We drove down to Gloucester, MA Monday night to visit with Jeannette’s parents. The plan was some early-morning seawatching at Andrew’s Point in Rockport. That didn’t materialize, so I was relieved to see a post on the Massachusetts birding listserve that we didn’t miss anything extraordinary. Phew.

Some seawatching from Eastern Point in Gloucester did produce 25 Northern Gannets and 30+ Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, so all was not lost. A walk around the Eastern Point neighborhood produced little in the way of migrants on this dreary, drizzly morning. On the way back north, we stopped to “visit” the Western Reef-Heron, which continues in the Kittery/New Castle area, and the bird was once again easy to find (scopes were lined up when we got to New Castle’s Goat Island).

Last night, I tallied 40 call notes from nocturnal migrants in flight overhead in only 10 minutes, a strong showing. They didn’t land at Hedgehog Mountain Park, however, as there were only a small number of migrants around this morning – but a noticeable increase in American Redstarts, typically our first abundant warbler migrant that begins to show up in large numbers at the end of August.

But, I really can’t believe that August is almost over! Where did the summer go? It’s fall warbler season . . .already!?

On the other hand, I can’t complain – it has been a truly special summer of birding in Maine. Normally, the summer birding doldrums set in, with only a trickle of migrant shorebirds, a rarity or two, or the occasional out-of-place breeder being highlights. Not this summer though!

Not only were migrant shorebirds in abundance early, but the list of rarities makes this a Birding Summer to Remember! The 3rd or 4th, and first Maine, record of the Western Reef-Heron certainly tops the list, but we also had a first state record Burrowing Owl (in Washington County, and I am sorry to say that it disappeared soon after birders learned about it – and repeatedly flushed it. Coincidence?) , a second state record Bridled Tern on Outer Green Island that hung out for a few weeks, an 8th State Record of a Gull-billed Tern from Popham Beach State Park during the ABA Convention, the Yellow-nosed Albatross that spent one night on Stratton, and a recurring Tropicbird off of Matinicus Rock and Seal Island.

And then there’s the lesser rarities – multiple Royal Terns, an American Avocet, a Black Vulture, and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Plus, there’s been plenty of the rare-but-regular stuff like the long-staying Tricolored Heron, Stilt Sandpipers, and a successfully breeding pair of Wilson’s Phalarope to name a few.

Personally, it was a truly exceptional summer for me – three “life birds”! Western Reef-Heron, Bridled Tern, and Yellow-nosed Albatross. None of those three were birds I was expecting to see this summer – or any summer in Maine (perhaps with the exception of the Albatross, which is showing a pattern of increasing sightings during summer months in the North Atlantic). Wow, what a summer! Does it have to end?