Sometimes a day of birding is less about the birds, and more about everything else. Yesterday was one such day. While the birding was less than spectacular, Mike and I enjoyed a great day, filled with exploring new areas, great conversation, much education, and even great food.

The original plan was to study gulls at the Hampden landfill, followed by some leisurely birding in the Bangor area. But, when we arrived at the landfill office, we found out that we would need to be escorted around. While that was certainly not a problem for us, we obviously wouldn’t be able to spend hour after hour studying each and every gull.

Kasey, the Landfill Safety and Environmental Coordinator was our guide. The second hole in our plan, however, developed when we began to drive up the landfill, and the gulls – about 300 of them – took off, and didn’t come back. So much for the Thayer’s Gull we planned on finding!

Expecting the gulls to return shortly, Kasey took us on a tour of the facility in the meantime. He pointed out a few corners of the property where birds congregated, and a number of American Crows and European Starlings were present. Furthermore, Casey pointed out many of the features of the landfill, teaching us about the finer points of waste management. From cell liners to proper capping to the planned methane recovery facility (to be used to produce energy – expected to be enough to power 3,000 homes for 30 years). Construction projects associated with the methane recovery infrastructure and the start of preparations for the 2009 closing of the landfill created numerous safety hazards, resulting in our escort, reflective vests, and hardhats (not TYPICAL birding gear!).

With few birds at the Hampden site, Kasey graciously offered to take us up the road to Casella’s Old Town landfill facility. However, there was currently no “MSW,” municipal solid waste – aka trash from our houses that include the stuff from the kitchen that the gulls are after – being dumped here, so the this facility was also gull-free. However, during this tour, and our commute in between, Mike, Kasey, and I continued our discussion of waste – and a multitude of other environmental – issues

Kasey, with his degree in Wildlife Ecology and interest in fishing and the outdoors, clearly understood the vast array of ecological, engineering, political, and human components of managing our waste. (He also at least pretended to understand our interest in spending our day looking at birds in a dump!). Personally, I have been on landfill tours before (as an Environmental Policy major in New Jersey, where there are some REALLY BIG landfills – and lots of gulls!), but I found myself captivated by Kasey’s explanation of the processes and problems associated with his job. As long as we all continue to produce garbage, it does, unfortunately, have to go somewhere. Mike and I left with the impression that the management of these facilities were simply doing the best that they could, with the resources they have available, to minimize environmental and public relations problems. Although the birding was, well, non-existent, Mike and I had a great time, and we learned a ton.

Mike and I also agreed that we were lucky that the gulls weren’t around this day, as we wouldn’t have otherwise received the tour. I doubt we would have received such great guiding if we had just spent an hour discussing the width of tertial crescents of third-cycle white-winged gulls.

Allowing Kasey to get back to his work making sure the landfill operation is running smoothly and safely, Mike and I birded up the Penobscot River towards Bangor. A couple of hundred gulls (roughly 95% Herring), likely including many birds that had been feeding at the landfill, were roosting at various locations, with the largest concentrations near the Bangor sewage treatment plant, the waterfront park, and some up by the Bangor Dam. 16 Common Mergansers were off the Hampden Town Landing, but other small patches of open water held few ducks. The Veazie Dam a little father upriver finally produced some Common Goldeneyes.

After lunch in town – at a very good Thai place, which made up for our disappointment that the Pakistani restaurant was not open (a place I’ve wanted to try after I couldn’t convince colleague to go to dinner here on the last night of the ABA Convention!).

Heading south, we restarted our birding in Fairfield at the Shawmut Dam. 30-40 Common Goldeneyes and 1 Common Merganser were present, but our stop at Mill Island Park was the birdiest location of the day. 50+ Common Goldeneye and 5 Common Mergansers were feeding in the river, while the mass of Mallards (about 150) included 1 American Black Duck, 3-4 hybrids thereof, and a single drake American Wigeon.

Just as our unexpected landfill tour was a bonus surprise of the day, our drive into Winslow provided another surprise – Big G’s deli. Jeannette has talked about this place for years, but we’ve never had a chance to stop by. Having spent much time here as a Colby student, she’s talked it up as the “best sandwich in Maine.” This claim has been reiterated by others, often after my complaining about the quality of the average sandwich in this state! As you know from previous blogs, eating plays a large role in my birding adventures, so it should come as no surprise that Jeannette and I often contemplate a birding trip to Waterville JUST as an excuse to eat lunch here. Despite it being only two hours after a late, large lunch that I was still more than full from, I HAD to stop. I grabbed a couple sandwiches for Jeannette and I to enjoy later – and somehow, despite the overwhelmingly voluminous menu, I somehow chose one of Jeannette’s favorites from her Colby days! (By the way, after dinner I now would also say that was the best sandwich that I’ve had in Maine . . . and the whoopee pie wasn’t anything to shake a stick at either!)

As we pulled into Winslow’s Fort Halifax, flurries began to fall. In the handful of minutes it took me to post-hole half-way across the park, the flurries became steadier, and heavier, and heavier. With the river finally in view, I set up my scope on a group of Common Goldeneye. Just as I focused on them, however, they took flight. I looked up to catch the butt-end of a large falcon heading downriver. Big, heavy, almost loping wingbeats didn’t strike me as the shallow, almost snappy beats of a Peregrine’s flight. The bird seemed large, and the back was certainly pale gray. But, by the time my binoculars were to my eyes, it was gone, disappearing into the snowflakes.

Female Peregrine Falcons are big birds, and their backs can appear pale gray. This definitely wasn’t a male, with steely-blue back and smaller size. However, those wingbeats and the sheer apparent size (which admittedly could have been misconstrued in the now heavy snowfall) struck me as very suggestive of a very rare bird whose name begins with a “G.” But, we’ll have to chalk this up to another one that got away!

Meeting Mike back at the tracks, where he was enjoying a displaying Common Goldeneye in the Sebasticook, I relayed my sighting. While keeping an eye downriver – just in case it came back – I spotted a drake Common x Barrow’s Goldeneye hybrid, a nice bird to study, and probably our best confirmed sighting of the day. As the bird worked a little closer, the snow squall turned into a complete white-out, and we headed back to the truck. Waiting for the snow to let up, we discussed the ID of the duck, hoping the squall would pass and we would get another view of is – and the mystery falcon.

But, the snow did not let up soon enough, and we had to hit the road - just in time to get stuck in traffic on the on-ramp onto the highway, as the white-out resulted in more than just missed birding opportunities. Mike and I began to contemplate the good fortune of having two large sandwiches and a whoopee pie in the back seat, but in a fairly short time, we were on our way. (Jeannette was probably the most grateful for the efficient traffic coordination - of clearing the off-ramp and rerouting other traffic - of the state troopers on the scene, as her sandwich did indeed survive the trip home!)

As we drove south – with the snow coming to an end and the roads clearing rapidly – we reflected on the day. It just goes to show you that some days of birding are less about the birds seen, and more about everything else!