Jeannette and I had a fantastic outing to the Kennebunk Plains yesterday. First, it was sunny – and warm – a very nice change. Secondly, the birding was great!

We walked just about all of the Plains, doing a very informal census of the breeding specialties there. We were treated by good shows from 4-6 displaying Upland Sandpipers. A dozen Grasshopper Sparrows was a good count, and we tallied 18 Prairie Warblers, 18 Vesper Sparrows, 15 Savannah Sparrows, 6 Field Sparrows, 7 Bobolink, 5 Eastern Meadowlarks, and a pair of American Kestrels (plus a number of other species along the wooded edges of the Plains).

Last week, when visiting the Plains with Glenn and Maryanne, I found a Clay-colored Sparrow in a park that borders the Plain’s western edge. The next day another birder found a Clay-colored Sparrow along the Maguire Road section of the Plains. Same bird wandering around the Plains looking for love? Maybe. Two birds? Since Clay-colored Sparrows are rare in Maine (with the exception of Monhegan Island in the fall, where a small number is fairly regular), we can’t assume that there would be more than one around at a given place. I was hoping to find out.

While we didn’t see, or hear, the sparrow at the park at the western edge of the Plains, we did later find one in the far northeastern corner of the Plains. Was this the same bird that was in the park last week? The same bird that was at Maguire Rd the next day? Are there two birds around?

When we arrived at the electrical substation along Maguire Rd – where the other Clay-colored was seen on Monday – we immediately heard and saw one. OK, so there are two birds – it didn’t fly this far in the last half-hour! But, wait, what was that?

Yet another Clay-colored bursts into song, about 50 yards away. THREE Clay-colored Sparrows! Wow!

Here’s one of them: