Monhegan Island is one of the best places in Maine for birding. Lying 10 miles off the mid-coast of Maine, Monhegan acts as “trap” for wayward migrants and especially, vagrants. Birds migrating offshore descend upon the island – it’s at least 10 miles to the next safe landing. The birds are hungry, and depending on conditions, exhausted. Trees, and even shoreline rocks, can be covered with tired migrants – from warblers to sparrows, and just about everything else.

Northwest winds will carry waves of migrants offshore, and come daybreak, many of the nocturnal migrants will look for cover from predators (hawks, gulls, jaegers) and food to refuel for the next night’s journey. This is true of all islands. However, Monhegan is one of the best. Thanks to a combination of geography, habitat (so much of the island is preserved), and accessibility (regular ferries, places to stay, lots of walking trails, and the limited size of the island), Monhegan is a true birding mecca for both Maine and visiting birders during migration.

This week, I had an opportunity to spend a couple of days on the island. Two clients from the Bay Area of California, Burt and Gloria, vacationing in Maine, hired me to guide them around on Wednesday.

I arrived in Port Clyde early enough to spend some time in the area, walking the streets looking for migrants. Finding an Orange-crowned Warbler at the edge of the village was a very good start. I met Burt and Gloria at the dock at 10:00, and at 10:30 we departed for the hour-long boat trip to the island. A few Black Guillemots, Common Eider, etc were all that we saw on the boat ride over.

When we arrived, we were surprised to find the island as warm as it was! Southerly winds had pushed temperatures up into the 70’s. It was an absolutely beautiful day – but nice weather is not what birders who visit Monhegan want! Fewer birds are on the move, and fewer end up on Monhegan on southerly winds, and coupled with the fact that we were there on a warm, windy afternoon, our work was really cut out for us!

After fueling up on a Lobster Roll (what else?) for lunch, we hit the bushes. It was tough work – birds were quiet and scattered – but we managed to tally about 45 species, including 12 species of warblers. The highlight was the Worm-eating Warbler that I found, arguably the “best” bird of the two days I was there. Unfortunately, Gloria only got a brief look at this wayward treat – it was also a bit anticlimactic for me as this was the second “Wormer” I had found in Maine this week! We ran into a number of birders - including Jane and Steve from Massachusetts who, I later learned, were out on their honeymoon (Congrats again guys!), gleaned info, and kept moving. When it was time for Burt and Gloria to head back to the mainland, we said our goodbyes, and I headed back into the woods.

After dinner with Jane and Steve (the Wilson’s Snipe that flew over while we were eating was a nice addition to the daylist), I listened for migrants moving out of the island, before heading in for a few hours of sleep.

Waking up an hour before sunrise, allowed me to arrive at Lobster Cove for a bit of dawn seawatching. While little was moving, I was treated to fantastic looks at some amazingly close shearwaters - including a Manx Shearwater sitting on the water and the best look that I have ever had at a very uncommon in Maine waters, Cory’s Shearwater.

Then, it was back to landbirding. The winds were already picking up, so detection was once again challenging. Small mixed flocks of warbler were moving through the trees, and a considerable amount of sparrows had arrived overnight. Merlins and Peregrine Falcons battled over control of the island’s airspace – and kept an eye out for a songbird that made the mistake of leaving cover. Basically, with relatively few birds so widely scattered, and often staying hidden, I had to really work to continue to build my trip list. I just kept walking trails –covering most, probably about 12 miles of the island’s 17 miles of trails!) picking up a new bird here and there. A Winter Wren in Cathedral Woods, a Black-throated Green Warbler on the north end, two Dickcissels in the grass near the lighthouse, an Osprey overhead . . . slowly, but surely, I tallied a total of 98 species, including 22 species of warblers!

I saw a number of great birds -although the Western vagrants I was hoping for were not to be found, had a great time, met some great people, and thoroughly enjoyed myself! I just can’t wait to go back!

Here’s the complete list of the species that I observed on the island between 11:30 am on Wednesday and 4:30pm on Thursday. Between the ferry ride and seawatching, I also observed Harbor Porpoise, Atlantic White-sided Dolphins, Harbor Seals, a small pod of small whales that could have been Pilot whales, and a odd rodent that I have so far not been able to identify.
(x=observed, but individuals not counted)

Species: Day 1 Day 2
American Black Duck- 1 1
Mallard- x x
Common Eider- x x
White-winged Scoter- 0 5
Common Loon- x x
Red-necked Grebe- 0 6
Cory's Shearwater- 0 1
Greater Shearwater- 0 1
Manx Shearwater- 0 2-3
Northern Gannet- 0 11
Double-crested Cormorant-x x
Great Cormorant- x x
Great Blue Heron- 1 1
Osprey- 0 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk- 1 0
Merlin- 4+ ?
Peregrine Falcon- 0 3+
Ring-necked Pheasant- 1 2+
Semipalmated Plover- 0 1
Wilson's Snipe- 1 0
Laughing Gull- x x
Ring-billed Gull- x x
Herring Gull- x x
Great Black-backed Gull-x x
Black Guillemot- x x
Rock Pigeon- x x
Mourning Dove- x x
Black-billed Cuckoo- 0 1
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO-2 2
Belted Kingfisher- x x
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-0 1
Downy Woodpecker- 0 x
Northern Flicker- common common
Olive-sided Flycatcher- 0 1
Traill's Flycatcher- 0 2
Least Flycatcher- 0 1
Eastern Phoebe- 0 3
Eastern Kingbird- x x
YELLOW-THROATED VIREO-0 1
Blue-headed Vireo- 0 lots
Red-eyed Vireo- common common
Blue Jay- x x
American Crow- x x
Common Raven- x x
Black-capped Chickadee-x x
Red-breasted Nuthatch-0 2
Brown Creeper- 0 1
CAROLINA WREN- 0 1
House Wren- 0 6+
Winter Wren- 0 1
Marsh Wren- 0 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet-0 x
Ruby-crowned Kinglet -0 handful
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER-0 1
Hermit Thrush- 0 1
Gray Catbird- x x
Northern Mockingbird-x x
European Starling- x x
Cedar Waxwing- x x
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER-1 0
Tennessee Warbler- 0 x
Nashville Warbler- 0 x
Northern Parula- x x
Yellow Warbler- x x
Magnolia Warbler- x x
CAPE MAY WARBLER- 1 0
Black-throated Blue Warbler-0 6+
Yellow-rumped Warbler-many many more
Black-thoated Green Warbler-0 x
Blackburnian Warbler- 0 x
Pine Warbler- 0 2
Prairie Warbler- 1 0
Western Palm Warbler-handful lots
Blackpoll Warbler- handful handful
American Redstart- x x
WORM-EATING WARBLER-1 0
Ovenbird- 1 0
Northern Waterthrush- 0 1
Common Yellowthroat- lots lots
Wilson's Warbler- 0 x
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT-0 1
Chipping Sparrow- x x
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW-1 1
Savannah Sparrow- 0 x
Song Sparrow- x x
Lincoln's Sparrow- 1+ 8+
Swamp Sparrow- 0 x
White-throated Sparrow-x lots more
White-crowned Sparrow-4 0
Dark-eyed Junco- 0 handful
Northern Cardinal- x x
Rose-breasted Grosbeak-2+ 4+
Indigo Bunting- 0 1
DICKCISSEL- 0 2-3
Bobolink- x x
Rusty Blackbird- 5 2
Baltimore Oriole- x x
Purple Finch- handfuls handfuls
American Goldfinch- 1+ 1+

Totals: 57 92
Total for both days (minus Pheasant): 98

Additional species from Port Clyde:
Bald Eagle, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, Scarlet Tanager, Pine Siskin