With my rarity fever cured (for now) I avoided the temptation to go back to Fort Foster, where 3 Cave Swallows were observed Monday afternoon. Since they were seen late in the afternoon, it was likely that they would roost there (or nearby), so this was the best opportunity yet to “chase” one. However, the thrill of discovery is sweeter than the thrill of the chase, so instead of heading south Jeannette and I headed north to do some relaxing duck-watching. (FIVE Cave Swallows were in fact seen this morning, by the way.)

Overcast skies and calm winds made viewing conditions optimum, and the precipitation was kind enough to hold off until the end of our morning’s outing. We began at Cobbosseecontee Lake in Western Kennebec County. Redheads have been sighted with unusual frequency here this fall, and we saw 7 of them. We tallied 14 species of waterfowl, plus a few other waterbirds, on Cobbo and many of the smaller lakes and ponds in the area, just about all of which held at least a few Hooded Mergansers, which was nice, especially since this is Jeannette’s favorite duck. (My favorite, Ring-necked Duck, was in short supply today).

After working that area, we headed over to Sabbattus Pond, which had a much larger number of birds, including a very impressive 337 Ruddy Ducks and a raft of 186 Scaup (mostly Greater, but some Lesser as well)

Our totals for the morning are as follows. The first number is for the Cobbosseeconte area, the second total is for Sabbattus Pond.

Canada Goose: 37/0
Wood Duck: 1/0
American Black Duck: 6/8
Mallard: 24/116
REDHEAD: 7/0
Ring-necked Duck: 2/0
Scaup (both Lesser and Greater, we did not take the time to identify each one): 25/198
Bufflehead: 32/22
Common Goldeneye: 1/45
Hooded Merganser: 44/13
Common Merganser: 2/76
Red-breasted Merganser: 0/1
Ruddy Duck: 8/337
Common Loon: 9/4
Horned Grebe: 0/2
American Coot: 2/10