Calm winds Friday morning encouraged me to head up to the hawkwatch for a bit. However, with unexpectedly thick cloud cover, the lack of insolation prevented thermals from developing, and very little was on the move. By 10:30, we had only tallied three birds: one each of Turkey Vulture, Cooper’s Hawk, and Red-tailed Hawk. Our store’s birdwalk to Portland’s Dragon Field on Sat enjoyed an Eastern Phoebe and a Wilson’s Snipe – a “first of spring” for all of us. The highlight of that outing, however, was the local pair of Red-tailed Hawks that were observed quite closely, as they flew above and below us around the quarry, then proceeded to begin making new Red-tails, if you will. (I requested that folks advert their gaze.)

This trickle of migrants over the last few days became a flood on calm winds and clear skies last night. The flight was lead by Song Sparrows and American Robins it seemed, with lots of Dark-eyed Juncos on the move as well.

I wanted to check the Lower Harraseeket River in South Freeport at low tide (after checking at high tide on Thursday) to see if any Barrow’s Goldeneye were still around (none were seen). It took me a while to get to Winslow Park though, as I had to stop every half-mile or so along the road as flock after flock of Song Sparrows were flushing from the edges. I estimated at least 200 along Pine St. between Rte 1 and “downtown” South Freeport. Then, at Winslow, I tallied 152 Song Sparrows! (Plus a few American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos).

Nearby Sayles Field Preserve held suprisingly few sparrows, but at least 100 American Robins were in the field – which seemed to be the case for every other large patch of open field or lawn that I passed today.

Next, I headed up to Bradbury Mountain for some hawkwatching. Light and variable winds and mostly sunny skies –especially after three days of northwest winds – encouraged a great flight. Hundreds of American Robins and Common Grackles were passing overhead, along with a flock of 11 Killdeer, handfuls of Common Mergansers, and my first Tree Swallows (3) of the spring. 4 rare-in-Maine Snow Geese passed by as well - a great sighting for the mountain.

But, the raptor flight was stealing the show, because for the first time, it seemed like a “real” hawkwatch. Multiple observers, pointing in different directions, all looking at different birds. The Official Counter, Lionel, scrambled to keep the data organized. “Got a Sharpie, 11:00 on the close pine.” “Seven ‘TV’s’ to your right.” “Buteo out over Hedgehog Mountain.” Dan, Beth, Al, Lionel, and I were having a great time, as the hawks really began to move – but also began to get really high.

The big excitement came at 9:40. Minutes after I requested that Lionel provide me with a Black Vulture, I spotted a bird WAY out in the distance, probably over the shoreline of Freeport. I yelled, “BLACK VULTURE,” as the general impression of size and shape registers. I immediately back-track on the call, just to be sure, but after a minute or so, and a nice profile of the bird in a bank convinced me. I wasn’t REALLY expecting a state bird this morning!

But, I’ll be the first to admit that this was a really, really lousy look. The bird was literally miles away, and only my view through my scope could yield this bird’s identification. But, there’s something unique about the shape and behavior of “BV” in flight, no matter what the distance.

It’s a big bird, with thick wings. They appear somewhat stubby and rounded, with their wide “hand” (the emarginated primaries) enhancing that. Holding their wings flat in a glide and while soaring, they look more like miniature eagles than the closely related Turkey Vultures. At a distance, they look both headless and tailless, but in a bank, the short tail, fanned widely, is noticeable and distinctive – it looks as if it is almost attached the trailing edge of the wing. A side profile of the bird gives this “lump in the throat” front-heaviness that is easier for me to see than to describe!

But, I think the most distinctive feature of this bird is when it flaps. It’s like the bird is panicking – I think of it as being the only bird that’s afraid to fly. They have this real quick, snappy, stiff, and almost fluttery flap that then locks stiffly into place to resume the glide and/or soar. It’s as if the bird was afraid it was going to crash – a slight loss of altitude perhaps causes this seemingly exaggerated response. This is what I first saw - as a speck in my scope – that triggered the synapses to identify the bird and instantaneously shout “Black Vulture!”

Besides being a State Bird for me, and a great sighting for Maine, this is just the type of species that we want to study with this project. My guess is in ten years (assuming that this project continues, of course), is that Black Vultures will become regular enough in Maine (they’re steadily marching northward, as have Turkey Vultures) that we’ll laugh at my excitement over the first one. This species is one of the reasons we have started the hawkwatch this early in the season – it’s primetime for pioneering BVs.

By about 11:00, the action had died down considerably. Either the birds were so high we weren’t seeing them, or the flight had slowed for the time being. However, as a southerly seabreeze began to develop, more birds began to appear – including three Bald Eagles right overhead! My guess is that those distant birds (like the Black Vulture) flying high over the shoreline were now drifting inland thanks to the wind.

But, all too soon my time was up. By 12:30, when I left, we had tallied 64 raptors – already our best day for the season. 19 Turkey Vultures, 13 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 11 American Kestrels, 7 Red-tailed Hawks, 5 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Bald Eagles (we decided not to count one of the aforementioned three that headed back to the south), 2 Northern Harriers, 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, a Merlin, and a distant unidentified raptor . . .oh yeah, and that Black Vulture! Oh, and an Osprey over the parking lot as I chatted with Luke and Heidi.

Stopping home for lunch, I enjoyed a recently arrived Fox Sparrow under our feeders, and here at the store, our Song Sparrow group under the feeders doubled from yesterday’s 5 birds – and they were joined by on tree sparrow and two juncos. Yup, it was a great night/day for migration. Good thing, too! The forecast for the next week sounds well, yucky (scientific term)!