I decided to pay another visit to the Spotted Towhee at Fort Foster on the 25th, 99 days after I first found it there on November 19th! I had some good quality time with my buddy, but it could have showed itself better for me.
I enjoyed a few good birds on several outings this week, making for a nice list of highlights for the season. Here are my observations of note over the last seven days:
1 immature male Lesser Scaup, Freeport Town Wharf, 2/24 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
1 immature male KING EIDER, The Nubble, Cape Neddick, 2/25/2024.
2 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, Reid State Park, Georgetown, 2/26 (with Jeannette). Are these early, late, or just overwintering? Park has been closed for almost two months, so winter observations from here are lacking.
2 Common Grackles (FOY), East Point, Biddeford Pool, 3/1.
1 SNOW GOOSE, Saco Riverwalk, 3/1. Presumably same bird that has been reported from nearby Laurel Hill Cemetery.
TOURS AND EVENTS:
Thanks to everyone who came out for the Book Release part for the 2nd Edition of Birdwatching in Maine: The Complete Site Guide on Thursday (2/29) at Maine Beer Company! It was great to see everyone there.
The long-staying hen American Wigeon offered a good, close study as part of the Winter Waterbird Workshop with Down East Adventures tour that I conducted on the 14th.
While I didn’t get as far afield as last week, I enjoyed a productive six days of birding, especially for early January! Here are my observations of note over the past seven days.
Our feeders in Durham have been incredible, led by a growing flock of Dark-eyed Juncos that peaked at 41 on 1/8 and 40+ continuing American Goldfinches. There was a big movement of sparrows after the weekend snow storm, with flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows common and widespread in the area, along with an increase in American Tree Sparrows. During Tuesday’s snowfall, a careful inventory during the snowfall on the 16th yielded 127 individuals of 16 species, led by 41 American Goldfinches and 37 Dark-eyed Juncos.
At least one Turkey Vulture still continues in the I-295 corridor between Cumberland and Freeport.
1 DOVEKIE, Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth, 1/13. Patch Bird #198! Healthy fly-by apparently turning around upon seeing the bridge, then turning northeast and following the Cousin’s Island shoreline. I lost it in the fog, but presumably rounding the island to return to sea. A Black Guillemot to the south of the bridge was one of my few ever from this location.
1 continuing female American Wigeon, York Duck Pond (Abbott’s Pond), York, 1/14 (with Down East Adventures Winter Waterbirds Workshop tour group).
Small number of Red Crossbills, Bear Mountain, Hartford, 1/15 (with Jeannette). Mostly single fly-overs and one small heard-only group, so quantification was impossible.
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 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.
There are few better places to photograph Wood Ducks in Maine than Abbott’s Pond (aka the “York Duck Pond”) in York. A quick stop here on Friday with clients visiting from Texas afforded some great photo ops!
It was a busy – and exceptionally productive – birding week for me! The extensive list of highlights – including two full days of private guiding which cleaned up on most of our regular wintering species in southern Maine – were as follows:
7 BARROW’S GOLDENEYES, Winslow Park, Freeport, 2/26 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk Group). Two days later, on 2/28, Allison Anholt, Cameron Cox, Jeannette, and I had an incredible EIGHT birds (4 pairs). This is my highest count here (or anywhere else in southern Maine) in nearly a decade. At least 6 were still present on 3/3 (with clients from Texas).
1 interesting, likely hybrid GLAUCOUS GULL X HERRING GULL, Bath Landfill, 3/1 (with Jeannette). Showing characteristics consistent of this fairly-regular hybrid pair, the much darker primaries suggest the possibility of a second-generation hybrid – perhaps a backcross with a Herring Gull. Discussion on this bird continues but this is the current consensus. Unfortunately, the phone-scoped photos were further challenged by photographing through the debris netting.
1 drake Northern Pintail, Falmouth Town Landing, 3/2.
1 2nd winter Iceland Gull, Mill Creek Cove, South Portland, 3/3 (with clients from Texas).
1 Killdeer (FOY), Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth, 3/3 (with clients from Texas).
This ultra-confiding Harlequin Duck wowed the crowd at Sohier Park (the Nubble) in York during my Winter Waterbird Workshop for Down East Magazine’s Down East Adventures tour group on the 20th.
A handful of observations of note over the past seven days included both signs of spring and winter specialties.
While birding The Nubble on Tuesday (not seeing Dovekies or Thick-billed Murres), Jeannette and I chatted with a local birder who turned us onto a Dickcissel that was in the House Sparrow flock at the entrance to Sohier Park.
Chatting a little longer, we learned of some overwintering Wood Ducks in York. Now, the occasional overwintering Woodie in Maine is not a shock, especially when a mild winter finally turns cold. In fact, I have seen a few this winter, including a bird that was at South Portland’s Mill Creek Cove for almost a month. But the location he mentioned was new to me, and I like learning about new places.
So we found our way over to tiny Abbott’s Pond, where, well, a few ducks overwinter.
During our visit, we chatted with the landowner, who had come to feed the flock. He said it started with a few geese and other ducks that “people dropped off,” and then it was discovered by wild ducks. Mallards love little places like this, and in winter, the numbers swell, as if often the case where handouts are offered. And A LOT of food is offered here, fed daily from a silo holding three tons of waterfowl feed!
A bubbler and the heat from so many birds keeps some water open, which keeps numbers up during the middle of winter (or, as in now, when winter finally arrives).
And what’s so fun, from a birding perspective, about places like this where multitudes of Mallards congregate (such as Riverbank Park in Westbrook or Mill Creek Park in South Portland), there are bound to be a few unusual species now and again. This winter, a pair of Wood Ducks was recently joined by a second drake.
Comfortable among the habituated inhabitants, the photography opportunities are unparalleled. But even more exciting, we spotted this stunning drake Northern Pintail x Mallard hybrid that has been present here, on and off, for a month or so. This rare (especially in the East) combination is not something I had seen before, so we were excited to photograph and study it!
But even if it’s just a bunch of Mallards – the gorgeous drake would be more people’s favorite duck if it wasn’t so common – to enjoy, I know I will be back (in fact, I’ll probably be adding this unassuming little spot to the itinerary of Sunday’s Birds on Tap – Roadtrip! “Seaducks and Suds!” which does, by the way, have a few spaces left).
So a casual conversation led to finding one of my new favorite southern Maine birding hotspots. Who knows what has shown up here before, but I know I’ll find out what shows up next!
The first of six “Birds on Tap – Roadtrips!” with our partners at the Maine Brew Bus took place last Sunday. Our “Surf and Suds!” tour headed south, visiting two hotspots along the York County Coast, looking for waterfowl (especially Harlequin Ducks), Purple Sandpipers, and Great Cormorants and other winter denizens of the rocky shore.
We began at Marginal Way in Ogunquit, enjoying perfect conditions. With temperatures rapidly rising into the low 40’s on a very light, southwesterly breeze, it was more than comfortable. And with a high deck of clouds and calm waters, viewing conditions were perfect.
Harlequin Ducks are one of the premier “targets” of this tour, and they could not have been more obliging. At least 35 were along the pathway, with most very close to shore and several small groups hauled out on the rocks.
Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) at Marginal Way, Ogunquit, ME
(Photo with Leica V-Lux Type 114)
(Phone-scoped photo)
While we only encountered 15 Purple Sandpipers, we saw them exceptionally well. I just with the little raft of 8 Razorbills were a little closer! A Carolina Wren singing from the neighborhood and 250+ Black Scoters were among the other highlights, while we also took ample time to enjoy views of Common Eiders, Red-breasted Mergansers, and all three scoters.
Next up was The Nubble, where one Great Cormorant coming into high breeding posed nicely, and a goodly total of 38 Harlequin Ducks were present. It was a MUCH better look at the single Razorbill that was feeding just off the Nubble, and it would be impossible to obtain better views of a Red-tailed Hawk that was making rounds of the parking lot, the Nubble, and nearby rooftops.
(phone-scoped photo)
Before we knew it, it was “beer o’clock” and Don took over for the beer-ing portion of this unique tour. York’s SoMe Brewing was our first destination, and after a tour of their rapidly-growing operation as we discussed the ins and outs of brewing beer, we settled in for a flight of samples. Perhaps best known for their Whoopie Pie Stout and their go-to Apostrophe IPA, for me at least (and several others) “Sugar What?” stole the show. This Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Maple Amber hit all the right notes for me.
Back on the Brew Bus, we began our trek northward, continuing our discussions about birds, beer, and everything from “status and distribution” to bird-friendly coffee. We pulled into the unassuming South Portland neighborhood’s Fore River Brewing Company – a first visit for me, and all of the participants on the tour.
Lygonia IPA was my favorite of our samples, although the crowd was appreciating their John Henry Milk Stout quite a bit. We also learned how their brewing system, philosophy, and background differed from our first brewery; it always fascinates me on these tours to learn about the brewers and their approach to beer.
With the bus unloaded in Freeport, conversation continued at the store, and plans were made for the next Birds on Tap – Roadtrip! On April 10th, “Spring Ducks and Draughts” will visit Merrymeeting Bay for waterfowl migration and Bald Eagles, followed by visits to Oxbow Brewing Company in Newcastle (I love their woodland tasting room!) and Lively Brewing in Brunswick. These trips are truly unique and we hope you will join us for the next fun-filled tour of birds and beer!
Maine Birding Field Notes 