Despite the very cool, and continued wet, weather this weekend, the birding was actually pretty darn good. While few migrants seem to be on the move at the moment, there is a little turnover each day, and there are definitely plenty of birds lingering around. Often foraging low to the ground, these clammy mornings can produce great views of warblers – much better than dealing with “warbler neck” symptoms that develop by looking up into the tallest trees for extended periods of time.

Our store’s birdwalk tallied 15 species of warblers at Yarmouth’s Bayview Preserve – along with a clean sweep of the 5 regular species of swallows (Barn, Bank, Cliff, Northern Rough-winged, and Tree) over the pond. Fantastic views of Wilson’s and Canada Warblers, American Redstarts, and many others reward the folks who joined me yesterday morning (but, since the predicted heavy rain never materialized, we were rewarded with not only good birding, but a few hours in the field with no precipitation!)

The highlight of the afternoon was a stunning male Indigo Bunting that dropped into the store’s feeding station. The cool, damp weather is driving this species to feeders with unusual frequency, but we really were not expected to add this gem to our yard list - #112! With only a small strip of brush and woods sandwiched between two parking lots, this is not the classic open space (brushy edges of fields, large powerline cuts, etc) frequented by this species. He continues to brighten the dreary day today.

This morning, I led the field trip portion of my Merrymeeting Adult Education class. We met at Bradley Pond Farm Preserve in Topsham. Another 15 species of warblers – including a few that I had before the class arrived - including some excellent looks at a number of them; an excellent intro to the joys of birding indeed!

Since today is the last day of the Inaugural Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch, I just had to spend a couple of hours there – desperately trying to pull a migrant raptor out of the fog. I arrived at about 10, and Lionel – who was waiting for the fog to lift a bit – and I headed up the hill. The fog slowly lifted, and at times the visibility was actually pretty good – and we once even saw a brief patch of blue. However, I had to head down at 11:45, and I had not seen my last migrant raptor for the season. A local Broad-winged Hawk and some of the local Turkey Vultures were in the air, but the only migrants were 4 Common Loons and 6 Double-crested Cormorants. Only 9 months until the hawkcount starts again!

So, it looks like the weather is finally going to break this week. Good thing to, I have clients from Arizona – whose weather is a bit different from the lousiness we’ve been experiencing, to say the least – that I will be taking around on Monday and Wednesday. I don’t mind birding in Gore-Tex, but admittedly, nicer weather would be more than welcome by all, I think. Tomorrow, I’ll be taking them down to Popham Beach State Park for Nelson’s and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows, and shorebirds. We’ll then look for migrants and other treats. On Wednesday, we’re heading to Monhegan for the day, followed by an evening boat trip out to Eastern Egg rock for Atlantic Puffins and friends. It’s going to be a busy - but hopefully very birdy – few days!

So that’s the news from here. Meanwhile, I have received an updated about the Yellow-nosed Albatross that was found in a field in York earlier this month. Apparently, it is about to be released – and released with a satellite transmitter! This will be very, very cool - and it has the potential to answer a whole bunch of questions. There should be an article about the release in the Boston Globe any day now. I’ll keep an eye out for that.

Meanwhile, even farther afield, a truly stunning new species of hummingbird, the Gorgeted Puffleg, has been discovered in Columbia. Unfortunately, it was discovered in an unprotected area, and since it likely has an extremely limited range, the bird is highly endangered.