeannette and I counted at least 25 occupied nests holes, which I believe would be a recent record high of this venerable colony.
1 Red Crossbill, Downeast Sunrise Trail, Machias, 6/21 (with Jeannette).
15-20 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, Cutler Harbor to Machias Seal Island with Bold Coast Charter Co, 6/22 (with Paul Dioron, Bill Thompson, and Jeannette).
1 pair NORTHERN GANNETS, displaying and early-courtship behavior, Machias Seal Island with Bold Coast Charter Co, 6/22 (with Paul Dioron, Bill Thompson, and Jeannette).
1 Greater Yellowlegs, Machias River Causeway, 6/22 (with Jeannette). High-flying and heading south, was this our first migrant of “fall?” or just an over-summering bird heading to a roost?
2 Red Crossbills (Typ1 10 fide Matt Young), 1 Bay-breasted Warbler, Palm Warblers, etc, Cutler Coast Maine Public Reserve Lands, 6/23 (with Jeannette).
1 pair AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS, Egg Rock off Petit Manan peninsula, with Acadia Nature Tours puffin trip to Petit Manan Island (with Doug Hitchcox, Jeannette, et al). No Tufted Puffin.
After a couple of failed nesting attempts followed by a 2-3(?) year hiatus, a male Northern Gannet has been hanging out and “prospecting” on Machias Seal Island again this year. Recently, he has attracted the attention of a 4th-cycle, presumed female. We were lucky enough to view them outside of our blind during a tour there on 6/22. This was just a quick snapshot with my phone. Jeannette has over a thousand photos to sort through!
Maine’s 4th ever observation of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks have graced downtown Camden for over a week now.
It was a slow start to the week with just a trickle of migrants arriving from the weekend through the storm system on Wednesday. However, a successful twitch, and a couple of light flights overnight made for a great week of spring birding. Of course, there was also another successful Feathers Over Freeport: A Birdwatching Weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Even though they didn’t produce any birds of note, it was a wonderful weekend full of birdwatching highlights. Photos will be posted soon, while the summary of our morning birdwalks is posted here.
My observations of note over the past seven days included:
1 SANDHILL CRANE (Finally, my FOY after missing a bunch of them at the watch this year), Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch, 5/1.
1 Louisiana Waterthrush, Morgan Meadow WMA, 6/15 (with Jeannette).
1 proposed TRICOLORED HERON X SNOWY EGRET X LITTLE EGRET hybrid, Pelreco Marsh, Scarborough Marsh, 6/16 (with clients from Colorado and Maine) and 6/17 (with clients from Minnesota).
1 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, Pine Point, Scarborough, 6/16 (with clients from Colorado and Maine).
1 Lesser Yellowlegs and 4 Greater Yellowlegs, Eastern Road Trail, Scarborough Marsh, 6/17 (with clients from Minnesota).
Hmm…how do I spin this one? Well, it could have been colder, and it could have been a lot wetter. The crossbills were pretty amazing, and it was fun to find that Purple Martin.
But yes, as far as Monhegan Spring Migration Weekends go, this was a pretty slow and cold one. In fact, the 77 total species and only 10 species of warblers were both record lows (in 10 years of doing these trips on the last weekend of May). But it is not spin to say a slow day of birding on Monhegan is better than a great day of birding most everywhere else.
The very early spring this year had rapidly advanced vegetation. On many of our Memorial Day weekends, apple trees – one of the most important bird-magnets out here – are not yet blooming. This year, they were just about finished. Meanwhile, the dry and benign weather of the past few weeks have allowed migrant birds to proceed unimpeded. They were either going right overhead or stopping on the island only briefly before continuing onward. No traffic jams of birds held up by unfavorable weather, no concentrations at few and isolated foodstuffs, and certainly no fallouts. Well, at least the abnormally dry conditions we have been experiencing began to break this weekend.
More importantly, while the above complaints made for slow birding, they really made for a great migration for birds who don’t want to get stuck on an island or other migrant trap. Instead, they got to where they needed to go and many seemed to get right to work in order to catch up with the advanced season.
When we arrived on Friday, we found relatively few birds as expected given the preceding week’s beautiful weather. We quickly caught up with the pair of Blue-winged Teal that have been hanging around and possibly breeding out here – a very good bird on offshore islands. I was also happy to finally see my first Tennessee Warblers of the spring. And while diversity was not overly high, it was really nice out and we enjoyed really good looks at a lot of what we encountered, including the aforementioned Tennessee Warblers, Blackburnian Warblers, and our daily dose of the confiding and stunning Scarlet Tanager that was lingering around the village’s south end.
Scarlet TanagerTennessee Warbler.Cedar Waxwing.
I had really high hopes for Saturday morning. With very light southerly winds and partly cloudy skies at dusk (I enjoyed a Common Nighthawk and an American Woodcock while watching the sunset with a friend), the winds became very light southwesterly after dark. Then, around 2:00am, some light rain began to fall, and the winds shifted to the northeast. The hopes for a fallout kept me awake as I listened to those first showers in the early morning hours.
Upon sunrise, it soon became clear that my hopes and dreams had been dashed. There was minimal bird movement visible on the NEXRAD radar before the rain arrived. A large area of low pressure passing to our south, with the northern edge of rain moving much further north than forecast, suggested the possibility of fallout conditions. But were there even any birds on the move before the rain? Or, were they cut off to our south by the approaching storm? Or – as we have been surmising on the mainland as well – have they just mostly passed by already?.
Light rain continued for our pre-breakfast walk, and it was very slow. There was definitely not a fallout, and there did not seem to be many birds around at all. That Scarlet Tanager stole the show again though. Great looks at things like Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, American Redstart, and Northern Parula soon followed.
Rain slowly tapered off during the morning, and while cameras were mostly sealed away, it was more than birdable. We heard a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (my first of the year), a Virginia Rail, and even briefly saw the vociferous Sora that incessantly called from the marsh throughout the weekend. Then, just before lunch, we found a female Purple Martin. Unexpectedly late, and rare out here in general, this was a nice find, and when we relocated it at Swim Beach, we had some great views to make sure it was indeed a Purple Martin.
The afternoon was dry, but the birding remained slow. We did get a better view of the dapper male Blue-winged Teal, and spent some real quality time with the flock of 18 Red Crossbills that contained a single White-winged Crossbill. Many folks got one, if not two, life birds in this flock, and we saw them as well as one could ever hope.
With a light northeasterly wind overnight, little to no migration was detected on the radar Saturday night into Sunday morning, but it was not yet raining. It was a little birdier than the day before, but the pre-breakfast walk only yielded two new species for us: a fleeting glimpse of a Lincoln’s Sparrow and a fly-by American Black Duck. But the crossbills entertained us once again! Also, Smooth Green Snake and Redbelly Snake side-by-side.
A large area of low pressure was rapidly developing off the mid-Atlantic coast, and the rain was heading our way. So we were grateful for another dry – albeit chilly – morning. A couple of late Bobolinks and a Merlin were new for us, and we glimpsed a less-than-cooperative Short-billed Dowitcher that had arrived and played hard to get for the next couple of days. With so little shorebird habitat out here, most shorebirds are noteworthy, even species common on the mainland. According to Brett Ewald, this was only the 16th record for the island, and 10th for spring. In fact, this was my 218th species on Monhegan! Even on a slow day, you never know what might show up out here.
Light rain had arrived by the time we regrouped after lunch and the northeasterly wind was picking up. We called it quits as the rain picked up in earnest around 3:00pm, retiring to our respective rooms – or, mostly, heated common areas – and got some reading and relaxation time in.
Overnight rain ended just about as our pre-breakfast walk got underway on Monday, with only light showers and a little drizzle for the next couple of hours. Given the forecast, this was most definitely a win. We checked gull roosts and other sheltered harbor nooks, turning up only a Savannah Sparrow as a new addition to our list. The rest of the morning was spent enjoying some of the birds we have been seeing for the past days, like the Blue-winged Teal and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
American RedstartRing-necked Pheasant.Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
After the weekend tempest, those of us who survived were rewarded with calm, following seas for our ride back to New Harbor. It was foggy, but we had some great sightings on the easy ride back with single fly-by Razorbill, Atlantic Puffin, and a feeding Bonaparte’s Gull. Adding these three excellent birds helped our paltry list to a total of 77 species. With a long-term average of about 95 species in four days, you can see that we really did have a weekend of low avian diversity.
So alas, the weekend came to a close. A few good birds, lots of great looks at regular birds, and a few lingering chills. But, as usual, we ate well. Perhaps too well. But hey, we were burning off calories thermoregulating! Hey it happens, and the regulars all know that there will be a “bad” weekend once in a while to make the “best” tours that much sweeter.
Read
Since folks who have been reading several years of these trip reports, I figured I would include the gratuitous food porn photo as usual. However, without the Novelty open, there was no pizza. Besides, we like to class it up once in a while, in this case, at the Island Inn.
(* denotes seen from the ferry only. **Seen only by the leader outside of group time)
The Purple Martin is an iconic bird of the Northeast and has long had a “relationship” with people. Their large apartment-style houses grace the yards of many homeowners. However, this large swallow species reaches its northern range limit in Maine, so nesting colonies in our state are very localized and spread out. One such colony has been active since at least 1909 in Belgrade. Over the years, Maggie and Carl Yeaton maintained several martin houses on this property, most recently with assistance from Hammond Lumber Company workers. But, there has come a point where even those houses started to fall into disrepair. Without these houses would this colony that birders from far and wide come to see disappear, as other colonies this far north have done? Many of Maine’s birders, including myself, saw their first Purple Martins here, and the colony is frequented by birders working on their state and year lists, or just want to enjoy one of the state’s rarest breeding birds.
Last summer, I stopped at the colony with a client, John Alexander, visiting from Sheffield, MA. After noticing the poor state of the houses, Alexander offered a donation to replace them. That got the ball rolling. I then contacted local resident, birder, and active member of the Belgrade community, Don Mairs to assist with the project. Don was instrumental in getting this project going; we couldn’t have done it without him. He arranged for all of the permissions necessary, and began to drum up local support for the project.
The martins have been returning annually to houses that are now beyond repair. Something needed to be done before this vibrant colony no longer had adequate housing.
One year later, in May 2015, our store, Freeport Wild Bird Supply procured a new steel pole with pulleys (to facilitate cleaning) and plastic gourd array, which is now the preferred style of martin dwelling. With the additional help of local volunteers, Bob Lewis and Ed Slattery, this new set-up was established at the old Yeaton property, now owned by Don and Mary Hammond, of Hammond Lumber.The new gourd array in the background of the colony between Depot Road and Rte 27.
But, the plan does not stop there. Alexander and FWBS supplied a second array to be placed in another location. The thought here is that as martins from the original colony are out foraging, they may notice this nearby housing and eventually establish themselves in this “suburb;” starting an auxiliary colony as a back-up in case the original colony was to fail due to some catastrophic event or circumstances changed. After consultation with Belgrade Librarian Janet Patterson and her Board, and President Mike Barrett of the Friends of the Library Board, it was decided to put this other gourd set-up in the open space behind the library. This pleasant and bird-friendly location has the advantage of proximity to Belgrade Central School, with obvious potential for collaboration.
It was obvious that Maine birders do not have much experience installing martin poles. The second installation, however, took about 1/4 of the time than the first, so clearly we are learning…slowly.
Sasha’s supervision must have made the difference.
Although it is probably too late for nesters to use the new set-ups this year, the idea is to give the inhabitants of the old houses a chance to check out the new arrays, which they are already doing, along with allowing prospecting immatures to check out future homes. And, as of last check at the library, a pair of Tree Swallows had taken up residence in one of the gourds – a good sign. We at FWBS are excited that this collaboration between us, the Hammonds, the Belgrade Library, and several local residents has resulted in what may just be the beginning of a project to maintain and grow this Purple Martin colony.
Maine Birding Field Notes 