Luke and I birded from Kittery through Wells today. It was another lovely day (although rather cool along the ocean thanks to the breeze), and a few new arrivals added to the spring-like feel. However, we noted – as Mike and I also discussed on Friday – how March birding is somewhat odd. It seems that the expectations are often better than the birding!

For example, yesterday, Luke had a couple of Great Egrets and Tree Swallows. A few Eastern Phoebes were reported in the past week. With each new arrival – either seen by oneself or reported elsewhere – seems to heighten our anticipation of the next outing. But, just because Scarborough Marsh had two Great Egrets yesterday doesn’t mean that they’ll be others elsewhere (yet). On the drive home, we felt that is was a rather slow day of birding.

However, after counting 54 species observed, and summarizing the highlights, it was actually a very good day of birding for March 25th in Maine. Mute Swan, Double-crested Cormorant (our first of the spring), Purple Sandpipers, Common Mergansers, Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Killdeer, Green-winged Teal, Great Blue Heron, Harlequin Duck, Fox Sparrow, Carolina Wren, Northern Harrier . . . That’s not a bad day at all! A mix of newly arriving migrants, winter visitors, and minor-rarities made for a rather diverse checklist. And we thought it was a slow day?

We began in Kittery, where we found the pair of Mute Swans had returned to Legion’s Pond, despite only a small patch of open water. A Double-crested Cormorant joined spiffy breeding-plumaged Great Cormorants on a rock off of Fort McClary. Two Common Mergansers flew over Fort Foster, while at least 35 Purple Sandpipers foraged on the exposed offshore rocks.

Single Snow Bunting and Horned Larks were flying around above Seapoint Beach, and the saltmarsh at York Harbor produced a Killdeer, 4 Green-winged Teal, and 1 Great Blue Heron. A few unproductive stops were followed by 15 Harlequin Ducks at the Nubble. Eight more were tallied at Perkin’s Cove.

However, we both felt the highlight of the day was Beach Plum Farm in Ogunquit. One corner of the preserve was just loaded with birds. Dozen of American Goldfinches, many of which were singing, created quite the symphony. House Finches, Song Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Juncos also joined in the chorus. At one point, surrounded by these spring songsters, we actually found it difficult to hear the Rte 1 traffic, just a couple hundred feet away!

We were watching a Fox Sparrow, when we heard a sweet, melodic, and rather loud, sound burst from a bush. It took a second to register? Oriole? No, of course, a singing Fox Sparrow! Sounding more like a Baltimore Oriole than any other sparrow, the unique song of the Fox is a real treat. They rarely sing in migration, so away from the breeding grounds (the boreal forest), they are not often heard. A total of 4 Fox Sparrows were eventually seen in this one corner of the park.

A rather quick check of Webhannet Marsh in Wells via Bourne Ave, Harbor Rd, and Drakes Island Rd, produced a few Horned Larks and a couple of Snow Buntings overhead, a Carolina Wren singing from a nearby neighborhood (as heard from Harbor Rd), and a Northern Harrier along Drake’s Island Rd.

Not a bad day. Not a bad day at all!