Eric and I headed up to Bremen this morning to visit our old friend, and one-time employer in Alaska, Sean who is about to head home after spending the summer working on developing the Puffin Project Visitor Center in Rockland (opening next year I believe). I haven’t seen Sean since July 4th, and Eric hasn’t seen him in years, so this was a perfect excuse to get together and do some birding on this amazingly beautiful (about time!) day!

We began our birding day at Weskeag Marsh in Thomaston. This is a site that I have not visited before (I have no excuse for that) so I was keen on taking a look. It was quite active today, with 150+ shorebirds, the most non-Sanderlings that I have seen in a while! Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs were the most abundant, 25+ Pectoral Sandpipers were present, three White-rumped Sandpipers were seen, and we also found 5 Long-billed Dowitchers (at least 4 have been reported lingering here recently) – a most uncommon bird in Maine, and actually the first that I have seen this fall. About 30 Snow Buntings flew over, and a Red-tailed Hawk regularly stirred up the shorebirds and ducks in the marsh. At least 30 Green-winged Teal were joined by 5-6 Northern Shovelers, and 3 Blue-winged Teal. What a great spot – I will be back here again sooner than later!

We then worked our way along the shoreline, scoping the shoreline, spishing in choice fields, and checking harbors for gulls. While we weren’t seeing much – it’s a bit too early for seaducks and “good” gulls, it was such an amazing morning to be outside! And, this really was more of a social event than a hard-core birding event anyway.

A stop at Owl’s Head State Park produced more Common Loons and Black Guillemots offshore, and the gulls attending a distant lobster boat included a young Glaucous Gull, my first of the season. Despite the warm temperatures, the birds were telling us winter is in fact on the way. (Nooooooooooo!)