I tallied 46 call notes in 10 minutes over the house last night, my second highest volume so far this fall. However, with very light winds, I decided to gamble and not hit Sandy Point. I’m anxiously awaiting a posting from there for today to see what I missed.

Instead, I headed down to South Portland with Sasha – who I had been promising a trip to Hinckley Park to romp with the masses of dogs there. There, and elsewhere, I searched for migrants, and Northern Wheatears.

Speaking of Northern Wheatears, check out Mike Smith’s map of Fall 2006 Wheatear sightings on the East Coast that he posted on the Augusta Bird Club’s site.

Well, no Wheatears this morning, and not many migrants either. I began at Bug Light Park (very few migrants at all, but two American Pipits passed overhead).

Then, I checked the new garden on the campus of the Southern Maine Community College that includes a bunch of native plantings, flowers, a small pond, and a bird feeder. Surrounded mostly by parking lots, this spot looks perfect for a wacky vagrant. Not today though, just a single Savannah Sparrow among the multitudes of House Sparrows.

Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth also produced few migrants, but I did enjoy seeing and hearing a Carolina Wren. Sasha thoroughly enjoyed romping at Hinckley, as I spied a smattering of warblers.

While the songbirding in SoPo was slow this morning, the hawkwatching at the store was superb! The northwest wind had picked up a bit, and a handful of puffy white clouds helped us spot birds. Jeannette and I counted from 10 to noon, and tallied:
148 Broad-winged Hawks
7 Turkey Vultures
5 Osprey
2 Cooper’s Hawks
1 Northern Harrier
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Red-shouldered Hawk (the first for our hawk watch)
1 Merlin
1 Peregrine Falcon

I am afraid however, that this excellent count may have been amplified by birds moving ahead of approaching weather. This weekend isn’t looking too pretty – and I am a little nervous about whether or not the Maine Audubon pelagic will go tomorrow. 5-7 foot swells are predicted from Hurricane Helene well offshore, and moderate southerly winds and developing rain is predicted ahead of an approaching low. Ugh. (I made a run for some Bonine, just in case!) However, the forcast has been varying quite a bit, so we may not know what is in store until we board the boat in the morning.

But, the nasty weather – which may last into Monday now – will back up migrants (passerines and hawks), which could mean some good mornings of birding early next week. Stay tuned.