I simply refuse to believe that more, and better, rarities don’t occur in Cape Elizabeth! The geography is there, and the habitat is still there! The Crescent Beach State Park- Kettle Cove – Two Lights State Park area just looks prime for something really, really good. And I’m not going to stop looking for it!

So today, I did my usual loop through the area. Parking at Kettle Cove, I walked the trails through the brush to Two Lights Road. A loop through park, and then back along the roads to Crescent Beach State Park. First the woods, then the beach, then back to the car and eventually to work! As I have complained about before, I have done this trek many times, and have very little of note to show for it. One day though – watch out – the phones will be ringing off the hook and birders will be flocking to the area (pun intended). Uh, not today though. However, it was quite birdy around this morning. It seems that a lot of sparrows moved on the clear skies and light northwest winds overnight. Although I did not find the “Mega” rarity I was looking for today, there was enough birdlife about to give me hope – that if I stubbornly continue to walk this circuit regularly I will EVENTUALLY be rewarded.

There were LOTS of sparrows around today. Small flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows; groups of Song and Swamp Sparrows; 6 total White-crowned Sparrows, a few Savannah Sparrows, and 32 total Chipping Sparrows (getting late for this many of these guys). There were small flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting through the trees, a total of 4 Pine Siskins called overhead.

The lonely Brant continues at Kettle Cove, and a Carolina Wren greeted me with a brief bout of singing along the entrance road to Two Lights State Park. Six lingering Gray Catbirds were in the bushes there, and 4 Harlequin Ducks (3 drake and one hen) were in the surf offshore. A couple of Snow Buntings called in flight. One Red-winged Blackbird was in a field on Two Lights Road, and multiple small flocks of American Robins were encountered. Over at Crescent Beach State Park there were two Common Yellowthroats, a “Western” Palm Warbler, a late Blue-headed Vireo, and an Eastern Bluebird passing overhead. One Black-bellied and three Semipalmated Plovers were all that was left on the beach.

Well, no “Mega” today, but it was a extremely pleasant, crisp fall morning to be out – and it gives me encouragement to continue to work this area.