Today I led a field trip for Merrymeeting Audubon. Our primary goal and destination were Barrow’s Goldeneyes at Winslow Park.

And, we were not disappointed! Once again, the weather was not as intolerable as predicted, as the winds were not as strong and - being from a more westerly, rather than northerly direction - not in our face the entire time. 5 drake and 4 female Barrow’s Goldeneyes – our headliner – were present and accounted for. The light was perfect, the birds were fairly close, and a couple of Common Goldeneyes were nearby for good comparison. We spent a while enjoying the 1,000 or so Common Eiders. Among those Eiders was a single female apparently of the East Arctic subspecies borealis.

Walking back from the point, we enjoyed a small flock of 21 Cedar Waxwings that were attempting to feed on Mutiflora Rose – but a Northern Mockingbird was intent on chasing as many of them away as possible. A few Black-capped Chickadees called in the woods, and a Northern Cardinal briefly broke into song.

Another 70 Cedar Waxwings, and one American Robin, were devouring apples in a yard in South Freeport, and at least 15 Pine Siskins were nearby as well as we traveled toward the Town Landing. No more Barrow’s were to be seen here, but we did have much better looks at Long-tailed Ducks, Common Loons, and Common Goldeneye. Our last stop was at Florida Lake – hoping for a repeat of yesterday’s Pine Grosbeak sighting – but we left grosbeak-less (and nearly birdless except for a couple of Black-capped Chickadees)

Our complete birdlist for the morning will be posted on Merrymeeting Audubon’s Website for those who are interested.