. . . Or so I repeated as Jeannette gave her “This is why I don’t chase birds,” quip as we left New Hampshire’s Odiorne State Park without a Fork-tailed Flycatcher yesterday. It seems we were a day too late – it was last seen Monday afternoon.

The morning vigil had grown to about 20 birders scattered throughout the park, checking every bush and cluster of fruit, but alas, it has departed. Oh, well. . .remember it’s the thrill of the CHASE.

Two adult male Peregrine Falcons – one with a full crop – were perched on rocks along the park’s shoreline – trying not to look guilty. We’ll never know . . .

Our next stop was Fort Foster in Kittery – always worth a stop. And, as usual, it produced a treat - a very bright Orange-crowned Warbler. More surprising, however, were two Clouded Sulfur butterflies, and one unidentified dragonfly – a testament to how warm it has been until recently. Great Cormorants and seaducks are really increasing now, reminding us of the true nature of the season.

Two late Turkey Vultures were soaring over the Maine Turnpike, possibly heading south, as we exited in Kennebunk to make our last stop of the day at the Sanford Sewerage facility.

Especially as lakes begin to freeze up north, waterfowl really start building in our area, and here – safe from hunters – numbers and diversity can be quite impressive. 167 Ruddy Ducks led the way, with good numbers of other common species. 1-2 female American Wigeon – uncommon and late here, joined the other dabblers. 5 American Coots - what a season for coots it has been – were floating about, while a Northern Harrier coursing the edge kicked up a small flock of Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs; three of each.

Here are the totals from the ponds:
Canada Goose: 65
American Wigeon: 1-2
American Black Duck: 77
Mallard: 51
American Black Duck x Mallard hybrid: 1
Green-winged Teal: 2
Ring-necked Duck: 96
Lesser Scaup: 26
Bufflehead: 68
Common Goldeneye: 42
Hooded Merganser: 5
Ruddy Duck: 167
Great Blue Heron: 1
American Coot: 5
Ring-billed Gull: 1
Herring Gull: 2

It has been brought to my attention that the comment field on this blog is still awry. Apparently, if you “preview” your comment, the security code gets all screwed up. I’m looking into it, but for now, skip the “preview” feature of the comment field.

Here’s a comment from Michael in Lewiston, in regards to my Androscoggin County musings from the other day . . .

Thanks for the shout out last week. Riverside has been REAL quiet as of late, and with work at school hot and heavy, getting down there has not been an everyday thing. My backyard has been real active though, with a flock of 20 goldfinches in near permanent residence, along with chickadees, titmice (titmouses?)w.b. nuthatches. I saw a few sparrows come through over the weekend, 1 savannah, 1 white throat, and a small flock of juncos. I was thrilled to see my first Eastern Towhee Sunday, but it only stayed 10 minutes. Also had 4 cedar waxwings in some unknown berrybush in my neighbors yard yesterday for a few minutes.