Yesterday, I spent a few hours in the morning checking in at a few South Portland locales. Not a whole lot to report, other than 9 Brant at Willard Beach, and a Fox Sparrow at Joes’ Pond Park. However, scattered handfuls and small flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos and Song Sparrows were evident, and small groups of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles were trickling northward overhead.

Today, Mike and I headed down to Biddeford Pool. But, before meeting him, I had my first Great Blue Heron of the spring, flyover our road in Pownal. Once down in Biddeford Pool, we began at East Point Sanctuary. At least 55 Purple Sandpipers were feeding on the exposed rocks, a Hooded Merganser flew by, and 2 Brant were along the shoreline.

A spin through the neighborhood produced small number so Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Song Sparrows as well. 32 Brant tallied at Vine’s Landing was a decent count, as were the 85 or so Dunlin that we tallied looking across over to Hill’s Beach. One hen Green-winged Teal looked out of place – and dwarfed – within the flock of Brant. One to two Snow Buntings were overhead as we scanned the marsh and mudflats behind Hatties.

Heading back from the Pool, we detoured down to Fortune’s Rocks Beach to see if the ponds had any open water in them yet. They did not. Next, was a quick check of Hill’s Beach followed by a visit to the Saco Yacht Club – which produced my first 5 Ring-necked Ducks of the spring. Last, but certainly not least, we found the drake Barrow’s Goldeneye that has been lingering in the Saco River off of Water Street.

Although we enjoyed a few decent sightings, and a couple first-of-spring species – always a treat – it was tough to not be distracted by how much we were enjoying the spring-like weather! And, the next few days should provide not just pleasant spring-like weather – and lots of melting snow – but also should provide a good stretch of hawkwatching conditions.

And, the Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch is off to a great start. We tallied 97 birds in the first three days of the count (through yesterday), including 55 birds yesterday. Red-tailed Hawks are currently “in the lead,” with 45 individuals counted. However, I am most impressed by the 14 Red-shouldered Hawks to date. Hopefully this weekend will continue to provide good weather, and an opportunity for many more visitors to come out and enjoy the count with us!