I almost skipped out of work today to join some friends in a chase of an exceptionally rare Black-tailed Gull that has been hanging out on Lake Champlain in Vermont. I was tempted – I am a big fan of gulls, and this is one I have not seen (despite some effort – I remember one many-mile death march on the beaches of the Jersey Shore one winter day in particular). But, 8-10 hours in a car, for only an hour or two of birding was just a little much for me, so I reluctantly declined.

I did want a change of scenery this morning, and on this beautiful crisp fall morning, with a light coating of frost on the ground, I decided to go look for some ducks. I headed north to Sabattus Pond, in the town of Sabattus, just east of Lewiston. Sabattus is a dependable spot for a variety of ducks, especially Ruddy Ducks at this time of year.

I began at Martin Point Park, but little was visible from there in the fog and heat shimmer, except for two gorgeous drake Hooded Mergansers and a Bufflehead. About 20 Common Grackles were at a feeder in the neighborhood as I began a clockwise drive around the pond.

So, while I was expecting to see some Ruddies this morning, I wasn’t expecting to see 341 of them! Most of them were in two huge “rafts” that were near the shore, visible from Sawyer Road on the pond’s west side. A few Bufflehead and some Ring-necked Ducks (my favorite duck, by the way) were mixed in as well. What a site!

Completing the loop around the pond, I spotted two American Coots in the southeast corner. The total duck count for the morning was:
American Black Duck: 3
Mallard: 27
Ring-necked Duck: 13
Bufflehead: 5
Hooded Merganser: 2
Ruddy Duck: 341
Unidentified Ducks: 60 - in one distant raft, my guess is that they were a mix of Ring-necked and even more Ruddies.

I then stopped for a short walk at the Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary in Lewiston, simply because I hadn’t been there before. It was expectedly – at this time of year – quiet, but I did enjoy spending a few minutes watching a Winter Wren – and again, it was such a beautiful morning to be out!

Driving towards Yarmouth I checked the Androscoggin River for ducks and nearby farm fields for geese (not much of either). I stopped by Bell Farms in Durham to ask if they had seen a Sandhill Crane yet this year (one spent most of early winter there last year). They had not, but thanks to the delayed onset of frost and freezing temperatures, the fields were still producing corn - which I just had to purchase some of (not getting local corn again for a while!) and so they had yet to be plowed.

And let's keep our fingers crossed for the critically endangered Cozumel Thrasher (and other island endemics, not to mention the people of Cozumel and the Yucatan) that is about to face Hurricane Wilma today.