It has certainly been cold out there hasn’t it? Personally, I love this weather – although I could use a little more snow (and that wish may come by the end of the week!). By the way, before you mutter “So much for global warming!” I think I should mention that such extreme swings in weather is just what is to be expected with Global Climate Change. Just food for thought, but I digress.

Anyway, with the weather as boogey-freezing cold (the scientific term) as it has been, it certainly affects birds and birding. From a birding perspective, there are far fewer birders in the field, and therefore fewer birds are being found. Furthermore, many species that have been lingering (freshwater ducks, and bluebirds for example) have now been forced farther south.

However, ice is now concentrating waterfowl at a number of prime locations. With the snow cover and colder temperatures feeding stations have been much more active. Also, as food supplies dwindle, birds can concentrate at locations with a plethora of food. Keep an eye out on patches of Mountain Ash and Crab Apple!

No matter how cold it gets, birds have to eat to survive, so there are birds out there to see! Meanwhile, breeding activity has already begun – woodpeckers (Pileated, Hairy, and Downy) are drumming, Common Ravens and Great Horned Owls are courting, and many seaducks are displaying already. While the woods have been quite here in southern Maine with almost no winter finches around (although American Goldfinches remain quite numerous), large numbers of White-winged Crossbills, Pine Siskins, and Purple Finches are being seen and heard in Northern and Western Maine – hopefully some of these will trickle down our way.

Personally, I continue to get out just about every day. In fact, last Friday (the sub-zero morning with wind chills around –20) was the first day I didn’t really go birding (just watched the feeders) in about 2 months (not including traveling days). But, there’s no doubt about it birding can be a challenge in this weather. One, you have to dress right – and one too few layers means a miserable – and short – day in the field. Too many layers, and we have trouble getting in and out of our cars! Wind has been an issue – wind makes birds harder to find, as many species seek cover. A bigger impact, however, is that the cold and dry air produces seasmoke and heat-shimmer that renders ocean birding frustrating at best. Binoculars fog (although if you keep your bins on your car’s windshield defroster while you’re traveling between stops, you’ll find this issue minimized). Faces freeze.

But, hey, this is how winter in Maine is SUPPOSED to be!

So, since my last post on Sunday, I have in fact been hitting the field daily. On Monday, it was a visit to Winslow Park to enjoy the Barrow’s Goldeneyes there. I had 6 males, but suprisingly no females, and increase of one since last week. Even more exciting was the 31 Ruddy Ducks off the point there, the first that I have seen at this park. No doubt forced out of a cove or river by building ice, this duck – which was found in suprisingly large numbers this fall in Maine – is rather rare in mid-winter in the state.

On Tuesday, Jeannette and I birded Wells and Kennebunk. We began at the windswept, frozen tundra of the Kennebunk Plains. I’m not quite sure why, though. Yes, we were hoping to see a Rough-legged Hawk (and we did, an immature light morph) and grassland birds such as Horned Larks (which we did not see), and we wanted Sasha to get a good run in (she did), but could we have chosen a colder place to begin our day? But, was there some subconscious masochism involved?

After birding Drake’s Island (a group of 14 American Tree Sparrows was the highlight and a Northern Harrier made a very close pass by us), we checked Community Park to see if that ridiculously-out-of-season Wood Thrush was still around. It was not, but a continuing Yellow-rumped Warbler brightened the day.

We checked Parson’s Beach, and began birding the Kennebunk Beach shoreline, but the heat shimmer was just too much – you really couldn’t see more than about 50 feet offshore, so we decided to head home and work on some of those indoor winter projects.

This morning, with a fresh dusting on the ground and continued bitter cold, I took a walk at Hedgehog Mountain Park. Golden-crowned Kinglets continue in suprisingly good numbers, but I was hoping to pick up a wandering winter finch for my patch list.

On the way to the store, I spotted four Hooded Mergansers in Pratt’s Brook, in the small open stretch of water along I-295. Then, I made a quick check of Yarmouth Harbor. A rapidly-diminishing patch of open water (kept open in part by the waterfall here) is still hosting all three species of Merganser! This morning, there were only 4 Hooded, but 6 Commons continue, along with a single Red-breasted (and one Common Goldeneye). Also, the number of gulls roosting on the ice is growing, so this bears some watching. I’ve been checking this hole about every other day, keeping track of the ducks and gulls that are coming and going from here.

See? There’s plenty of birding to be done in this winter weather!