As you may have noticed, my birding excursions have been relatively short of late. (But, at least 2 out of three home winter projects are now completed, so this weather is certainly good for something!) That needed to change, so Mike and I finally made our trip up to the Augusta Landfill today, despite still nippy-temperatures.

However, except for a period with some gusty winds, it’s amazing how warm the low 20’s feel when it’s been in the single digits and teens! When the wind wasn’t blowing, it actually wasn’t too bad at all.

We began at the dump (birders are one of the few, if only, groups that can find so much entertainment and enjoyment from a pile of trash!). Our goal was to look for unusual gulls, but we ended up a bit disappointed with the gull numbers. Only about 400 or so Herring Gulls, a half-dozen Great Black-backed Gull, and one 1st Cycle Glaucous Gull (although it was actually my first of the winter, so I was pleased). While the gull show wasn’t as impressive as we hoped, the Bald Eagle show more than made up for it!

We tallied at least 7 different eagles (3 adults, 1 4th-cycle, 1 3rd-cycle, 1 2nd cycle, and at least one 1st-cycle). Making repeated passes over the gull flock, and often landing nearby - including this one about 30 feet from the car!

A great show indeed, and it more than made the trip worthwhile. About 100 European Starlings, 50 American Crows, and a dozen or so COMMON RAVENS were the only other species tallied, however.

(King of the mountain, and proud of it!)

We then paid a visit to the Pine Tree State Arboretum, where neither of us had been before. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we were hoping for fruiting trees. While there weren’t many trees with fruit at all, one patch held a flock of about 50 Cedar Waxwings. I thought I was hearing the call of a Bohemian Waxwing, but we couldn’t for the life of us tease it out of the group. Finally, as we were about to give up, it appeared. That definitely made this stop worth it – the first of this species either of us have seen this winter.