Shorebird migration is in full swing, and I will be spending quite a bit of time in the next month on mudflats, in marshes, and on beaches. This morning, I visited Wharton Point in Brunswick. I tallied a very good count for this location, including my first migrant juvenile shorebirds of the fall. (Juvenile shorebirds migrate later than adults, so we see our first few newly arrived juveniles – not counting the local breeding species – about now, well over a month after we first see southbound adults).

The totals for this morning visit were:
300+ Semipalmated Sandpiper (including a few juveniles)
150+ Lesser Yellowlegs (a very good count)
82 Short-billed Dowitchers
30+ Semipalmated Plovers
~10 Least Sandpipers (a few juveniles)
5 Greater Yellowlegs
4 Black-bellied Plovers
1 Willet
1 Killdeer

Plus, 13 Great Blue Herons and a dozen Snowy Egrets were foraging at the receding water’s edge as well.

Then, while birding Highland Road, I enjoyed watching a family of American Kestrels dogfighting with a Sharp-shinned Hawk. One of the two adult Kestrels would chase the Sharpie. Then, the Sharpie would chase a Kestrel. Sometimes one of the chasees would pull up or barrel-roll to become a chaser. It was quite entertaining.

In other news, last week I was mentioning the Monarch caterpillars that Jeannette and I “adopted.” Well, when the painters finished, and we went to put them back outside, one of the largest caterpillars was missing. Uh-oh. We searched high and low, but it seemed to have disappeared somewhere in our kitchen.

Then, while doing dishes later that night, I noticed – on the windowsill, behind the dish rack, between the dish soap and the grease can: