I took a break from driving the Maine Turnpike to Kittery and stayed more local, beginning the day at Sandy Point Beach in Yarmouth. A handful of warblers were on the move last night, calling as they passed overhead. With that in mind, I began just after dawn at the morning flight bottleneck at Sandy Point.

I should have been there by daybreak, but after multiple early mornings down south, I didn’t roll in until about 6:30, missing 35 minutes of prime time. By the time I had arrived, there was only a smattering of birds, but that included a somewhat early Wilson’s Warbler. I didn’t hear too many calls before dawn at the house, so it seems that last night’s flight ended rather early.

Next on the day’s agenda was Scarborough Marsh. First, it was scanning the Pine Point Narrows, which produced good numbers of Black-bellied Plovers and the local family group of American Oystercatchers (two adults and one kid).

Over at Eastern Road, as the tide slowly rolled in, the salt pannes were still very productive. However, the number of shorebirds has in fact declined significantly, likely moving out on the recent northerly winds.

There were still a few hundred birds, including 15 White-rumped Sandpipers. No Reef-Heron, but there were plenty of waders: 61 Snowy and 37 Great Egrets, 17 Little Blue Herons, 25 Glossy Ibis, and one continuing Tricolored Heron (whose rarity has been a wee bit overshadowed recently!). And I finally got a decent picture of it:

I do enjoy counting the shorebirds in the pannes, and recording the numbers for future reference and my own interest. Today, however, my enjoyment of counting ended rather shortly. I was nearly done with a tally of the Semipalmated Sandpipers (the most abundant shorebird there, as usual), when a Peregrine Falcon swoops in and flushes the lot. I started again. Then, a Merlin buzzes by. I started again. Then, a Northern Harrier wanders through. OK, they win – no accurate shorebird counts today – estimation it is!

Without the frustration of counting panicking peeps, I was able to enjoy the raptor show. The Peregrine and Merlin would make repeated passes at the shorebirds, looking for the weakest link. Occasionally, the Merlin would dive bomb the Peregrine, or the Harrier, because that’s what Merlins do. At one point, the Harrier was harassing the Peregrine and the Merlin was tailing the Harrier.

No, 3rd North American Record today, but I was certainly not complaining.

Besides, if I am jonesing for another twitch, I have just learned of a first state record of a Burrowing Owl at the other end of the state, in Washington County. Oh, the thrill of the chase . . . but the agony of gas prices and excessive oil consumption!