Despite the chilliness, it was a rather nice morning. Nice crisp, clear sky, strong sunlight, and little wind. But, it wasn’t exactly the birdiest morning. With relatively little activity, I covered a lot of ground in South Portland in just a few hours.

A raft of Long-tailed Ducks off of Bug Light Park were in perfect early-morning light. Gulls were feeding around an incoming fishing boat off of Willard Beach, but nothing out of the ordinary was among the group of Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls. A small number of Surf Scoters loafed out of reach of the dogs (including mine) rampaging up and down the beach. A huge raft of over 500 Common Eiders were off of Portland Head Light, but try as a might I could not tease a King Eider or an unusual Common Eider subspecies out of the group – but it was an impressive sight none-the-less, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The next stop was at Hinckley Park, where a late Hermit Thrush was sunning itself in a patch of bittersweet. Gull numbers have increased at Mill Creek Cove, but no “white-winged” gulls have arrived quite yet. Lots of Mallards and Black Ducks in the creek as the pond at the park is now iced over.

So, as of now, it looks like we’re going to get a bit of snow tomorrow. Some forecasts are calling for around 6 inches or more. Got your feeders filled? Suet, peanuts, black oil sunflower? White millet on the tray? Heated bird bath plugged in? Tomorrow should be a good day for feeder watching! The first big snowstorm of the year usually produces lots of action – and maybe even a surprise or two. Keep an eye out!