These atrocious “doc shots” of the Gull-billed Tern as it flew even further down Seawall Beach as I was viewing from Popham Beach State Park in the late morning on 7/1. Unfortunately for me, this was the closest I would get! But note the whiteish wings and very pale upperparts, with the narrow black trailing edge on the primaries and the thick, blunt namesake bill. Its swooping feeding behavior was also evident. I wondered if it was feeding on tiger beetles, or hopefully, greenheads, on the beach!

I have been thoroughly enjoying local breeding birds with my self-limited tour schedule in June. However, my tour season is ramping up again, led by several boat trips, the first of which was last weekend, and the next is Monday. Meanwhile, despite the heat, “fall” southbound shorebird migration is underway! Here are my observations of note over the past 10 days, even with 3.5 of them being out of state:

• 2 RAZORBILLS, including one carrying food or nesting material, Eastern Egg Rock, 6/28 (with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises/Freeport Wild Bird Supply “Puffin and Whale Combo Tour” tour group). The Puffin Project recently reported the first nesting of RAZO on EER in over 100 years!
• 39 Great Shearwaters and 30+ Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, offshore, 6/28 (with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises/Freeport Wild Bird Supply “Puffin and Whale Combo Tour” tour group).

• 1 Willow Flycatcher, our property in Durham, 6/28 (Yard Bird #161!).

• 22 Short-billed Dowitchers and 2 Least Sandpipers (first of “fall!”) and 8 Black-bellied Plovers, Popham Beach State Park, 6/30 (with Jeannette).

• The continuing GULL-BILLED TERN, Seawall Beach/Popham Beach State Park, 7/1 (with m.obs. Photo above). This was #11 on my personal “Next State Birds for Me” list.

2026 “Next Maine Birds” Predictions Blog

• Migrant shorebirds between Hill’s Beach and The Pool, Biddeford, 7/3: 7 Least Sandpipers, 5 Short-billed Dowitchers, 2 Semipalmated Plovers (first of fall), 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers (FOF), 2 Black-bellied Plovers, and 1 Greater Yellowlegs.

Upcoming Tours (that have space):

Boothbay Harbor Whale-Puffin Cruise with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises

July 26 – 9:00AM.

​​This is the second of the two trips this summer where Derek will be onboard as a Guest Naturalist for this special “Whale Watch & Birding Buffs Combo” Cruise. The itinerary will include a visit to Eastern Egg Rock as well as whale feeding grounds. Nesting colonies and pelagic sightings will be highlighted. Around EER at this time we can expect to find Atlantic Puffins, Common Terns, Arctic Terns, Roseate Terns, Laughing Gulls, Double-Crested Cormorants, Common Eider, Black Guillemots, with a chance of Razorbill and Common Murre. Off-shore sightings may include Northern Gannets, up to 4 species of Shearwaters (Great, Sooty, Cory’s, and Manx), and Wilson’s Storm Petrels. Who knows? Perhaps the wandering TUFTED PUFFIN will be spotted! Sorry, no chumming this time, but we tend to get a little more time around Eastern Egg, and if there’s enough of us, a little more freedom to chase birds offshore!