Tag Archives: Woodcocks Gone Wild

Recent highlights, 3/1-3/14/2025.

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Don’t panic – this wasn’t in Maine!  But it was my bird photo highlight over the past two weeks. This Boreal Owl was spotted a short distance north of Duluth along the famous North Shore Road on the first day of a visit there with friends on March 1st. I don’t usually chase birds out of state, but this winter has been incredible for Boreal (and Great Gray) Owls and we just couldn’t resist any longer!  Photos from this, and other recent trips, are currently being posted regularly to the store’s Facebook page.

After a quick last-minute trip to Duluth, Minnesota for a birding weekend with friends (Boreal and Great Gray Owls!), Jeannette and I did our usual pre-hawkwatch long weekend and used it to visit friends in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (Green Jay fix and other Lower Rio Grande specialties!). In between and thereafter, it’s been mostly catching up at the store and life, but in some free moments, I had a few observations of note, including the vanguard of spring migration.

  • Our overwintering Fox Sparrow here at the store continued through week’s end, although it has become much more sporadic at the feeders.  
  • Our Fox Sparrow at home in Durham continues as well, often singing in the morning.
  • 1 Red-winged Blackbird (FOS), our feeders in Durham on 3/5. Increased to 3 on the 6th. 20-25 by the 12th, etc.
  • 1 Common Grackle (FOY), our feeders in Durham, 3/12.
  • 3 Brown-headed Cowbirds (FOY), our feeders in Durham, 3/12.
  • There was a nice little arrival of Song Sparrows to the area on the morning of the 12th.
  • 1 probable CACKLING GOOSE, Rte 136, Durham, 3/12. Among 600+ Canadas, I had to reposition for a better and confirming view and shortly thereafter all geese were flushed by an eagle. Subsequent searches failed to relocate the suspect bird.  
  • 4 Fish Crows (FOY), Anniversary Park, Auburn, 3/13.
  • 1 Killdeer (FOY), Thornhurst Farm, North Yarmouth, 3/13.

Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch

The 19th season of the Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch starts tomorrow! Free and open to the public, we welcome Zane Baker back for his 7th season as Official Counter. 9-5 every day, weather permitting.

Daily counts will be posted here and weekly summaries will be posted here.

Upcoming Tours:

  1. Woodcocks Gone Wild: Saturday, March 29th. One space remains; call for waitlist.

This Week’s Highlights: 4/8-14, 2023

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Our first tour of the season, a roadtrip for work, lots of new arrivals, and more good feeder-watching,  but the highlight of the week for me was the awesome congregation of Ring-necked Ducks at Corinna Marsh.

  • Evening Grosbeaks continued at our feeders in Durham, with 5 on 4/8 and 2 on 4/9.
  • Great performance by American Woodcocks (at least 5-6) including one landing in the open before dusk during our “Woodcocks Gone Wild!” Tour at Pineland Farms on 4/8.
  • 1 Evening Grosbeak, Shawmut Dam, Fairfield, 4/10.
  • Incredible concentration of _576_ Ring-necked Ducks on the partially-open Corrina Marsh, Corrina, 4/10.

Personal first-of-years and new arrivals:

  • 1 Brown Thrasher, our feeders in Durham, 4/8 (Yard Bird #126!)
  • 1 Osprey, Highland Road, Brunswick, 4/9 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Savannah Sparrow, Highland Road, Brunswick, 4/9 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Corinna Marsh, Corinna, 4/10.
  • 2 SANDHILL CRANES, Corinna Marsh, 4/10.
  • 1 Palm Warbler. Bangor Waterfront Park, 4/10.
  • 1 Chipping Sparrow, our feeders in Durham, 4/13.

Tour and Events:

  • Saturday Morning Birdwalks return tomorrow, 4/15! As always, meet at the store at 8:00am for a carpool to a local park.
  • Join us at Maine Beer Company on Wednesday, April 19th for their monthly Community Pizza Night to support Feathers Over Freeport!  20% of food sales between 4:00 and 8:00pm will be donated to the upcoming event. https://mainebeercompany.com/visit-us/calendar/community-pizza-night-5
  • Speaking of Feathers Over Freeport, Community Pizza Night at MBC is the first of two pre-event events leading up the fun-filled weekend. For a full schedule, see: http://www.maine.gov/feathersoverfreeport

This Week’s Highlights: 4/1-7, 2023

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Three Evening Grosbeaks at our feeders in Durham on the 3rd was a highlight this week; they were our first here this year.

It didn’t feel like it on most days this week, but spring was still in the air. My observations of note over the past seven days included the following:

  • 3 male Evening Grosbeaks, our feeders in Durham, 4/3.
  • 1 Pine Warbler (FOY), Brown’s Point Road, Bowdoinham, 4/4.
  • I enjoyed a fantastic visit to the Mouth of the Abby in Bowdoinham on 4/4. The tally:
    • 1 drake “EURASIAN” GREEN-WINGED TEAL
    • 1 drake “EURASIAN” X “AMERICAN” GREEN-WINGED TEAL HYBRID
    • 269 American Black Ducks
    • 264 Green-winged Teal
    • 90 Canada Geese
    • 28 Mallards
    • 13 Wilson’s Snipe (FOY)
    • 11 Common Mergansers
    • 6 Ring-necked Ducks
    • 4+ Mallard x American Black Duck hybrids
    • 2 American Wigeon
    • 2 Common Goldeneyes
    • 2 Buffleheads
    • 2 Lesser Scaup
    • 1 pair NORTHERN SHOVELERS (FOY)
    • 1 pair Blue-winged Teal (FOY)
  • 1 Hermit Thrush (FOS), Florida Lake Park, Freeport, 4/5.
  • 2 male Evening Grosbeaks, our feeders in Durham, 4/7.

Now that I am back in the field and at work a little more, my feeder-watching at home is just a little less frequent. However, as you can see above, we had some good visitors this week. For continued weekly updates, you can follow “Feeder Watching Friday” posts each Friday on our store’s Facebook page.  This week was certainly interesting at the feeding station.

Tour Notes:

Our annual “Woodcocks Gone Wild!” trip at Pineland Farms was rescheduled to Saturday, 4/8 and we are a go. More info here.

This Week’s Highlights, March 26-April 1, 2022.

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Red-throated Loon, Race Point, Cape Cod.

Jeannette and I escaped for a long weekend in Cape Cod, Friday through Monday. We were mostly looking for North Atlantic Right Whales, but of course we did some birding too!  Jeannette’s whale and bird photos from the weekend are posted in this short blog about our trip:

The Right Whales of Race Point.

Meanwhile, back in Maine, the strong northwesterly winds slowed the pace of migration. However, by week’s end, I had some time do a little local birding, producing the following highlights:

  • 1 Winter Wren (FOY), our yard in Pownal, 3/31.
  • 3+ American Wigeon, 2+ Northern Pintail, 30+ Wood Ducks, etc, Route 136 fields, Durham, 3/31.
  • 1 Eastern Phoebe (FOY), Thornhurst Farm, North Yarmouth, 3/31.
  • 1 Osprey (FOY), Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch, 4/1.

The weather is looking good for Saturday night for our annual “Woodcocks Gone Wild” evening.  If there’s any uncertainty about when the forecast winds will diminish, be sure to check the News Page of our website. More information about the tour, and last year’s trip report, can be found here.