What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, I was watching a flood of migrants and dozens of hawks overhead with only a fleece pull-over. Today, I was struggling to find migrants, standing around in sleet, and wearing 2/3rds of my closet.

Not many hawks were going to move today (yesterday, by the way, we topped 100 birds for the day at Bradbury Mountain for the first time this season!), and not much likely moved last night either. Therefore, my only chance to witness the migration phenomena this morning was a bit of seawatching at Dyer Point in Cape Elizabeth.

Winds were forecasted to be out of the south or southeast, which would be excellent for waterbird migration. With the cold air in place, fog is less of an issue. So, with high hopes, I headed down to Cape E, but when I arrived, the drizzle began to mix with sleet. And, the winds were east-southeast, much less productive.

In a chilly hour under the roof of the Lobster Shack, I tallied the following birds heading north:
119 Common Eider
8 Long-tailed Ducks
8 Ring-billed Gulls
6 Red-throated Loons
4 Common Loons
3 White-winged Scoters
2 Surf Scoters
2 Black Scoters
2 Unidentified ducks
2 Red-necked Grebes

Not the action I was hoping for, so I decided to move on. 8 Harlequin Ducks in the cove near the point brightened the morning, however.

Walking Crescent Beach State Park produced little - only about 30 total Song Sparrows and one American Tree Sparrow in the brush. However, the scrubby edge of Fessenden Road was more productive, with at least 50 Song Sparrows scattered along the roadside – likely migrants having arrived in the big flight Saturday night. In the trails behind Kettle Cove, about 10 White-throated and 1 American Tree Sparrow was to be seen, and the local gang of Brant is now up to 27 birds.

Hopefully, a predicted break in the weather will come tomorrow, when Jeannette and I are at the Hawkwatch (as of 1:00pm today, Lionel had not tallied a single migrant raptor). Otherwise, the weather for the next few days will look more like early March than early April. There’s even a chance for some accumulating snow Wednesday night! As much as I like snow, it’s time for spring now, and I’ll pass on an inch or two of slushy mess. But, if we do get some snowfall, feeder-watching could be very exciting with all of these sparrows and blackbirds around. Each partly clear night and or sunny day – if any – that occur in the next week could yield a good push of migrants. Then, when this onshore pattern breaks down (predictions say 7-10 days though) they’re going to be a bunch of birds chomping at the bit (grit?) and ready to go and the migratory dam will burst!

Also, in the wet weather of this upcoming week, a lot of puddles will form in fields and other poorly drained locations. Keep an eye out for various migrant ducks, and the early shorebirds, in flooded farm fields and lawns.